Richmond Cariaga, Author at Like Law Group

How to Protect Your Family When You and Your Spouse Work in the Same Business

Posted on July 29, 2025

You and your spouse live together, work together, and likely spend a great deal of your free time together. Having a successful marriage and business takes hard work and dedication, but it can also be among the most rewarding things in life. To help keep you on the right track, here are a few tips.

Create separate budgets for your family and your business. Money can be a tense topic, even for the average married couple. With a family and a business to run, it is especially important for the two of you to sit down and agree on a budget for your family as well as a budget for your business. By having open and honest communications about your finances, both personally and professionally, you can stave off more heated conversations.
Keep work at work. While your business is likely the main source of your family’s income—and often the main thing on your mind—it is important to create a boundary between your work lives and your home lives. If your business has a physical location outside your home, establish a rule that you and your spouse will discuss business only while you are at work. If you and your spouse are running a home-based business, you can establish “business hours,” and any time outside those hours is personal time when business will not be discussed. Whichever approach you use, it is important that you allocate enough time to accomplish your work.
Have your own hobby. Because you probably spend so much time together, it is important for each of you to take time alone to do something that you enjoy. This can be as simple as carving out time to take a long relaxing bath or joining a local soccer team. Having your own hobby allows you to access another part of yourself and take a break from the usual routine. Studies have also shown that individuals who have hobbies they enjoy tend to have lower blood pressure, are less stressed, and are happier overall.
Have your estate plan prepared or reviewed. Like any other couple, business-owning spouses need estate planning to protect each other and help ensure a financially secure and prosperous future for their loved ones. When a couple works together in a business, their financial picture and overall goals may be complicated and intertwined, making proper estate planning an even greater necessity. Below are some of the basic estate planning tools you need to protect yourself, your family, and your business.
- Revocable living trust.With a revocable living trust (often simply called a trust), your money, property, and even your interest in your business are owned by the trust rather than by you personally. While this may seem scary, it does not mean that you are giving up control. In creating the trust, you can name yourself as the trustee (the one in charge of managing the money and property, including your business interest, which is owned by the trust) and as the current beneficiary (the person who gets the enjoyment from the money, property, and business). The major benefit of having the trust own your money, property, and business is that, when you die, these assets pass to your designated beneficiaries without having to go through probate court proceedings. Also, if you are ever unable to manage your affairs while you are alive, the successor trustee you appoint can easily step in and take over management of the trust assets (including your business interest), thereby preventing unwanted disruption. Both of these advantages will save your family time and money and can keep your personal affairs private.
  
  In addition to avoiding probate, a trust allows you to provide some instruction for the future of your business. It can address questions regarding who will run the business if you are unable to continue or after your death, whether the next generation is ready to step up and lead, and whether you want to provide for a beneficiary not involved in the business.
- Financial power of attorney. By default, no one (not even your spouse) can make financial or legal decisions for you during your lifetime unless you legally select someone through the creation of a financial power of attorney. If you do not make this choice through proactive legal planning, the probate court will appoint someone for you, often through a very public and costly proceeding. Although your spouse may be the best person to make decisions about you and your business, they need the appropriate authority to do so. Executing a financial power of attorney can facilitate a smooth transition during a stressful and emotional time if, for some reason, you are unable to make decisions for yourself.
  
  This document is incredibly important if only one of you is the legal owner of the business, even if both of you consider yourselves partners. Although the other spouse may be intimately familiar with the operations, they cannot make any decisions that may be necessary to keep the business going without the proper authority.
- Medical power of attorney. As with financial matters, no one has the authority to make medical decisions for you during your lifetime unless you select them through proactive estate planning (via a medical power of attorney) or they are appointed by the court. If you are unable to communicate your wishes when an emergency arises, it is important that the person who will decide your course of treatment is someone you trust. If you leave the decision up to the court, there is always a chance that it will appoint a person you would not have chosen.
- Limited liability company or other business entity. Depending on how your business is currently structured, part of the planning process may include reviewing your business structure to ensure that it has been set up in a way that offers you the maximum asset protection, tax benefits, and ease in transitioning ownership to the next generation. One common way to achieve these benefits is by operating your business through a legally recognized business entity, such as a limited liability company (LLC). As part of your estate plan, you may then choose to transfer ownership of the LLC to your living trust to help secure all of the advantages of a living trust outlined above.

Having a successful marriage and business takes hard work. We can assist in ensuring that your family and business are protected if unforeseen circumstances befall your family. Call us today to schedule an appointment.

