Sandra L



SANDRA L. WOESSNER

WOESSNER LAW OFFICE, P.A.

33 FOURTH STREET N.W.

OSSEO, MINNESOTA 55369

(763)391-7711

(763) 425-3672(f)



SIMPLE ESTATE PLANNING PACKAGE

I will use the information you provide in this questionnaire to complete the following documents for you:

Will

Health Care Directive

Minnesota statutory Short Form Power of Attorney and

Transfer on Death Deed (if no minor children)

This simple estate package is appropriate for you if your estate is under $2,000,000. If your estate is over $2,000,000 please call me to discuss estate tax planning.

Will

A will is defined as “an instrument by which a person makes disposition of his real and personal property, to take effect after their death”. Simply put, a will is the document you sign that tells everyone where your stuff goes after you die. Wills are revocable, which means you can change or cancel them.

Minnesota Short Form Power of Attorney

A power of attorney allows the person you designate as your attorney in fact to make certain financial transactions for you, such as moving money between bank accounts, selling property etc. Normally, people use the power of attorney as an emergency document in case of incapacity (ie one spouse is in the hospital for an extended period of time and the other spouse needs to access their retirement benefits).Minnesota has a standardized statutory form. Because all the powers are set out in the statutes, third parties do not need to specifically scrutinize the form to assure themselves that your attorney in fact has the appropriate authority. I use the Minnesota statutory form for that reason.

Minnesota Health Care Directive:

A health care directive allows you to appoint an agent to make decisions regarding your health care if you become sick and can't make decisions for yourself. It also allows you to include health care instructions, telling people what your wishes for health care are. Minnesota uses a document entitled a “Health Care Directive” which combines the elements of a living will and durable power of attorney for health care. Minnesota has a suggested form in our statute, and I will draft a directive for you based on the statutory form.

Transfer on Death Deed:

Minnesota law allows a person to transfer property upon death by creating a Transfer on Death Deed ("TODD"). A TODD is comparable to the use of pay-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts at banks. A TODD allows the owner of real property to designate a beneficiary of the property, and, upon the death of the owner, the property passes to the beneficiary as non-probate property, without the disadvantages of using a joint tenancy or life estate deed. If you have specified beneficiaries on financial accounts and filed the TODD deed, you can normally avoid probate.

If I am going yo complete a TODD for you, you need to give me the complete legal description for your house in the table below. A TODD is normally not suitable for couples with minor children because of statutory limitations on a minor's ability to buy and sell property.

A TODD MUSTBE FILED WITH THE COUNTY RECORDER PRIOR TO THE DEATH OF THE GRANTOR OR IT IS NOT EFFECTIVE!!!

ESTATE TAXES

In Minnesota, the amount of the estate tax exemption is rising. In 2015 it is $1.4 million and will increase by $200,000 per year until it reaches $2 million in 2018.

According to research prepared for the Minnesota House of Representatives, fewer than 2 percent of estates wind up paying estate taxes. Since transfers to a surviving spouse are exempt from estate taxes, most people start transferring the estate to children via tax exempt gifts after the death of the first spouse and avoid paying estate taxes.

IMPORTANT TERMS FOR WILLS AND ESTATE PLANNING:

Testamentary Trust: - A trust created in a will. It does not take effect until your death. Usually this is created to take care of your minor children.

Personal Representative: This is the person who takes care of the estate. They are supposed to gather up your assets, pay all liabilities and then distribute the assets to the heirs. (Note I usually make this person your agent for your power of attorney too – if you want someone different for your agent, let me know)

Trustee: The person appointed to execute the trust. They hold the property for the benefit of the beneficiary and must carry out the duties as defined by the trust document. (The trustee is the one who handles the money for the beneficiaries once it is placed in the trust by the personal representative) This is the person that handles the money for your kids.

Guardian: The person who has the legal responsibility to care day to day for the children. People often want to appoint a couple as co-guardians, often a sibling and their spouse, but I recommend appointing only the blood relative for two reasons: 1) a married couple will wind up sharing the duties anyway and 2) you don't always know what is going on a couple's marriage. If your sibling and their spouse divorce, are you going to need to change your will?

Remember the personal representative, guardian and trustee can be the same people!

