wills Archives - Jim A Lyon Law Firm

What to Do When a Primary Beneficiary Passes Away

A detailed and thorough estate plan is essential in protecting your loved ones and ensuring their peace of mind after your passing. Estate plans, among other advantages, can provide your loved ones with financial assets, which can help them navigate life after you are no longer around. When you create an estate plan, the assumption is that the people you appoint as beneficiaries will outlive you. Unfortunately, tragic unforeseen events can happen, and your beneficiaries may not survive you. When it comes to considering what will happen in this situation, one of the most common questions that people ask is who will inherit the asset if the beneficiary is no longer alive. The Role of Beneficiary The term ‘beneficiary’ refers to anyone whom the creator of an estate plan has appointed in their estate plan who will receive an inheritance from the creator following the creator’s death. Beneficiaries play a critical role in estate plans and many types of estate plans are not considered valid unless a beneficiary is appointed. While some people think beneficiaries are only people, they can also include organizations and other entities. Not all beneficiaries are the same. Primary beneficiaries refer to individuals who have the [...]

gstealth132021-11-19T01:31:43+00:00Tags: beneficiary, wills|

Reasons You Might Need to Write Someone Out of Your Will

In a perfect world, everyone would get along and there would be no arguments between family members or loved ones. Because we do not live in a perfect world, there are a number of issues and challenges in relationships that arise when estate plans are involved. Due to these disputes, it often becomes necessary for a parent or family member to write a loved one out of his or her will. An experienced estate planning lawyer has helped a number of people create their own unique estate plans, which can include writing loved ones out of an inheritance. While there are a number of reasons why you might decide to write someone out of your will, the following will discuss some of the most common reasons why you might employ this estate planning strategy. The Nature of the Relationship Has Changed One of the most common reasons that people choose to write someone out of his or her will is because the relationship with that person has changed. Relationships are often either strengthened or weakened over time. No matter how or why a relationship has changed, Oklahoma probate laws often allow an individual to write someone out of a will. [...]

gstealth132019-05-31T16:10:48+00:00Tags: disinheritance, estate planning, trusts, wills|

Advice on Disinheriting Someone From Your Estate Plan

Some family units end up broken. This can involve children who are left behind after a divorce or family members who stop talking to others as a result of addiction or other complication. In the case of some fractured relationships, you might decide that you want to disinherit someone. In many cases, to successfully disinherit someone, it is best to obtain the assistance of an experienced estate planning lawyer. Recognize the Difference Between Living Trusts and Wills In many situations, if you decide that you want to disinherit someone, it is better to use a living trust than a will. This is because if you use a will to disinherit someone, it is easy for that individual to later challenge this decision. Another advantage of disinheriting someone through a living trust is that a will is a public document, which makes it much easier for anyone to find out about the disinheritance. Living trusts, however, are private documents, which means that there is a much greater amount of privacy. Consider the Value of a “No Contest” Clause If you do not plan on entirely disinheriting your children, you still might decide to leave them less than other children or heirs. [...]

gstealth132018-12-28T22:12:35+00:00Tags: disinheriting, estate planning, living trusts, wills|

Learning from the Estate Planning Mistakes of Aretha Franklin

While Aretha Franklin is remembered as an extraordinarily talented musician, she made some significant estate planning mistakes from which we can all learn. When Franklin died in August of 2018, she did not leave a will or any type of estate plan despite having four children, including one with special needs. If you fail to leave an estate plan, it means that your inheritance will not be distributed in the way that you intended. If you need any type of estate planning assistance, you should not hesitate to speak with an experienced estate planning attorney. A Large Number of Americans Die Without Estate Plans Caring.com released a study in 2017 that found a large number of Americans die without a living trust or will. The most common reason why individuals claim they do not create these estate planning documents is that they simply have not gotten around to it yet. There are many reasons why people delay creating estate plans including the emotional unpleasantness of having to make end-of-life decisions. Other individuals think that because they do not have a large inheritance, creating an estate plan is not important. In reality, everyone should be concerned about proper estate planning because [...]

gstealth132018-09-05T03:46:41+00:00Tags: estate planning, probate, special needs trusts, trusts, wills|