Be Careful to Avoid Unintended Changes to Your Estate Plan

   It has been well established that there is a troubling lack of estate planning in our society.  Surveys agree that more than half of American adults have no will, trust or other estate plan in place to confirm their wishes for the distribution of the property at their death.  As the result of that deficiency, attorneys and financial planners regularly encourage clients to complete at least basic estate plan, and clients are wise to heed their advice.  Once that hurdle has been cleared, many assume that the plan will remain in place without the need for further handling, and in many cases that is true.  Problems arise, however, when clients make two common decisions that seem harmless, but that actually undermine the complete documents.
   The first mistake people unknowingly make is to make another person the joint owner of an asset.  This causes problems on two fronts.  First, making another individual the joint owner of a bank account, a piece of real estate or any other asset, may be considered a gift for gift tax and Medicaid planning reasons, and could cause major problems for the giver or the giver’s heirs.  Second, at the death of the original owner, the jointly-held asset becomes the sole property of the other joint owner, regardless of any payable-on-death designation, will or trust that the original owner may have in place.  For these reasons, owners are cautioned to think carefully before m ...

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