Occasionally, when I visit with clients about how they would like to manage the distribution of their personal effects (e.g., jewelry, furniture, firearms, etc.) upon their deaths, they jokingly say something like "What do I care? I'll be dead!" or "Aw, I'll just let 'em fight it out."
Creation of a Living Trust allows one to transfer one's assets (home, bank accounts, stocks, personal property, vacation homes, business interests, etc.) to a Trustee who manages the transferred assets for your benefit and use while you are living. The initial trustee is typically the same person who transferred the asset in the first place: you.
If you die without a Will, you will have died "intestate." In such a case, the laws of the State in which you (or your real property) reside at the time of your death govern how your property will be distributed. These laws may or may not distribute your property in a manner with which you are comfortable. If you want to learn about how the Utah legislature thinks your property should be distributed upon your death, see Utah Code Annotated, Title 75, Chapter 2.
A Will (also called a "Last Will and Testament") is a document that determines how your property is to be distributed upon your death. A Will can also be used to nominate guardians for your minor or disabled children if you and your spouse die before your children all reach adulthood. Without nominating guardians for your minor or disabled children, a judge will be the one to determine who is best fit to be appointed guardian over your children.
In January of 2008, a new law in Utah entitled the "Advance Health Care Directive Act" ("UAHCDA") replaced the somewhat less useful "Personal Choice and Living Will Act." The purposes of both of these acts was to make it easier for individuals to control the decision-making process related to their health care if they ever became unable to make such decisions for themselves d
Occasionally, when I visit with clients about how they would like to manage the distribution of their personal effects (e.g., jewelry, furniture, firearms, etc.) upon their deaths, they jokingly say something like "What do I care? I'll be dead!" or "Aw, I'll just let 'em fight it out."
Creation of a Living Trust allows one to transfer one's assets (home, bank accounts, stocks, personal property, vacation homes, business interests, etc.) to a Trustee who manages the transferred assets for your benefit and use while you are living. The initial trustee is typically the same person who transferred the asset in the first place: you.
A Will (also called a "Last Will and Testament") is a document that determines how your property is to be distributed upon your death. A Will can also be used to nominate guardians for your minor or disabled children if you and your spouse die before your children all reach adulthood. Without nominating guardians for your minor or disabled children, a judge will be the one to determine who is best fit to be appointed guardian over your children.
In January of 2008, a new law in Utah entitled the "
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