I don't know much about wills.

In Texas, assets held in an irrevocable trust are protected from paying toward nursing home care if the grantor is applying for Medicare after the 5 year lookback period.
 

Laws re estate vary by state. Wills, Trusts & Probate

Nolo has a lot of good information on estate law. If I were concerned my estate would be squandered quickly by the beneficiaries, I would set up a trust to prevent that (hopefully). You would need an attorney who specializes in estate law. Trusts have a lot of picky details, so it is best not to set one up without a lawyer's help. Also, if the lawyer screws up, there is recourse (for malpractice)

In our family, we are big believers in bypassing probate. We set up bank accounts with payable on death beneficiaries, to bypass the will. The life insurance was already set up to have a beneficiary, of course. In my case, I am joint owner of my car with one of my sons, so it passes automatically to him as sole owner upon my death.

Houses can be set up to pass to a beneficiary automatically, but you'd have to look that up. The only thing I can think of joint ownership with right of survivorship. You can also set up a house for a beneficiary to have a life tenancy, and then it goes to someone else when the beneficiary dies.

My investment accounts can also have a beneficiary.

I do not have anything of high value in my personal possessions, so I am not worried about that. We have wills, but they are not needed.

An executor can be anyone you trust, who agrees to do it.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I’ve taken care of the bulk of my estate by naming beneficiaries on bank, brokerage accounts, etc…
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I’ve recently attempted to update my beneficiaries on various accounts & learned that now one must provide the social security number of any new beneficiary. (Beneficiaries that you’ve had for many years without providing a SSN are grandfathered in.)

I find this new SSN requirement infuriating. I cannot imagine asking someone for their SSN for any reason let alone for ‘just in case’ there’s something left over for them to inherit.
 

Lizzie00 said:
I’ve recently attempted to update my beneficiaries on various accounts & learned that now one must provide the social security number of any new beneficiary. (Beneficiaries that you’ve had for many years without providing a SSN are grandfathered in.)

I find this new SSN requirement infuriating. I cannot imagine asking someone for their SSN for any reason let alone for ‘just in case’ there’s something left over for them to inherit.
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Unfortunately, like you I'll have to ask for SS # from a relative, but I can see the "why". "I leave everything to Joe Smith"- and which of 4,000 Joe Smiths is it
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Unfortunately, like you I'll have to ask for SS # from a relative, but I can see the "why". "I leave everything to Joe Smith"- and which of 4,000 Joe Smiths is it
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It’s the Joe Smith at 407/333-4567, 1111 Smith St, Anytown, FL…email: joesmith @ gmail.com (the same way it worked so well for all the many years before this most recent SSN requirement).

And sure, it’s a smidgen different asking a family member for their SSN versus asking a non-family member for theirs…but still: Can i have your SSN, please? Pfffffffffft!
 
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Lizzie00 said:
It’s the Joe Smith at 407/333-4567, 1111 Smith St, Anytown, FL…email: joesmith @ gmail.com (the same way it worked so well for all the many years before this most recent SSN requirement).

And sure, it’s a smidgen different asking a family member for their SSN versus asking a non-family member for theirs…but still: Can i have your SSN, please? Pfffffffffft!
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Yeah, I have to ask my nephew for his #. It's not like we're bosom buddies; I have seen him in 20 years.
 
WheatenLover said:
Laws re estate vary by state. Wills, Trusts & Probate

Nolo has a lot of good information on estate law. If I were concerned my estate would be squandered quickly by the beneficiaries, I would set up a trust to prevent that (hopefully). You would need an attorney who specializes in estate law. Trusts have a lot of picky details, so it is best not to set one up without a lawyer's help. Also, if the lawyer screws up, there is recourse (for malpractice)

In our family, we are big believers in bypassing probate. We set up bank accounts with payable on death beneficiaries, to bypass the will. The life insurance was already set up to have a beneficiary, of course. In my case, I am joint owner of my car with one of my sons, so it passes automatically to him as sole owner upon my death.

Houses can be set up to pass to a beneficiary automatically, but you'd have to look that up. The only thing I can think of joint ownership with right of survivorship. You can also set up a house for a beneficiary to have a life tenancy, and then it goes to someone else when the beneficiary dies.

My investment accounts can also have a beneficiary.

I do not have anything of high value in my personal possessions, so I am not worried about that. We have wills, but they are not needed.

An executor can be anyone you trust, who agrees to do it.
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our state does not allow passing of real estate by beneficiaries.

vanguard d a few years ago stopped allowing beneficiaries on joint counts .

you can still do it on individual accounts but for their own stupid reasoning they stopped on joint accounts .

i pulled all my money out from vanguard because they do stupid things .

they got in to the trust business so they tr to push people in to trusts instead of beneficiaries
 
mathjak107 said:
get a new lawyer because he is so wrong .

many times estates end up with money where there was money because your death was the result of an accident , a wrongful death suit , malpractice suit , etc
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But if there is no heir, who cares about the money and estate
mathjak107 said:
however , in many states a house placed in a living trust becomes an unprotected asset. if medicaid is needed .

a house placed in any kind of revocable trust has its value counted towards the asset spend down. if medicaid is needed for long term care .

in personal name most states don’t count it .

so what happens is the house has to be sold and the money spent down on care before you can qualify for medicaid.

this is why it’s important to get a good estate attorney and not some canned forms off the internet
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I am not sure this is true. The only way to exclude a house from Medicaid qualifications is "irrevocable trust", in which case you loose the control of the house(i.e. you don't own the house anymore.
 
OldOld said:
But if there is no heir, who cares about the money and estate

I am not sure this is true. The only way to exclude a house from Medicaid qualifications is "irrevocable trust", in which case you loose the control of the house(i.e. you don't own the house anymore.
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your primary home is a protected asset when in your name or an irrevocable trust.

You generally do not have to sell your home to qualify for Medicaid for nursing home coverage. However, it is possible for the state to file a lien against your home after you die.


Hear In New York State, Medicaid will not count your house as an asset when you are applying for Medicaid if the equity of the home is under $1,071,000 .

Also in New York State, you may keep your house with no equity limit if your spouse or another dependent relative lives there.


however if its in a living trust than its value counts in many states
 
Lizzie00 said:
I’ve recently attempted to update my beneficiaries on various accounts & learned that now one must provide the social security number of any new beneficiary. (Beneficiaries that you’ve had for many years without providing a SSN are grandfathered in.)

I find this new SSN requirement infuriating. I cannot imagine asking someone for their SSN for any reason let alone for ‘just in case’ there’s something left over for them to inherit.
Click to expand...
I added a beneficiary to my Schwab brokerage account about a month ago and I did not have to give that person's SS #. I don't expect to have to add any new beneficiaries from here on out, so I won't know if it will be their requirement from now on.
 

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