Trust vs Will

[Ohiogal]

you asked "whose vernacular ?"

go to google. look up all the sites that advertise living trusts for creation. you would be hard-pressed to find even one of those sites who is advertising anything but a revocable grantor trust. on the other hand, you will find MILLIONS who are advertising revocable grantor trusts

revocable grantor trusts are used SYNONYMOUSLY with the term "living trust"

the fact that you want to nitpick, and not use the vernacular just makes you confusing to people you give advice to

and you are beating a dead horse, since you are about the only person who uses the term that way. it would be like me trying to remind people that "gay" means "happy". i could choose to be like you, and go to lengthy explanations every time i used the word gay. or simply accept the fact that everyone else uses the term exclusively to describe a homosexual person, and use the term happy, gleeful, etc to describe a "highly satisfied state of mind"

i, on the other hand, am not confusing. i knew dang well what the op was referring to, and answered his question in the way that it was asked

Except you missed the actual illegality of what OP is asking and doing.

 

[TrustUser]

OP can't do crap. She cannot have something prepared from which she benefits. But hey continue to encourage that.

it is not uncommon for parents to include children in trust discussions. this is how this thread should be treated. it is not the job of posters to make judgments on the op.

 

[Ohiogal]

it is not uncommon for parents to include children in trust discussions. this is how this thread should be treated. it is not the job of posters to make judgments on the op.

What OP has done is unethical. OP prepared a will for her parents to sign. That can easily be destroyed. OP never said she was a lawyer. Or he. So therefore OP practiced law without a license. And then committed an ethical disgrace even if an attorney of preparing documents for which they will benefit.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

The OP wrote.

I'm married and have one brother who is single and we all get along well. Together we drafted a Will for each of my parents using Quicken Willmaker Plus software.

That sounds to me like the OP and his/her brother wrote the will. There is no mention that the parents were even involved.

 

[TrustUser]

The OP wrote.

That sounds to me like the OP and his/her brother wrote the will. There is no mention that the parents were even involved.

many parents have children help them do what the parents want

and this is how i am treating it

 

[Zigner]

many parents have children help them do what the parents want

and this is how i am treating it

You're actually in the wrong on this (at least until you verify what actually happened.) Based on the construction of the OP, we have only been told that the two siblings and one spouse together created a will for the parents. That is illegal. You know it and it's ok to admit it. Had the OP said they sat with the parents and talked it over and helped them with the operation of the software, the legality may still be in question, but not to the extent that it is now.

 

[TrustUser]

there are many reasons for a child's involvement that have the parent's wishes in hand, and many instances in which this is so

so again, STOP MAKING JUDGMENTS.

 

[TrustUser]

and none of this has been directed towards the several other members who were also giving help - why is this ?

 

[Ohiogal]

and none of this has been directed towards the several other members who were also giving help - why is this ?

YOU were the one encouraging UNETHICAL and ILLEGAL behavior. That is why. Try to follow the law. Do not encourage unethical and ILLEGAL behavior and actions. Every time you do, you will be reported.

 

[Ohiogal]

as i stated, we were talking about living trusts. in the vernacular, this is synonymous with a revocable grantor trust, and certainly what the op was referring to.

i will repeat - living trusts (i.e. revocable grantor trusts) have nothing to do with taxes. they are not even recognized by the federal govt.

yes, i am sure that you have seen it first hand. for every one that you can count on your hand for which probate is less expensive, i could show you enough that it would take 25 people using both toes and fingers to count the ones in which probate is more expensive.

and the ones that are less expensive would be in tens or hundreds of dollars. the ones that are more expensive could be in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

this is an advice web site. it is not meant to be an exact representation of any individual's situation, nor is any reasonable op expecting that to be true.

so instead of saying "you should check with an attorney to make sure", which every op already knows, i gave the op my opinion, why i have that opinion, and the overwhelming odds of it being advantageous for him to put it in a trust.

i also gave him a reason to do so, that is not a part of a will, unless someone wants to go thru the ridiculous procedure of having a will create a trust.

there are all sorts of legal people who are advertising trust creations for 500-700. and this is in california, which is always about the most expensive place to buy stuff. now these trusts may not be complete enough if someone wants to keep the trust going, once it becomes irrevocable. but they certainly do the job that a will would do, in terms of distributing assets.

so the most the op is out, with a trust, is say $500-700. that is a small amount, compared to the costs of MOST PROBATES for million dollar estates, ESPECIALLY when those estates consist of real estate.

and as i suggested, the op and his brother might like to talk it over with their parents about keeping the trust going, and operating much like a pension fund for the two brothers, once the parents have died

i only step in on things that i know about - i dont call myself trustuser, for nothing !!

any time you want to battle me on the use of trusts, feel free to do so. no one on this site has gotten the best of me, yet !!

People who listen to you may find themselves in a world of hurt. And Taxing Matters won the argument from an ethical and legal standpoint.

 

[TrustUser]

YOU were the one encouraging UNETHICAL and ILLEGAL behavior. That is why. Try to follow the law. Do not encourage unethical and ILLEGAL behavior and actions. Every time you do, you will be reported.

i did nothing of the sort. my choice was to have a trust created. taxing matters was on the fence about which he thought should be created.