Most people may be surprised to learn that the federal estate tax is considered by some to be voluntary. Estate planning attorneys used to say, “You only pay if you do not plan.” The relatively recent introduction of portability provides yet another planning tool available to married couples to minimize or eliminate estate taxation. Portability allows a surviving spouse to “pocket” and save their deceased spouse’s unused exclusion amount (technically referred to as the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount, or DSUE) and add it to their own exemption. Here is how portability works. If the taxable estate of the first spouse to die is below the then-current federal gift and estate tax exemption limit at the time of their death, or if the deceased spouse’s entire estate passes to the surviving spouse under the marital deduction, the DSUE can be transferred (or ported) to the surviving spouse. Portability requires that an estate tax return be timely filed upon the first spouse’s death. As a result of portability, the surviving spouse can use their own federal estate tax exemption amount plus the DSUE to minimize or avoid estate taxes when they pass. The Key Takeaways ● Everyone still needs lifetime estate planning to protect themselves, their families, and their assets (money and property). Estate planning is not just about tax planning—it is also about communicating your wishes to loved ones, being able to say what happens to you and your assets during your incapacity and at death, leaving a legacy, and helping avoid conflict when you are no longer around. ● Failure to use both spouses’ federal estate tax exclusions may cause an unnecessarily high tax bill for high-net-worth married couples. ● Portability lets married couples use both of their estate tax exclusions. ● Portability is not automatic. An estate tax return must be filed after the death of the first spouse, generally within nine months. How Portability Works With the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, the federal estate tax exemption doubled to $10 million adjusted for inflation (in 2025, the exemption is $13.99 million). As a result, even fewer families have to worry about federal estate taxes. However, this provision of the TCJA is set to sunset on December 31, 2025. Barring intervention by Congress, the federal estate tax exemption will drop back down to the previous $5 million amount (adjusted for inflation). Interestingly, a surviving spouse may use only the DSUE amount from their most recently deceased spouse and cannot combine or accumulate DSUE amounts from multiple prior spouses. Here is an example of the interplay between the DSUE and remarriage: Sue was married to Bob, who passed away in 2020 with $5 million of unused federal estate tax exemption. She filed a timely Form 706 and elected portability, preserving Bob’s $5 million DSUE. A few years later, in 2024, Sue married Phil. When Phil died in 2025, he had a DSUE of only $2 million to transfer. Sue chose not to file an estate tax return for Phil, assuming that she could continue to rely on Bob’s larger DSUE. However, under the Internal Revenue Service’s portability rules, the ability to use a DSUE is based solely on the identity of the most recently deceased spouse, not on whether a portability election has been made. Because Phil is now Sue’s most recently deceased spouse, she automatically loses access to Bob’s $5 million DSUE, regardless of her decision not to file a Form 706 for Phil. This outcome underscores how remarriage and the timing of a subsequent spouse’s death can inadvertently eliminate a previously secured exclusion amount, even when no action has been taken. What You Need to Know Portability is an important component of estate tax planning for married couples that is used after the first spouse passes away. However, trust planning during the married couple’s life should be used with or without portability and is still highly relevant for couples with an estate of any size. When there are children involved, especially if they are from a previous marriage or relationship, trust planning can allow the first spouse who dies to provide for the surviving spouse and maintain control over who will eventually receive the remaining balance of their estate. In addition, trust planning can protect assets from a beneficiary’s irresponsible spending, creditors, medical crises, lawsuits, and divorce proceedings, allowing the assets to remain within the family for generations to come. Trust funds can also provide for a special needs beneficiary without that beneficiary losing valuable government benefits. Actions to Consider ● Ask your estate planning team if and when you need to be concerned about estate taxes beyond the federal level of taxation. Some states have their own estate or inheritance tax, often with a lower exemption than the federal estate tax. As a result, it is possible that an estate will be subject to state taxes even though it is exempt from federal taxes. ● When your spouse dies, ask your estate planning attorney whether using portability is appropriate for you. Most married couples can benefit from portability, even if only as a preventive estate planning measure. The value of their assets may exceed an applicable exemption amount before they die. ● If your subsequent spouse is seriously ill, ask your estate planning attorney if you should use any remaining exemption amount you may have from a previous spouse to make lifetime gifts to beneficiaries. ● When your spouse dies and you want to port their unused exemption amount, be sure the estate tax return (Form 706) is prepared and timely filed by a qualified professional such as an estate planning attorney in order to elect portability. ● Ask your estate planning team about nontax trust protections such as asset protection, incapacity planning, and probate avoidance.

How to Minimize the (Voluntary) Federal Estate Tax with Portability

Posted on July 25, 2025

Most people may be surprised to learn that the federal estate tax is considered by some to be voluntary. Estate planning attorneys used to say, “You only pay if you do not plan.” The relatively recent introduction of portability provides yet another planning tool available to married couples to minimize or eliminate estate taxation. Portability allows a surviving spouse to “pocket” and save their deceased spouse’s unused exclusion amount (technically referred to as the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount, or DSUE) and add it to their own exemption. Here is how portability works.

If the taxable estate of the first spouse to die is below the then-current federal gift and estate tax exemption limit at the time of their death, or if the deceased spouse’s entire estate passes to the surviving spouse under the marital deduction, the DSUE can be transferred (or ported) to the surviving spouse. Portability requires that an estate tax return be timely filed upon the first spouse’s death. As a result of portability, the surviving spouse can use their own federal estate tax exemption amount plus the DSUE to minimize or avoid estate taxes when they pass.

The Key Takeaways

Everyone still needs lifetime estate planning to protect themselves, their families, and their assets (money and property). Estate planning is not just about tax planning—it is also about communicating your wishes to loved ones, being able to say what happens to you and your assets during your incapacity and at death, leaving a legacy, and helping avoid conflict when you are no longer around.
Failure to use both spouses’ federal estate tax exclusions may cause an unnecessarily high tax bill for high-net-worth married couples.
Portability lets married couples use both of their estate tax exclusions.
Portability is not automatic. An estate tax return must be filed after the death of the first spouse, generally within nine months.

How Portability Works

With the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, the federal estate tax exemption doubled to $10 million adjusted for inflation (in 2025, the exemption is $13.99 million). As a result, even fewer families have to worry about federal estate taxes. However, this provision of the TCJA is set to sunset on December 31, 2025. Barring intervention by Congress, the federal estate tax exemption will drop back down to the previous $5 million amount (adjusted for inflation).

Interestingly, a surviving spouse may use only the DSUE amount from their most recently deceased spouse and cannot combine or accumulate DSUE amounts from multiple prior spouses. Here is an example of the interplay between the DSUE and remarriage:

Sue was married to Bob, who passed away in 2020 with $5 million of unused federal estate tax exemption. She filed a timely Form 706 and elected portability, preserving Bob’s $5 million DSUE. A few years later, in 2024, Sue married Phil. When Phil died in 2025, he had a DSUE of only $2 million to transfer. Sue chose not to file an estate tax return for Phil, assuming that she could continue to rely on Bob’s larger DSUE.

However, under the Internal Revenue Service’s portability rules, the ability to use a DSUE is based solely on the identity of the most recently deceased spouse, not on whether a portability election has been made. Because Phil is now Sue’s most recently deceased spouse, she automatically loses access to Bob’s $5 million DSUE, regardless of her decision not to file a Form 706 for Phil.

This outcome underscores how remarriage and the timing of a subsequent spouse’s death can inadvertently eliminate a previously secured exclusion amount, even when no action has been taken.

What You Need to Know

Portability is an important component of estate tax planning for married couples that is used after the first spouse passes away. However, trust planning during the married couple’s life should be used with or without portability and is still highly relevant for couples with an estate of any size.

When there are children involved, especially if they are from a previous marriage or relationship, trust planning can allow the first spouse who dies to provide for the surviving spouse and maintain control over who will eventually receive the remaining balance of their estate.

In addition, trust planning can protect assets from a beneficiary’s irresponsible spending, creditors, medical crises, lawsuits, and divorce proceedings, allowing the assets to remain within the family for generations to come. Trust funds can also provide for a special needs beneficiary without that beneficiary losing valuable government benefits.

