
Options to give Assets to Minor Grandchildren
You have many options to make sure your wishes are followed after you die.

You have many options to make sure your wishes are followed after you die.

For most people, entering the realm of estate planning can feel a bit like traveling as a tourist into another culture. Because the language itself is unfamiliar, asking a question can result in an answer that is equally confusing.

Administration of a decedent’s estate may involve investment accounts (with stocks and bonds) held in the decedent’s name or trust.

Executors can use additional information in administering estates, especially if the executor is unrelated to the decedent.

The ‘HEMS’ (health, education, maintenance, support) standard in estate planning is used to guide trustees in how/when they should release funds to a beneficiary.

Without a valid will, a person’s estate passes to their surviving heirs under intestate succession (i.e., ‘succession without a will’).

A will allows you to distribute your worldly goods, select a guardian for minor children and name an executor to carry out your wishes.

Revocable Living Trusts have become a widely used estate planning document, providing a path to managing assets, avoiding probate and gaining privacy at the settlement of an estate.

Life estates can provide effective means to create joint ownership of property, avoid probate and transfer property after death without incurring gift taxes.

Both help you pass down assets, while avoiding the time and expense of probate. However, one has much more flexibility than the other.