Once you sign over the deed, your loved one is the legal owner of the property. You have no legal claim to the property from that point on.

If your loved one wishes, he or she can use the property as collateral for a loan. If he or she defaults on the loan, for any reason, the lender may foreclose on the home and sell it.

The home could be attached to a debt or judgment owed by your loved one.

The home could become part of the division of property in a divorce.

If your loved one dies before you, and does not leave behind a Last Will and Testament, the state laws of intestate succession will determine who receives the home and it will not likely be you if there is a surviving spouse and/or children.

Gift taxes may apply to the transfer of the home.

LTCI is intended to cover the cost of long-term care. Just as any other insurance policy, if the conditions are met for coverage to apply, then the policy should cover the costs of your care. Unfortunately, not all policies are equal. Furthermore, not all companies are reliable. The elderly are often targeted for fraud or simply taken advantage of by people looking to make a fast buck. Because of this, you must be very careful when you purchase a LTCI policy.

Pay particular attention to the history of the company offering the insurance. Look for one who has a good rating and has been in business for ten years or more if possible. Also pay close attention to the conditions that must be met before coverage will kick in. Always have your estate planning attorney review a policy before you commit to purchasing the insurance. Finally, make sure that not only can you afford the premiums now, but that you will be able to continue to pay them after you retire. If you follow these simple guidelines, you should be able to find a LTCI policy that is right for you.

• Don’t assume that you are required to treat each child the same. This does not mean you can’t treat them as equals.
• Do consider the strengths and weaknesses of each child when creating your plan.
• Do be honest with yourself when you evaluate each child.
• Do choose the best person for the job. If you are deciding who should be the executor of your Last Will and Testament, for example, pick the person who is best qualified, has the time and is willing to serve.
• Don’t feel like you have to create “co” positions, such as co-trustee, just to be fair. In reality, this often simply complicated the administration of your estate or a trust you have created.
• Don’t hesitate to create a trust if you have a child who has a history of drug/alcohol abuse, is heavily in debt or is disabled. Not doing so is not in their best interest or yours.
• Do consider the needs of each child. If one child needs your home more than another, it is fine to give him or her the home. Just give the other child the equivalent in cash.

The communication should not stop there however. There are cases when family members wind up disagreeing among one another after a loved one passes away with regard to who winds up with certain possessions. While it is true that you can elucidate your wishes in your estate planning documents, people sometimes do this in a general way that leaves openings for disagreements to arise. You may also leave certain things to one family member who really doesn’t have any particular attachment to them not knowing that one or more of them mean a great deal to a different family member.

This is a more modest type of dispute, but as we all know there is such a thing as an estate challenge. This can leave behind an absolutely acrimonious relationship among people that you love.

The suggestion here is to get together with your family members and have an open and honest discussion. You can let them know of your intentions and listen to their feedback. They will invariably discuss things among themselves as well. Ideally, the entirety of the family can all walk away from the discussion feeling comfortable with the result and when you pass away everyone will be on the same page.

There are those who shy away from talking about subjects such as these, but in the end a little bit of honest communication can go a long way toward solidifying a resonant family dynamic that will persist after you are gone.

One thing to consider when you are contemplating gift giving is the fact that there is a gift tax in place. The estate tax and the gift tax are unified, and there is a $5 million unified exclusion that can be used to give gifts in a tax-free manner. But, if you were to give $5 million in gifts during your lifetime using this exclusion the entirety of your estate would be subject to the estate tax. So giving gifts using this lifetime exclusion is not going to provide you with any estate tax efficiency.

However, the lifetime exclusion is not the only gift tax exemption. Each individual is entitled to give as much as $13,000 to any number of recipients each year as a tax-free gift. Since this is a per person exemption a married couple could give as much as $26,000 tax-free.

So if you want to bestow a gift on your daughter and her husband both you and your spouse could give each of them $26,000 every year, equaling a total annual tax-free transfer of $52,000. If you were to give these gifts over a number of years you could wind up transferring a significant sum of money without incurring any tax liability. And while you are doing so you would be reducing the value of your estate and mitigating your eventual estate tax exposure.

