• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Changing Trust/Will when Moving to another state

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

S

Susan Russell

Guest
From: Susan Russell Email: [email protected]
Subject: Changing Trust/Will when Moving to another state

My 90 year old mom moved from Hawaii to Washington in 1998. She had a trust & will from HI. Do we need to have a new trust/will drawn up in WA? She lives in a VERY rural area with no specialized attorneys-2 within a 50 mile radius. She does have enough assets that a trust is beneficial. How do we go about transferring the trust/will if needed? I will be visiting the 1st 2 weeks in Oct. & wish to get this done.
 


F

Friend

Guest
From: Friend Email: [email protected]
Subject: Changing Trust/Will when Moving

It is a good idea to have the Will and Trust reviewed periodically, especially when moving to a new state.

First, we both do not know how well prepared the Will and Trust originally were in state 1 - while Hawaii has some excellent lawyers (the best estate lawyer in Hawaii, Merv Gerson, is a content contributor to FreeAdvice.com and is listed on AttorneyPages.com.), some are not so good. So the documents you are relying on may be defective, not optimal, or out of date.

Second, asset values, tax laws and estate planning techniques and beneficiary's life situations often change with time. That alone may warrant review. And as Federal estate tax rates start at 37% a lot of money often can be saved!

Third, each state's probate and trust laws have indiosyncracies. It may make things easier to handle if the documents contained that state's provisions unique its local law. They may be minor, major or mixed, such as those regarding court oversight, or admission of documents, or powers of personal representatives, to a local requirement that as a condition to probating a Will having to fly in the original witnesses to prove it was properly signed.

Fourth, sometimes if there would be any question of mental competence, duress or mistake, it would be better to leave things alone. But the lawyer should tell you that.

Fifth, if there is no local specialist in Wills and Trusts nearby, then make a photocopy of the documents (DO NOT EVER UNSTAPLE THEM THOUGH) and have them reviewed by a specialst in a big city in the new state, and get that lawyer's opinion on whether anything new is in order; he could prepare the documents and send them to someone local to witness the execution.

If you are sure the lawyer in state 1 was a real specialist, you might ask that lawyer -- if s/he has any question s/he'd forward it onto a Washington state specialist.

 
S

Susan Russell

Guest
From: Susan Russell Email: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Changing Trust/Will when Moving

Thank you for re-affirming my concerns about mother's trust/will. Gerald Chee of Taylor & Leong did the original but HI has some quirky rules and regs and has just recently brought their probate laws more in line with national standards. I will call him Monday and have him refer me to someone in Seattle that I can talk to when I am there on 10/18. Do you have any suggestions of attorneys who might deal with this situation? Susan

 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top