1. Neglecting to fund your trust. A trust can be a wonderful tool for protecting your assets; flexible and customizable, a useful trust can be created for just about every situation.  But a trust is like a strongbox—if you don’t fill it up it has nothing to protect.  Accounts and assets must be put in the name of your trust for it to work as you’ve designed it to.

2. Not enlisting the help of an estate planning attorney. There are a number of Do-It-Yourself will and estate planning programs out there that promise you a full estate plan for a cheaper price; but estate plans are complicated things, requirements change depending on your state of residence, the size of your estate, the age and situation of your beneficiaries, and much more.  If you aren’t able to work with an attorney to create your plan, at the very least we urge you to have an attorney review your plan before you sign it.

3. Neglecting to mention previous estate planning documents, or making unofficial changes in the margins of documents that have already been signed. When creating a will or a trust or any other common estate planning document it is usually necessary to revoke any previous documents so there is no confusion about which document is current and valid.  Neglecting to do this can end with your assets tied up in probate court for months or years—or even worse, invalidating both documents completely.

4. Putting your plan somewhere safe—somewhere so “safe”, in fact, that nobody can find or access it! People recognize that estate planning documents are things of value, and as such should be protected in a locked filing cabinet or safe deposit box.  Wherever you choose to store your documents, be sure one or two trusted individuals have not only the knowledge of where the documents are, but also the ability to access them.  An estate plan does no good if it cannot be accessed when it’s needed.

5. And finally, one of the most common missteps that can sabotage your estate plan is failing to update your plan regularly. Not only do federal and state laws change periodically (as we have recently experienced) but you will undoubtedly experience changes in your own life and fortune.  Failing to update your plan to keep up with the law or with your own life can result in an estate plan that is as useful as a car you neglected to maintain—it may look fine on the outside, but it simply won’t run anymore.

Probate: [from the Middle-English probat, from Latin probatum…] a : the action or process of proving before a competent judicial authority that a document offered for official recognition and registration as the last will and testament of a deceased person is genuine. b : the judicial determination of the validity of a will.

This Merriam-Webster definition of probate doesn’t make it sound so bad. Quite simply, it is the process by which the court determines the legal property of a person who has died, and decides to whom those assets will be distributed. It sounds like it should be simple… but somehow probate is hardly ever simple. Even in the best of circumstances there are procedures that must be followed to the letter, and the actual process (depending on the size of the estate and the laws of the state in which the property is being probated) can take anywhere from 6 months to a few years!

A good will can go a long way toward keeping the probate process on the short and easy end of the spectrum; but even with a will, much of your probate experience will depend on elements outside your realm of control. There are certain steps that must be followed to complete the probate process, including:

• the appointment of an executor or personal representative
• verification of the will
• taking an inventory of assets belonging to the deceased (which can be very difficult if good records have not been kept)
• giving notice to creditors
• paying valid claims against the estate
• preparing and paying taxes
• notifying beneficiaries (not all of whom will be easy to find)
• and eventually distributing the assets to the beneficiaries or heirs

If just reading the above takes your breath away, imagine having to actually go through all of those steps—and possibly more! The good news is that you don’t have to go through it alone, our office can help you navigate the tangled probate maze from beginning to end—from filing the first court documents to protecting your eventual inheritance—ensuring that your probate experience goes as quickly and smoothly as possible.

An ethical will can be anything from a letter to your children expressing your love and hope that they carry on your values, to a novella length memoir detailing your life experiences. But what about those people who don’t have the ability or inclination to articulate their thoughts in pen and ink? Well, more and more these people are turning to the camera and making their ethical wills on video.

A video will, as suggested by this article in the Wall Street Journal, is an unparalleled way to let the younger generation know about your feelings and values. “No matter how clear your memories of someone may be, if you have them on the screen in front of you, talking to you, there’s a qualitative difference.” And a video will, if made correctly in the presence of your estate planning attorney, might even have the added benefit of preventing disputes and bickering between your heirs later on.

What we like best about the idea of ethical or video wills is the personal touch. Although we work every day with the “dry and boring legal jargon”, we know that underneath all that an estate plan is about love and values—it’s about family. And an ethical or video will is a way to add a personal touch to the formal written Will or Trust, which is still necessary to meet legal requirements. So, consider doing both together to pass on, not only your assets, but also your values and hopes.