1. Want to be a Positive Parent? : Click Here
    Dismiss Notice

Discussing Finances And Wills With Young Adult Children

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous in Parenting' started by Laks09, Jan 20, 2021.

  1. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    12,481
    Likes Received:
    30,224
    Trophy Points:
    540
    Gender:
    Female
    I thought the idea of getting an RLT was to avoid probate? So, why the learning about the probate process? Or, do you mean learn about the steps that the will's executor and RLT's successor trustee have to follow to do their duties?
     
  2. Hopikrishnan

    Hopikrishnan Platinum IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,258
    Likes Received:
    1,325
    Trophy Points:
    283
    Gender:
    Male
    Yes. only wills go through probate court process. RLT transfers property with an out-of-court process. That is why I started with "Parents should also learn about the will probate process...."
    ^^^ yes, this. Whatever parents have set up, they need to look at the steps and know what it would mean for the survivors.

    Quite often there is the confusion about "Estate" and "Probate". Whether wealth comes to heir via RLT or Will(&probate ==> local or foreign), or some other by-pass route(joint a/c, ToD), they are all part of the "Estate".
     
    Laks09 and Rihana like this.
  3. Laks09

    Laks09 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,682
    Likes Received:
    11,157
    Trophy Points:
    440
    Gender:
    Female

    DH said this too.

    I may get print outs of account information and keep in such a place. Thanks for the suggestion

    So my DD stalks me. She is constantly asking me questions like "What were you doing in Downtown today", "Why did you drive at such and such a speed" etc. Today she calls me to tell me she is NOT GOING to spend time to do all that in that book you ordered. If I order this book also, she may worry that I got some bad news from the Dr.
    I have to start a separate thread titled "Help my DD is constantly checking on me via Life360 and amazon purchase history".

    It's a work in progress, I've realized. Making a start itself has given me a good feeling.

    That's what I plan to keep around as emergency cash. That's a good idea!

    I may do this and keep the debit card in the fire safe. I thought a little about it and DH also agrees.



    I suddenly had this memory of my Mom taking me to the pooja room and showing me the secret hiding place when I was around 20. I completely forgot about it until I read about your pooja room will!
    I also looked at our wills and guess what? It's time to update it :)



    I checked on nolo and realized the process is different in TX. Regardless, because of the special needs, I will be asking the attorney a ton of questions again. She's probably still recovering from the hour long cross questioning I put her through last time.

    I did come to the same conclusion. No point in stressing out about multiple variables.

    I have to make such a space now!
     
  4. EverydayBloom

    EverydayBloom Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    264
    Likes Received:
    395
    Trophy Points:
    130
    Gender:
    Female
    Hi @Laks09 thank you so much once again for starting this thread each reply posted by Hopi and Rihana are worth re-reading it multiple times to process everything!!!

    To your question about excel, I list all the saving accounts, investment accounts with numbers and have multiple tabs for Networth, Mortgage tracker and so on without having account# or passwords which I share between us (spouse an myself) for now and planning to give access to my elder one once he turns 13. And I have all the passwords in a document which I saved in our closet along with our Immigration papers. I am yet to let him know where it is though.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2021
    Rihana, nuss and Laks09 like this.
  5. EverydayBloom

    EverydayBloom Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    264
    Likes Received:
    395
    Trophy Points:
    130
    Gender:
    Female
    This is great idea of having young adult on one of the checking/saving account where they can access emergency fund, thanks for sharing @Rihana . We usually have 6months worth EF (contracting jobs you see ;)) which covers all-inclusive expenses.
     
    nuss and Laks09 like this.
  6. Laks09

    Laks09 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,682
    Likes Received:
    11,157
    Trophy Points:
    440
    Gender:
    Female
    When do YA’s start filing taxes? My friend started paying the kid a wage and gave her a w-2 to start making her file taxes. Is all that necessary? With the small internship one summer, her income wasn’t enough to file taxes so we never did. Last summer I thought about it but thanks to covid there hasn’t been any working.

    Thought of starting a new thread but this is a one off question
     
    nuss likes this.
  7. Laks09

    Laks09 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,682
    Likes Received:
    11,157
    Trophy Points:
    440
    Gender:
    Female
    This is a good idea. I have something similar that I can spruce up for the kid.
     
    nuss and EverydayBloom like this.
  8. nuss

    nuss Platinum IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,551
    Likes Received:
    2,970
    Trophy Points:
    283
    Gender:
    Female
    @Laks09 thank you for starting this wonderful thread. Thank you @Hopikrishnan and @Rihana for sharing the wisdom.

    I will be reading and re-reading this thread to get ideas and plan.

    For now, we do a mix of things! DH keeps all his passwords in a journal that we both have access to. I manage finances/ budget. I do this old school- I have a budget notebook where I keep details of Networth, amounts in different bank accounts, CDs etc. He keeps excel sheet for mortgage and enters all the numbers that I provide him on a quarterly basis.
    We keep important documents in a waterproof, fire safe box which also contains all financial information and $2000 cash. I figured that it is a good idea to have some cash in case of an emergency (life in an area known for wildfires).

    I trust my parents in-law and brother in law will be able to help kids navigate life after us. They all live on the east coast/ mid west but I am sure if something happens to us, they will be here right away to help the kids.
    My oldest is 8, a little too young to understand complex finances. But he does know where the documents are and where my journal is. I have started talking to him about finances since last year in very basic terms. He knows that they both have college fund accounts and we save every month for them. He knows the debit pin and I have been making him withdraw cash from ATM every month. I don’t think I can provide more information to an 8 year old. We have wonderful friends (God parents) in town who will gladly take care of the kids and keep them safe until family arrives.
     
    EverydayBloom, Laks09 and Rihana like this.
  9. nuss

    nuss Platinum IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,551
    Likes Received:
    2,970
    Trophy Points:
    283
    Gender:
    Female
    DH said he filed taxes when he worked at a restaurant and state highway starting at 15 years old.
     
    Laks09 likes this.
  10. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    12,481
    Likes Received:
    30,224
    Trophy Points:
    540
    Gender:
    Female
    From the little that I read up:
    - parents can claim their full-time college student child as a dependent if the parent is providing more than half of their financial needs
    - 18-24 year old adults are required to file returns only if the income in the year was around $12,000 or more
    - 18-24 year old adults can file returns even if they earn less than $12,000 in the year. Parents can claim child as dependent even if child files returns independently.

    Whether or not to claim a young adult as a dependent varies based on the family's other deductions etc. Turbo tax etc will tell which is beneficial to us.

    What is the financial benefit of a 19 year old filing tax returns if she is making less than $12,000 per year, I am not sure.
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2021
    Laks09 likes this.

Share This Page