1. Have you prepared a will or a trust?                   

Without proactive planning, you are relying on the state legislature to determine how your assets pass, to whom they pass, and when they pass.  In addition to having potentially undesired results, this is perhaps the most costly and time consuming means of passing your assets to your loved ones.

2. If you have done a will or trust, has it been reviewed in the last two years? 

If you bought a new house or had a new child you need to update your estate plan to reflect these changes so that your will and/or trust includes what you own and who the beneficiaries will be.

Even assuming that there have been no family or financial changes since your plan was last reviewed, there have been multiple and significant tax law changes since 2001 and 2017.  Keeping your plan current is vital to achieving the goals you set out to accomplish.

3. Have you moved to Oregon from another state?

States have different laws about marital property (community property state v. common law state), or who can serve as the executor of your estate (whether an out-of-state resident can serve or if additional requirements are imposed for an out-of-state executor), or whether advance medical directives and powers of attorney from another state will be accepted, etc., are considerations that should be reviewed by you and an Oregon attorney to make sure that your estate plan is fully functional or needs some tinkering.

4. Are all of your heirs over the age of 21 and financially responsible?                    

Proper planning is crucial to prevent an heir from squandering his or her inheritance, or worse, from causing harm to himself or herself.

5. Are you absolutely certain that your assets will not be subject to probate?            

We encourage you to make a list of each asset you own and identify how each asset is going to avoid probate.  Assets owned as “joint tenants with rights of survivorship,” assets owned in the name of a trust, and assets that pass by beneficiary designation (such as IRAs, life insurance, etc.) will avoid probate.  Everything else is subject to probate.  (Also, note that assets owned jointly are typically subject to probate upon the death of the last joint tenant.)  Probates can be costly and typically require twelve (12) to eighteen (18) months from the date of death to conclude.

6. Do you have assets titled jointly with a child or children, or someone else?         

Holding assets jointly with someone other than a spouse is quite common, but has some potentially devastating consequences of which most people are unaware.  A creditor of a joint tenant can take the entire asset to satisfy the creditor’s claim.  A creditor would include a divorcing spouse, judgment creditor, or business creditor.  Additionally, problems can be created if joint tenants die in the wrong order.

7. Does your current plan provide your heirs with asset protection, divorce protection, and lawsuit protection?                                

The most common means of providing for heirs is with outright distributions.  By doing so, however, the inheritance becomes subject to the creditors of your heirs.

8. Is this your first marriage?      

Second or subsequent marriages present unique planning issues, particularly if both spouses have children from a prior marriage.  Proper planning is critical to prevent undesired results.

9. Are you recently divorced?

After marital property is divided in a divorce, you may need to change the beneficiaries, trustees, executors listed in your estate plan, and update your assets in your trust and living will.

If any of these scenarios apply to you, you should make an appointment with TLC to speak to an attorney about your estate plan.