According to one California-based attorney, if you love your children, leave them with nothing when you die.
Instead, you can save your loved ones from serious financial (and legal) trouble by creating a living trust and making them beneficiaries, says Brittany, a real estate planning and asset protection attorney. Cohen says.
Do not miss it
The lawyer, who raises awareness about money management, wills and trusts on TikTok, recently went viral for her videos.
She also shares one thing to do to protect your heirs and set them up for success when you’re gone.
trust in trust
“When I die, I will leave my children with nothing,” Cohen says with a quick, hard hit.
Instead, the lawyer says he will turn everything in, including her. Life insurance An account and her bank account — a living trust, or revocable living trust, in which she named her children as beneficiaries of the trust.
a living trust Whenever possible, you can manage your assets in your own name. The term “revocable” means that the trust can be revoked or changed.
You must nominate a “successor trustee” (family member, friend, personal trustee, bank, etc.) who can take over custody of your assets in the event of mental decline or death.
One of the most common misconceptions is that you need a lot of money to set up a trust, which Cohen says is “not quite right.”
“Trust applies to the middle class, too,” she said in the caption. her TikTok videohas been viewed over 1.2 million times and received nearly 2,000 comments.
She explains why in another clip.
“The question you need to ask yourself is, what kind of experience do I want the people I love to go through to become owners of the assets I want to transfer?”
Transfer assets wisely
The California-based attorney says he never adds his child’s name to the deed of primary residence as a way to avoid probate.
She explains why in another video. If your property has been valued, your property will be revalued on that date and you may need to pay more property taxes.
read more: ‘Have money’: Jeff Bezos says you may want to reconsider buying ‘a new car, refrigerator, or whatever’ — Here are 3 better recession-proof buys
Also, if you die and your child eventually wants to sell your home, a step up that the value of your property will be adjusted from an initial cost basis to the current market value after your death. Lose base options.
“After your death, you’re going to make them pay more capital gains taxes than they would have had had they inherited the property,” says Cohen.
Cohen added that he would never add a child’s name to his home to avoid Medicaid recovery.
If a Medicaid beneficiary dies, the value of their property, including property; savingsagain retirement Account — can be used to pay off debts before transferring the rest of the assets to the heirs.
To avoid confusion, Cohen says he will put his home in a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (designed to protect assets from Medicaid eligibility) and name his children as beneficiaries of that trust.
Avoid probate
The crux of the matter is that Cohen ‘will never forgive’ [her] Children go through probate court. ”
Of all the financial matters related to death, the most costly and most difficult for many families is the probate process, which validates wills and administers the deceased’s estate.
Cohen describes probate court as “the process of filing a lawsuit against yourself with your own money for the benefit of your creditors.”
Instead, setting up a living trust that circumvents probate court means her family won’t have to “spend unnecessary time, energy and money in court to own the property I want to inherit,” she says. says.
if you Never mind your loved one’s experience after your deaththen trust may not be for you, Cohen points out.
“It’s about whether they want to have to go to court or whether they want to lay it all out very easily so they can take ownership.”
Even with the best of intentions, figuring this out on your own can be difficult. financial planner Who will protect your assets and help guide your loved ones to success.
what to read next
This article is for information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
