[springfield]

Now that we are all settled in, we finally have time to take care of our affairs. We had our wills rewritten in IL and have found out that we need FL wills and powers of attorney. Any suggestions? Would a living trust be better. We only have one child, and would like to avoid a much hastle for her as possible.

In addition, we don't have any life insurance. AARP offers some, who would you suggest?

It is so easy to forget about things like this now that we are living in this wonderful little bubble, but we know it has to be done. Thanks.

[eweissenbach]

I am not an attorney so won't offer any advice on the wills, but I retired from over 25 years in the life insurance business, so have a few thoughts there.

The AARP insurance is good permanent coverage and the price is affordable for that kind of coverage. It is underwritten by New York Life, which is the company I spent most of my career with, and is a top rated and exceptional company in that field. Having said that, I would ask why you think you need life insurance at this point in your life? Life insurance is generally best purchased when you are younger and the premiums are lower. Most life insurance purchased by older people is either business related, meant to pay potential estate taxes, or for final expenses. If you have very substantial assets (more than $2 million at the least) that you will pass along to your child, you may need to consider comprehensive estate planning with an attorney or CFP, that could include life insurance for liquidity. If you simply need liquidity to provide money for your burial, a small life insurance policy like the AARP plans are fine, but you could provide the same liquidity by putting your daughter's name on a CD, so that she could access the money immediately upon your death if that is an option in your situation. Another option would be a single premium life insurance policy that also offers a long term care benefit if you meet the requirements - a policy of this type is offered by New York Life, though not to my knowledge through AARP. You could also consider pre-paid burial plans, though I am not a big fan, and people have lost their money when funeral homes go out of business.

[tghoul]

I would get a Revocable Living Trust to avoid the expense and hassle of probate. The cost $499, for a couple is less than a probate lawyer.

[Bogie Shooter]

Retiring and with no life insurance.....thats different.

[barb1191]

Originally Posted by tghoul

I would get a Revocable Living Trust to avoid the expense and hassle of probate. The cost $499, for a couple is less than a probate lawyer.

Agree with the Revocable Living Trust. I've had one for twenty years and have one child who will be the single beneficiary without having to pass through any court action or expense to claim the estate; the estate will automatically become hers as beneficiary, without any legal fees.

If you go this route, all holdings must be in the name of the trust.

[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by barb1191

Agree with the Revocable Living Trust. I've had one for twenty years and have one child who will be the single beneficiary without having to pass through any court action or expense to claim the estate; the estate will automatically become hers as beneficiary, without any legal fees.

If you go this route, all holdings must be in the name of the trust.

Please clearify the above statement I made bold. We just executed a Revocable Trust this past week in NYS and there is no requirement that we must place all holdings in the trust; we only need to place in the trust what we want to place in it. Could you have been implying "must" as in if you want the holdings to be protected by the trust or could it be possible that the laws of MA are different than in NY? The latter wouldn't surprise me if it were the case!

[barb1191]

Originally Posted by skyguy79

Please clearify the above statement I made bold. We just executed a Revocable Trust this past week in NYS and there is no requirement that we must place all holdings in the trust; we only need to place in the trust what we want to place in it. Could you have been implying "must" as in if you want the holdings to be protected by the trust or could it be possible that the laws of MA are different than in NY? The latter wouldn't surprise me if it were the case!

What I meant as "must" is whatever probate requires, include in your trust to avoid having to go thru probate. Yes, you are correct in that you do not have to put everything in the trust. Suggest that you question your attorney on your queries.

I did this trust about twenty years ago and when I bought here in TV my home deed is in my trust name i.e., "MY NAME Revocable Trust" is on my deed to my properties. Made this so long ago that I really don't recall all the details other than my daughter will get everything without having to go thru probate. When my mother passed away, her attorney charged $10,000 to process her estate through probate; and that was over twenty years ago.

[justanormalgirl]

If your estate is done in a trust and the property automatically becomes the full property of the next person do they still have an estate tax or inheritance tax?

[barb1191]

Originally Posted by justanormalgirl

If your estate is done in a trust and the property automatically becomes the full property of the next person do they still have an estate tax or inheritance tax?

You can find most of the answers to your questions by putting a search on "Living Trusts." I just put a search and found this that may help to answer your questions:

"Individual trusts

To establish a basic living trust, the Grantor signs a document called a declaration of trust, which is similar to a Last Will and Testament. In the document, the Grantor typically names himself or herself as trustee, and transfers assets to that trust (i.e., the transfer is actually made from the Grantor to himself, as Trustee). Because the Grantor is named as the trustee, he or she maintains full control over the assets.

After the Grantor (or the Grantor and Grantor's spouse in the case of a joint trust) dies, the person identified as successor trustee in the trust document generally assumes that role. The successor trustee transfers ownership of the assets in the trust to the beneficiaries named in the trust document. In many cases, the whole process takes only a few weeks, and there are no lawyer or court fees to pay. When all of the property has been transferred to the beneficiaries, the living trust terminates."

I interpret this as if "there are no lawyer or court fees" then there would be no inheritance or estate taxes.

[justanormalgirl]

Thank you, I'll do some more research.

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Retiring and with no life insurance.....thats different.

Please explain? why would you need life insurance? I would think at this time of life the only need for life insurance would be to keep the agent in commisions .

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by 14thMed

Please explain? why would you need life insurance? I would think at this time of life the only need for life insurance would be to keep the agent in commisions .

Most people have had life insurance all their lives to provide for their families. Seems strange to me to not have had that experience.
Even at the retirement age most have insurance to provide for their partners.

[rjm1cc]

I would skip the life insurance unless you want to use it to leave an estate to your child or the funds will be needed by the surviving spouce for day to day needs. For example replacing a pension that ends with death.
The question is what type of assets do you have? Don't answer. For Brokerage accounts, bank accounts etc you can usualy name a primary and secondary beneficiary and the assets will pass at death to that person. Assume Fl will let you do this but I do not know. I think the naming a beneficiary will be easier than a trust. If you own real estate outside of Fl you might want a trust for it.
You also want a health directive.
Writting down funeral instructions will be a big help when the time comes. You might want to buy a plot and select a head stone, and pick out a funeral home. The point is your spouce or child will have a lot easier time if you do this in advance.

[justanormalgirl]

Some people might think this is grimm but, we had a bad accident a few years ago and that kind of puts things into prospective whether you're ready for it or not! Anyway, we've had our burial plots for years but after our accident we had our headstones made up and put in place. We each have our birthdate filled in and our 'expiration' date will be put in later, much later I hope! We have a single stone with wedding rings and our wedding date in the middle. We know our son has a hard time with things like this, he about died when we had our accident, so we had this done so there would be one less thing for him to do later.

Besides, how many people get to see their own headstone, much less pick it out??

[rjm1cc]

Originally Posted by justanormalgirl

Some people might think this is grimm but, we had a bad accident a few years ago and that kind of puts things into prospective whether you're ready for it or not! Anyway, we've had our burial plots for years but after our accident we had our headstones made up and put in place. We each have our birthdate filled in and our 'expiration' date will be put in later, much later I hope! We have a single stone with wedding rings and our wedding date in the middle. We know our son has a hard time with things like this, he about died when we had our accident, so we had this done so there would be one less thing for him to do later.

Besides, how many people get to see their own headstone, much less pick it out??

My parents did the same and it was greatly appreciated when the time came.