Actions to Consider

Ask your estate planning team if and when you need to be concerned about estate taxes beyond the federal level of taxation. Some states have their own estate or inheritance tax, often with a lower exemption than the federal estate tax. As a result, it is possible that an estate will be subject to statetaxes even though it is exempt from federal taxes.
When your spouse dies, ask your estate planning attorney whether using portability is appropriate for you. Most married couples can benefit from portability, even if only as a preventive estate planning measure. The value of their assets may exceed an applicable exemption amount before they die.
If your subsequent spouse is seriously ill, ask your estate planning attorney if you should use any remaining exemption amount you may have from a previous spouse to make lifetime gifts to beneficiaries.
When your spouse dies and you want to port their unused exemption amount, be sure the estate tax return (Form 706) is prepared and timely filed by a qualified professional such as an estate planning attorney in order to elect portability.
Ask your estate planning team about nontax trust protections such as asset protection, incapacity planning, and probate avoidance.

The Deaths of Gene Hackman and His Wife

Posted on July 24, 2025

When investigators entered the home of legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Machiko Arakawa, in a gated community outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, on February 26, 2025, they found the couple dead under mysterious circumstances.

Following their investigation, authorities pieced together a timeline of the couple’s last days, indicating that a period of about a week had passed between each of their deaths. The timing of their deaths matters not only for the criminal investigation but also for estate planning purposes, due to New Mexico’s simultaneous death rule. This rule can impact inheritance rights when spouses die close in time to each other and their estate plans do not address this scenario.

New Mexico’s Simultaneous Death Law

New Mexico’s simultaneous death law is a somewhat obscure estate law that could affect the distribution of Hackman’s and Arakawa’s estates.

Simultaneous death laws, such as the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act (USDA), enacted in 1940 and updated in 1993, were created to resolve legal uncertainties when two or more people die at the same time or close in time to each other and the order of death is unclear.

Before such laws, when two people—usually spouses—died at roughly the same time, the lack of clear evidence about who died first could lead to legal battles and inconsistent inheritance outcomes. Courts sometimes resorted to presumptions based on factors such as age or health that were arbitrary and unreliable, and assets could pass through one estate and then immediately to the next, resulting in unintended beneficiaries or excessive taxation.

The USDA created a more standardized approach and introduced a simpler standard: if two people die within 120 hours (5 days) of each other, they are treated as both dying before each other. That way, their assets pass to the next-in-line beneficiaries—not to each other—and avoid double probate.

Most states have adopted some version of the USDA. New Mexico’s version uses the 120-hour rule and presumes simultaneous death unless clear evidence proves otherwise.^[1]

Variations exist across states, including slightly different timeframes, the standards of evidence needed to prove the order of death (and override the simultaneous death presumption), and how the law applies to specific property types. The law is only a default, meaning that it may not come into play if a will, trust, or other contractual agreement, such as an insurance policy, explicitly addresses simultaneous death with a survivorship clause that extends the time period beyond 120 hours.

How the Simultaneous Death Act Could Impact the Hackman and Arakawa Estates

Based on comments from the chief medical examiner and the latest details about their deaths, Hackman and Arakawa appear to have died about a week apart—Arakawa likely around February 11 and Hackman around February 18.^[2] Assuming authorities accept this timeline, the New Mexico simultaneous death law will not apply because they were deemed to have died more than 120 hours apart. As a result, the distribution of their assets would be subject to their estate plans (if they created them) or estate intestacy laws (if they did not have estate plans). The following is an overview of how assets may be distributed in this case (1) with a valid estate plan extending the state’s default survivorship rule and (2) without an estate plan.

If Arakawa’s and Hackman’s wills included an extended survivorship provision: Reports indicate that Arakawa had a will leaving everything to Hackman. Also, it is said that her will included a survivorship clause requiring Hackman to outlive her by 90 days to inherit—overriding the standard 120-hour rule under state law. Since Hackman passed away about a week after her, he would legally be considered to have predeceased her under this 90-day survivorship rule. As a result, Arakawa’s contingent beneficiaries—reportedly various charities, as she had no children—would inherit instead of Hackman.
If they did not proactively plan to extend the survivorship period: Although it is not what happened in this case, it is worth considering how things could have played out if Arakawa and Hackman had not proactively prepared an estate plan and included extended survivorship provisions in their wills. Because Hackman survived Arakawa by more than 120 hours, he would have been considered the survivor under default state law and would have inherited Arakawa’s assets. Those assets would then become part of Hackman’s estate and be distributed according to his own will or, if none existed, under intestacy laws. In that scenario, both Arakawa’s assets and Hackman’s assets would likely pass to Hackman’s beneficiaries—presumably his three children—rather than the charities Arakawa intended to benefit if Hackman predeceased her.

Estate Planning Lessons: Timing and Details Matter

Celebrity deaths serve as a reminder of estate planning principles that may apply to ordinary individuals and situations. The circumstances of the Hackman-Arakawa deaths were unusual, but simultaneous deaths are fairly common. Simultaneous death laws apply beyond rare cases to scenarios such as car accidents, house fires, and natural disasters, and they emphasize estate planning’s universal importance.

Life is unpredictable. Estate plans must account for numerous contingencies, including the possibility of simultaneous or near-simultaneous deaths, especially among spouses or close family members. Default laws like simultaneous death statutes are meant to provide a framework when no specific planning exists. They cannot account for individual intentions or family dynamics.

Survivorship clauses are a dramatic example of how seemingly simple provisions can profoundly impact who ultimately benefits from your estate. By understanding the potential impact of simultaneous death laws and proactively incorporating tools such as survivorship clauses and contingent beneficiaries into your will or trust, you can take control of your legacy, protect your intended beneficiaries, and avoid the unintended consequences that may arise when these crucial considerations are overlooked.

Do not let fate—or the state—decide your estate plan. Make sure you have a will or trust that ensures your assets go where you want, specifies conditions and distribution timing, accounts for state laws, and is updated regularly to account for changing circumstances.

Be prepared for whatever the future holds: contact an attorney and take control of your estate plan.

