On The Beat 9/15/20 - Crowell Gillis & Cooper, PLLC

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Published on September 15, 2020 -

On The Beat 9/15/20 - Crowell Gillis & Cooper, PLLC

Today on On The Beat, Bill Gillis and Elizabeth Jones from Crowell Gillis & Cooper joins Troy to tell us all about options for disposition of property.


On The Beat 9/15/20 - Crowell Gillis & Cooper, PLLC

Here in a way because i do ... troy thompson: welcome to on the beat, everyone.

I'm troy thompson.

Joining me in the studio today is bill gillis and elizabeth jones from crowell gillis & cooper, and today, we're talking all about options for disposition of property.

Welcome back to the show both of you.

Nice to see you.

Troy thompson: we asked our clients and our viewers to send us in questions because we feel it's really important that we get their questions to ask you and put you in the hot seat.

Are you ready for this?

William gillis: i'm ready.

Troy thompson: this is a good one to begin with.

Can i go ahead and leave gifts to my family members now instead of in a will to make sure my assets go to the intended recipients?

Any advantages or disadvantages?

William gillis: well, typically, the advantage to making lifetime gifts is estate tax saving.

Troy thompson: right.

William gillis: and with the exemption being 11 and a half million dollars per individual now, it's not as important as it used to be.

But you can make gifts.

You can set up trusts to take care of family members, children, educational trusts, but the main consideration there, troy, is that you need to make sure that you're not giving away to your own detriment by starting that plan.

Troy thompson: oh, i agree on that.

And before i jump to my next question, i'm going to have a question on the question.

Is it something you need to speak to your financial planner about and work in cahoots with you?

William gillis: indeed.

Troy thompson: yeah.

William gillis: i think, and i always advise a team concept.

Troy thompson: yeah.

William gillis: you should consult with your attorney, your accountant, and your financial advisor to make sure that what you're doing is, in fact, in your best interest.

Troy thompson: yeah, i personally thought that in my mind.

What about joint ownerships?

What are the benefits and risks?

Interesting.

Elizabeth jones: joint ownerships, such as real property, a vehicle, or bank account is when you have someone named as a joint owner, say with the right of survivorship.

And that means upon your death, that property will automatically pass to the co-owner.

This won't be a part of your will, and the will won't override that designation, and that can be convenient.

However, with some things like bank accounts, there's some risk in that when you name someone a joint owner, at that moment, that other owner has the right to say, "come clean out the bank account."

They have that full authority to remove all the assets, so you have to be careful.

Troy thompson: what about if i took on a partner in a home that i wanted to build, and we went 50-50, but neither one of us had put something in a will.

If i passed away, would the whole property automatically go to that person?

Elizabeth jones: if it was titled joint tenants with right of survivorship, it would.

It would automatically go, not to your family.

It would go to the joint owner.

Troy thompson: okay.

It's, again, you've got to think of all these things.

What about beneficiary designations, such as my retirement account and life insurance policy?

How does this fit into my estate planning?

William gillis: it's a very important consideration for several reasons.

As elizabeth just said, jointly held property, beneficiary designations are a contractual obligation between the parties.

The will does not change that.

Troy thompson: right.

William gillis: so if i'm wanting to use life insurance to fund something for a family member, and i don't have that designated in the policy, but i state it in the will, the will is of no effect.

Troy thompson: right.

William gillis: retirement account's the same way.

There's a beneficiary designation.

An important consideration there are income tax consequences of who the beneficiary is.

So again, you should consult with your financial advisor, your attorney, your accountant to make sure that not only does your beneficiary designation comply with your estate plan, but that you're not creating adverse tax consequences for your family members.

Troy thompson: okay.

Interesting question here.

Can i name my minor child as a beneficiary or secondary beneficiary of my life insurance policy or retirement account?

Elizabeth jones: well, that's a great question, and you definitely can.

Troy thompson: really?

Elizabeth jones: typically someone would want to name their spouse, say, if you're married with children, as the primary life insurance designee, for example.

But then you still could name your children as a secondary.

However, you would want to title it a little bit different.

You'd want to set up a trust within your last will and testament, and then with your, say your life insurance policy, you would name the children as the beneficiaries under the trust.

You would actually name the trust as the beneficiary under your last will and testament.

That way the trustee would have authority when to distribute that property.

Troy thompson: thank you so much.

As always, great information.

We really appreciate it.

Troy thompson: if you want to find out more, there it all is up on the screen everyone.

Crowell gillis & cooper.

For all your estate planning and will needs.

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