Las Vegas Estate Planning Law Blog

Growing up, you may have had a loved one that was always buying new items. You did not think too much about his or her financial situation as it was well known that your family member was wealthy. This person may have even been a parent of yours, and you may have reaped the benefits of that wealth.

Now that your loved one has passed, you face the challenge of completing the probate process as the executor. Hopefully, you will have a working knowledge of your loved one's financial situation, but unfortunately, you could end up in a situation where you learn that your family member had a considerable amount of debt. In fact, so much debt could exist that the estate is insolvent.

A trust beneficiary is allowed to receive a copy of the trust document that he or she is named in. This is true in Nevada and most other states. At a minimum, the beneficiary is entitled to receive information pertaining to his or her inheritance contained within that document. The first step in resolving a trust dispute is for the beneficiary to contact the trustee about the problem.

In some cases, the issue could be nothing more than a misunderstanding. For instance, the beneficiary could have read the document wrong or misread a key term within it. Those who have specific concerns about terms of a trust not being met should schedule a meeting with the trustee. If that fails to remedy the problem, it may be a good idea to speak with an attorney. However, it is generally in the interest of all interested parties to avoid going to court.

Nevada residents who want to develop a successful estate plan should make sure that the plan efficiently transfers their wealth to their heirs while reducing any taxes that may be assessed. One particular legal device that can help accomplish this is an irrevocable trust.

When an irrevocable trust is used, the assets transferred into the trust are removed from the estate of the grantor. Many people who use an irrevocable trust in their estate plan believe that it will help protect the assets intended for their heirs, as use of the trust require that the grantor gives up complete control of the assets placed into the trust. However, it is important that grantors understand the effectiveness of the trust in situations in which a beneficiary may be financially irresponsible or gets a divorce.

Parents in Nevada and throughout the country may want to leave money to their children for educational purposes. Generally speaking, this is best done by creating a trust. Individuals can choose between a pot trust or creating a separate document for each child. With a pot trust, all the beneficiaries will request money from one lump sum until there is no more money left. However, this could mean that one child gets more than his or her siblings.

There may also be issues with a pot trust if siblings are significantly younger than each other. When the youngest child is old enough to go to college, there may little or no money left to cover his or her educational expenses. By creating separate trusts, there is a set amount of money that is available to each child. However, this may not necessarily leave enough to cover the entire cost of a child's college education.