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 45-2-702 (2024), https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-45/article-2/part-7/section-45-2-702/. ↩︎
Edward Segarra, Gene Hackman’s autopsy reveals no hantavirus infection, which killed wife Betsy, USA Today (Apr. 28, 2025), https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/04/28/gene-hackman-autopsy-hantavirus/83316365007. ↩︎

Your Divorce Decree: The First Step in Estate Planning

Posted on July 21, 2025

You and your spouse have recently divorced, and the judge has signed the divorce decree. Now what? Although you may feel that you have spent enough time and money on lawyers, there is one last attorney you need to talk to: an estate planning attorney. If you and your former spouse created an estate plan or named each other as beneficiary on any of your accounts or property (assets) while you were married, your divorce decree or state law may automatically revoke parts of that plan—particularly provisions naming your former spouse for decision-making roles such as executor, trustee, and agent under powers of attorney. However, not all changes happen automatically, and your former spouse could still remain a beneficiary of your trust, a joint property owner, or a named beneficiary on your assets. Additionally, appointments involving your former spouse’s family members are usually not revoked by law and may still be in effect. That is why it is necessary for you to review your estate plan with an attorney to ensure that your hard-earned money and property is distributed in a way that aligns with your new goals and life circumstances. If you have not done any planning since your divorce, now is the perfect time to get your affairs in order.

When you meet with the estate planning attorney, it is crucial that you bring all necessary documents, including a copy of your divorce decree. This document will help determine what obligations need to be included in your estate plan, what assets you now own, and how those assets are titled.

What Is in a Divorce Decree?

Support Obligations

Your divorce decree may state that your spousal or child support obligations require you to purchase life insurance to address the possibility that you pass away before fulfilling the entire obligation. If you have a child support obligation, it may be wise to designate your living trust as the beneficiary of the life insurance policy, if the terms of the divorce decree so permit. This approach would allow distributions to the minor children to be made by a trustee instead of as a lump-sum payout to your former spouse, who may not use the funds as intended.

Property Division

The divorce decree will also contain a section on the division of your marital property. It is helpful to provide this information to the estate planning attorney to present an accurate picture of your current property and financial accounts.

In addition to identifying the assets you now own, how you own them is incredibly important. Ownership of assets previously owned by you and your former spouse as joint tenants or tenants by the entirety may have changed to ownership as tenants in common under state law. This change is important to understand because, if you had passed away before your divorce, your now-former spouse would have automatically received your interest in the asset. However, if the ownership has changed to tenants in common, your interest will likely go to someone else when you pass away. If you do no planning, your interest in the asset will be transferred according to state law, which may not coincide with your wishes. It may go to your children, parents, or siblings, depending on who survives you. As part of your estate plan, you can choose who will receive your interest and how they will receive it.

What Effect Does the Divorce Decree Have on an Existing Estate Plan?

Last Will and Testament

Depending on the state in which you live, divorce can have a varying impact on your will. In some states, divorce revokes all provisions in your will that benefit your former spouse. Some state laws also revoke your former spouse’s appointment as personal representative. If you die before executing a new will, the law determines who receives your probate assets (generally your children if you have any; otherwise, your closely related family members in a predetermined order of priority). Even if gifts to your former spouse are automatically revoked by law after the divorce, gifts to your former spouse’s relatives—such as in-laws or your stepchildren—are not necessarily revoked. That is why it is essential to promptly update your estate plan to reflect any changes you wish to make.

Revocable Living Trust

As with wills, laws regarding what happens to a provision in a revocable living trust vary by state. Some state laws revoke all provisions relating to the former spouse, while others leave the trust intact. Although there may be provisions in the divorce decree that revoke all or part of your trust, it is important to review the trust documents and make any desired changes to avoid confusion. Also, in most states, gifts to your former spouse’s family under the trust may not be revoked as a result of the divorce.

Financial Power of Attorney

In some states, filing for divorce revokes the former spouse’s appointment as agent (the person who would act on your behalf) under a financial power of attorney. In other states, however, a divorce does not revoke your spouse’s ability to act as your agent. In either case, if there are any outstanding powers of attorney on file with third parties (e.g., at your bank or with a financial advisor), inform them of your divorce and provide them with a revocation or an updated power of attorney so they know that your former spouse is no longer authorized to act on your behalf.

Medical Power of Attorney

As with other estate planning documents, state laws vary as to whether your former spouse will still be able to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to make or communicate them yourself. Some states revoke the designation of your former spouse as your agent for medical matters as a result of the divorce, while others do not. In either case, it is incredibly important to keep this document up to date and to provide the updated versions to the necessary healthcare professionals.

Life Insurance

Because a life insurance policy is a contract with a third party, a divorce may have no effect on the beneficiary designations. If you named your former spouse as a beneficiary of the policy prior to your divorce, most states will not automatically revoke that designation after a divorce. Even if the designation is revoked under state law, it is important that you change the beneficiary designation so the company is on notice of your wishes and to avoid any confusion. In some cases, although the former spouse is no longer entitled to the life insurance proceeds, if the insurance company is not informed of the divorce or given an updated beneficiary designation, the benefit will be paid out to the named beneficiary (former spouse), and it will be the rightful beneficiary’s responsibility to sue and collect the proceeds from the former spouse. No matter what the applicable state law says, it is important to review and update your beneficiary designations after a divorce to avoid unnecessary drama and confusion.

Retirement Accounts

For retirement accounts governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), such as 401(k)s, beneficiary designations are not automatically revoked upon divorce. Even if state law would otherwise remove a former spouse, ERISA preempts state law. To ensure that your former spouse does not receive the benefits, you must affirmatively change the beneficiary designation unless your divorce decree requires you to keep them as the beneficiary.

You Need an Estate Plan Now More Than Ever

As a newly single person, you are now in full control of your money and property. If you do not have an estate plan in place, state law will determine what happens to your hard-earned money and property. If you already have estate planning documents in place, you need to review them now that your circumstances have changed. Even if gifts to your former spouse are revoked under state law, you need to ensure that the alternate plan built into your documents is still what you want. Call us today so we can schedule an appointment to protect your new future and those you love, and do not forget to bring the divorce decree.

Surprise! You Cannot Easily Disinherit Your Spouse

Posted on July 17, 2025

Believe it or not, it is not easy to disinherit your spouse in the United States. In many states and the District of Columbia, you cannot intentionally disinherit your spouse unless your spouse agrees to receive nothing from your estate in a prenuptial, postnuptial, or other marital agreement. However, the same is not true for other family members. Generally, you can use your estate plan to disinherit your siblings, nieces and nephews, grandchildren, and sometimes even your children.

