One of the key features of the living trust is that assets held in such trust will not be subject to the estate administration process called probate.
Nevertheless, at a person’s death, even though all the assets may be properly titled in the name of the living trust, and are therefore not subject to the probate process, there remain important tasks to carry out incident to the passing of the person who established the trust.
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Where a husband and wife jointly created the trust, upon the death of the first spouse to die, there are important tasks the surviving spouse must carry out.
Joint Trust Steps Continued…
A notice to creditors should be filed to cut off unknown creditors who may in the future make a claim against the estate of the deceased spouse. Remains must be disposed of through burial or cremation.
Even if there are no estate taxes due, for some estates an estate tax return should be filed to preserve certain tax benefits that may be helpful in the future.
In time the deceased spouse’s name and social security number should be removed from accounts and real estate, in part to minimize risks of identity theft. A myriad of other tasks may be necessary, depending on the individual circumstances.
Many people leave IRA’s and other retirement accounts to the surviving spouse and/or to children or others. There are important tax elections that the recipients must make in a short time following death, and so sound advice should be sought in handling these types of assets.
Because of these many contingencies, the surviving spouse or surviving heirs, as the case may be, will want to consult with an attorney and their CPA to be sure these matters are handled in the most advantageous and expeditious fashion.
Some other aspects our Las Vegas & Henderson Trust Attorneys handle include:
