RE: living trust, will, and advance directives

[Robert <http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert>]

 > From: ", Flora" <http://www.vermont.gov/~Flora.>
 > Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2017 20:04:37 +0000
 >
 > By the way, I watched another episode of Finding Your Roots. The topic was 
 > immigration - the suffering and discrimination people experienced before and 
 > after immigrating. It made me think of my own history and how very fortunate 
 > and lucky I am due to the sacrifices and risks my ancestors made.

No doubt.

More replies below.

 > Read my comments below.
 > 
 > -----Original Message-----
 > From: Robert [http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert] 
 > Sent: Monday, November 6, 2017 2:31 PM
 > 
 >  > I'm thinking you want to financially plan.
 > You mean, for retirement?
 > 
 > Flora: well, actually, I was thinking on the lines of making sure you 
 > inheritors receive as great a benefit as possible with few if any hardships in 
 > receiving their inheritance. I'm actually not sure how it works. You talk about 
 > a trust. I don't know enough about trusts to even comment on them.

Trusts accomplish a few things:

 1) They keep the inheritance process as much out of the courts as
    possible.  (The goal is to avoid probate, which brings in the courts
    and gets very time consuming, frustrating, and complex.)
 2) Avoids some taxes.  I think these are mostly state taxes (Ca
    has a very onerous system).  Not sure about  or Vermont or
    Ma.
 3) Debts are kept confined to the trust.  (See answer below.)

 > I know this 
 > is how Tim's family set up their properties on the lake in . In their 
 > situation, I think it may get kind of messy in the long term. Someone has to 
 > maintain those properties. What if someone want to get out of maintaining the 
 > properties?

If they set up the trust correctly, there will need to be a negotiation
and compromise -- probably money for time or time for money.

 > Can the others buy out their share?

If there are multiple trustees, then they have to negotiate a final
agreement.  It's sort of like escrow -- all parties have to agree before
the moneys are dispersed.

 >  > Do you know
 >  > if a deceased person's debts are paid by their living relatives?
 > They usually are -- usually the closest living relative.
 > 
 > Flora: for some reason, I thought debts were forgiven at death. I guess I was 
 > wrong.
 > 
 > So, control your spending! :-)
 > 
 > Flora: yeah, you don't want to put that on whomever is left. That wouldn't be 
 > fair or right.

>From what I understand from our attorney, this can be a non-problem.  The
trust is a single entity from which debts are paid up to or until there is
nothing left in the trust.  And ,again, from what I understand from the
attorney, although creditors can bring suit, only the trust is involved --
none of the heirs are involved.