Beware: Spousal Disinheritance Laws Vary Widely by State

Unfortunately, no one set of rules governs what a surviving spouse is entitled to inherit. Instead, the laws governing spousal inheritance rights, such as elective share and community property laws, depend on the state where you live or own property, and they vary widely. Based on state laws, the surviving spouse’s right to inherit may be based on one or more of the following factors:

how long the couple was married
whether or not children were born of the marriage
the value of what the deceased spouse solely owned
whether the surviving spouse inherited anything from the deceased spouse outside of probate court (e.g., as a designated beneficiary or joint owner)
the combined value of an augmented estate, which includes accounts and property that are subject to probate and accounts or property that were automatically transferred to a named beneficiary by operation of law (payable-on-death, transfer-on-death, or beneficiary designation form)

In Florida, a surviving spouse may choose to take an elective share, which is 30 percent of the deceased spouse’s elective estate. The elective estate includes probate assets and certain nonprobate assets, such as payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts, joint accounts, revocable trust assets, the net cash surrender value of life insurance, annuities, and retirement accounts. The decedent’s debts reduce the elective estate.

In addition, state laws vary widely regarding the time limit within which a surviving spouse can seek their inheritance rights, which can range from a few months to a few years.

Disinherited Spouses Need to Act Quickly

If your deceased spouse has attempted to disinherit you, seek legal advice as soon as possible before state law bars you from enforcing your rights. Only an experienced estate administration attorney can help you weigh all your options and protect your interests as a surviving spouse.

Estate Planning Strategies to Protect Your Spouse

Posted on July 15, 2025

You found the love of your life, and as you have built your life together, you have likely weathered your fair share of storms and grown stronger because of them. Now that you are married, you are uniquely situated to provide meaningful support for your spouse after your passing through special estate planning tools available only to legally married individuals.

Lifetime Qualified Terminable Interest Property Trust

If one spouse individually owns more money or property than the other, a lifetime qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust allows the wealthier spouse (grantor spouse) to transfer money and property into the trust for the benefit of the less wealthy spouse (beneficiary spouse). This alternative is generally better than making outright gifts to a spouse because it may provide some creditor protection. A lifetime QTIP trust can also be a valuable strategy for couples in a second or subsequent marriage. During their lifetime, the beneficiary spouse will receive the income generated by trust assets and may also access trust principal for specific purposes such as healthcare, education, or other needs as defined by the grantor spouse. This structure allows the grantor spouse to provide for their partner during life while ultimately preserving the remaining assets for the grantor spouse’s children from a prior marriage or other chosen beneficiaries.

When the beneficiary spouse dies, the remaining property in the trust is included in their estate, making use of their unused federal estate tax exemption. If the beneficiary spouse dies first, the remaining trust property can continue (subject to applicable state law) for the grantor spouse’s benefit. If the lifetime QTIP trust is properly structured, any remaining trust assets may be excluded from the grantor spouse’s estate upon their death. After both spouses have passed, the remaining trust property is distributed to the beneficiaries designated by the grantor spouse when the trust was originally created.

A lifetime QTIP trust can offer meaningful benefits, but it may have unintended effects if a marriage ends in divorce. Because the trust is irrevocable, the former spouse could remain entitled to income for life unless the trust specifically defines the beneficiary spouse as the current spouse. With thoughtful drafting and the help of an experienced estate planning attorney, you can ensure that the trust reflects your wishes even if life takes an unexpected turn.

Spousal Lifetime Access Trust

A spousal lifetime access trust (SLAT) allows the grantor spouse to gift money or property into a trust for the benefit of the beneficiary spouse, protecting the money and property from creditors and estate tax while still allowing the grantor spouse to enjoy the money or property through the beneficiary spouse. Unlike a lifetime QTIP trust, this type of trust does not require that the beneficiary spouse be given access to the trust’s income. Instead, the beneficiary spouse may be given access to income or principal during their lifetime depending on the grantor spouse’s wishes. The goal of this strategy is to use the grantor spouse’s own estate tax exemption instead of the beneficiary spouse’s. Additionally, other beneficiaries, such as children or grandchildren, can be named as current beneficiaries of the trust.

Similar to lifetime QTIP trusts, SLATs also carry divorce-related risks. If you divorce, the beneficiary spouse retains access to property in the SLAT. However, the grantor spouse likely loses access to the trust upon divorce, as their only connection to the assets was indirectly through the beneficiary spouse. Since the SLAT is irrevocable, there is no way to undo the transfer or reclaim the assets. That is why many people include provisions limiting benefits to a current spouse or add other beneficiaries, such as children, to preserve flexibility.

Note: If both spouses want to use their own exemption during their lifetimes through estate planning tools such as SLATs, special attention needs to be paid to ensure that reciprocal trusts are not drafted, which could unwind all of the planning. As experienced attorneys, we can help ensure that both spouses’ goals are met in the most tax-efficient manner.

Community Property Considerations

If you and your spouse reside in or acquire property in a community property state, it is essential to determine the ownership interests in all property included in your estate plan. If community property is going to fund one of these trusts, it may be necessary to enter into a partition agreement or other marital agreement. Because this step may change the current ownership of the property, it is critical that you work with an experienced attorney who will explain the process and results.

Portability

With the exceptionally high estate tax exemption of $13.99 million per person in 2025, you may feel that you do not need to worry about estate tax reduction strategies. However, this provision will sunset on December 31, 2025, unless Congress takes additional action. If you die in 2026 or after, there is a possibility that the estate tax exemption could be reduced back to $5 million, adjusted for inflation. Unfortunately, without a crystal ball, there is no way to know what the exemption amount will be if you die after the sunset date. However, portability is a handy tool for battling this uncertainty.

Portability allows a surviving spouse to use any unused portion of their deceased spouse’s federal estate and gift tax exclusion—known as the deceased spouse’s unused exclusion (DSUE) amount. This means that the surviving spouse can combine their own exclusion with what remains of their spouse’s, which increases the amount that the surviving spouse can transfer free of gift and estate tax. However, to take advantage of portability, a federal estate tax return (Form 706) must be timely filed (usually within nine months of the deceased spouse’s death, or longer if an extension has been granted) when the first spouse passes. Without this filing, the surviving spouse will lose the DSUE amount and will have only their own exclusion amount to use.

Note: The DSUE can be used only for your most recently deceased spouse. If you remarry, you must use the first spouse’s DSUE before your new spouse dies—otherwise, you will lose the ability to use the first spouse’s unused exclusion.

We Are Here to Help

You work every day to build a wonderful life for yourself and your family. We are here to help design a unique plan to ensure that you, your spouse, and your family will be taken care of now and upon your passing. Call us today to schedule an appointment to discuss how we can help.

