Wills and Trusts
Protect your greatest asset:
Your family
Planning for one’s own death is never fun, but it’s an essential activity if you want to make sure your legacy passes on to your family without complications after you’re gone.
Because the Iowa judiciary oversees the distribution of a deceased's estate assets, it makes sense to have your intent expressed through a properly executed will or trust. Otherwise, complicated intestate laws will speak for you when the time comes to divvy up your assets among your heirs.
A Last Will and Testament makes clear which individuals or entities may take from your estate—recipients will however have to pay probate fees and taxes before they receive their property.
Recently, Iowans have discovered how to avoid probate costs by executing a trust instead of a will.
The experienced attorneys at the Smith Law Firm work exclusively with Altoona, Des Moines, Pleasant Hill, Ankeny and Bondurant residents to produce modern, inviolable wills and trusts that pass through the Iowa courts effortlessly.
Will and Trust Counsel at the Smith Law Firm
A good estate plan serves two purposes:
- It guarantees the right people will care for you if you become incapacitated.
- It makes sure your family and other beneficiaries acquire your assets upon your death.
Your attorney accordingly may offer you two estate planning tools when addressing these objectives: Last Will and Testament or Irrevocable/Living Trust.
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
A Will is an estate planning instrument executed under Iowa probate law that becomes irrevocable upon death when drafted and executed properly.
Know that if you don’t plan your estate before passing away, Iowa’s intestate succession laws will determine who gets your property and assets.
A Will gives you the final say in what happens to your belongings. Along with clarifying which heirs may take from the estate, a Last Will may also perform the following tasks:
- Appoint an executor to settle your estate (pay debts, distribute assets).
- Name a guardian to take care of your minor children.
- Bequeath assets or cash gifts to non-heirs (friends or charities).
- Disinherit heirs.
Your testamentary document will furthermore become effective only upon your death—meaning you may amend or revoke your Will freely—giving you complete control of your legacy during your lifetime.
The Smith Law Firm helps clients better understand how Wills operate in estate law, and we can even help you choose a fiduciary that your heirs can trust to execute your Will faithfully during probate.
LIVING AND IRREVOCABLE TRUSTS
Trusts are legal entities that you create to manage your estate assets. Setting up a trust is an attractive estate planning tool in Iowa today because most trust property escape probate proceedings and the tax assessments that come with it.
A living (revocable) trust allows you to modify its terms during your lifetime (i.e. remove or add beneficiaries, change asset distribution). Your creditors however can reach the property in your living trust and your belongings will enter probate after you pass away.
An irrevocable trust contrarily does not let you change the agreement once executed unless the trust beneficiaries allow you to do so. In return, the trust’s assets never enter probate, thus avoiding state and federal inheritance taxes.
After executing an irrevocable trust, your property immediately transfers to an assigned trustee who may be a lawyer, bank entity, or relative. Once this event occurs, you’ll no longer own the assets held in trust and you won’t have to pay taxes on them anymore.
Active trustees manage trust property (i.e. invest cash, pay debts, buy or sell real assets) upon receipt and distribute profits among trust beneficiaries according to the terms in the trust agreement.
WILL VS. TRUST COMPARISON
Before considering how Wills and Trusts differ, let’s first examine how they’re alike.
Both estate planning instruments reveal what happens to your belongings after your death. You may also amend or revoke a Will or Living Trust during your lifetime, and both testamentary documents allow you to assign a fiduciary to administer your estate when you pass away.
Wills and Irrevocable Trusts however operate separately and hold unique powers:
- Wills only take effect after death.
- Will beneficiaries receive their entire inheritance after probate closes.
- Heirs must pay taxes on property conveyed in a Will.
- Irrevocable Trusts become effective as soon as the grantor properly executes it.
- Irrevocable Trusts require more time and effort to draft, and beneficiaries must pay trustee fees and trust expenses before receiving benefits.
- Irrevocable Trusts bypass drawn out probate proceeding and escape expensive probate fees and tax assessment.
- Trust beneficiaries receive estate assets over time and their takings depend on how well their fiduciary manages the trust.
- Trusts do not allow you to appoint a guardian to care for your minor children.
Choosing between executing a will or trust may seem overwhelming at first—let the qualified Will and Trust attorneys at Smith Law in Altoona help you discover which option works best for you.
LIVING WILL AND ADVANCE DIRECTIVES
A Living Will (a.k.a. Directive for Health Care) informs healthcare workers about the medical treatments and life-sustaining alternatives you authorize when you can’t speak for yourself.
