Some people wonder if they need a Will or other estate plan if they are ordinary middle class folks, or even people of moderate wealth, but who fall below the estate tax threshold.
Some people wonder whether a Will is worthwhile, and worry about the cost.
Others wonder why they need a Will at all.
Many people chose to have trust based estate plans, instead of relying only on Wills.
There are many good reasons to do a trust.
One reason is that a trust will often allow you to avoid probate after your death.
After a divorce is completed, there is usually still a lot of work to be done.
Under Oregon law, a divorced spouse will be treated as pre-deceased for purposes of inheritance from their former spouse under a Will that existed before the divorce, in most cases.
The current health crisis is causing some people to think seriously about creating a Will or a Trust. It is causing others who have been thinking of this to stop putting it off, and to start actually working toward finding a lawyer to work with them on estate and incapacity planning.
Many people are worried by the Coronavirus/COVID 19 pandemic, and are limiting their social contacts, and abiding by guidelines for social distancing.
A life estate is created when someone gives the current rights to real estate to a third party (or retains these rights themselves), while giving the rights to that same piece of property to someone else after the holder of the current rights passes on.
It is important to transfer assets into your trust, if you have a trust at least in part because you want to avoid probate.
If you become incompetent (technically, in Oregon, this is called financially incapable) and are unable to handle your finances, someone will have to do this for you.