Revocable Living Trust, Living Will, Will - What's the difference?
Many people get the terminology mixed up when discussing estate planning, so I thought I’d break down some of the commonly confused terms: revocable living trusts, living wills, and wills. Each of these is a distinctly different thing with its own purpose.
How to name guardians for your kids
A huge percentage of parents who haven’t done their estate planning yet are stuck on who to name as guardians for their kids. Here in Portland, Oregon, so many people have moved here from other places, and so they might not have any family in town, and they might have moved here to get away from a family or cultural dynamic that they don’t want their kids to be a part of. This makes choosing guardians difficult.
How to protect your assets from divorces and creditors: Lessons from 'Big Little Lies'
I have been watching an HBO show called Big Little Lies, which is a fantastic show, but also has some lessons on estate planning. [Spoilers!] In a recent situation this season, a character named Renata (on the left in the photo above) learns that her husband is in trouble for insider trading, and that because of the way they own their assets as a married couple in the state they live in (California), everything they have is at risk and they must declare bankruptcy and sell off everything that the bankruptcy trustee tells them to sell—their home, Renata’s wedding ring, everything. To make matters worse, Renata finds out at the bankruptcy hearing that her husband has been procuring sexual favors from the nanny and promising her additional compensation for her services. This is all a huge blow to Renata, who came from a poor background, worked for everything she built, and is now having everything taken away due to her husband’s actions.
What to do if you get a substantial increase in income or net worth.
From time to time, I get a call from an old or prospective client who wants to know what to do now that they have run into a lot of money, either through receiving higher income or through receiving a large lump sum due to inheritance, lawsuit win, or other event. There are several key areas to keep in mind, but the overall rule is to call your estate planning lawyer and accountant right away.
Why do I need a Revocable Living Trust?
Everyone who has any assets (like a home or a retirement account or a business) has probably heard about Revocable Livings Trusts and wondered whether they need to set one up. At my office in Portland, Oregon, the main estate planning tool that I use to help my clients is a Revocable Living Trust. There are many reasons why so many of my clients choose to plan their estates with a Revocable Living Trust, rather than with a Will-based plan. Here are some of those reasons.
Eeps, Chris Cornell missed a planning opportunity and it's hurting his daughter!
Another day, another celebrity estate plan gone wrong (maybe). Chris Cornell, the musician known for being the frontman of Soundgarden and Audioslave, died over two years ago, but his estate is back in the news because his daughter filed a claim to receive funds from the estate.
5 Lessons for Parents to Learn from Aretha Franklin's Estate
As we all know, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, died last August, and appeared to have died without an estate plan in place to determine the distribution of her $25 million estate. Her estate was back in the news recently because her son filed to take over as executor after three handwritten wills were found. Of course, we all wonder why rich people so frequently die without a proper estate plan in place, but there are lessons here for regular people like you and me, as well. Here are a few that popped up for me just reading the recent news.
![The #1 Thing You Are Putting Off: Estate Planning [Do the Damn Thing podcast, with guest Candice Aiston]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5adbadb13e2d0910618f2439/1559516018635-5L6LQH25JKF2M07QYKJP/Untitled+design-36.png)
The #1 Thing You Are Putting Off: Estate Planning [Do the Damn Thing podcast, with guest Candice Aiston]
Candice was interviewed on the Do the Damn Thing podcast to talk about the #1 thing that the podcast listeners reported that they were putting off: Estate Planning.
On the episode, Candice talks about the 3 documents that everyone over 18 should have in place, the additional documents that all parents should have in place, whether you should DIY your estate plan, why people put off estate planning, how to get started on estate planning, and so much more.
Roots + Wings Legal Podcast, Episodes 2-4: Intellectual Property, Insurance, and Tax Info for Business Owners
Recently, we held a series of interviews with Professional Partners for business owners in our business membership group. It is so important for business owners to assemble a team of professionals to guide them through protecting themselves and preventing disasters. Here are those interviews.
Roots + Wings Legal Podcast, Episode 1: Interview with Anne Tegtmeier
Introducing the Roots + Wings Legal Podcast, hosted by Aiston Law LLC and Portland, Oregon Attorney Candice Aiston. In our inaugural episode, we talk with Anne Tegtmeier, owner of Fan Fare: Theme Catering, about what life looks like when a parent develops dementia and is seduced by scammers. It happened to Anne while she was starting her company and raising her young daughter Lily, as a single parent.
Adulting: How to prepare for summer travel with estate planning.
Many years ago, I read a story about a family who was in a car wreck while on vacation in another state. The parents were killed, but all of the children survived and since the parents did not have an estate plan, the kids were put through a long, traumatizing court process. They were in foster care for 18 months before the guardian was appointed and could take them home. It was up to the state to approve medical treatments for the kids. Thousands of dollars were spent on legal fees. The youngest child had been 18 months old at the time of the car wreck, and he was three years old when he finally went home with the guardian.
The case really shook me, especially because at the time, my youngest was only two years old, and imagining that scenario was terrifying. It had a huge impact on the way I did planning for my clients. I have always started from facing the worst possible scenarios that could happen, and then planning to avoid any bad legal outcome that we could identify.
Estate Planning Guidelines for Divorce
When you are facing divorce, estate planning is an important part of that. In a perfect world, a divorcing couple will be able to come to some agreements on guardians and other topics involving the kids. If not, parents should still create their own estate plans to reflect their wishes.
There are a myriad of estate planning goals a divorcing or divorced person might have: to name people you know and trust to make important decisions for you if you are not able to do so; to protect your assets from being lost to remarriage of either party; to protect your assets from being lost to creditors of your ex-spouse or other factors you have no control over; to name guardians in the event both ex-spouses are incapacitated or die; to ensure that if one parent dies or is incapacitated, that person’s family still has visitation with the children.