Discussing Finances And Wills With Young Adult Children

You are gung-ho!! I must point out that for those who had done some basic will thing, and carrying on laaa-di-dah.... it isn't bad at all. Each day, week and month they procrastinate examining their real situation (should the tragic thing happen), their children are growing older, and hopefully more confident, and savvier.

Parents who give their kids any and all transactional experiences with the world would be doing the right thing to prepare them to manage the complex life the world would give them eventually, as well as to become guardians of the couple of old people who begot, and raised them.

I saw this in some other thread, and thought that is a good way for those never-to-return NRI's to spend down foreign money assets:

We may also use the rupees to send some(body esle's) children to school or college.

 

Many of the steps involved are catch-22 or chicken and egg. The spreadsheet thing is useful even when all is fine and all are alive and kicking. So, there might be some ways people store their assets and investments info in a spreadsheet. Maybe a separate thread for ideas. : ) : ) With no passwords and account numbers in the spreadsheet, I think Google drive is safe enough.

The passwords and account numbers kind of information goes in a "fire & water proof home safe" kind of place. The Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To book has ideas on how to store the passwords and related info safely.

I am a long way from done with regards to all this. A long long way.

 

I was thinking that a small amount like $300 or so should do. I am sure that my friends would readily give $2-$5K to my kids if needed. And there is Western Union always...

The "money readily available for immediate days and few weeks after" - something like $15-30 K but not too readily available to the young adult when parents are around: I looked at some options, none seem viable.

1. Have a joint account with the young adult and one parent as owners, keep the $15-30K in it. I wouldn't get family approval to let such money lie around. : )

2. Add the young adult to our joint checking account where we keep the money to pay for monthly bills - I think this will give the young adult access to accounts linked to the checking account, such as brokerage accounts. Disabling that access will make our regular transactions a hassle.

 

I fetched the will/trust docs from the "pooja room" : ) and glanced at them over the weekend. : )

I think the content of the final documents will not vary much between $200 online versus $2000 attorney options. For example, if my friend has very similar requirements as mine, she can easily take my will/RLT pdf's and plug in their names and assets information in the will and RLT documents, get it notarized for $40-50 and all done.

The benefit of an attorney comes in the questions they answer. And, as you can see by this thread, so many questions come up in the process. The attorney will give you a questionnaire to fill out. When filling this out, the email back and forth and the 30 min calls once or twice is what we are paying for. They also alert us to some things that we might miss. Just one example, I wanted to name one non-profit as the recipient of a fixed amount in the will. The attorney understood my main goal - make the process as easy as possible for very young adult kids handling the unforeseen mostly alone. She said to do all the charity donations in retirement accounts and explained the kind of problems that can arise if we specify charitable donations in a will.

I have a close friend named as RLT successor trustee and will executor after my kids. I wanted to will to this friend a dollar amount other than the "usual compensation for executor/trustee work hours" that she can claim from the assets. The attorney explained why this is a bad idea.

The attorney also helped with some end of life decision powers. We had slightly different preferences and she helped us phrase those correctly. She also dissuaded us from requiring both children to approve "take off life support" decision. I believe in that case both the children have to be present in person or a judge has to approve etc. One child cannot approve the decision from remote.

Oh the one big thing we wanted the attorney to do was putting the house in the trust. That paperwork is actually not rocket science. But, even a small mistake or a distracted county clerk can cause the house to get registered as a "transfer to oneself" at its current market value. LOL. : ) Getting that undone would be a nightmare or impossible.

Many employers provide legal help plans that pay for a will and trust creation. This package includes the will, RLT, medical power of attorney, end of life decisions such as do not prolong life. If paying the $2000-$3500 out of pocket and not having an inquisitive mind, I would say the online option is good enough. But personally speaking, I would spend the $3500 for the peace of mind.

 

From what I understand, the Revocable Living Trust is only "funded" when the parents are alive. It is not "active." When one or both parents pass away, the trust comes alive or into effect. At that point it becomes irrevocable and binding.

In CA, if the house value is more than $165K, the easiest way to avoid probate is to put it in a RLT. Every few years, depending on the props passed, it becomes temporarily possible to specify a transfer of ownership on death, but these laws keep changing. So, for a house worth more than $165K, an RLT is a must.

From the little that I read, TX allows for a house to go to children without probate.

All this gets so confusing. Add to that whether one's state is a community property state.

Anyway, I looked at all options, and a will and RLT with the surviving spouse receiving everything seemed the easiest. If both spouses gone, children receive it in equal percentages or it can be made based on their ages or couple of other criteria.

Leaving Everything To Spouse In Will : )

 

This thread should be preserved for easy access.
Documents in puja nook/room is very typical. The tiny red envelopes with press button flap closures holding the safety deposit box keys behind the Lakshmi idol. Keep document copies at home, so that you may look at it now and then.

 

.... what a trouble this inquisitive mind is !! RFLOL.
This is an excellent post about paying for an attorney or doing will/trust from some online boilerplate format, and then getting it notarized.
Every state is different in USA, and an estate lawyer for that specific state would be very helpful in creating will/trust document.

Parents should also learn about the will probate process steps in that specific state where they reside. To get an idea of the length of time, the things that happen (with the view to make it easier for the children/executor), and the cost. Some states have statutory legal fees based on the value of the total estate*, and some others let lawyers charge the usual (flat, hourly or contingency). *This would almost always count-in the RLT part of the estate, and all foreign stuff as well.