Estate Planning Basics Referaat (0)

Estonian University of Life Sciences
Institute of Economics and Social Sciences
Economic Accounting and Financial Management
Report
Estate Planning Basics
By Attorney Denis Clifford
Complied by:
Tartu 2010
This book explains, what most people need to know about estate planning. It will give the legal knowledge , what you need to know preparing your estate plan. „Estate Planning“ essentially means two things. First , it means deciding who gets your property after you die and choosing the wisest legal transfer methods for leaving your property to those you want to receive it. Second, it means makeing some important personal decisions , such as who will provide care for your young children , if you have any, if anything happens to you and the children´s other parent , and who should make medical and financial decisions for you if you someday become incapacitiated and unable to handle things yourself.

A First Look at Estate Planning

Who needs to bother with estate planning? Here´s short answer:

• Anyone who owns property that matters to them
  
• Anyone with a minor child (under 18)
  

If you have a minor child, or children, you automatically have estate planning concerns . It doesn´t go for Estonia.
The first step in creating a sound estate plan is to look realistically at your unique personal situation. You could start with a few questions :

• Are you married , partnered, single ?
  
• Do you have kids?
  
• Are you in a second or subsequent marrage or partnership?
  
• Do you have blended family?
  
• Stepchildrens?
  
• Do you have any childens from prior relationships?
  
• Do you have grandchildrens?
  
• Brothers and sisters ?
  
• Other close family members ?
  
• Who else you care about?
  

Parents raising young children are usually quite clear that their major estate planning concern is providing for the minors if the parents suddenly die. „Providing“ means deciding both who will raise the child and who manage any money or property that the child legally owns.
To arrange for the transfer of your property to your beneficiaries after you die, you must use one or some combination of various legal devices . The two most popular are will and living trusts.

Wills

A will, the simplest estate planning device to prepare , is a document that leaves some or all your property to beneficiaries you choose . You can also use a will to name an adult guardian for your young childrens . The principal drawback of a will is that it must normally go through probate , a complicated and expensive court proceeding.

Living Trusts

A living trust is a legal document similar to a will in function, exept that no probate or other court proceedings are required to turn property over to beneficiaries. Because of this, living trusts are the most popular probate- avoidance device.

Beneficiaries

Direct beneficiaries come in two types :

• Primary beneficiaries- people or institutions named to receive specially identified property.
  
• Residuary beneficiaries- people or organizations named to receive any property not specifically left to primary beneficiaries.
  

An altenate beneficiary is a person or organization you name to receive a gift you left to a direct beneficiary, if that direct beneficiary dies before you, or does not outlive you by a defined period of time, often 30 to 45 days .

Children

In this book „children“ can have two meanings. The first is „minors“ – individuals who are not yet 18. The second meaning is offspring of any age; parents who live long enough can have „children“ who are in their 40s, 50s, or even older.
Most parents of minor children are understandably concerned with what would happen to their children if disaster strikes and the parents die. One opportunity is to name someone to care for your children.
First you have to know some legal rules . Every minor must be raised by an adult who is legally responsible for the child’s care. And if there are no parents capable of handling this responsibility, another adult (personal guardian) will be appointed by a court.
The person you name as personal guardian cannot actually serve as the legal guardian until approved by a court. The judge has the authority to name someone else if the judge is convinced it is in the best interests of the child.

Choosing your child’s personal guardian

You may well know whom you want to name as your child’s personal guardian. For many parents, there’s one obvious choice – an adult who is willing to take on the responsibility and would love and care for the child. And always you should name a successor personal guardian as well, in case your first choice is unable to serve or to continue to serve.
For example: Janine has custody of her two daughters, aged 14 and 15, from her first marriage , and her son, age 6,from her second. Her 1st husband has never taken any interest in, and little reponsibility for the girls . Her second ex, Todd , has been an adequate, though from Janine’s view, well below superb, father to their son, and also tried to be decent to her daughters. Though three children would like to stay together, Janine reluctantly recognizes that this can’t be paramount in her decision . Janine’s sister , Brenda, is close to the daugthers and would, Janine strongly believes, be a much better personal guardian for them than Todd. But Todd would certainly want and be entitled to custody of their son.
A parent raising a child may not want the other parent to have custody, for any of a number of reasons. The custodial parent may believe that the other parent is dangerously destructive, emotionally or pshysically. Or a custodial parent may have remarried and believes that his current spouse is a far better parent to his children than his ex.
One general rule is that a parent cannot succeed in appointing someone other than the natural parent to be personal guardian, unless that parent:

• has legally abondoned the child or,
  
• is unfit as a parent.
  

This book helps you to understand better the law and the rules, which comes after your death. It contains a lot of helpful facts and exsamples for you, to handle better and know more what you need to do, if you maybe die.
Vocabulary
1. Essentially põhiliselt,põhiolemuselt
2. Wisest kõige targem
3. Transfer raha ülekanne, üle andma, loovutamine
4. Incapacitate kõlbamtuks tegema, õigust piirama
5. Minor väiksem, vähetähtis, alaealine
6. Subsequent järgnev
7. Blended segatud , tembitud
8. Beneficiary kasu/tulu saaja, abi saaja
9. Provide varustama, andma, tagama
10. Drawback puudus, defekt
11. Probate pärandivara hooldama
12. Avoidance testamendi vältimine
13. Primary esmane, peamine, olulisim, tähtsaim
14. Residuary võlgadest ja pärandist loobujatest ouhas
15. Offspring järeltulijad
16. Strike streik, streikima, soodsat tehingut sooritama
17. Capable võimeline, suutlikkus , võimekas
18. Superb ülim, suurepärane
19. Decent korralik, sünnis, kombekas
20. Reluctantly vastumeelne, vastumeelselt
21. Destructive purustav , häbistav, lõhkuv
22. Unfit kõlbamtu, sobimatu, võimetu
23. Abandoned hüljatud