01 June

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Duties of the Trustees of Your Revocable Trust

By Libby Banks, The Law Office of Libby Banks, PLLC Clients often ask how they can prevent loved ones from being the victims of fraud and abuse. For an answer, I turned to Kent Berk, with Berk Law Group, P.C. in Scottsdale, Arizona. For most of our clients, their estate plan centers on the Revocable Living Trust. When establishing your Trust, one of the most important decisions is who will be your successor Trustee. During your lifetime and while you have mental capacity, you serve as the Trustee. If you are incapacitated, or upon your death, your Trust appoints a successor trustee...

15 May

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Protecting Ourselves and Loved Ones from Financial Abuse

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning, Protective Trusts

By Libby Banks, The Law Office of Libby Banks, PLLC Clients often ask how they can prevent loved ones from being the victims of fraud and abuse. For an answer, I turned to Kent Berk, with Berk Law Group, P.C. in Scottsdale, Arizona. Kent’s firm assists clients who have suffered financial or physical abuse by pursuing claims for financial exploitation, physical abuse and/or neglect, or establishing guardianship and conservatorship. Learn more about Berk Law Group here: https://berklawgroup.com/ Here is my Q & A with Kent: Libby: Kent, scams often target seniors. They receive a call that their grandson needs money, or engage online with...

01 May

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Do You Need To Plan Now for Trustee Succession?

Posted by Libby Banks

in Wills & Trusts

By Libby Banks, The Law Office of Libby Banks, PLLC For many clients who have trusts, a big concern is the smooth transition to a successor trustee. There are ways to ease that transition. Consider Carefully What a Successor Needs to Take Over as Your Trustee A successor trustee may need to step in during your lifetime, should you become incapacitated. One way to streamline the process is to simplify how your successor trustee can start assisting you. Requiring just one physician’s opinion that you are incapacitated will mean a quicker transition than requiring multiple physicians or more elaborate proof that you cannot...

21 May

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Beware the $599 Living Trust!

Posted by Libby Banks

in Wills & Trusts

male and female signing estate planning contract

If you are like me, you are receiving mail and seeing signs advertising Revocable Living Trusts at steep discounts. Caveat Emptor - Let the Buyer Beware! We see these plans in our office. Clients sometimes come in with worries that what was done isn’t quite what they requested. Most often, they are right. Once we review the plan, it isn’t what they want to have happen with their estate. In one particularly egregious case, there were no beneficiaries listed. Often, the purpose of this low-ball offer isn’t to give you a good estate plan, but to sell you an annuity or other...

21 December

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Home Title Theft and Trust Planning

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning, Wills & Trusts

By Libby Banks, the Law Office of Libby Banks, PLLC The news is often filled with stories about fraud. One of the areas of current concern I often hear about is title theft. What is title theft? It can take many different forms. Someone might fraudulently refinance your home to steal your equity, pocketing your hard-earned money. Similarly, they may access the equity with a home equity line of credit. They may even forge a deed and sell your property to an unsuspecting buyer, leaving both of you in a legal and financial mess. If you are in the process of...

26 October

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A Personal Look at the Estate Planning Journey

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning, Wills & Trusts

The past year was amazing for my family. Two notable highlights are starting a new job with the Law Office of Libby Banks and my wife and I welcoming our first child in July. As I reflect on the need to update my Trust to plan for our new baby, I look back at my original experience creating an estate plan with Libby and why I joined her firm as an associate attorney. When I first thought about estate planning for myself and my wife, I realized I did not know much more than what I learned in law school. I...

29 August

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Asset Protection for Your Heirs

Posted by Libby Banks

in Asset Protection, Avoid Probate, Estate Planning, Protective Trusts, Revocable Living Trust, Wills & Trusts

I am often asked whether the revocable living trust we use as the cornerstone of our estate plans provides asset protection – protection from the creditors of the person creating the trust. The answer is no. While the revocable trust is a great estate planning and probate avoidance tool, it is not an asset protection trust. When you create this trust, you still have full control over the assets in the trust. Because of this, the law recognizes that they are your assets, and your creditors can get to them in the same way as if they were in your...

08 August

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Estate Planning – Who Needs It?

Posted by Libby Banks

in Asset Protection, Avoid Probate, Estate Planning, Power Of Attorney, Revocable Living Trust, Wills & Trusts

Who Needs Estate Planning? Many people, when they hear the words “estate planning,” don’t think it applies to them. “I don’t have an estate to plan!” they may say. I think this comes about from the use of the word “estate.” The word is often used to refer to the mansions and real estate holdings of the rich and famous. But the definition of an estate is “all of the things that a person owns.” In other words, your estate is the sum of your stuff: your home, your bank accounts, your stocks and bonds, your retirement account, your cars and boat, and...

01 November

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Different Trusts Meet Different Needs in Your Estate Plan

Posted by Libby Banks

in Asset Protection, Avoid Probate, Estate Planning, Pet Trusts, Revocable Living Trust, Wills & Trusts

There are a number of different types of trusts we use when doing an estate plan. Here is a bit of information about a few of the most common trusts. The Revocable Living Trust The primary trust we use in estate planning is the Revocable Living Trust (“RLT”). It is the foundation of most estate plans and has many benefits. It contains instructions for managing the assets in the trust during your life, upon your death, and if you become incapacitated. The RLT will also avoid the need for a probate court proceeding on your death. You can select the person(s) who...

02 October

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Asset Protection for Your Heirs

Posted by Libby Banks

in Asset Protection, Revocable Living Trust, Wills & Trusts

I was asked recently by a client whether the revocable living trust we were creating for him would protect his assets from his creditors. The answer is no. While the revocable trust is a great estate planning and probate avoidance tool, it is not an asset protection trust. Because you still have full control over the assets in your revocable living trust, the law recognizes that they are your assets, and your creditors can get to them in the same way as if they were in your personal name and not in your trust. I went on to tell him that while...