What Is a ‘Residuary’ Estate?

Sometimes lawyers use words and people don’t know what they mean.  We’ll get carried away explaining complicated legal concepts, ideas, laws, or the beauty of the work we’ve done for clients, only to forget we never defined our terms and the client has no idea what we are talking about.  One common example in estate planning is the “residuary estate” or “residuary clause”.  This blog will address both what that is its relevancy in your estate plan. This is also partially inspired by an article from earlier this year entitled  “How to Write a Residuary Estate Clause in a Will” from yahoo! although be wary as it has some mistakes.

You can also find the definitions of other common terms here:  https://galligan-law.com/common-estate-planning-terms/

The residuary estate is also known as estate residue, residual estate and can also be referred to trust residue or trust estate in that context. It simply means the assets left over after final debts and expenses have been paid and specific distributions are made. It is the general, catch all beneficiary designation of the estate plan.  For the purposes of this blog I’ll talk about it in a will, but it applies to trusts as well.

I’ll use myself as an example.  Let’s say that my wife and I have wills.  The wills don’t control all of our assets, as things like life insurance and retirement plans will be distributed directly to named beneficiaries.  The wills leave everything to the other upon the first of us to die.  If spouse is already deceased (let’s assume I survive because it’s my blog), then I may leave $10,000 to a friend, $50,000 to a charity, my pet to the trustee of a pet trust, a favorite book to my brother and the rest goes to my kids.

In my estate, my executor would pay my final debts and expenses (funeral, medical, final bills, etc), and make the specific distributions which are the money to the friend, charity, pet to the trust and book to my brother.  Whatever is left is the residuary estate, and that’s what goes to my kids.

Now, that assumes competent estate planning.  I would arrange the beneficiaries of my life insurance and retirement plans to coordinate with my wills and other assets to flow through my will because I want them to go to the beneficiaries of the residuary estate.  However, the residuary estate clause of the wills can be disrupted, either deliberately or unintentionally, by common mistakes often made without advance planning.

Here’s some examples of how that happens:

  • You forget to include appropriate assets in your plan to generate the residuary estate.
  • You have accounts that naturally pass outside of the will (e.g. life insurance and retirement) and the beneficiaries aren’t coordinated with the will.
  • You use too many transfer on death designations which take property away from the residuary estate. (This is a very common mistake)
  • If you acquired new assets after making the will that disrupt the flow and plan.
  • Someone named in the will dies before you or is unable to receive the inheritance you left for them.
  • You don’t do your own advanced long-term care planning and the assets which would create the residuary are all spent.
  • You lose the value of the residuary estate to the creditors of the beneficiaries or to the government if a beneficiary is using government benefit.
  • The will has inequitable tax planning that requires the taxes owed on my distributed outside of the will to be paid from the residuary estate.

Speak with an experienced estate planning attorney to determine how to structure your estate plan and assets to ensure the residuary estate and other assets go to the beneficiaries you wish while avoiding the pitfalls.

Reference: yahoo! (Dec. 4, 2022) “How to Write a Residuary Estate Clause in a Will”

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Protecting Inheritance from Child’s Divorce

Parents are often (maybe not always) excited when their children marry.  It’s exciting to see their adult child find a spouse, build a home, settle down and maybe think about grandchildren down the road.  However, even if the parent adores the person their child loves, it’s wise to prepare to protect our children with our plans now, says a recent article titled “Worried about Your Child’s Inheritance If They Divorce? A Trust Can Be Your Answer” from Kiplinger.  After all, things happen and sometimes relationships don’t go the way we expect.  Protecting inheritance through prudent planning will keep the inheritance with your child if they divorce.

With the federal estate tax exemptions so high (although that may change in the very near future), planners were able to focus on other concerns in estate plans, not just taxes.  A more applicable concern for most people was how well your children will do, if and when they receive their inheritance.

Some people recognize that their children are at risk. They worry about potential divorces or a spendthrift spouse. The answer is estate planning, and more specifically, a well-designed trust. By establishing a trust as part of an estate plan, you can better protect inheritance.

If an adult child receives an inheritance and commingles it with assets owned jointly with their spouse—like a joint bank account—depending upon the state where they live, the inheritance may become a marital asset and subject to marital property division, if the couple divorces.  This is the reason these types of trusts are so important. It’s like putting the toothpaste back into the tube, you put these assets back into a protected trust once it’s owned by the child.

If the inheritance remains in a trust account, or if the trust funds are used to pay for assets that are only owned in the child’s name, the inherited wealth can be protected. This permits the child to have assets as a financial cushion, if a divorce should happen.

Placing an inheritance in a trust is often done after a first divorce, when the family learns the hard way how combined assets are treated. Wiser still is to have a trust created when the child marries. In that way, there’s less of a learning curve (not to mention more assets to preserve).

Here are three typical situations for protecting inheritance:

Minor children. Children who are 18 or younger cannot inherit assets. However, when they reach the age of majority, they legally can. A sudden and large inheritance is best placed in the hands of a trustee, who can guide them to make smart decisions and has the ability to deny requests that may seem entirely reasonable to an 18-year-old, but ridiculous to a more mature adult.  You can also set a more reasonable age for the beneficiary to take over their trust, such as 25 or 30.

