Courtesy Law

A will allows you to name someone to act as Executor to manage your probate assets upon your death, pay your final bills and the costs of the administration of your probate estate, and distribute any remaining probate assets to your named beneficiaries.  Probate assets are those assets titled solely in one person’s name, and do not include assets that pass to a surviving joint owner according to rights of survivorship or to a person according to beneficiary designations such as on life insurance policies or retirement accounts.

A revocable trust is similar to a will in that it allows you to name someone as successor Trustee after your death to manage all assets titled in the name of your revocable trust during your lifetime or that your trustee receives as a result of your death, pay your final bills and the costs of administration of the revocable trust, and distribute any remaining trust assets to your named beneficiaries.  However, assets titled in the name of a revocable trust do not go through probate administration and thus are not subject to court supervision.  Administration of a revocable trust may be less costly and time-consuming than administration of a will through the probate process.

A durable general power of attorney for financial matters allows you to name someone to make financial decisions on your behalf in the event you are unable to make such decisions yourself.  Such decisions may include not only paying your regular bills, but having your personal income tax returns prepared and filed, working with the trustee of any revocable trust you may have created, and if appropriate, making gifts to certain designated classes of beneficiaries, such as to your children and grandchildren.

An advanced medical directive allows you to name someone to make health care decisions on your behalf in the event you are unable to make such decisions yourself.  Under an advanced medical directive that combines a living will, this includes the power to enforce your wishes regarding the providing or withholding of extraordinary measures to prolong your life in the event you are suffering from a persistent coma or terminal condition.   An advanced medical directive can also give someone the ability to make organ donations on your behalf if you wish to be considered an organ donor.

Irrevocable Trusts are advanced estate planning techniques that allow you to transfer certain assets into an irrevocable trust for the ultimate benefit of your named beneficiaries, or in the case of charitable remainder trusts, your named charities, while retaining certain interests in the irrevocable trusts during your lifetime or during a specific term of years.  Use of irrevocable trusts may, under certain circumstances, minimize gift and estate tax consequences.  Further discussion of irrevocable trusts is best accomplished in a personal consultation because of the numerous issues and requirements surrounding these types of trusts.

Under Virginia law, a trust may now be created to provide for the care of one or more of your companion animals.  Funds in the pet trust may also be applied to burial and other post-death expenses for your companion animals as provided in the pet trust document.

Probate is the bureaucratic process under Virginia law which allows an Executor named in a will or an Administrator if there is no will to gather a person’s probate assets (those assets which are titled solely in that person’s name), pay the final debts of that person and the costs of the administration of the estate, and then distribute the remaining probate assets to the beneficiaries named in the will, or to the heirs-at-law of the deceased person according to the Virginia laws of descent and distribution if that person died without a will.  Under Virginia law there are several different versions of probate that may be used that depend on the size of the person’s probate estate, the value and type of the probate assets, the persons named as beneficiaries under the will or who are heirs-at-law if there is no will, and the persons who will qualify as Executor or Administrator.  Further discussion of the probate process is best accomplished in a personal consultation because of the numerous personal and family-specific issues that must be discussed.

Administration of a trust is in many ways similar to probate administration except that unless the trust is created by the provisions of a will, the administration of the trust is generally not subject to court oversight or to the probate process.  However, a trustee has many responsibilities that should be reviewed at the beginning of the trust administration to ensure that all tasks and obligations are handled in a timely and appropriate manner.  Further discussion of the administration of a trust is best accomplished in a personal consultation because of the numerous personal and family-specific issues that must be discussed.