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Want to Disinherit Someone? This Is What You Need to Know

Posted on July 10, 2025

Disinheritance—the intentional exclusion of a family member, usually a child or spouse, from receiving part of your estate after your death—is more common than you might think. It is also easier than you might think to disinherit a loved one, with a couple of notable exceptions. However, it is not as simple as omitting someone’s name from your estate plan.

Depending on their relationship to you and the laws in your state, some people may have legal rights to a portion of your assets (e.g., money, investment accounts, and property) when you die, unless you take specific steps to prevent them from inheriting. Even then, the decision to disinherit someone can lead to disgruntled family members and legal challenges, so the situation must be approached with care, both legally and emotionally.

Disinheritance Laws: Who You Can (and Cannot) Disinherit

You are generally—but not entirely—free to dispose of your assets at your death however you see fit. This ability to include, as well as exclude, people from your estate plan is known as testamentary freedom.

Before delving into how to disinherit someone, let’s look at who might be disinherited and the legal protections they may have against disinheritance.

Spouses

Disinheriting a spouse is often the most legally complex scenario. Spouses have significant inheritance protections, regardless of what your estate plan says. For example:

Elective share laws. In most states, a surviving spouse has the right to claim an elective share of the assets owned solely by you, thereby protecting them from total disinheritance. The amount that can be elected varies by state but may be around one-third to one-half of your separately owned property. Some states offer a larger share to surviving spouses as the length of the marriage increases.
Community property states. If you live in a community property state (such as California, Texas, or Arizona), assets acquired during marriage are typically considered jointly owned, and your spouse automatically has a right to half of the community property. Disinheriting a spouse in these states may apply only to your separate property.

These laws make completely disinheriting a spouse challenging—though not entirely out of reach. With careful planning, strategies like prenuptial or postnuptial agreements can be used to waive a spouse’s inheritance rights, even in states with elective share or community property regimes. While these approaches require thoughtful drafting and mutual consent, they offer a path for clients whose estate planning goals call for greater control over the ultimate distribution of their assets.

Children

When it comes to disinheriting your children, you have fairly broad testamentary freedom. However, children are afforded some protections under applicable state law that may prevent complete disinheritance.

Many states have statutory allowances—such as the family allowance, exempt property allowance, and homestead allowance—that serve as built-in protections for minor or dependent children (the term dependent children may even include adult children in some states and in some circumstances). These allowances ensure that, even if a child is not named in a will or trust, they are guaranteed a minimum level of support from the estate.

In addition, if a parent passes away while still owing child support—whether from a court order or a divorce settlement—that obligation typically does not vanish with their death. In most cases, the unpaid support becomes a debt of the estate and must be addressed before assets are distributed to heirs or beneficiaries. This ensures that the child’s financial needs continue to be prioritized, even after the parent’s passing.

Siblings, Parents, and Others

Siblings, parents, and more distant relatives (such as cousins or nieces and nephews) have no automatic right to inherit unless you die without a will (intestate) and these people are next in line under your state’s inheritance laws. In most cases, this only happens if you have no surviving spouse or children.

Disinheriting these individuals is relatively straightforward, since they are unlikely to have legal grounds to challenge your estate plan. Still, to deliberately keep a parent, sibling, aunt, uncle, or other extended relative from inheriting your assets, you need to explicitly and unambiguously write this into your will or trust and designate the specific individuals or charities that you do want to inherit from you.

Others Who Might Expect Something

Sometimes, the person you want to disinherit is not a family member but a close friend, business partner, or caregiver who might expect to receive something. If you have promised them an inheritance in the past (verbally or otherwise) or suggested it in passing, they might try to contest your estate plan if they are not included. Their claims are unlikely to succeed in court, but explicitly excluding them in your estate plan documents can clarify your intentions and eliminate ambiguity and potential lawsuits.

What Happens If You Do Not Have an Estate Plan?

Dying without a will or trust means that your state’s laws determine who inherits your assets. These laws, known as intestacy rules, prioritize close family members in a specific order, typically the following:

Spouse
Children
Grandchildren
Parents
Siblings
More distant relatives

Surveys consistently show that only around one-quarter of Americans have an estate plan.^[1] If you want to disinherit someone who would inherit under intestacy laws, you must have an estate plan. Absent a formal, written plan that states your intentions, the wrong person could receive a portion of your assets by default.

For example, say you are estranged from a sibling and die without a will. That sibling might inherit part of your money and property if you have no surviving spouse, children, grandchildren, or parents, even though you do not want them to inherit anything.

How to Disinherit Someone

Disinheriting someone requires a clear and unambiguous statement in your estate planning documents. Leaving their name out of your plan is not enough. The court could assume that an omitted name is unintentional and award them a share of your money and property, especially if the person is a close family member. To disinherit someone, you should take the following steps:

Make your intent explicit. Your estate plan should explicitly state that you do not want a certain individual to receive any portion of your money and property. Use straightforward language. For example:
- “I am deliberately excluding [name] from receiving any portion of my estate.”
- “I specifically direct that my son, [name], shall receive none of my property, whether real or personal.”
Identify the individual clearly. Use the full legal name of the person you wish to disinherit to avoid any confusion with individuals who may have similar names. For further clarity, you can include their relationship to you, their date of birth, and other distinguishing information, such as their city and state of residence. For example:
- “I am intentionally omitting my son, Matthew James Walker, born March 2, 1988, currently residing in Seattle, Washington, from any share of my estate. He shall take nothing under this Will.”
Keep it brief and neutral. Your estate plan is not the place to air grievances or explain your decision in detail. Most people do not realize that wills are public documents and the things they write in them live on in public view and might cause reputational harm. Even if you are trying to explain a disinheritance, making potentially false, damaging claims can expose your estate to legal risk.
- Writing something such as “I leave nothing to my daughter, Anna Smith, because she is a drug addict and a thief and has embezzled money from her employer” could expose your estate to a claim of testamentary libel—a defamatory statement made in a will that could damage someone’s reputation.
- Emotionally charged language could also inadvertently create grounds for a legal challenge based on duress or undue influence claims.
- Keep your language brief and neutral (e.g., “I make no provision for my daughter, Anna Smith, due to personal reasons known to both of us.”).
Explain your thinking in an (optional) letter. If you feel compelled to explain your decision and have not already discussed it with the person you are disinheriting, consider writing a separate letter to them. Store the letter privately and instruct that it be shared only after your passing. This is not a legally binding document and should not be attached to your will or trust. By explaining your reasons for the disinheritance, you may help reduce the chances of a family member challenging your will or trust later on—especially claims that you lacked capacity or were influenced by someone else. A clear statement of intent can go a long way toward preventing misunderstandings and minimizing the risk of litigation.

