Anonymous wrote:OP--

One reason I want a trust is to use it to "hold" the money I receive from my parents. If I die before DH, I don't want the new wife to get the money that I want to go to my children.

The way to keep this money separate from married/joint funds is to keep it in a trust. DH is fine with this approach.

It's common for men to remarry after their wives die and not to take care of protecting their children financially. Dementia can happen, etc. New wife does not need the money my parents worked so hard to save...

Yes this. It's to help protect your current family's assets. You may die and your DH remarries, and you want that money in the trust, not his new wife's divorce settlement. Or when he dies, straight into her account for HER kids.

The trust is to protect your children.

Our situation is the same OP and we are setting up a revocable trust while our kids our minors. This way my sister (who would take the kids if we both die) is the trustee and will handle all the money while my kids are young. Then it will be paid out to my kids at her discretion as they hit certain ages. However, if she needs the money (say to buy a bigger house because now she has 4 kids not 2 kids) she can use it.

This works because we trust her. The main goal is to provide for our kids, have someone designated to control the money while the kids are minors, and to be able to access the money to care for our kids.

Otherwise you have to deal with probate. Look into how long that can last and ask ANYONE who has had to deal with the death of a parent (even as an adult) how they feel about the probate process.

Now an irrevocable trust is set up for people with huge amounts of generational wealth. That is not what we're talking about.

OP--

One reason I want a trust is to use it to "hold" the money I receive from my parents. If I die before DH, I don't want the new wife to get the money that I want to go to my children.

The way to keep this money separate from married/joint funds is to keep it in a trust. DH is fine with this approach.

It's common for men to remarry after their wives die and not to take care of protecting their children financially. Dementia can happen, etc. New wife does not need the money my parents worked so hard to save...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We spoke with a small law firm. Turns out we don't need a trust and can go the will route. Total price:

Last Will and Testament - $650
Power of Attorney (Couple) - $175
Medical Directive (Couple) - $175
Total Cost of Estate Plan - $1000

Yeah, most people with holdings like yours (one house, basic retirement accounts) don't need a trust. People on DCUM who respond to posts like this are disproportionally richer, with more complex holdings, so you will see more responses of people who should probably have a trust. Most people don't need one.

The trust is important if you have minor kids. If you don't have minor kids and just want to leave everything to your spouse then your adult kids it is much simpler.

The point of a revocable trust is to avoid probate. If your house goes into probate you can not sell it until that process is done. Which could take a year. Do you want your kids to have to pay for your house for a YEAR while probate happens?

It goes into a revocable trust, same with all your money. Then it's paid out. It's very simple. Cost us $4500 to set up. A will alone is not enough to avoid probabte.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We spoke with a small law firm. Turns out we don't need a trust and can go the will route. Total price:

Last Will and Testament - $650
Power of Attorney (Couple) - $175
Medical Directive (Couple) - $175
Total Cost of Estate Plan - $1000

Yeah, most people with holdings like yours (one house, basic retirement accounts) don't need a trust. People on DCUM who respond to posts like this are disproportionally richer, with more complex holdings, so you will see more responses of people who should probably have a trust. Most people don't need one.

Makes sense. Since most of your holdings are in retirement accounts, there is not much to put into a trust anyway.

Anonymous wrote:Our primary residence is NY and we were just quoted $9,500 for updated wills, POAs, etc and two trusts to limit exposure to NY State estate tax (where if you have $1 over $7.52M, all assets are taxed). I am curious if estate attorneys quote an hourly rate for this work. I am going to keep interviewing attorneys because I didn't like that this guy didn't tell us his hourly rate and didn't explain how they will determine what assets go in which trust. Is it reasonable to expect these details before hiring an estate attorney?

I suspect those with more money are being charged more...

Anonymous wrote:In our case we have 2 minor kids. Our assets include 1 home and the rest in investment accounts (401ks, IRAs, etc).

How much should one expect to pay for a trust setup? Any recommendations on lawyers?

Probably in the neighborhood of $2k. The lawyer may include putting the home in the name of the trust, but you will have to do the bank accounts yourself in many cases. Every lawyer may do things differently.

To title an investment account in the name of the trust is usually (as per financial advisor, lawyer, and articles I read) not always the best idea, so check on this for yourself.

Plus, investment accounts are divided according to beneficiary designations--not wills or trusts. If there is no beneficiary, they will be distributed according the laws of your state. The spouse is first, then children, etc.

