My Spouse's Estate Made Simple™ Certificate of Attendance

1. A smooth settlement of the trust and estate--an estate plan that works!--depends on the attention given during life to four essential elements. Match the name/acronym (EPRW -- PCR -- ARR -- Document update) with the description of each of those four elements:

Acronyms: (1) EPRW - (2) PCR - (3) ARR - (4) Document update | Descriptions: (a) May occur at CUP, by request any time, or after personal counselling; (b) Is an "executive summary" or "readers' digest version" of your estate plan; (c) Lists what you own and whether it is titled to follow your estate plan; (d) When you want one-on-one advice, schedule one of these.

2. Planning at The Estate Planning Center, for LifeSpan™ Clients, looks beyond merely avoiding probate and estate taxes, proactively positioning assets (after a first death) to be safe from three real-life risks that people face, which are: *

3. The ____ Trust and ____ Trust established on the death of one of you, for the survivor, generally assure that there will be no estate tax liability at the first death, regardless of the size of the estate. *

4. If the Survivor has the following trusts available for living expenses, and funds are available in all three, what is the recommended order of spending? *

Family Trust, then Marital Trust, the Survivor's Living Trust
Survivor's Living Trust, then Family Trust, then Marital Trust
Marital Trust, then Survivor's Living Trust, then Marital Trust
Survivor's Living Trust, then Marital Trust, then Family Trust

5. When using the Poorer Spouse Technique, we will typically advise moving ____ from the Survivor's Living Trust to put into the Family Trust. *

Growth Assets
Income Producing Assets
Retirement Assets
Assets of Lower Value

6. The concept of "Stepped up" basis of a decedent's assets ____ and thus makes this a prime time to liquidate and/or re-allocate investments. *

reduces income taxes at the time death
reduces estate tax liability
reduces capital gain taxes on the sale of assets

7. We do not fund (retitle) vehicles to the Family Trust because of ____ concerns. *

8. The only advantage of a retirement account on death TO SURVIVOR instead of to family trust is ____. *

Retirement account may be protected from a nursing home spend down.
Retirement account is "checked out" of the IRS supermarket.
Retirement account is protected from a subsequent spouse in remarriage.
Retirement account may get increased income tax deferral.

9. For a Family Trust to provide all the asset protection and estate tax benefits it can, it is essential that the Survivor [select all that apply]:

leave assets in that trust until and unless he or she needs to spend them
avoid putting the Survivor's own assets into the Family Trust
properly title the Family Trust assets, always in the name of the Family Trust
keep records of when and why funds are distributed from the Family Trust
title Family Trust assets in Survivor's Living Trust to minimize risk of probate
file an appropriate income tax return (1041) for the Family Trust annually
be named as the sole Trustee for life

10. While the deceased person's Living Trust (becomes upon death) "irrevocable" and creates the "irrevocable" Family and/or Marital Trust(s), that does not mean those trusts are literally unchangeable. Updates can still be accomplished by [select all that apply]:

sleight of hand switching out of pages for corrected pages
exercise of a Power of Appointment
disgruntled beneficiaries who contest the plan
amendment by a properly appointed Trust Protector

11. Sometimes we need to be protected from our own kindness, especially when we just lost a spouse of many decades. This may be the perfect reason to have a ____.

I certify that I watched the program and completed this certificate. *

I certify that I watched the program and completed this certificate.

Name of LifeSpan™ Client *

First

Last

I am: *

The LifeSpan™ Client named above
A "helper" or family member" of the LifeSpan™ Client named above

(If applicable) I am not the LifeSpan™ Client. My name is:

First

Last

A Note Before You Explore the Rest of Our Educational Website
We hope that this web site will help you become a better-educated consumer, less likely to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous or incompetent people offering estate planning advice or services to you. Our web site is a general educational tool only. Reading the site does not make you a client of Curt W. Ferguson or The Estate Planning Center, and we are not giving legal advice by providing this site. Do not rely on the information provided on this site as a substitute for competent legal advice addressing your specific situation.

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements. Each person should cautiously explore a relationship in person, such as at our Introductory Workshops, before engaging any attorney.

The Estate Planning Center, and the three attorneys employed here, concentrate our practice in estate planning services, which encompasses relevant asset protection, tax planning and business succession planning. However, the Supreme Court of Illinois does not recognize certifications of specialties in the practice of law. Such specialization certificates and recognitions are not a requirement to practice law in Illinois. - Communication of Fields of Practice and Specialization, Illinois Supreme Court Rule 7.

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