On May 17, 7:07 am, "Woss" <w...[at]frtrerd.co.za> wrote:
- quote -

I'm afraid that it will take quite some time to create and fund a
trust. First, the document has to be written, signed, and notarized.
Second, all of the assets must be transferred to the trust. The trust
affects only the property that it owns, so if you write the trust but
don't transfer your bank accounts, investment accounts, cars, home,
etc etc etc to the trust, then it won't do you any good. You'll also
want to consider how having a trust might affect beneficiary
declarations on IRAs and insurance policies. While the documents might
be prepared in, say, a few days, transferring the property will take
some time. You'll probably will have to request forms, then fill them
out and submit appropriate documentation.

Dave

On Thu, 17 May 2007 07:07:36 -0500, "Woss" <wmarr[at]frtrerd.co.zawrote:

- quote -

There's not enough here to advise you, but if all you wish is to avoid
probate and have the surviving spouse get everything:

1. There's probably not enough time to draft and fund a revocable
living trust. Plus cost is a factor.

2. Anything with a beneficiary designation (life insurance, IRA, 401k,
etc.) avoids probate and goes directly and immediately to the
beneficiary. So double check your beneficiary designations with the
company/custodian and get a Change of Beneficiary form filled out if
the designations are not current.

3. For financial accounts (banks, brokerage, etc.) either change the
ownership to Joint With Rights of Survivorship (JWROS) or include a
POD (payable on death) clause to the account registration. This works
like a beneficiary designation and avoids probate. No cost. Call the
bank/brokerage/mutual fund for how-tos. Can be done fairly quickly.

4. As for house, if it is not already titled as JWROS (do not confuse
this with other joint designations), nothing needs to be done.
Otherwise, go to the deeds section of the county courthouse (where
property located) and change the title to either JWROS or 100% to
spouse. Call county for how-tos.

Not a complete list and not a complete discussion.


-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC

is it possible to create a trust or another document, last moment before travel, in
order to make changes to a will or to avoid probate (should something happen during
the travel) ?

situation: assume there exists a will, despite not being updated in 20+ years, a legal
will does exist
if one of the spouses is taking a high-risk destination trip, what is the easiest and
fastest way to create a document (trust?) that will ensure no probate, should
something happen during the travel?

the goal with all this is of course to protect the common assets of the spouses, IRA's
and savings accounts, et al