What are the critical decisions you make in a Will?
It fairly standard for people to say you need to do Oklahoma estate planning that covers your property and protects your family. I have discussed some of the reason for this on this blog. However, I thought it might be helpful to list a few of the specific things you can accomplish in a Last Will and Testament or a Trust:
1. Determine who gets your property and in what proportions.
2. Choose the person who will take care of your estate and make sure everything is handled like the Will or Trust states.
3. Nominate people to be the guardians of your minor children.
4. Give specific items of personal property to very the person or people to whom you want them to go.
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If you want to know more about estate planning and the documents used to do it, you can check out my Estate Planning Section.
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myths
My goal in this series of post is to challenge some of the myths about Oklahoma Estate Planning. Hopefully, these posts give you some ideas on things you need to do or be thinking about.
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myths: A will covers disposition of all your assets
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myths: Having a Will avoids Oklahoma probate
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myth: If I have a Trust, I do not need a Will.
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myths: If I die without a will, all my assets go to the government.
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myths: I can do my own estate plan
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myths: Estate Planning is only for the wealthy
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myths: I am too young for an estate plan
What is Oklahoma probate?
Oklahoma probate is the process of a court administering the estate of someone who dies to determine:
1. What property the person owned.
2. What debts the person had.
3. Who is entitled to receive the property.
Probate can happen even if you have a Last Will and Testament or a Living Trust. One of the most important elements in determining whether an estate will need to be probated is property: is there property that can’t be transferred without an order from a court? Typically, this is real property, although it may also be mineral interests, bank accounts or investment accounts as well. There are some ways to avoid probate even after a person dies, I listed some of them in this post.
Ultimately, in a probate case, the court enters an order that transfers the property owned by the person who died to the people who are entitled to receive it. A probate is either done with a Last Will and Testament or without one (known as an “intestate”). If there is a Will, the Court usually orders the property distributed according to the Will. If there is no Will, then the court uses the Oklahoma intestate statutes.
Why privacy is a highly underrated feature of a living trust
One of the most underrated benefits of a living trust is privacy. Typically, doing Oklahoma estate planning with a living trust is associated with avoiding probate, saving on taxes, organizing your estate and providing protection for the people you pass your estate to. But it is privacy which rarely gets attention that provides some excellent benefits.
How is privacy part of the trust process? To understand this you must understand what happens if a person dies with no living trust. If a person passes away owning real property, investment accounts or mineral interest usually that person’s errors must file a probate proceeding to access the property.
Oklahoma probate is a public process. You file a lawsuit in the County Court in which the deceased person lived and all of the documents filed in the lawsuit are publicly available. Not only are the documents publicly available, but with current technology most of the documents can be accessed from any Internet enabled computer. That means anyone can view the documents that are part of the probate case including the last will and testament which often contains personal details and other private family matters.
You avoid probate by ensuring that all of your property is held by a living trust. If the property is held by the trust, there is no need to have a probate proceeding when someone passes away because the owner remains the same: the living trust. Your heirs have immediate and continuous access to all the property and no reason to make all of the details of the family public in an Oklahoma probate case. The process of administering a living trust is private nothing needs to be filed publicly like with a probate.
Matters that were intended to be private continue to stay private.
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myths: A will covers disposition of all your assets
MYTH: A will covers disposition of all your assets.
FACT: A will only covers property titled in your name alone at your time of death. Property such as jointly held assets, retirement plans, and life insurance will pass to the surviving owner or designated beneficiary.
In planning, be certain that you have the property that will not pass under your Last Will and Testament set up to go where you want it to go.
For other information on estate planning, including a podcast called “Estate Planning Demystified” check out my Oklahoma Estate Planning page.
This material was adapted from the firm Tellie Coleman, attorneys at law. Tellie & Coleman has an excellent website with some great resource material.
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myths: Having a Will avoids Oklahoma probate
MYTH: Having a will avoids probate.