Newlyweds. Most couples are divinely happy in the early years of a marriage. However, when life becomes more complicated, as it inevitably does, the marriage may be tested and might not work out. Setting up a trust after the couple has been together for five or ten years is an option.

Marriage moves into the middle years. After five or ten years, it’s likely you’ll have a clearer understanding of your child’s spouse and how their marriage is faring. If you have any doubts, talk with an estate planning attorney, and set up a trust for your child.

Estate plans should be reviewed few years, as circumstances, relationships and tax laws change. A periodic review with your estate planning attorney allows you to ensure that your estate plan reflects your wishes and that it is protecting inheritance for your loved ones.

Reference: Kiplinger (April 16, 2021) “Worried about Your Child’s Inheritance If They Divorce? A Trust Can Be Your Answer”

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Preparing for an Estate Planning Meeting

Preparing for an estate planning meeting involves considering who you want to benefit, what you own and who is in charge of the processes.

Long ago when I first started doing Kevin’s Korners on Facebook and YouTube, I asked viewers for ideas on topics.  I expected to hear suggestions on how to administer estates, what is probate or complicated tax questions.  Instead, the first response, which was repeated by others, was what is the first step in making an estate plan.  What is the process to begin.  To put it another way, what to consider when preparing for an estate planning meeting.

So, for this blog I wanted to cover some topics and thoughts on preparing for the first meeting with an estate planning attorney.  Preparing to meet with an estate planning attorney for the first time is an opportunity to get organized and think about your wishes for the future. If you meet with your accountant every year to prepare tax returns, this may be a familiar process. It’s a chance to step away from day-to-day activities and focus on your life, as described in a recent article “Preparing for an Estate Planning Consultation: 10 Items to Consider Before Meeting Your Attorney” from The National Law Journal.  So with that, here are some issues to consider when preparing for an estate planning meeting.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, but should get you started in the right direction.  You can see here for the Kevin’s Korner video as well.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2M_-tBoSiU 

Minor Children Need Guardians. In most states, families with minor children need to designate one or more guardians to raise the children in the event both parents die. A successor should be named in case the first named guardian is unable or unwilling to serve. Discuss your decision with the people you are naming; don’t leave this as a surprise. Choosing these people is a hard decision. However, don’t let it be a reason to delay creating your estate plan. You do not want your family, or a Court, to guess what your wishes are in this regard.

Agents, Trustees, and Executors (Fiduciaries). A key component of an estate plan is who is in charge of the process, who executes your wishes or speaks for you if you can’t.  These roles, generally called your fiduciaries, are different depending on what task they need to accomplish and which legal document gives them that authority. With a Durable Power of Attorney, your assets can be managed by a named agent, if you become incapacitated. The person who manages your estate after death is the executor. They are named in your will. If you have trusts, the documents that create the trust also name the trustees. It is possible for one person to act as a fiduciary for all of these roles, although the tasks can be divided.  You also always want to consider back-ups should your first choices not be available.

Living Will and Medical Decision-Making. If you are unable to communicate your own medical wishes, an agent can make medical decisions on your behalf, including following the instructions of your Living Will.

Significant Property. Any items of significant property, whether their value is sentimental or monetary, should be considered specifically. This is helpful to avoid  squabbles over sentimental pieces of property, large or small.  Valuable or important property such as the home or business should be considered specifically to avoid delay, costs or other hazards that might affect their value or operation.

Beneficiaries.  This is probably the most obvious issue, but you should consider who will receive your property and in what manner.  For example, you might consider whether to leave your property outright to a beneficiary or put it in a trust to obtain various benefits.  You should consider if you want to take care of as much of your estate plan now as possible to make it easier for your loved ones later.  This is the decision of whether to utilize a will or a trust.  See here for a helpful guide.   https://galligan-law.com/will-vs-living-trust-a-quick-and-simple-reference-guide/  You also should be familiar with the titling of your assets (your name, your and your kids’ names and so on) as well as which assets have beneficiary designations (life insurance and retirement funds are common examples) so that the assets coordinate with your plan.

You should also consider if there are any particular issues with your beneficiaries to be addressed.  For example, minor children may not receive assets until they become of age—18 in most cases- but that is hardly a prudent age to leave someone a windfall.  You can consider the use of a trust to delay the receipt of the property to a more reasonable age.  Similarly, you might want to create asset protection or divorce protection for your beneficiaries and can utilize trusts to help you accomplish that goal.  If you have a loved one with disabilities, you should consider what their needs are and are likely to be in the future.  What kind of resources do they need if you aren’t able to provide for them and where do they get that support.   As a final thought, if you are charitably minded, your estate plan is a great way to make charitable gifts and build a lasting legacy. Charitable donations can also be made to gain tax benefits for heirs.

Surviving Pets. You can plan for your pet’s care, if you pass away or become incapacitated before they die. Most states permit the creation of a pet trust, an enforceable means of providing assets to be used for the care and well-being of your pet.

Once you’ve considered the above in preparing for an estate planning meeting, you’ll have an idea of what your estate planning goals are.  That way, your meeting with a competent estate planning attorney will focus on how to accomplish those goals and you can discuss which documents are necessary to do so.

Reference: The National Law Journal (Feb. 23, 2021) “Preparing for an Estate Planning Consultation: 10 Items to Consider Before Meeting Your Attorney”

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