Estate Planning

Make Rapha a part of your legacy

Tips For Estate Planning

Having a will and a plan for your estate may be the most important act of love you can do for your family and favorite ministries. When you create an estate plan it is important to seek legal counsel to ensure your desires will be accomplished. However, before you seek that counsel, here is a simple process to help you formulate your desires.

  • Make a listing of your people.

By that we mean, make a list of individuals to whom you wish to give because they depend on you. Then make a second list of others to whom you wish to give simply because you love them. Remember that the charitable organizations you support fit both criteria.

  • Next, make a listing of your property, including approximate values.

  • Add up those values, as if they were cash, then ask yourself, “If death had occurred last night, how would I distribute the cash among the people?” Then pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide and direct you in your decisions.

You may find this more difficult than you first imagined. But do not be discouraged. There are techniques and tools available that can help you achieve your goals. To that end, we offer some help.

We have prepared Your Estate Planning Guide to help you work through this process. Whether you are reviewing an existing estate plan or have not yet taken that first step in this important act of stewardship, download your free copy today!

Is Your Will Up-To-Date?

Many estates are not distributed according to an individual’s desires, simply because the estate plan was outdated. To evaluate your own plan’s validity, consider these questions:

· Are the witnesses to your will still living?

· Have you moved to another state since your will was drafted?

· Does your will appoint a personal representative who would be unable to serve today?

· Have minor children become legal adults, and does this change your desires for estate distribution?

· Have tax laws changed since you last reviewed your estate plan?

· Do you need to explore the use of a trust?

· Have your charitable interests changed since your will was drafted?

· Has the size of your estate increased, resulting in a need for additional planning?

· Does your present estate plan provide for management of property in case of disability prior to death?

· Are there additional methods you may employ to avoid probate at the time of death?

Your answers to these questions may indicate it is time to review and possibly consider updating your estate plan. Please allow us to be of service. We have prepared a practical booklet, Your Estate Planning Guide, and it is yours--free. Click here to download your no cost and no obligation copy today.

Revocable Trusts and Charitable Giving

A Revocable Living Trust has a number of benefits; among those, it is an excellent charitable giving tool. When you have cared for the dependency needs of your family, you may wish to include charitable distribution instructions in your Revocable Living Trust. By so doing, you avoid probate costs and delays.

Here are 2 ways to accomplish charitable giving goals through your trust:

  • You can integrate your charitable gifts in your overall estate distribution plan. The trust that you use to make distribution to personal beneficiaries can also distribute a percentage of those assets to your charitable beneficiaries. This transfer can be at the time of death or can be delayed to a time when family members are no longer dependent.

  • Another option is to establish a separate trust to make a confidential transfer now, retaining the right to change your mind in the future. The trust can be flexible, paying income from the property to ministry while you retain the right to have the property returned in the event of unseen future needs.

Whether caring for the dependency needs of family or being prepared for unforeseen changes, a Revocable Living Trust may provide the flexibility you desire to meet your charitable giving goals.

Consider using a Revocable Living Trust as a tool in your estate plan. We have prepared a special Guide to Revocable Living Trusts to help you understand its benefits. You can download your free copy here without cost or obligation.

Strategies for Asset Transfers

Four common methods of asset transfer at death are: titling, a Will, the Revocable Living Trust, and beneficiary designation.

Transfer by Title

Assets can be titled jointly and therefore passed to the joint owner at death. Or titling can be used to make distribution post-death -- such as payable on death (POD) or transfer on death (TOD). These transfers typically happen outside of probate and relatively quickly with little or no cost.

Transfer by Will

Individually titled (owned) assets can be transferred via a valid Will. This form of transfer requires probate, with its inherent costs and delays, but is commonly used and proven through centuries of experience. The cost to draft a Will varies from less than $100 (for online and do-it-yourself versions) up to $1,000 or more, depending upon location and estate complexity.

If you desire your Will can include a statement of faith. The Will is a public record document, and this may be an appropriate tool to extend your legacy of faith.

Transfer by Revocable Living Trust

Assets titled to a Revocable Living Trust will pass to beneficiaries according to the terms of the Trust, outside the probate process. Most assets can be titled to the Trust during lifetime, including bank and investment accounts, real estate, business assets, automobiles, and personal property. It is generally not advantageous to title qualified retirement assets to a Trust.

Revocable Living Trusts can cost from a few $100 to $1,000 depending upon the assets and complexity of the estate. Like a Will, the Revocable Living Trust is a proven effective asset transfer tool.

A Revocable Living Trust has many advantages which a Will does not have, including the ability to manage assets during times of disability prior to death, the avoidance of probate delay and costs, and confidentiality.

Transfer by Beneficiary Designation

Some assets have built-in transfer planning through beneficiary designation. For example, life insurance and retirement plans allow the owner to name one or more individuals to receive the asset at death. It is also possible to name your favorite ministries as beneficiaries of these assets. Beneficiary transfers pass outside of the probate process.

Many states also allow the transfer of real estate via beneficiary deed. A beneficiary deed is tailored by state law and must be recorded to be valid. The beneficiaries named have no rights or responsibilities for the property until death of the owner (in fact, they don’t even have to know about it). Since real estate often makes up a large portion of an individual’s estate, this can be a valuable transfer tool that avoids the costs and delays of the probate process.

A Word About Coordination

However, there is a legal order – priority -- to the transfer of assets, it is crucial that Christian stewards carefully coordinate the titling and beneficiary designation of assets with other documents such as Wills and Trusts.

Bob’s Will may say he wants his bank account to pass to his grandchildren, but if his son is a joint owner of the account, it will pass by title prior to any bequest outlined in the Will. Mary may desire her house to pass to her church, but if her daughter is named on the title, that won’t likely happen. Many well-thought-out plans have been ruined by not recognizing the legal priorities of asset transfer.

Creating an Asset Transfer Plan

As a Christian steward living a giving lifestyle, do you need help reviewing or creating an asset transfer plan? We would love to help!

We have prepared a special eBook, Your Estate Planning Guide, to help you get started. In the Guide, you will find practical information to help you plan asset transfers to your personal beneficiaries and favorite ministries.