What Is a Blind Trust? Trusts are typically set up for the benefit of a trustmaker’s loved ones, a charitable organization, or a third party, with the trust money and property being distributed to the beneficiaries upon the trustmaker’s death. But there are situations in which a person may want to set up a trust […]
Estate Planning
The Death of Anne Heche: Lessons for Estate Planning from Austin Estate Planning Attorney Liz Nielsen
The recent accidental death of Anne Heche was a shocking reminder of how the everyday can quickly turn into the tragic. While driving through the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles on August 5, 2022, Heche was involved in a car crash and succumbed to her injuries a week later. The official cause of death […]
What if I Cannot Find a Beneficiary? from Austin Estate Planning Attorney Liz Nielsen
When someone who has named you as the executor of their will or the trustee of their trust passes away, you are obligated to distribute that person’s money and property according to the document’s terms to the designated beneficiaries. (For convenience, the roles of executor and trustee will be referred to throughout this article as […]
Will Our Child Have to Manage Multiple Trusts after Our Deaths? from Austin Estate Planning Attorney Liz Nielsen
When a married couple creates an estate plan using a revocable living trust (RLT), they have the option of creating a single joint trust or separate trusts. Whatever the reasons for creating separate trusts, when the ultimate beneficiary is the same for both spouses’ trusts (often the couple’s child or children), the question that inevitably […]