Law Office Of Angela Harvey. ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET Revocable Living Trust (CHECK ONE)

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1 Law Office Of Angela Harvey Today s Date: WILL ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET Revocable Living Trust (CHECK ONE) SECTION A. - GENERAL INFORMATION Your (Date of Birth) (Social Security Number) 1. Name: D.O.B.: SSN: 2. Spouse: D.O.B.: SSN: 3. Your Address: 4. City: 5. County: State: Zip: 6. Telephone Number: ( ) Married, Single, Divorced, Widowed? 7. Date married? (MM/DD/YY) 8. Have you or your spouse ever been divorced or widowed? No Yes, you Yes, spouse SECTION B. EXECUTOR / TRUSTEE INFORMATION 1. Executor or Successor Trustee(s) ( in order, or jointly) (Name and address of the person you want to be responsible for distributing your property upon your death. List alternates in order.). If married and you want your spouse to be the primary Executor write spouse in section a. a. Name:_Phone: Address: City, State, Zip: _Relation to you: b. Name: _Phone: Address: City, State, Zip: _Relation to you: c. Name: _ Phone: Address: City, State, Zip: _Relation to you: d. Name: Phone: Address: City, State, Zip: _Relation to you: ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET PAGE 1

2 SECTION C. -CHILDREN & BENEFICIARIES 1. Name, date of birth and address of ALL Children of this Marriage: Name: D.O.B.: Address, City, State, Zip 3. Beneficiaries of Estate: (Persons to whom do you want to leave your estate) Name: Percentage.: Does this beneficiary have any special needs or circumstances of estate such as incapacity, disability, drug or alcohol dependence, etc.? Any special directions regarding their distribution? In the event that any of the above listed beneficiaries should predecease you do you want their portion of the estate to be distributed to: that beneficiary s children or divided among the surviving beneficiaries? (Select one) 4. Contingent Beneficiaries: In the event, although unlikely, that all of your beneficiaries listed in #3 above should predecease you leaving no children, to whom do you want your estate distributed: Heirs at law Other (such as Charity, person, entity: 5. Omitted Beneficiaries: List any children or heirs to be specifically omitted as beneficiaries of your estate: Name: Name: ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET PAGE 2

3 SECTION D. - FIDUCIARIES 1. Durable Power of Attorney (General): (If different from Successor Trustees) List here the person you want to make business decisions for you should you become incapacitated and unable to make financial decisions for yourself. CLIENT SPOUSE Alternate: Alternate: 2. Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions (if different from Successor Trustees): List here the person you want to make healthcare decisions for you should you become incapacitated. CLIENT SPOUSE Alternate: Alternate: 3. Guardian Designation for Minor Children if different from Executor previously listed: Name: Address: SECTION E. - FINANCIAL INFORMATION 1. Estimated Value of Your Gross Estate: $. See assets worksheet attached to calculate this value. 2. Total number of parcels of realty that you or your spouse own. SECTION F. - SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS or CONCERNS ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET PAGE 3

4 Client Name: Date: ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET Enter the approximate value of the below listed asset. HIS (Husband) HERS (Wife) JOINT REAL ESTATE Present Home $ $ $ Vacation Home $ $ $ Other Real Estate $ $ $ Other Real Estate $ $ $ Other Real Estate $ $ $ VEHICLES Cars $ $ $ Boats $ $ $ Motor Home $ $ $ INVESTMENTS Money Market / CD $ $ $ Stocks / Bonds $ $ $ IRA / Pension / Keogh $ $ $ Mutual Funds $ $ $ Other $ $ $ CASH ACCOUNTS Average Checking $ $ $ Savings $ $ $ Broker Account $ $ $ INSURANCE Life $ $ $ Annuities $ $ $ Burial Plan $ $ $ MISCELLANEOUS Household Interest $ $ $ Collectable Loans $ $ $ Other $ $ $ INCOME: Social Security $ Per $ Per $ month month Retirement / Pension $ $ $ Employment: $ $ $ Other / Per month $ $ $ NOTES: ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET PAGE 4

5 Law Office of Angela Harvey Law Office of Angela Harvey 4758 Benbrook Blvd. Fort Worth, Texas Phone: Fax: January 1, 2015 re: Estate Planning Documents Dear Estate Planning Client, Pursuant to your request enclosed please find an Estate Planning Worksheet. Please complete the worksheet and return it to my office via fax or mail. Upon receipt I will call you to discuss your information and your estate planning wishes and to schedule a date to execute the documents. As an alternative I can travel to meet with you in your home or office for an additional fee. My fee for a Will estate planning package for a single adult is $450. My fee for a Will estate planning package for a married couple is $800. This includes the following documents for both spouses: Will, Power of Attorney for Healthcare, Power of Attorney for Financial Decisions, Declaration of Guardian of Minor Children, Declaration of Guardian for self and Donation documents if requested. Please let me know if you have a child or beneficiary with special needs as additional estate planning may be necessary to protect this beneficiary. Remember, that every will, to have effect, must be probated upon the death of the Testator. The Probate process in Texas is relatively simple, but it does involve additional time, expense and at least one court appearance. Many individuals are utilizing Revocable Living Trusts to avoid this additional administration. If you are interested in executing a Revocable Living Trust instead of a Will for your estate you may use this same worksheet. Simply indicate that you want a trust or a will on the top of page one. A Living Trust can provide additional benefits such as avoiding probate and ease of estate settlement for client with more than one parcel of realty. The creation and funding of the trust is more complex than a will and as such the fee for an Estate Plan with Revocable Living Trust is $2800. I look forward to working with you in your estate planning needs. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. With pleasure, Angela Harvey State Bar No.: ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET PAGE 5