You will also want to consider cars, boats, etc.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We spoke with a small law firm. Turns out we don't need a trust and can go the will route. Total price:

Last Will and Testament - $650
Power of Attorney (Couple) - $175
Medical Directive (Couple) - $175
Total Cost of Estate Plan - $1000

Just know that wills aren't private. I've been able to receive the wills of people that I am not related to who live in different states. I would hate the idea of people being able to see how much my children would inherit if I died. Also during the process of setting up my family trust, one of the lawyers I spoke to who thought trusts are unnecessary in Va but he seemed so untrustworthy that not having a trust concerned me even more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We spoke with a small law firm. Turns out we don't need a trust and can go the will route. Total price:

Last Will and Testament - $650
Power of Attorney (Couple) - $175
Medical Directive (Couple) - $175
Total Cost of Estate Plan - $1000

Yeah, most people with holdings like yours (one house, basic retirement accounts) don't need a trust. People on DCUM who respond to posts like this are disproportionally richer, with more complex holdings, so you will see more responses of people who should probably have a trust. Most people don't need one.

We have a NW of est $15M and our attorney continues to assure us we don't need a trust. The attorney is estate planning specialists, well regarded so we trust her.

This board is very anti-trust. If you want to your kids to deal with probate and have creditors or spouses come after them then you do you.

Why would someone with $15 million have creditors? And avoiding probate is very simple with things like setting up beneficiaries for your accounts. If you want a trust, go for it! As stated above, for most people with adult children and basic asset types, it's not necessary.

For simple situations like OPs, a couple can get perfectly adequate wills (plus medical POAs, etc) from online services like legalzoom for $250.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We spoke with a small law firm. Turns out we don't need a trust and can go the will route. Total price:

Last Will and Testament - $650
Power of Attorney (Couple) - $175
Medical Directive (Couple) - $175
Total Cost of Estate Plan - $1000

Yeah, most people with holdings like yours (one house, basic retirement accounts) don't need a trust. People on DCUM who respond to posts like this are disproportionally richer, with more complex holdings, so you will see more responses of people who should probably have a trust. Most people don't need one.

We have a NW of est $15M and our attorney continues to assure us we don't need a trust. The attorney is estate planning specialists, well regarded so we trust her.

This board is very anti-trust. If you want to your kids to deal with probate and have creditors or spouses come after them then you do you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We spoke with a small law firm. Turns out we don't need a trust and can go the will route. Total price:

Last Will and Testament - $650
Power of Attorney (Couple) - $175
Medical Directive (Couple) - $175
Total Cost of Estate Plan - $1000

Yeah, most people with holdings like yours (one house, basic retirement accounts) don't need a trust. People on DCUM who respond to posts like this are disproportionally richer, with more complex holdings, so you will see more responses of people who should probably have a trust. Most people don't need one.

We have a NW of est $15M and our attorney continues to assure us we don't need a trust. The attorney is estate planning specialists, well regarded so we trust her.

Yeah I am neither a lawyer nor a financial planner, but my basic understanding is that it's not really about amounts, per se, that make a trust necessary, it's about complexity of assets (and estate taxes in different states). If you have homes in multiple states, have ownership shares of private companies, have significant physical assets (say expensive art, jewelry), those sorts of circumstances make a trust a good idea- again, generally speaking.

Feels like some people end up with a trust because of a lawyer trying to boost their billable hours, or because they like the "idea" of a having a trust. It somehow can feel prestigious or something.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We spoke with a small law firm. Turns out we don't need a trust and can go the will route. Total price:

Last Will and Testament - $650
Power of Attorney (Couple) - $175
Medical Directive (Couple) - $175
Total Cost of Estate Plan - $1000

Yeah, most people with holdings like yours (one house, basic retirement accounts) don't need a trust. People on DCUM who respond to posts like this are disproportionally richer, with more complex holdings, so you will see more responses of people who should probably have a trust. Most people don't need one.

We have a NW of est $15M and our attorney continues to assure us we don't need a trust. The attorney is estate planning specialists, well regarded so we trust her.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We spoke with a small law firm. Turns out we don't need a trust and can go the will route. Total price:

Last Will and Testament - $650
Power of Attorney (Couple) - $175
Medical Directive (Couple) - $175
Total Cost of Estate Plan - $1000

Yeah, most people with holdings like yours (one house, basic retirement accounts) don't need a trust. People on DCUM who respond to posts like this are disproportionally richer, with more complex holdings, so you will see more responses of people who should probably have a trust. Most people don't need one.

The trust is important if you have minor kids. If you don't have minor kids and just want to leave everything to your spouse then your adult kids it is much simpler.

Good clarification, thanks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We spoke with a small law firm. Turns out we don't need a trust and can go the will route. Total price:

Last Will and Testament - $650
Power of Attorney (Couple) - $175
Medical Directive (Couple) - $175
Total Cost of Estate Plan - $1000

Yeah, most people with holdings like yours (one house, basic retirement accounts) don't need a trust. People on DCUM who respond to posts like this are disproportionally richer, with more complex holdings, so you will see more responses of people who should probably have a trust. Most people don't need one.

The trust is important if you have minor kids. If you don't have minor kids and just want to leave everything to your spouse then your adult kids it is much simpler.