Living trust - R2Is/non-R2Is - should we have it?

[r2iGolkonda]

Hi Folks,

For a while I have been thinking about living trust. God forbid but if unfortunate thing should happen to us (parents), should we execute living trust by hiring a lawyer?

Even though we are planning on R2I this year (2008), We are planning to leave our 401k and most of the savings in U.S. This is considerable amount and it worries me that my kids may not have access to this and state takes over the assets etc if that to happen without living trust.

Any thoughts on this forum what R2I'ers have done?

I was told with decent lawyer one can do living trust for around $1500. This is not a big amount to protect our hard earned money and to pass on to our kids.

I appreciate any feedback on this.

Thanks,

[bmukherji]

Hi Folks,

For a while I have been thinking about living trust. God forbid but if unfortunate thing should happen to us (parents), should we execute living trust by hiring a lawyer?

Even though we are planning on R2I this year (2008), We are planning to leave our 401k and most of the savings in U.S. This is considerable amount and it worries me that my kids may not have access to this and state takes over the assets etc if that to happen without living trust.
01
Any thoughts on this forum what R2I'ers have done?

I was told with decent lawyer one can do living trust for around $1500. This is not a big amount to protect our hard earned money and to pass on to our kids.

I appreciate any feedback on this.

Thanks,

01. Assets under 401(k) or IRA upon death of an owner get trasferred to a beneficiary. The best protection is to make sure that "benficiary designation" forms are on file with the financial institution holding the assets and a copy is handy.

02. For assets in a bank a/c or in a brokerage a/c, a designation such as "joint with right of survivorship" or "payable on death (POD) would normally suffice.

03. None of the above requires a Living Trust.

In the past, the subject has been discussed at length in this forum. It would be worthwhile to make an effort to use the "search" facility.

[moreqa]

'Community Property' states have some additional conditions - see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_property