Important Updates for Our Estate Plan Clients

  We keep our ears to the ground not just for important legislative and case law changes, but also for other issues that might affect your legal documents from third-party business practices, government policies, or even just misinformation that floats around.

We picked up on two things, recently, that our estate plan clients need to know about.

1.     For trust clients, we’re hearing that some clients whose banks wouldn’t let them retitle their accounts are hitting a speed bump when they go to sell their house. Here’s the problem: Your bank account is still titled with JOHN DOE and JANE DOE as the joint owners with the DOE LIVING TRUST as the beneficiary because the bank wouldn’t let you retitle your existing account; the bank told you that you’d have to close your existing account and reopen a new one in the name of the trust. You understandably did not want to do that and used the next best option which was to name the trust as the beneficiary. Your house is properly titled in the name of the DOE LIVING TRUST because we took care of that for you

. When you sell your house, the title company writes a check to the DOE LIVING TRUST. The bank might or might not want to let you deposit that in your bank account that’s owned by you, personally.

So how do we fix this? Well, you have a few options. 1. If you list your house for sale, open a bank account in the name of the DOE LIVING TRUST at a different bank or open up a new account at your existing bank. You can move the money later. 2. We can take the house back out of the trust and possibly use a beneficiary deed while the house sale is going through to possibly protect you from probate (this is a better option in Arkansas than Texas). 3. Just go ahead and switch banks now to find a bank that plays well in the sandbox with these types of simple, common trusts. As of right now, the banks that we are aware of that won’t let you retitle your existing accounts are Chase, Relyance, and USAA. This is an ever changing list, so please let us know if there are any other banks that we need to warn other clients about (or if any of those three listed banks have come to their senses).

2.    For both trust and will clients, we’re seeing more and more unnecessary fights popping off because there is a perception that the executor or trustee is “hiding” the will or trust after someone dies. While there are laws and/or parts of the document itself that govern who gets to see what when, it’s almost never worth withholding the information. Every family is different and sometimes extended privacy is a legitimate concern, but most of the time clear communication is what most people need. We recently created an informal memo (that will be included in future estate plan clients’ packages) so that clients can let their families know that “it is my wish that a copy of my will/trust be provided to all beneficiaries and successor executors/trustees within ____ days of my death” whenever it’s beneficial. If you’re an existing client, just call or email the office at info@gjeattorneys.com and we will get a copy for you to fill out and sign (no notary needed).

As always, let us know if you need anything else. We're here when you need us.