Alternatives to Disinheritance

There is anecdotal evidence that more parents are not leaving their children inheritances to avoid entitlement and promote self-reliance. Some celebrities have publicly vowed to leave their kids little or nothing, and this trend may be trickling down to ordinary Americans.

One recent survey found that just 26 percent of Americans plan or expect to leave behind an inheritance.^[2] Parents may want to spend the money on themselves in retirement, or they may be forced to spend it on healthcare and long-term care. They may also decide that their money is better spent on charitable giving, that it should go to someone who needs it more, or that they will embrace “gifting while living” and pass their hard-earned assets to their children now.

However, leaving an inheritance does not have to be all or nothing. If you are unsure about fully disinheriting someone or want to avoid potential conflict or legal challenges, consider these alternatives:

Leave a smaller or symbolic inheritance. Instead of cutting someone out entirely, leave them a small token gift, such as a few hundred dollars or a family heirloom, to signal that you thought of them and did not accidentally omit them.
Use a no-contest clause. A no-contest clause provides that anyone who challenges your will or trust loses their inheritance. You can combine this type of clause with a modest gift to discourage lawsuits since the beneficiary stands to lose something if they challenge your will or trust. Keep in mind that no-content clauses may not be recognized or enforceable under your state law.
Create a trust. A spendthrift trust can help protect a financially irresponsible beneficiary from reckless spending and shield the inheritance from creditors. Similarly, a conditional or incentive trust allows you to set goals or milestones that must be met before funds are distributed. These tools offer a thoughtful way to provide for someone you may be hesitant to give money to outright, while still protecting their long-term well-being and interests.
Add beneficiaries to accounts. Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and some types of bank accounts and deeds pass directly to your named beneficiaries (i.e., those other than the disinherited loved one) and bypass the need for a will and public probate process entirely. These distributed assets will only be known to the named beneficiary and the government for tax purposes, which could help keep the distribution private and prevent a will contest.

In addition to seeking a compromise to disinheritance where appropriate, make sure to review and update your estate plan regularly in case you have had a change of heart or circumstances.

Work with an Attorney to Avoid the Personal and Legal Challenges of Disinheritance

Disinheritance can be emotionally fraught and legally tricky. It is a deeply personal decision that should be approached with careful consideration and sound professional advice.

The law respects your right to choose how your assets are distributed. It also requires that those choices are expressed clearly and meet legal requirements. An estate planning attorney can help you draft documents that comply with state laws and anticipate challenges, include provisions to strengthen your plan, and explore options such as trusts that are harder to challenge and more private than wills. For a plan that reflects your convictions and stands up in court, schedule a meeting with us.

Victoria Lurie, 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Study, Caring (Mar. 31, 2025), https://www.caring.com/caregivers/estate-planning/wills-survey. ↩︎
As $90 Trillion “Great Wealth Transfer” Approaches, Just 1 in 4 Americans Expect to Leave an Inheritance, Nw. Mutual (Aug. 6, 2024), https://news.northwesternmutual.com/2024-08-06-As-90-Trillion-Great-Wealth-Transfer-Approaches,-Just-1-in-4-Americans-Expect-to-Leave-an-Inheritance. ↩︎

Mini couple on coins inside a wooden house frame

The Lifetime QTIP Trust

Posted on July 7, 2025

Estate planning for couples in a second or subsequent marriage can be tricky, especially if their estates are disproportionate. One solution that allows the more affluent spouse to maintain control of their property and wealth and minimize potential estate taxes—while keeping their spouse happy—is the lifetime qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust.

The Basics of Creating a Lifetime QTIP Trust

In the estate planning world, a lifetime QTIP trust is a type of trust that allows a wealthier spouse to transfer an unrestricted amount of assets (money and property) into the trust for the benefit of their less wealthy spouse, free from estate and gift taxes.

A common estate planning strategy for high-net-worth couples has been to use a QTIP trust, not while the couple is alive, but after the first spouse’s death under what is often referred to as an AB Trust structure. After the first spouse dies, the B Trust (bypass trust) is funded with an amount equal to the federal estate tax exemption (currently $13.99 million in 2025). The remaining assets are allocated to the A Trust (marital trust). The A Trust is often structured as a QTIP trust, which qualifies for the unlimited marital deduction, allowing assets to pass to the surviving spouse without triggering estate tax until their death.

But what if instead of creating and funding a QTIP trust after death, the wealthy spouse creates and funds a lifetime QTIP trust for their spouse’s benefit with tax-free gifts while the wealthy spouse is alive? Assets transferred from the wealthy spouse into the lifetime QTIP trust are considered tax-free gifts under the unlimited marital deduction, which allows qualifying spouses to transfer an unlimited amount of assets to each other during life or at death without incurring federal gift or estate tax, as long as certain requirements are met. The lifetime QTIP trust must meet the following criteria to qualify for the unlimited marital deduction:

The trust must be irrevocable.
The beneficiary spouse must be a US citizen.
The beneficiary spouse must be entitled to receive all net income from the trust at least annually during their lifetime.
The beneficiary spouse must have the right to demand that any non-income-producing property be converted into income-producing property.
Only the beneficiary spouse can benefit from the trust during their lifetime. No distributions to children or others are allowed before the beneficiary spouse’s death.
The interest granted to the beneficiary spouse cannot be terminated or diverted to someone else during the beneficiary spouse’s lifetime.
A federal gift tax return (Form 709) must be filed in a timely manner in the year of the gift to the trust.

Planning with a Lifetime QTIP Trust Offers a Multitude of Benefits

Outright gifts to your spouse during life or after death lead to total loss of control over those assets. If you and your spouse have children from prior marriages, the problem may be exacerbated by the difference in your wealth—while the wealthier spouse will be fine if the less wealthy spouse dies first, the opposite is not true. If you and your spouse are in this situation, a lifetime QTIP trust offers the following benefits:

The wealthy spouse can create and fund a lifetime QTIP trust without using any gift tax exemption.
The less wealthy spouse will receive all of the trust income during their lifetime and may be entitled to receive trust principal for limited purposes if the wealthier spouse desires.
When the less wealthy spouse dies, the assets remaining in the trust will be included in their estate, using the less wealthy spouse’s otherwise unused federal estate tax exemption.
If the less wealthy spouse dies first, the remaining trust property can continue in an asset-protected lifetime trust for the wealthy spouse’s benefit (subject to applicable state law) and, if structured properly, the remainder can be excluded from the wealthy spouse’s estate when they die.
After the less wealthy spouse dies, the balance of the trust can be designed to pass to the wealthy spouse’s children and grandchildren or other beneficiaries chosen by the wealthy spouse.