6 WHAT IS A REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST? A Revocable Trust (also referred to as a Living Trust or Revocable Living Trust), has all the benefits of a Will, but contains few of a Will's disadvantages. One needs to think of a trust as a separate legal entity, a corporation, for example. Like a corporation, you place assets into the trust, and like the majority shareholder of a corporation, you, while alive and of sound mind, control the assets in the trust. A trust can be nothing more than a savings account with some money in it, or it could be homes, cars, boats, stocks, bonds, and jewelry. You as the original maker of the trust are referred to as 'Maker,' 'Grantor,' or 'Settlor,' meaning, the one who "created" the trust. For ease of reading, we shall use the term Maker throughout this writing. When you die or become incapacitated, your successor trustee, someone you choose to manage your assets and affairs in your absence, takes over the trust for either your benefit (if you are incapacitated) or, upon your death, for the benefit of your children or other named beneficiaries. Upon your death your successor trustee acts just like an Executor would, under a Will, but without having to seek court approval and court costs. Your Revocable Trust can easily structure payouts to children and other beneficiaries, either holding the distribution until certain ages (i.e. one-half at age 25 and the other half at age 30), or providing for payouts over the lifetime. The successor trustee(s) must follow your wishes, and you control the distribution of your assets. Because you have this 'control,' you are capable of avoiding problems associated with giving immature children large sums of money. Meaning, under a Will, if you simply say, "I leave my entire estate to my only daughter, Mary Sue," and you die when Mary Sue is 10, Mary Sue will receive your entire estate upon turning the age of 18. Now this might be fine if the entire estate is only $20,000 or $30,000, but would it be appropriate if the estate was $80,000 or more? Revocable Trusts allow you to make within them, other trusts. These 'new trusts' would be managed by your named successor trustee for the benefit of the persons for whom they were created. So, in the case of Mary Sue, if she were to receive $80,000 upon your death, a Revocable Trust allows you to structure the payout of the $80,000 to Mary Sue (i.e. one-half at age 25 and the other half at age 30). Some will argue that Wills can do the same thing, and this is true, again however a will requires the probate. Therefore, most people prepare Revocable Trusts to avoid the probate process and the probate costs. People with extremely large estates (generally, married couple with one million or greater) create them for other more complex reasons including estate tax, but by-in-large, probate avoidance is cited as the most common reason for selecting the Revocable Trust, regardless of your estate size. Under the law, assets which are owned by a Revocable Trust are NOT subject to the probate system upon your death. What few people realize that they can encounter the ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET PAGE 6

7 probate process before death if they were to become incapacitated. In the event you become incapacitated, and you did not have the proper documents prepared, you would need to go through a guardianship. This is a formal process, requiring at least one court appearance before a judge. Absent the proper documents, only a judge has the authority to appoint someone to act on your behalf and manage your affairs. In fact, most nursing homes will not accept residents without a court order or the powers of attorney included in the Revocable Trust package. Therefore, a Revocable Trust potentially avoids two court encounters. With a Revocable Trust, you and your spouse, acting as the trustees of your own trust, can easily act for each other in the event one of you becomes disabled or incompetent, and is further capable of assuming this role without obtaining court approval. A Revocable Trust if funded and maintained, can save a family a great deal of money, and reduce the often times stressful, public nature, costs and delay filled court process. A child (provided over the age of 18), trusted friend, or other relative can serve as your successor trustee if you are unmarried or if your spouse for some reason, cannot serve. They can act in this capacity without obtaining any court approval. Generally, the only time a court would or could get involved is when someone would allege that the successor trustee was not doing what they are supposed to do. Finally, while the upfront cost and time consuming nature of setting up the Revocable Trust is often greater than with a Will, in the end, the savings, in terms of both money and time; make the initial investment more than worthwhile. Compared to a will, the main advantages of a revocable living trust are: You avoid the probate process. The probate process will require at least one hearing before the judge, sometimes more. Also you will be required to post notice in the newspaper, complete and inventory and appraisal of estate assets and possibly annual accountings. You avoid the probate costs. The current average cost for probating a will is $2500 per person, or $5000 for a married couple. The costs will increase each year. With a properly funded trust, you will not have additional costs. Privacy. When a will goes through probate, it becomes a public document. Living trusts seldom become matters for public review. Living trusts allow you to pre-select someone to take over the role of trustee if you (as grantor/trustee) become incapacitated. (If you have a Will drafted, the Statutory Durable Power of Attorney accomplishes the same goal.) You can avoid the ancillary administration problems that may arise if you own real estate or other property located outside the State of Texas ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET PAGE 7