It can be scary and stressful to think about estate planning, but putting it off can mean missing the opportunity altogether to make your voice heard. Our lawyers help our clients put a will and other estate planning tools in place to see that their wishes are carried out after they are gone.
When you work on your estate planning, there are many questions to consider, such as who you want to get your estate, whether there are any people with special needs you need to account for, and what you want to happen with your assets before you die if you face incapacity and healthcare questions in your final days. Our attorneys have experience with all sorts of estate planning situations and can help with yours, too.
Call Flake & Flake at (702) 829-5731 to get started with our estate planning lawyers in a free case review.
What is Estate Planning?
In its most basic form, estate planning means writing a will. However, a will is just one of the tools our estate planning lawyers use.
Everyone’s financial situation is different, and additional instruments might serve their needs, too. This means looking into options like these:
Trusts
Holding assets in trust means dividing who controls the assets – the trustee – and who benefits from them – the beneficiary. Having your assets in a trust while you are still alive can allow you to name backup trustees who can look after your assets if you become incapacitated.
You can also set up a trust to pass on to someone else after you pass away. This allows a trustee to continue to look over the assets for someone who might have trouble doing that for themselves, such as an aging spouse or a disabled loved one.
Trusts are also a great way to pass money to young children and grandchildren, with instructions on how the trust can be used until they come of age and get the money outright.
Special Needs Trusts
As mentioned, a trust can be used to care for a disabled loved one. If you have a child, grandchild, or another loved one who needs money but cannot manage assets themselves, you can pass their inheritance into a special needs trust instead of giving it to them directly.
This helps prevent the assets in the trust from being counted against them when it comes to asset and income calculations for programs like Medicaid or Social Security Disability. It also allows someone you trust to control the assets for your heir’s benefit without putting the financial burden on your disabled loved one.
Non-Probate Assets
Anything that passes through a will goes through a system called “probate.” Other assets that pass directly to someone else do not go through the will and are called “non-probate assets.” These can include trusts, things owned jointly (e.g., real estate or accounts), pay on death/transfer on death accounts/assets, and certain other assets.
Sometimes, the best way to handle your estate is to put as much as you can into non-probate assets to protect them from creditors and public scrutiny.
Making End-of-Life and Financial Decisions in Estate Planning
Another advantage of going through the estate planning process is that you can put documents in place to protect your decisions about end-of-life care and what happens to your money and accounts if you become incapacitated and cannot manage them yourself.
Documents like a living will, durable power of attorney for healthcare decisions, and other power of attorney documents help you…
- Make your wishes known for end-of-life care
- Put any DNR (do not resuscitate) decisions in place
- Choose who makes financial decisions if you cannot
- Choose who makes medical decisions if you cannot
- Name someone to pay your bills and taxes for you
- Allow a loved one to access your accounts and funds to support you.
FAQs for Writing a Will in Las Vegas
What Does a Will Do?
The main point of a will is to decide how your assets pass. This means that you – and you alone – get to decide who your heirs are, what share of your estate they each get, and if there is anyone you want to include or “cut out” of your will.
What Happens Without a Will?
If you die “intestate” – without a last will and testament – then your assets pass according to NRS 134.030 and the following code sections. These rules pass your assets to these people, in this order of priority:
- Your spouse and any children (and/or grandchildren if any of your children predeceased you)
- Your spouse and parents, if you had no living children
- Your parents alone, if you have no living spouse
- Your siblings, if you have no living parents
- Any other family (aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, cousins, etc.).
Can You Name Heirs Outside of Your Family?
One of the biggest benefits of using a will is that you can include inheritances for people who would not have received anything under the intestacy statute. This is helpful for giving some/all of your estate to chosen family, unmarried partners, or even charitable organizations when you pass.
How Does it Work if You Have Multiple Wills?
You can only have one valid will at a time. This usually means the most recent will is the valid one, and it will typically include language that explicitly revokes any earlier wills.
If any potential heirs challenge your most recent will by turning up an old will, courts will typically only undo the newest will if
- There were problems with the newest will (e.g., it was not properly signed or witnessed)
- They find you did not have capacity to write it or
- You wrote it under duress (e.g., threats).
Our lawyers look for and eliminate these problems so your will is valid and enforceable.
Can You Amend a Will?
Yes. You can always change your mind and edit your will later or replace it entirely, but you have to make sure you go through all of the proper requirements to make a new valid will and revoke the old one.
What Happens if Your Will is Challenged?
If one of your potential heirs challenges your will, it might go to court. Your other heirs or the personal representative will then go before a judge to present evidence of why the will should be used or nullified, and the court will make decisions.
If all wills are undone, your estate will pass under the intestacy rules discussed above. If only a recent will is undone, they might return to using the most recent will before that.
Who Needs Estate Planning?
If you have a house and assets, you should consider a will. There may be situations where a will is unnecessary and the intestacy statute does everything you want, but it is best to check with a lawyer.
Call Our Las Vegas Estate Planning Attorneys Today
To get started planning your estate and writing your will, call Flake & Flake’s estate planning lawyers at (702) 829-5731.
