Many people treat their animals like family members.  But what happens when a pet survives its owner? Sometimes families hope that their spouse or other family will care for their pet, and this [...]

Before she died, my grandmother gave me two Christmas ornaments that were part of a set she used to hang on her tree.  I believe she gave two similar ornaments to each of her many grandchildren.  [...]

Distributions of Assets In both a Will and a Revocable Living Trust, there are different ways to make distributions to your beneficiaries.  You can make specific distributions or residuary [...]

There are some situations where a testator (a person making a Will) may want to avoid leaving any assets to a close family member upon his or her death.  In Utah, a testator’s property transfers [...]

Many people own pets or other animals.  People often form strong relationships with their animals, sometimes even treating them like members of the family.  But what happens to pets after their [...]

Joint Ownership to Avoid Probate I recently had two different clients ask me why they should use a trust to transfer real estate to their children when they could just add a responsible child to [...]

What is probate and why should I avoid it? Much of modern estate planning is centered on avoiding probate, but what exactly is it?  Probate is the judicial process of winding up the affairs of [...]

If someone slipped and fell at your rental unit and then filed a lawsuit against the property, the accident victim would be a creditor of your real estate investment property.  If you own title [...]

Imagine a family cabin in the woods.  The lake is nearby and there are trails for hiking through the trees.  The kids grow up with fond memories of the cabin and want to take their own children [...]

The Federal income tax deadline is coming up tomorrow.  With that in mind, I thought it would be great to talk about how LLCs are taxed.  An LLC can be taxed as either a disregarded entity, a [...]

Most everyone has heard of wills and trusts. But do you know what the difference between them is? Let us take a minute and define the terms “will” and “trust”. Will. A will is a written document [...]

Most people understand that having some sort of an estate plan is a good thing. However, many of us do not take the first steps to get that estate plan in place because we do not understand the [...]

A properly funded trust allows you to avoid probate, minimize taxes, provides organization, maintains control, and provides for yourself and your heirs. In its most simple terms, a trust is a [...]

Here is a look at the basics of ten common trusts to provide you with a general understanding of the options available. Which type of trust is best for your depends on your goals andyour family [...]