Do You and Your Spouse Need a Lifetime QTIP Trust?

Like other types of estate planning tools and strategies, lifetime QTIP trusts are not one-size-fits-all. They must be tailored to each couple’s unique goals, family dynamics, and financial situation. Please call us if you think you and your spouse could benefit from a lifetime QTIP trust. We will help you determine what will work best for your family.

Hands holding wooden blocks that spell out the word "GIVE"

5 Easy Tips to Simplify Your Charitable Giving

Posted on July 1, 2025

Will you be donating to charities this year? The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reminds us that you must itemize deductions on Schedule A of your tax return to claim a deduction for charitable gifts. The following five tips can also help ensure that your charitable gifts count.

Tip #1: Give to a qualified charity. Only gifts to a qualified charity are deductible on your income tax return. The IRS offers a handy website, the Tax Exempt Organization Search Tool, to determine whether your favorite organizations qualify. You can also deduct donations made to churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and government agencies, even if they are not listed in this database.

Tip #2: Give some cash. Gifts of money can be made by check, electronic funds transfer, credit card, or payroll deduction. To claim a monetary gift as a deduction on your tax return, you must have specific documentation, which varies based on the amount donated, such as a bank record (e.g., canceled check, bank statement, credit card statement) or written document from the charity (listing the organization’s name and the date and amount that was given). For payroll deductions, keep a copy of your pay stub(s), W-2, or other employer-provided document showing the total amount withheld, along with the pledge card listing the name of the charity.

Tip #3: Donate some stuff. You can take a tax deduction by giving away your gently used household items (e.g., furniture, furnishings, electronics, appliances, linens) and clothing as long as they are in good or new condition. If possible, to substantiate your deduction, get a receipt from the charity that includes the organization’s name, date of the contribution, and a detailed description of the donated items. If you leave the items at an unattended drop site, make a written record of the donation with the same details.

Tip #4: Give before the end of the year. Donations are deductible on your tax return in the year they are made. If you donate by check, the deduction applies in the year in which the check is mailed or postmarked. For credit card donations, the deduction applies in the year in which the charge was processed, even if you do not pay the credit card statement until the following year.

Tip #5: Keep good records. Always keep detailed records of any charitable gifts you make. Your records should include the date of the donation, a description of the item or monetary amount given, the name and address of the organization, the fair market value of the property at the time of the donation, and the method used to determine the value. You must obtain a written acknowledgment from the charity if a donation (of either cash or stuff) is valued at $250 or more. If the donation consists of an automobile, boat, or airplane, special rules apply, which can be found on the IRS website.

Have Questions About Deducting Charitable Gifts?

If you have questions about making deductible charitable donations part of your estate plan, please call us.

5 Reasons Uncle Bill May Not Make a Good Trustee

Posted on June 30, 2025

If you have created a trust that you intend to last for decades, choosing the right trustee is critical to ensuring the trust’s longevity and ultimate success.

Initially, you may think that a family member (for example, Uncle Bill to your children, who are the initial beneficiaries of your trust) will be the best choice as trustee. After all, Uncle Bill understands your children’s personalities and varying needs, and since Bill has always been frugal, he will surely keep the costs of administering the trust down. These are good reasons to possibly select a family member like Bill to serve as trustee.

However, Uncle Bill may not make a good trustee for a long-lasting trust, as he may not be equipped to handle all of the obligations on his own. He may need to hire legal, investment, and tax advisors to ensure that the trust is distributed, managed, and invested as you intended. These expenses have the potential to be the same (and, on rare occasions, more) than the fees of a professional trustee or a corporate trustee, such as a bank or trust company. Many professional and corporate trustees can meet all of the fiduciary obligations of a trustee under one roof for one comprehensive fee.

Below are five reasons you may want to consider choosing a professional or corporate trustee for your trust instead of Uncle Bill:

Professional and corporate trustees do not have a potentially disruptive personal life. A professional or corporate trustee does not become ill or die, marry or divorce, have children or grandchildren, go on vacation, move abroad, or have day-to-day distractions that could get in the way of properly administering your trust. The named professional or corporate trustee will likely be a bank or private trust company. If the person designated by the bank or trust company to act as trustee is unavailable, someone else from the bank or trust company can step in without court or beneficiary involvement.
Professional and corporate trustees are unbiased. A professional or corporate trustee will not favor one of your children over another (unless that is what you intended) and will act in an unbiased manner to make distributions that benefit both the current and remainder beneficiaries. They are not part of your family and therefore will not be tempted or swayed by unrelated drama between family members.
Professional and corporate trustees avoid conflicts of interest and self-dealing. Professional and corporate trustees will not sell the family company or vacation home (that you intended to eventually go to your grandchildren) to themselves or a friend at less than fair market value. Any sale or other transfers will be made according to the stated wishes in the trust and should not personally involve the professional corporate trustee.
Professional and corporate trustees invest appropriately. Professional and corporate trustees are typically more skilled at managing and investing assets, with access to experienced financial advisors and divestment investment strategies. For example, a professional or corporate trustee may better understand that, subject to any specific instructions in the trust, they should not invest trust assets (accounts, property, etc.) in real estate or a high-risk hedge fund but should instead diversify the portfolio to benefit both the current and remainder beneficiaries (the ones entitled to benefit from the trust after the current beneficiary).
Professional and corporate trustees have expert knowledge. A professional or corporate trustee will not need to hire a slew of attorneys and accountants to interpret the trust agreement and will keep current on changes in the laws governing trusts, fiduciaries, and taxes.

Final Considerations

From managing the current and remainder beneficiaries’ requests and expectations and providing them with periodic reports regarding trust assets, liabilities, receipts, and disbursements to prudently investing trust assets and preparing and filing all required tax forms, a trustee’s duties and responsibilities are extensive.

A professional or corporate trustee, rather than Uncle Bill, may be the best option for your trust. Please contact our office if you have any questions about selecting a trustee or using professional or corporate trustees so that we can assist you in designating the right individual or entity to serve as your trustee.