So here I am 63yrs old retired with pension, SS and 23 paid for sfh in an LLC, with no will or estate plan in place. However, I am in the process of securing the services of an attorney to start the process. My dilemma is that have three children out there 2 of which have nothing nor seem to want anythg to with me.

The attorney is suggesting and Will, Spill Over Will, Sub LLC's TODD for my personal home and a revocable trust. As crazy as it is I am the first in families lineage to have to secure the services of a professional estate attorney. But I understd this a necessary move to avoid probate and make the transfer of property less of a burden to my heirs.

I guess I m just looking for an opinion , what has been your exoperience,

ric

Lots of us are facing these situations.

My kid is not interested in rentals so I have decided to move mine into a trust and have it professionally managed after I'm gone. Then the cash flow from the trust can be available to the kid if it is needed. Otherwise, I'll have the trust keep buying, fixing and building more places and earmark the cash flow to charity.

Ric, I am sorry to hear that two of your kids are estranged. I am guessing that there is no wife involved.

A good estate planner can save a lot of money in taxes and a lot of money in administrative costs. Probate can be expensive -- but only after you are dead, so who cares?

Your executor/administrator wants to re-fi a property? Needs a court order from the judge. So your estate pays for your attorney to go to court, and for expert witnesses and by the time it is finally ordered, the interest rate has gone up and the re-fi no longer looks good. Ask me how I know!

Given your family situation, you might not need the complex tax saving schemes (generation-skipping and other ploys), but even so, a decent estate plan can help your administrator (read: successor trustee).

The convention will have two awesome experts that can assist you on this. Creating the land trust really isn't that hard if you have the template and one of them was selling them for $500 and tech/personal support.

It is good that you are thinking the way you are . How is your health?

It is sad that you have two kids who are stand offish. I have a step son who is that way since I got divorced. You can only leave the doorway open.

Sounds like a revocable Trust would be the best way to go with the value of the estate. DO NOT try and do it yourself. Find a lawyer who specializes in trusts and estate planning. To do it properly takes some work, and can be ongoing as your estate changes. It is the best way to avoid probate and have things left as you wish. Even a good will ends up going thru probate. Our "dead book" is a pretty large binder kept in our fire resistant safe along with a small binder for each property, and tax returns.

It also sounds like your lawyer is making it more complicated than necessary ( read padding the billing time). Our Attorney had a flat fee for setting up our revocable trust, and very reasonable fees for doing any changes.

I like the “dead book”!

I was not impressed with the lawyers I talked to about a trust. They were more interested in impressing me with their knowledge and their high fees than in giving me documents that will work for my estate. None of the attorneys understood real estate.

After talking to 6 financial advisers, I found a financial adviser who understood real estate and focused his business on estate planning. He has cleaned up our estate assets, created the trust, will, power of attorney, pour over will, etc.

So, start with the financial planner then get the trust set up. Get your financial plan set up to meet your needs, then get the trust set up to fit your estate plan.

But, I have 2 friends whose parents set up a trust. In both cases, one sibling decided to fight the trust after the parents passed. Any trust or will can be busted if you are willing to pay a lawyer enough money.

The best estate plan needs cooperation from the kids. That might be your toughest challenge.

Just remember you have to do more than prepare documents. You have to change the deeds to match the trust. Too many lawyers prepare the documents and then don't follow through with changing the deeds (i.e. populating the trust).

It is complicated for sure.

You may need a spreadsheet to list

the property - real and personal

ownership - how is it titled

beneficiary - upon death how is it transferred? Trust, POD (pay on death like life insurance), TOD (transfer on death like bank accounts)

trustee or manager - is there someone that will control the entity?

Like Phil (OR) said - "death book"

who's the stock broker / brokerage to call?

who's the insurance agent that handles the insurance?

who to contact at the bank (bank manager?)

which bank

account numbers

the list is endless

Thks again for the responses as always very informative. I am utilizing the services of the premier RE attorneys who I have used to close multiple transactions in the past.

Make it a good day to all.

Bonanza, once again you bring out the reality in a topic.

Thanks for the push.

You have gotten some great advice on how to handle the assets. BUT don't forget to think about how you would take care of yourself if your health failed. In home care - assisted living - Nursing home.

I would say Plenty it depends more about how you split up your money. Say your adult child is mentally disabled and not capable of handling money well. The manner how you split that part up might be different.

I second Bonanza's advice re transferring ownership of assets to the proper legal entity. My father had a comprehensive estate plan but due to incipient dementia failed to properly retitle his assets. As a result, my stepmother stole a lot of money from his estate. We children sued and recovered some of the missing money, but by no means all. It was a legal nightmare and took years to settle.