Sentimental value can sometimes be worth more than economic value. Having represented family members fighting over family mementos worth little or nothing money-wise, we have come to realize the power of sentimental value.

Nevada, like many other states, allows a person to dispose of his/her tangible personal property by a written list referenced in the person’s will or trust. These lists allow a person to designate individual recipients of certain pieces of tangible personal property. The person can change the list as many times as he/she wants during his/her life. However, we oftentimes find the lists are never completed. In some cases the result is family dissension – often over the most unassuming items.

Sometimes the cure to the potential family discord is simply completing the tangible personal property list that accompanies most wills and trusts. If you have promised a certain piece of tangible personal property to someone and you still wish to leave that property to that person, complete your tangible personal property list accordingly. This can facilitate the administration of your estate or trust when you die and hopefully prevent frivolous lawsuits that consume potential inheritances.

For more information about the tangible personal property list, contact the attorneys at Jeffrey Burr, Ltd.

Many clients feel that once their children or grandchildren reach a certain age, they will have obtained a financial maturity that will enable those beneficiaries to make good financial decisions and not spend their inheritance in one visit to a casino.

Thus, in many estate plans beneficiaries are entitled to receive their inheritance all at once when they reach a certain age, or to receive portions at certain ages. While a beneficiary at age 25 or 30 may very well be financially mature, there are dangers besides a beneficiary’s propensity to spend money to consider when crafting an estate plan.

When a beneficiary is entitled to an outright distribution, those assets may become subject to more than a beneficiary’s spending habits; a judgment creditor can seize an inheritance to satisfy a claim, a bankruptcy court can seize an inheritance to pay creditors and costs of the bankruptcy proceeding, a divorce court may award some or all of an inheritance to that beneficiary’s soon-to-be ex-spouse, or if the beneficiary fails to create his or her own estate plan and something happens to him or her, the inheritance may become subject to a probate.  If a minor is the beneficiary of an outright distribution, they will receive a check when they are 18, with no limitations in place for how they can spend it.

To avoid those potential dangers, among others, you can direct through your estate plan documents that a beneficiary’s inheritance be held in trust for their benefit,with distributions to be made in the discretion of the trustee.  By making distributionsto a beneficiary discretionary rather than mandatory, the inheritance is protectedbecause the money is not in the beneficiary’s pocket to spend or give away.  Allowing the inheritance to stay in trust will also allow the assets to grow, enabling your beneficiary to receive more than what they were originallyentitled to over time.

At JEFFREY BURR, LTD. our attorneys have worked with many clients and their families to determine the best estate plan for the preservation of their legacies and protection of their beneficiaries.  To discuss the best estate plan for your family, contact us today.

One of the primary reasons a person creates a revocable trust is to avoid probate, the formal court supervision of an estate proceeding, upon their death.  The goal is to have no court involvement whatsoever in the affairs and administration of the trust.  Even with the creation of a revocable trust, there are situations in the past that a Nevada court was required to become involved in the trust administration process.  For example, the creator of the revocable trust who is also the trustee becomes incapacitated or dies, and all of the nominated successor trustees under the terms of the trust are unable to serve for whatever reason.  In that situation, there is no successor trustee to administer the trust.  In the past, it was necessary to petition the court to assume jurisdiction of the trust and appoint a successor trustee.  However, this is no longer necessary.  In July of 2015, the Nevada legislature passed a law that allows for the resolution of certain matters relating to a trust without court approval through the use of a non-judicial settlement agreement. The law was effective October 1, 2015.  The matters that may be addressed through a non-judicial settlement agreement are:

1. The investment or use of trust assets;

2. The lending or borrowing of money;    

3.  The addition, deletion or modification of a term or condition of the trust;

4. The interpretation or construction of a term of the trust;

5. The designation or transfer of the principal place of administration of the trust; 

6. The approval of a trustee’s report or accounting;

7. The choice of law governing the construction of the trust instrument or administration of the trust, or both;

8. Direction to a trustee to perform or refrain from performing a particular act;

9. The granting of any necessary or desirable power to a trustee;  

10. The resignation or appointment of a trustee and the determination of a trustee’s compensation;   

11.  The merger or division of trusts

12.  The granting of approval or authority, for a trustee to make charitable gifts from a non-charitable trust;

13. The transfer of a trust’s principal place of administration;

14.  Negating the liability of a trustee for an action relating to the trust and providing indemnification therefore; and

15. The termination of the trust.

A non-judicial settlement agreement is another tool in which to avoid court involvement in the affairs of a trust in Nevada.