Please complete the table by putting the answer to each numbered question in the cell below the number.(Don't worry about the formatting of the table, I just copy the information you put in the table for use in my documents, so the formatting of the table itself doesn't matter to me.)

If you do not have minor children, you do not need to designate a Trustee or Guardian. If you have minor children, you do not need to complete the portion of the table asking for the legal description of your house. Please use full legal names (ie John Jacob Smith or Mary Ellen Smith)

|What is your name (ie John Charles Smith)? | |

|What is your name in Caps (ie JOHN CHARLES SMITH)? | |

|What is the street portion of your current address (ie 24 Downing | |

|Street)? | |

|What is the city state and Zip portion of your current address (ie | |

|Medina, MN 55468)? | |

|What is your date of birth? | |

|What are the names of all of your children (ie Mary Elizabeth Smith and| |

|Bonnie Marie Smith)? | |

|Who do you want to be your personal representative(ie John Charles | |

|Smith)? | |

|What is the Personal Representative's street address( ie 24 Downing | |

|Street)? | |

|What is the personal representative's city, state and zip (ie Medina, | |

|MN 55468)? | |

|What is the personal representative's phone number? | |

|Who do you want to be the successor personal representative(ie John | |

|Charles Smith)? | |

|What is the successor personal representative's street address( ie 24 | |

|Downing Street)? | |

|What is the successor personal representative's city, state and zip (ie| |

|Medina, MN 55468)? | |

|What is the successor personal representative's telephone number? | |

|Who do you want to be your trustee(ie John Charles Smith)? | |

|Who do you want to be your successor trustee (ie John Charles Smith)? | |

|Who do you want to be guardian of your children(ie John Charles Smith)?| |

|What is the legal description of your house (ie Lot 4, Block 7, | |

|Anderson Addition, Hennepin County) – Note you need to take the legal | |

|description from your most recent closing documents. If the legal | |

|description you give me is inaccurate and we have to correct the error,| |

|I will charge an additional fee) | |

|What county do you live in? | |

How old are your children? Please tell me if they are single or married.

Do you have any adopted children or children from other marriages or relationships?Yes ___No ___ If so, please list their names, ages, and addresses.

Have you ever been married previously? Yes ___No ____ If so, list former spouse's name(s) and address(es)

Do you have a previous will? Yes ___No ___.

Do you own any property with any other person? Yes ___ No ____

If so, describe

Are you a beneficiary or trustee of any trust? Yes ____No ____

If so, describe

How should your estate be distributed if your children survive you?

How should your estate be distributed if your children do not survive you?

Who should administer (be personal representative of) your estate? (name and address)

Second choice if first choice cannot serve

Have you given any children advances on their inheritance?Yes ___No ____

Do you wish any assets to be distributed to anyone other than a family member?Yes ____ No ____

If so, to whom

Have you omitted any of your (or your spouse's) children? Yes ___No ___ If so, who/why?

Have you made any agreements with anyone to make a will?Yes ___ No ____

Do you own any business interests (i.e. partnerships, corporations, etc.) with anyone? Yes ___ No ____ If yes, do you have a plan for its disposition?Describe it

What do you estimate is the approximate value of your estate?

When completing a health care directive, I usually advise clients to keep the language as broad as possible. An example would be the following language:

Where the application of life sustaining procedures would serve only to artificially prolong the moment of my death and where my physician determines that my death is imminent whether or not life-sustaining treatments are utilized, I direct that such procedures be withheld or withdrawn, and that I be permitted to die naturally.

Unless you tell me differently, this language will be placed in your health care directive. Do you want to use different language? Yes ___No ___ If yes, describe the language you want.

Please confirm that you understand that a TODD deed must be filed with the county recorder before it becomes affective.

I understand that a TODD deed must be filed with the county recorder before it becomes effective.

Yes ___

Finally, please understand that if you have minor children and you own real property, your estate will need to be probated. In Minnesota, the cost of an average probate is $3000-$4000.

Once your children are over the age of 18, you should complete a Transfer on Death Deed. If your have an executed Deed, the beneficiaries on all your retirement assets are specified and your estate is under $2,000,000, you should be able to avoid probate.

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