It’ll accordingly spring into action when your health deteriorates into a terminally ill condition, incapacitate mental state or coma. Once executed, your doctor will know under which medical circumstance he/she may attempt to prolong your life and which mechanical or medicinal interventions you’ll allow him/her to use to get the job done.
Smith Law in Altoona knows that unexpected end-of-life events can happen at any time, which is why we specialize in preparing detailed Living Will documents for Iowans residing in the greater Des Moines area.
WILL PLANNING IN IOWA
Often the centerpiece of most estate plans, Will planning allows you to settle your estate as you wish as opposed to the wishes of the courts.
Will planning also answers important questions that will most likely arise shortly after your death:
- Who takes care of your minor children?
- Who runs your business?
- Which heirs will receive your real assets and personal property?
- Who will execute your Will during probate?
- Whether heirs, beneficiaries, or interested parties can contest the Will without penalty?
If you hold testamentary capacity while planning your Will, and you execute the document properly, little room will exist for others to bring a valid Will dispute against your estate after you pass away.
The attorneys at the Smith Law Firm commit themselves to offering high-quality Will planning services for all Iowans residing in counties surrounding Des Moines.
ATTORNEY’S ROLE IN WILL PLANNING
Will planning attorneys are licensed law professionals who hold a thorough understanding of how the courts and the government—tax, inventory, assess, and distribute your estate assets after your death.
Besides educating you on what to expect when your Will enters probate, your estate law advocate can help you plan the essential components that every testamentary document should hold:
- Executor Assignment.
- Guardian Appointment.
- Charity Gifting.
- Tax Free Bequeaths.
- Diverse Asset Distribution (personal, shared, intangible and real property).
Having an attorney plan and review your Will further ensures the courts will recognize the document when your personal representative admits it into probate.
Your attorney also meticulously documents your Will drafting activities and saves the evidence for presentation in estate dispute litigation should an interested party ever challenge your intent during probate proceedings.
Finally, Will planning lawyers test and record your capacity to execute the Will—your heirs can likewise use this evidence to mitigate subsequent testamentary capacity claims made against your Will.
Never risk having the courts invalidate your Will because you didn’t seek legal counsel before executing your testamentary documents.
Smith Law Firm attorneys can uncomplicate Will planning for you by making sure you draft a legally binding document. We’ll also record the entire planning process and keep the notes safe in case your heirs ever need our help in defending an estate dispute against their inheritance.
ATTORNEY’S ROLE IN TRUST PLANNING
Drafting a trust agreement isn’t something you can do online because overlooking even a minor legal requisite may have your beneficiaries facing an expensive trust dispute lawsuit after you pass away.
When setting up a trust, your attorney will work with you to define the trustee’s duties, which includes directing exactly how the fiduciary will manage trust property and scheduling when he/she must distribute assets among trusts beneficiaries.
Your trust attorney may further draft amendments intended to protect trust assets against lawsuits and taxes and add ancillary documents that identify the circumstances in which the beneficiaries can remove the trustee.
Acting trustees may also retain a trust lawyer to help them stay in compliance with the trust agreement and with Iowa’s strict trust laws—i.e. performing accountings, beneficiary reporting, investment counseling, settling creditor debts and paying taxes.
The Smith Law trust attorneys in Altoona are specialists in planning strong trust agreements that hold adequate legal protections against probate lawsuits and inheritance taxes.
CONSEQUENCES OF DYING INTESTATE
(WITHOUT ESTATE PLANNING)If you pass away without properly executing a will or trust, the Iowa probate courts will apply statutory rules to determine who inherits from your estate.
Complicated codes make the state’s intestate succession laws difficult to understand, but in a nutshell, your spouse inherits everything when you die without an estate plan, even when you have descendant children living at the time of your death.
If you’re unmarried when you pass away, your children take everything, and if you’re married but have children from another marriage, each side will take one half of your estate.
These scenarios may not address how you want your legacy dispersed among the people you love. You therefore must plan and execute a will or trust if you wish to protect your property and assets from government intervention.
Retaining a Will and Trust Attorney
Altoona, Des Moines, Pleasant Hill, Ankeny and Bondurant residents searching for a will or trust attorney should only hire legal counsel who:Partners in a firm that primarily resolves estate law issues;
Holds deep roots in the Des Moines community; and
Provides clients with comprehensive estate planning services.