In this Elder Law and Estate Planning Minute, Wes Coulson, Southern Illinois Elder Law attorney, discusses why a will isn’t the best way to protect your estate from going into probate and that the better option is having a living trust. ? Does a Will Keep Me Out of Probate? Transcript: Hi, I’m Wes Coulson from […]
Common Estate Planning Mistake #12: Failing to fund a Living Trust
Unfortunately, all too often, the common mistake we see in estate planning is the failure to fund a living trust. Funding is the step in transferring ownership of assets into the living trust. It’s not enough to simply have a living trust, if you fail to fund a living trust you risk losing those assets. In this Estate […]
Why Second Marriage Spouses Need A Living Trust
Hi, I’m Wes Coulson, and this is your Estate Planning Minute. If this is a second or subsequent marriage for you, and you have children from a previous marriage, you really need to plan your estate with a living trust, and not a will, and here’s why: In All likelihood, if you die before them […]
“Documents Only, Not Legal Advice”
The internet purveyors of legal documents are always very careful to note, in their seemingly ubiquitous commercials, that they offer document services only, and not legal advice. We recently submitted for filing, in a Missouri court, the Will of someone who had utilized a form provided by one of those document services. It probably seemed […]
Probate and Loss of Privacy
In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson discusses probate and the loss of privacy that occurs for those involved with a will in probate. Since a will in probate is made a matter of public record, anyone can find out what the will says, the names and addresses of the beneficiaries, and an inventory of the […]
