Estate Planning

A pet trust is legal technique available to make sure your pet receives proper care after you die by providing enough money to a trusted person (the "Trustee") who will be under legal obligation to make arrangements to use the money left in Trust for the proper care of your pet according to your instructions.

The trustee can be a seperate person, or entity, but may also be the caregiver. The assets in Trust will pay for your pet’s expenses.

There are two primary types of pet trusts.

The first is called a “statutory pet trust,” and is

Often clients will take their own estate planning steps to avoid probate by using various bank account registration tools. The "In Trust For", "Payable on Death", "Transfer on Death" type accounts are variations for achieving the same goal: Avoiding probate by directing payment of the balance on the account to designated persons. By using these type accounts individuals can try to avoid probate without the costs of establishing a Revocable Living Trust, and save the resources that would otherwise be used to wrap-up an estate.

These account types may be well and good for some folks...but what about the family home, or vacation home or timeshare? How does one go about avoiding probate when all bank/financial accounts will avoid need for probate, but in addition to bank accounts,there is real estate owned?

Changing the bank accounts into POD, ITF or naming death benficiaries of insurance and annuity contracts can work well for financial accounts...if the family home remains in the individual decedents name, there is no avoiding probate for that asset.

An alternative to a full blown, and more expensive Revocable Living Trust, an abbreviated type of Real Estate Trust is available. The purpose of the Real Estate Trust is to simply

Legal Zoom is one of the most prominent sellers of do-it-yourself Wills and other estate planning documents.

If a simple Will costs you $125 (as my office charges) and online legal document purveyor Legal Zoom charges $90 for the same document, is the $35 difference in savings always worth choosing the less expensive of the two?

The heirs of Anthony Farrentino would probably not think so.

Legal Zoom is now the target of a class action lawsuit in California charging that the company engages in deceptive business practices and is practicing law without a license. The lawsuit was filed in California by Katherine Webster, the niece of the late Anthony J. Ferrantino, and the executor of his estate.

Knowing that he had only a few months to live, Mr. Ferrantino
asked Webster to help him use LegalZoom to execute a Will and Living Trust. Based on LegalZoom's advertising, Webster says

When one believes his or her estate is in jeopardy because of an imminent prospect of placement in a long-term care nursing facility, improvident decisions are often made out of fear, or upon erroneous, but well intentioned advice. The costs of nursing home placement can be devastating to any estate, costing between $60,000 to $90,000 per year. So there is reason for concern,

A recent case in Ohio illustrates the dangers of gifting upon

Yes. And No. It depends on what you are trying to protect your assets from.

Does a Revocable Trust protect my estate against taxes? Not necessarily.

First, there are no South Carolina Estate taxes. Federal Estate Taxes are imposed only on larger estates (in 2009 that amount was $3,500,000. Congress will soon decide on a new level of estate taxation)(article amended 3/11/10). Estate taxes are a concern for a relative small segment of population (less than 1%) and only high net worth individuals need to engage in trust tax planning. It is unlikely that the average resident needs such "asset protection" from estate taxes. But married couples can, if they elect to do so, use specialized Living Trusts to shelter large amounts from taxes. But, A Revocable Living Trust is not

This is the most frequently asked estate planning questions I'm asked. Understandable, since so many clients in the area are from other states.

The standard answer sounds easy, but is not as simple as it seems.

The basic rule is: If a Will would be legal and valid in the state where it was signed, it is valid in SC. So, for the most part, just because you move to SC from another state you do NOT need another Will prepared.

But here's the rub...in order to know whether an out-of-state

There is no doubt that the REVOCABLE Living Trust (RLT) has wide ranging popularity in South Carolina.  The probate process can be onerous and expensive, and a REVOCABLE Living Trust is oftentimes (not ALL the time) the best way to avoid the probate process. But there is another type of trust that can provide the benefit of probate avoidance, and add an extra layer of protection to your assets- The IRREVOCABLE INCOME TRUST.

The best way to understand the IRREVOCABLE TRUST is to compare it against the REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST (RLT).

A frequent request from clients is “Can you please add my children to my Deed”.

Of course having updated and professionally prepared estate planning documents is important.  As important, and often overlooked, is choosing the right place to keep your signed Will located.   With Attorney- Some clients believe that keeping a Will in the drafting attorney’s office is required, or, is always the best location. This is not necessarily true. An attorney may offer to safekeep your Will but it is not required.  If the attorney does keep the original Will, a copy ought to be provided to the client. Attorneys (like clients) move, retire, and pass away unexpectedly. This can make tracking down a Will very difficult.                                                                 Read More Below

Lesson:  For Attorney- ask your clients about their health

               For client- tell your estate planning attorney about your health. 

The Supreme Court of South Carolina ruled that an attorney's failure to draft a will and arrange for its execution before a client's death does not give prospective beneficiaries of the will a cause of action for legal malpractice. Rydde v. Morris (S.C., No. 26619, March 23, 2009).