A pet trust works in much the same way as any other trust, except that the beneficiary is an animal instead of a person or entity. You, as the trustor, or grantor, of the trust must designate assets to fund the trust. The value of the assets you choose to place in the trust is up to you; however, you should carefully consider the cost of caring for your pet and your pet’s life expectancy when deciding the amount of money or assets to place in the trust.

The other important consideration when creating a pet trust is who you wish to be the trustee. The trustee is ultimately responsible for overseeing the trust and distributing the trust assets to the pet’s caregiver. While the trustee can be the same person who you choose to have the actual day to day care of the pet, it does not have to be the same person. You can, for example, appoint an attorney or bank to be the trustee while leaving the actual care of the pet to a family member or loved one. The trustee will then distribute the assets as directed in your trust for the care and maintenance of your pet for the life of the pet. If there are assets remaining upon the death of your pet, the terms of the trust will dictate who receives those assets.

How you feel emotionally about combining your finances with your new spouse can only be decided by you after careful thought; however, there are some practical and legal considerations that you should take into consideration regardless of how you feel emotionally about the concept.

State laws differ; however, in Missouri and many other states, once you mingle an asset, such as inheritance funds, with your new spouse it becomes marital property. If you wish certain assets to be earmarked for your children from a previous relationship, then you may wish to keep them separate from any marital assets. By the same token, family heirlooms or other specific assets that you wish to go directly to your existing children should be clearly marked as such in your Legacy Plan as part of your Trust or your Last Will and Testament.

On the other hand, if you wish for your new spouse to have immediate access to assets or funds in the event of your death, either for his or her own support, or to support any future children the two of you have, you may wish to convert accounts to joint accounts or payable on death accounts or even better, a trust. Simply bequeathing assets to your spouse in your Will does not allow immediate access in most cases as the assets will have to wait until the probate process is completed for distribution.

The purpose of a life insurance policy is to provide financial support to your family in the event of your death in most cases.

If you are young, and have nothing else to leave behind to support your family, then term life insurance may be a good option.

Once you begin to acquire other assets and build an investment portfolio, you should always reconsider your life insurance policy to decide if it is still cost-efficient.

Term life insurance does not build a cash value. There are other types of life insurance that do build a cash reserve, but they are typically much more expensive.

One plus to life insurance is that it will pay out to the beneficiaries immediately after death instead of having to pass through probate first. For this reason, some people choose to retain a small life insurance policy just to cover immediate expenses.

Life insurance as an investment strategy is risky. Conventional whole life policies do not pay at a high rate of return. Variations of the traditional whole life may offer higher returns, but at a higher risk as well.

A SNT is a special kind of trust that allows you a legal mechanism to provide supplemental assistance beyond that which is provided by government funded programs. When a properly drafted SNT is used, your child will not be disqualified for government funded assistance programs based on the assets held by the trust.

Along with very specific language that must be used to create a SNT, there are a number of very complicated rules that go along with this type of trust such as exactly what the trust is allowed to pay for, who may benefit from an SNT, and who may create one. If you think that a SNT may benefit your child, consult with your estate planning attorney as soon as possible.

Sometimes, in an inter-vivo trust, the trustor, or grantor, of the trust is also the trustee. “Inter-vivo” simply means that the trust is created and becomes active while you, as the grantor, are still alive. A trust which does not take effect until your death is referred to as a “testamentary” trust. Even if you appoint yourself to be the trustee in an inter-vivo trust, you may appoint a successor trustee to serve in the event of your death. Understanding the role of a trustee will help you to decide who to appoint as your trustee.

A trustee has a duty of loyalty and impartiality to all the beneficiaries of the trust. Among other things, this means the trustee must keep all beneficiaries informed of trust business as well as treat all beneficiaries equally. A trustee must honor and adhere to the terms of the trust regardless of any personal opinions the trustee may have regarding the terms.

The trustee is also responsible for preserving, protecting and investing the trust assets. A trustee must report to all beneficiaries on a regular basis and account for the trust assets. Trust assets are also often invested in order to grow the trust. The trustee must invest the assets prudently and make all reasonable attempts to produce income from the investments.

A tax return must also be filed each year for the trust as well as expenses paid that are incurred by the trust. Income that the trust earns each year is also frequently distributed to the beneficiaries by the trustee. Finally, the principle assets of the trust must be distributed to the beneficiaries according to the terms of the trust, or when ordered by a court.