Sign Michigan Banking Last Will And Testament Secure

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we're being joined today by Michigan Attorney Eric Mulder who is going to discuss some of the basics of wills trusts estate planning and the concept of avoiding probate in Michigan mr. Mellor thank you for being with us thank you so much for having me today this is a subject matter that people have an avoid but it's really important mr. Mulder exactly what does happen if someone dies without having made a will a trust or other plan for their estate that's a great question and you're right most people don't want to talk about this issue because it involves thinking about and planning for death but it's very important as is clear everyone at some point is going to pass and to have those Affairs in order is very important it makes it easier for the individual and it really makes it easier for the family if you don't have a will what happens is you die called in testing ok intestate meaning without a will that's a set plan that the legislature has established that says where your assets are going maybe you don't want your assets to be distributed that way if you don't having a properly prepared will or trust an estate plan is the only way to avoid that so even if you do not have a lot of money or assets is it still important to have an estate plan well very much it's very important that you have your wishes carried out remember we're talking about assets money things that you have earned achieved and accumulated throughout your lifetime where those items go should be up to the individual who accumulated them not up to some default government issued distribution if you want these things to go where you want them to go then you need to have a proper estate plan even if you have a small amount of assets it's very important that that small amount go where you want it to go the term probate is used quite a bit but many people do not know exactly what it means can you explain what probate is and why it seems that everyone is talking about avoiding probate sure probate is really a process probate is the process by which assets are owned by a deceased individual get passed to a living individual the process is called probate or probating assets because it's done in the probate court for the county in which that person lived the assets are transferred from the deceased into the living according to their will or a state plan after an attorney has properly drafted one for them it certainly is important to have a plan in place but how does a person decide if they should use a will a trust or other method of planning that's a great question most of the time individuals don't know whether they need a will or trust their friend their spouse their relative somebody on TV has said you must have this you must have that so they call saying I know I need this because someone on the radio told me I need this what most people need to do is sit down with an estate planning attorney who's done this before who understands the process and can ask questions not every suit for its every individual you need to have that suit that's custom fit made for you and once that's done you'll feel better your family will feel better and it can be done at a very reasonable price recently trusts have been getting a lot of publicity we hear terms like living trust and revocable trust can you explain exactly what a trust is and what these terms mean certainly a trust is another method by which your assets are being transferred a trust is almost like setting up a a corporation this corporation called the trust then passes these assets out according to how you have told the trust to do either at your disability or at your death it avoids having to go to probate it avoids having to have a public hearing which is what probate is and it allows these assets to be passed immediately upon either a death or disability or according to whatever wishes you've put into that trust living trust and revocable trust these are different types of trusts that the individual sets up but again it's important that it done by an attorney who understands the process so that he can advise you what needs to be done how it should be done make sure that it is done properly so that these assets passed at your death or at your disability many people have a financial planner or stockbroker who manages their assets do they still need a lawyer to handle their estate planning I think they certainly do and people often ask that same question what I always tell them is well do you have a dentist way yes well does that mean if you have a heart attack or if you break a bone you don't need to go to anyone else because you have a dentist no people use a variety of individuals to help them with a variety of needs most attorneys like myself work with financial planners that people have them and work with accountants or CPAs to make sure that the individual receives the proper protection the proper estate plan for them the estate plan is not a one size fit all an estate plan is a is a document or series of documents that's going to help each individual a little differently and it needs to be done with that particular person's specific needs addressed Thank You mr. Mulder it certainly sounds like there's a lot to consider when arranging your affairs before we go is there anything that we've missed here that you'd like to say to our viewers who are considering of doing some estate planning I would just like to say I think it's very important that whether you have a big estate a small estate I don't think you really have any estate that you talk to a qualified estate planning attorney this attorney can help you if you have a CPA or you don't have a CPA if you have a financial planner or you don't have a financial planner let your team include that estate planning attorney so that that estate planning attorney with the rest of your team can plan and prepare for your death or disability to make sure your assets go where you want them to go great some wonderful information thank you so much mr. Mulder for joining us today thank you so much