Finally, those decisions are codified into the documents that provide peace of mind for all involved when they are complete. In far too many cases, however, earlier decisions that likely seemed much less important undermine an otherwise pristine estate plan. Those earlier decisions, joint ownership, beneficiary designations, and transfers on death, will be explained so that, instead of undermining an estate plan, they can complement it.
The first arrangement that can complicate an individual’s estate plan is a joint ownership arrangement for some or all of their property. This means that the individual adds someone else, often an adult child, as an owner of their property, oftentimes to allow that other person to easily access and use funds from the owner’s accounts.
The problem with this arrangement in some cases, however, is that, when the original owner dies, the other person becomes the sole owner of the property, regardless of what the original owner’s will or trust says about the asset. To be sure your estate plan ...
