Standalone trust in its very first page is clearly established to meet the requirements of a designated beneficiary trust, it’s much easier for a custodian to read, understand and implement it. When these designated beneficiary trust provisions are buried inside a larger living trust, it often winds up with the custodian delegating their decision to their legal department which can hold up the process of implementing the trust in a timely manner.
By having a standalone trust, it alerts the beneficiaries to the fact that IRAs have special treatment and makes it less likely that the beneficiaries (including a beneficiary that may be serving as Trustee) will immediately go to the custodian and cash out the IRA or take other actions that may have adverse tax consequences. When we do our IRA Inheritance Trust®, it comes with a checklist of actions for the Trustee and beneficiary to follow, in order to avoid these types of inadvertent mistakes.
To learn more or get started on your estate plan, just schedule a time to visit us for a no obligation complimentary consultation.
Probate is a court procedure which transfers property the deceased owned into the hands of his/her descendants or beneficiaries.
Probate has two functions, it gets creditors paid and it gets property owned by the deceased retitled to the land of the living. It also gives relatives and friends the opportunity to bring suits against those who claim your property.
Probate can take anywhere from 6-18 months, it varies depending on the size and complication of the estate.
If the deceased person had a will, the probate process is still required and involves the court validating that will. In the old days when someone died, you would have to get someone else to say “Oh yes! That is John Smith’s signature”. This is not how it works now, if you have two witnesses and a notary it is presumed to be valid. After the court verifies the will, the person’s assets are then transferred to his/her beneficiaries.
If the deceased person had a revocable living trust in place and placed his/her assets into the trust, the assets will not have to go through the probate process and will be disbursed by the trustee according to the instructions of the trust, not under the law of the state of Maryland.
