Some North Carolina residents who are creating an estate plan might not have considered what they need to do to ensure their executor or family members have access to any online accounts. The estate planning world is slowly catching up to the digital world, but there is still no standard procedure in place for sharing passwords.
What to do about passwords in an estate plan
Can your family benefit from drafting a special needs trust?
Every family is different, which means every family will have different estate planning goals. If you have a disabled or special needs individual in your family, it is beneficial to consider his or her future needs when drafting estate plans. There are certain tools available to you that can benefit your family for years to come.
Estate planning tips for collectors
Individuals who like to collect valuables may have to work a little harder to ensure that their estate plan accounts for those items. This is because payment and other records may not be found on tax returns or other formal statements. Therefore, North Carolina residents and others may want to use computer software to inventory their items. It may also be a good idea to use software to keep track of appraisals or other records related to an object.
A DAPT could be a powerful estate planning tool
An estate planning tool called domestic asset protection trusts (DAPTs) may make it possible to minimize income and estate taxes. The DAPT is a self-settled irrevocable trust, which means that a person can both create it and be a beneficiary. However, the trustee must reside in a state such as North Carolina that allows one to be created. While the trustee is generally a financial institution, it generally doesn't manage the trust's investments.
How trusts can help most people
There are many different types of trusts that North Carolina residents can have as part of their estate plan. The most common one is a grantor trust, and it makes it possible for assets to avoid probate in the event that the settlor passes away. While alive, an individual can be a trustee and a beneficiary. In fact, the individual who creates the trust can also revoke it at any point.