FACT: An Oklahoma probate court determines how your estate will be distributed. Probate proceedings must take place to transfer ownership of real estate, to appoint a guardian for minor children, and to appoint an administrator. If the will is valid and uncontested, the court monitors administration of the will to ensure the decedent’s wishes are followed accurately and in a timely fashion. There is some cost involved, but not a tremendous amount.
A living trust, if properly executed and funded, is the Oklahoma estate planning tool that could help you avoid probate.
For other information on estate planning, including a podcast called “Estate Planning Demystified” check out my Oklahoma Estate Planning page.
This material was adapted from the firm Tellie Coleman, attorneys at law. Tellie & Coleman has an excellent website with some great resource material.
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myth: If I have a Trust, I do not need a Will.
MYTH: If I have a Trust, I do not need a Will.
FACT: Usually when you have a living trust you will also have a last will and testament which is often known as a pour-over will. The purpose of this will is to send any property that has not been transferred to your trust at the time you pass away to the trust. The living trust is still the primary document that controls your estate and disposes of your property. The pour-over will is a safety net that simply provides that all of your property goes to your living trust.
If you have a fully functional last will and testament, you probably will not have a living trust. In this case, the last will and testament will actually determine where your property goes, nominate guardians for your minor children and address other issues related to death in the transfer of property.
For other information on estate planning, including a podcast called “Estate Planning Demystified” check out my Oklahoma Estate Planning page.
This material was adapted from the firm Tellie Coleman, attorneys at law. Tellie & Coleman has an excellent website with some great resource material.
Oklahoma Estate Planning Myths: I can do my own estate plan
MYTH: I can do my own estate plan.
FACT: I wouldn’t advise it and I give a compelling example of why in this post.
Many do-it-yourself software programs (many found online) allow you to create your own documents. However, estate planning is more than just creating a form document. You cannot create an effective document without understanding how it will work at the time it is needed most. Trusts drafted and administered through internet forms are a leading cause of trust and probate litigation. Money spent securing good documents now will save your family a significant amount of money in the future. Finally, every family should work to develop a long term relationship with a local attorney. You never know when you may need legal services of one kind or another and your family attorney can frequently help you or can refer you to another reputable attorney.
For other information on estate planning, including a podcast called “Estate Planning Demystified” check out my Oklahoma Estate Planning page.
This material was adapted from the firm Tellie Coleman, attorneys at law. Tellie & Coleman has an excellent website with some great resource material.
The video explanation of Oklahoma Estate Planning Tools
Here is an index of all the posts that were recently published in my series entitled “Oklahoma Estate Planning Tools.” The point of this series was to take each tool (usually a document) and explain it in simple terms, with a bit of detail. If you are interested in knowing more, please check out the posts which are all listed below. If you like what you see, I would appreciate you sharing this material with people you know through Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin etc. . . Thank you.
Oklahoma Estate Planning tools: The Living Trust
Oklahoma Estate Planning tools: the Last Will and Testament
Oklahoma Estate Planning tools: The Durable Power of Attorney
Oklahoma Estate Planning tools: The Living Will
Oklahoma Estate Planning Tools – what you need to know
I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about Oklahoma Estate Planning and trying to explain it in ways that are easy for everyone to understand. One way I did this was through my podcast series “Estate Planning Demystified“.
Another way is through a series of posts that were recently published entitled “Oklahoma Estate Planning Tools.” The point of this series was to take each tool (usually a document) and explain it in simple terms, with a bit of detail. If you are interested in knowing more, please check out the posts which are all listed below. If you like what you see, I would appreciate you sharing this material with people you know through Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin etc. . . Thank you.
Oklahoma Estate Planning tools: The Living Trust
Oklahoma Estate Planning tools: the Last Will and Testament
Oklahoma Estate Planning tools: The Durable Power of Attorney
Oklahoma Estate Planning tools: The Living Will
