Estate Planning Articles

Table of Contents

Basic Estate Planning

Introduction:  Overview of estate planning.

Who Will Get My Property at My Death?

Probate in Nevada

Estate Planning Goals and Tools

Advanced Estate Planning

Introduction to Advanced Estate Planning

Estate Reduction

Uses of Life Insurance in Estate Planning

Irrevocable Trusts

Charitable Trusts

Business Entities

Estate Freezing

Asset Protection

Conclusion

Nevada Health-Care Power of Attorney Form

Sample Nevada Health Care Power of Attorney (Advanced Health-Care Directive) -This HIPAA-compliant document is a modified version of the Nevada statutory form that includes (1) a power of attorney, (2) an directive regarding life support ("living will"), (3) long-term care instructions, (4) organ donation instructions, and (5) instructions regarding a memorial service and the dispositions of mortal remains. -Updated to comply with the changes made by the Nevada Legislature in 2009.

Memo Explaining Health-Care Power of Attorney

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Trust and Estate News and Notes

Forms and Memos

• Memos - Educational materials related to estate-planning and estate-administration topics. Intended to assist you to evaluate your current estate plan and estate-planning options.
  
  
• Forms - A few forms that may be useful for discussion, based on Nevada law.


• IRS Forms and Publications - Link to official forms and publications from the IRS.


• Questionnaires and Checklists - Questionnaires and checklists that help gather information for estate planning, business planning, and estate administration.


• Most Popular - These are the forms and memos most commonly downloaded:
  • Health-Care Power of Attorney and related memo.
  • Nevada Declaration of Domicile and related memo.
    
    
• Initial Consultation - These forms and memos are useful to prepare for an initial estate planning consultation:
  • Asset Checklist Form
  • Questionnaire Form
  • Beneficiaries & Fiduciaries Memo
  • Estate Planning Overview Memo

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Memos

Click on the title to download the document. These memos and articles are intended to be educational, but they are not intended to provide legal advice for any particular person or situation. Information contained in these memos is NOT an acceptable substitute for personal legal advice from an attorney who is (1) licensed in the state where you live; (2) experienced in the appropriate area of law; and (3) familiar with the details of your situation.
Short Title	Description
Allocating Assets to Subtrusts on the First Death	An A/B or A/B/C trust needs to be divided into subtrusts upon the death of the first settlor to die. [Large file.]
Asset Protection	Describes techniques used to protect assets from creditors, such as offshore asset-protection trusts and Nevada's self-settled spendthrift trust.
Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries	Discussion of how to (1) identify beneficiaries for a will or trust and to describe how distributions are to be made to them and (2) select fiduciaries, including executor, trustee, guardians, etc.
Business Succession Planning	How to transition a closely held business to family or key employees
Charitable Giving	Should charitable giving be part of your estate plan?
Charitable Remainder Trust Management	Instructions to the settlor and to the trustee of charitable remainder trust.
Charitable Remainder Trust and Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust	Benefits that come from using a life insurance trust in combination with a charitable remainder trust
The Distribution of Your Estate	A memo to help you provide an outline or memorandum to your attorney explaining how, when, and on what conditions your estate assets are to be distributed.
Establishing Legal Domicile in Nevada	Memo outlining the steps to take to establish legal residency in Nevada.
Estate Planning Distributions	2-page memo regarding the ultimate distribution of your estate, summarizing different ways that you can have your assets divided and distributed.
Estate Planning Goals and Tools	Memo outlining estate planning objectives and the means to achieve them. [20 pages; large file.]
Estate Planning Objectives	2-page memo that answers the question, "Who will get my property when I die?"
Estate Planning Overview	Four-page memo outlining estate planning tools.
Estate Planning Using Business Entities	Methods of reducing the estate tax value of business entities and assets held in business entities.
Fees for Trust Preparation	Memo discussing estimated fees for preparing living trusts.
Fee Policies	Policies of the Rushforth Firm relating to billing fees and costs for legal services.
Fiduciary Inventory and Accountings	Memo to a court-appointed Executor, Administrator, Guardian of the Estate, or a Trustee of a Testamentary Trust regarding the inventory and account reports that should be filed.
Generation-Skipping Trusts	Trusts can be designed to "skip" taxation in one or more generations. This can save taxes for children and grandchildren. "Dynasty" trusts are those that endure for several generations (up to 365 years in Nevada).
Nevada Health Care Power of Attorney	Memo explaining how to complete the Nevada durable power of attorney for health care form. [For the form, click here.]
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) Overview	Memo outlining the purposes and design of an irrevocable trust designed to hold life insurance (referred to as an "irrevocable life insurance trust" or "ILIT").
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust Management	Memo to the settlor and to the trustee of an irrevocable trust that is designed to be the owner of life insurance (referred to as an "irrevocable life insurance trust" or "ILIT").
Nevada Asset Protection Trust	Memo outlining asset protecting using a self-settled spendthrift trust under Nevada law.
Post-Mortem Planning	Memo outlining tax-planning options after death, including methods for fixing problems arising from lack of planning or poor planning.
Probate in Nevada	Outline of Nevada probate procedure. Explains probate procedures in general, which may apply in other states, too.
Property Agreements for Couples	An estate planner's perspective of why a prenuptial agreement, postnuptial agreement, domestic partnership agrement, or cohabitation agreement relating to income and property is important to avoid disputes when one spouse or partner becomes incompetent or dies.
¿Quién recibirá mis bienes cuando yo muera?	Breve explicación de cómo los bienes pasan de una generación a la próxima cuando uno muera. (2 páginas.)
Spendthrift Trust Asset Ownership	The explains how the assets of a Nevada self-settled spendthrift trust (Nevada asset protection trust) should be owned.
Starting a Corporation	Basic information about starting a corporation.
Starting a Limited-Liability Company	Basic information about starting a limited-liability company.
Stealth Wealth	Explains how to keep assets confidential and private and why that may not be the best idea.
Tax Planning in Revocable Trusts	Explains how revocable trusts established by couples and others can divide into subtrusts (A/B trust or A/B/C trust) to save estate taxes. [Large file.]
Will checklist	Use this form to see if your will covers all the bases.
Your Duties as Personal Representative	Memo outlining the duties and responsibilities of a court-appointed personal representative (executor or administrator).
Your Duties as Trustee after the Settlor's Death	Memo outlining the duties and responsibilities of a trustee of a living trust after the death of the trust's settlor (creator).
Your Duties as Trustee during the Settlor's Incapacity	Memo outlining the duties and responsibilities of a trustee of a living trust while the settlor (creator) of the trust is incapacitated.
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Forms

