Money & Law

Trustees manage assets on a trust. Successor trustees do the same sorts of things that an executor of an estate does, but for a trust. Sometimes it's the same person. Legacy Estate Planning attorney Steve Waltar joins Suzanne to talk more about living trusts, and this segment focuses on trustees.

Legacy Estate Planning attorney Steve Waltar joins Suzanne to talk more about living trusts. This segment focuses on who does what when trusts are created and managed.

You want to have documents to protect your wishes, making sure that you leave a legacy behind for your loved ones, and if you become incapacitated — if you need help in your later life, if you're unable to speak for yourself — there is legal proof that honors your wishes. Legacy Estate Planning attorney Steve Waltar joins Suzanne to talk about the value of trusts.

This segment focuses on how various legal documents work together as part of your estate planning to make sure you're taken care of if anything happens that makes you incapacitated. Andrea Lee from Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to talk about the pieces of a person's legal puzzle.

Incapacity planning is a broad area of law that covers how you are cared for if you become physically or mentally unable to care for yourself. Andrea Lee from Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to talk about issues individuals and families face in regards to incapacity. The type of care could range from simple tasks like buying groceries, paying bills, and handling financial matters to more important decisions such as selling real estate, gifting assets to your children, or making critical medical decisions. Incapacity planning could include a number of techniques such as Property Powers of Attorney, Health Care Powers of Attorney, Living Wills or Advance Health Care Directives or Guardianships/Conservatorships. It is also important to have appropriate HIPAA authorization forms in place.

Probate is a court process to retitle assets. Probate is designed to create a “final accounting” upon death. It is the legal process of “proving up” a will, or verifying that a will is valid, takes place in one of two instances. First, if a person dies leaving behind a will, or second, if the deceased has died intestate, that is, has not left behind a will or estate plan of any type or the will cannot be found. Estate planning attorney Steve Waltar with Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to give us a primer on probate.

Although Joint Tenancy offers some short-term conveniences, in the long run it poses a host of problems that can cost you and your loved ones many times the expense and headaches you thought you were avoiding. Estate planning attorney Steve Waltar with Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to talk about the difficulties of using joint tenancy while trying to plan your estate.

If you don't file estate planning documents, your state will do it for you, perhaps not the way you expect. Estate planning attorney Steve Waltar with Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to talk about various options available when planning your estate, what happens when you list beneficiaries, generally how wills work, living wills, living trusts, and Medicaid planning.

Estate planning attorney Steve Waltar with Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to talk about having an estate plan. Families run into gotcha moments where they discover a loved one hasn't files certain documents, or haven't made plans, and are left to second guess what they want. In this segment, Steve introduces the concept of estate planning and different types. Most people don't want it to be a curse, but a blessing, and it's about protecting yourself during your lifetime. Make sure your wishes are honored they way you want to be honored.

Estate planning expert David T. Phillips explains how proper gifting will not only give the giver fulfillment during their life, it can produce generations of powerful, productive people. He also shows you how to leverage your annual gifts to the max.