Click on the form's title to download the form. These forms are provided to be used in conjunction with advice of legal counsel, and the use of any form without advice of legal counsel constitutes consent to be solely responsible for the consequences.
Short Title	Description
Affidavit of Entitlement	Affidavit used to collect the personal property of a deceased person if the estate is $20,000 or less. [NEVADA ONLY.]
Nevada Health Care Power of Attorney	Combined form: (1) durable power of attorney for health care; (2) directive relating to long-term care; (3) directive relating to life support; (4) directive relating to organ donations; and (5) instructions relating to a memorial service and the ultimate disposition of mortal remains. [Based on Nevada law, but some provisions may be useful elsewhere.] (For the memo containing instructions as to how to complete the form, click here.)
Nevada Declaration of Domicile	Memo outlining the steps to take to establish legal residency in Nevada.
Nevada Probate Checklist	Checklist for handling a probate proceeding in Nevada. Jointly prepared by Layne Rushforth and Don Ashworth. (Mr. Ashworth is a former Probate Commissioner in Clark County, Nevada.)
Supplemental Schedule	Form to supplement and update the schedule of assets belonging to a revocable trust.
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Questionnaires and Checklists

Click on the document title to download it.
Short Title	Description
Asset Checklist for Estate Planning	Checklist used to make an inventory of all assets owned.
Buy-Sell Questionnaire	Questionnaire for business owners entering into a buy-sell agreement.
Charitable Lead Trust (CLT) Questionnaire	Questionnaire for creating a charitable lead trust.
Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) Questionnaire	Questionnaire for creating a charitable remainder trust, including a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) and a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT).
Corporation Questionnaire	Questionnaire for starting a corporation
Estate Planning Questionnaire	Questionnaire for information needed to prepare a will or living trust.
LLC Questionnaire	Questionnaire for starting a limited-liability company.
Marital Property Agreement Questionnaire	Questionnaire for a prenuptial or postnuptial marital property agreement. Also used for unmarried domestic partners ("significant others").
Probate Questionnaire	Questionnaire for starting a probate proceeding in Nevada.
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Finding Answers

The Rushforth Firm, Ltd.

Link	Content
The Rushforth Firm, Ltd.	Rushforthfirm.com is the "firm brochure" web site for The Rushforth Firm, Ltd., a Nevada Professional Limited-Liability Company, including information regarding the firm's practice, personnel, paying bills online, etc.

Other Links

Link	Content
Legal Research Links	Miscellaneous Nevada and U.S. legal pages.
FairTax.org	Repeal all existing federal taxes, repeal the 16th amendment to the Constitution, and enact a retail sales tax (not a value-added tax). This would virtually eliminate the IRS and tax-compliance costs, truly stimulating the national economy.

General Information is NOT Legal Advice! Before you read the articles, read this:

• Nothing on this web site constitutes legal advice.
• All articles published on the Internet (including those at this site) and in print media are necessarily oversimplified and may not be appropriate for any particular person's situation.
• Information contained in these pages and information received from any newsgroup is NOT an acceptable substitute for personal legal advice from an attorney who is:
• licensed in the state where you live;
• experienced in the appropriate area of law; and
• familiar with the details of your situation.
• The information presented at this site (rushforth.net) and rushforthfirm.com is general information only should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.
• Because this site is general and cannot address all excepts and unique situation and because some of the information may not be complete or up-to-date, you cannot rely on the information on this site in making estate- or tax-planning decisions. More to the point, you should never rely on general estate planning information. The problems with a poorly designed estate plan--which may include a will or trust that is legal but inadequate--will not usually surface until it is too late to correct. Acting on general information can be penny wise and pound foolish.
• Although this web site includes pages that discuss tax issues, nothing on this site contains legal or tax advice that can be relied on or otherwise used by a taxpayer for the purpose of either (1) avoiding tax penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer by the Internal Revenue Service or by a court or (2) promoting, marketing, or recommending any tax-planning strategy to another person. You cannot obtain from any web site or book a "covered opinion" that is compliant with Circular 230 issued by the U. S. Treasury Department. If you desire a "covered opinion", you will need to engage an accountant or an attorney to discuss the scope and purpose of the opinion you want, as well as the time and expense that it will take to provide you with such an opinion. Because of the uncertainly of some tax issues, it is possible that you will not find anyone willing to give a covered opinion on specific tax-saving strategies or for particular situations.
• The State Bar of Nevada does not certify any lawyer as a specialist or expert.