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Home » How Can Estate Planning Help Avoid Disputes?

How Can Estate Planning Help Avoid Disputes?

October 25, 2022Estate Planning

Indianapolis estate planning attorneys

Making sure that assets are distributed as intended is the primary motivation for most people to create an estate plan. That same estate plan, however, can provide a variety of additional benefits to you and your family. One important benefit of creating a comprehensive estate plan is that it can dramatically decrease the likelihood of disputes, both while you are alive and after you are gone. To explain, the Indianapolis estate planning attorneys at Frank & Kraft help you understand how estate planning can help avoid disputes.

Avoiding Probate Disputes

After your death, your assets must be identified, located, valued, and eventually distributed to the intended beneficiaries and/or legal heirs of your estate. The legal process that oversees all of that is referred to as “probate.” As you may well imagine, disputes can occur during the probate of an estate. In fact, the frequency with which probate litigation occurs has been increasing in recent years. Some of the more common causes of probate litigation include:

  • Disputes over how an intestate estate should be administered and/or assets distributed. If you die without a Last Will and testament your estate is referred to as an “intestate estate.” Intestate estate disputes often occur when more than one person wants to be in charge of administering the estate. Disputes also commonly occur when family members and/or loved ones claim that assets were “promised” to them by the decedent. Creating and executing a valid Will can avoid both disputes.
  • Disputes over the validity of a Will. An heir or beneficiary may initiate a Will contest, alleging that the Will presented for probate is legally invalid. When a Will contest is initiated, the entire probate process effectively grinds to a halt to focus on the challenge to the Will. Until that issue is decided one way, or the other, probate cannot move forward because the outcome of the Will contest determines how the estate is probate. Working with an experienced attorney to create a solid, and legally valid, Will avoids the likelihood of this dispute and decreases the likelihood of a successful Will contest if one is filed.

Avoiding Trust Disputes

A trust can be activated while you are alive or after your death and can be contested in much the same way, and for most of the same reasons as a Will. Common trust disputes include things such as:

  • The meaning/intent of vague trust terms
  • The discretion a Trustee has to make distributions
  • Whether a trust can/should be terminated
  • Complaints about how the Trustee is fulfilling his/her duties
  • Confusion or problems with how a trust interacts with other documents, such as a Will

Once again, working with an experienced attorney to create a comprehensive estate plan can prevent most trust disputes by ensuring that the trust terms are clear, the right Trustee is appointed, and the trust does not conflict with other estate planning documents.

Avoiding Disputes related to Your Incapacity

The odds of becoming incapacitated during your working years or as a result of old age are much higher than you likely realize. If you do become incapacitated, disputes may arise over things such as:

  • Who controls your finances and assets
  • Who takes care of your minor children
  • Who makes healthcare decisions for you
  • Who makes personal decisions for you

Your estate plan can help prevent these potential disputes by incorporating an incapacity planning component into the overall plan that may include a living Will, a healthcare power of attorney, a revocable living trust, and/or durable power of attorney.

Contact Indianapolis Estate Planning Attorneys

For more information, please join us for an upcoming FREE seminar. If you have additional questions about estate planning, contact the experienced Indianapolis estate planning attorneys at Frank & Kraft by calling (317) 684-1100 to schedule an appointment.

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Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Paul Kraft is Co-Founder and the senior Principal of Frank & Kraft, one of the leading law firms in Indiana in the area of estate planning as well as business and tax planning.

Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
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For many people, the primary motivation for creating an estate plan is the desire to provide for loved ones in the event of death. Along with ensuring that your estate assets are passed down to your designated beneficiaries, a well thought out estate plan can also help make sure your beneficiaries receive those assets as soon after your death as possible. As the Indianapolis estate planning attorneys at Frank & Kraft explain, making use of the Indiana Transfer on Death Property Act is one way to transfer assets quickly after your death. The Problem with Probate If you have a spouse, children, parents, or other loved ones who financially depend on you, an important estate planning goal is to ensure that your loved ones have access to much-needed assets as soon as possible after you are gone. Unfortunately, probate can drag out the time it takes for beneficiaries to receive assets. Probate is the legal process that is often required following a death. While the ultimate goal of probate is to transfer assets to beneficiaries and/or heirs of the estate, several steps must be completed first. For example, creditors of the estate must be notified and provided with the opportunity to file claims against the estate. Any challenges to the validity of the Will must also be litigated before assets can be released. It can take months, even years, for assets to finally be released to the new owners if those assets have to go through probate. One of the many estate planning strategies available to help your estate avoid probate in the State of Indiana is the use of Transfer on Death Property Act. What Is the Indiana Transfer on Death Property Act? The Transfer on Death Property Act (TDPA) can be found at Indiana Code 32-17-14 et. seq. The overall purpose of the TDPA is to allow the owner of real property to transfer his/her legal interest in that property to a designated beneficiary or beneficiaries at the time of death. When interest in property is transferred using the TDPA the property does not have to go through probate, meaning the beneficiary takes ownership of the property immediately following the death of the previous owner. Because people are often familiar with the “Payable on Death (POD)” option offered on financial accounts, it may be beneficial to think of a transfer on death property deed as similar to a POD designation on a bank account. When you designate a bank account, for example as a POD account you name a beneficiary. Immediately after your death, ownership of the bank accounts legally transfers to the beneficiary without the need for legal action. It is important to note that with a TOD deed or a POD account, the designated beneficiary has no legal ownership interest in the asset prior to the death of the owner. This is the primary difference between owning assets jointly and a TOD/POD designation. When you jointly own property or other assets, the co-owner has a present legal ownership interest in the asset. For example, if you and your spouse own real property jointly with rights of survivorship, your ownership interest in the property will automatically transfer to your spouse upon your death, just as with a TOD deed; however, your spouse also has an equal ownership interest in the property while you are alive. If you used a Transfer on Death deed instead of joint ownership, your ownership interest in the property would pass to your spouse upon your death; however, he/she would have no legal ownership interest in the property while you are alive. For a Transfer on Death deed to be valid, it must be executed by the owner of the real property, or their legal representative, and be recorded in the county where the real property is located. Upon the death of the property owner, the designated beneficiary takes legal ownership of the property without the need for the property to pass through probate. Contact Indianapolis Estate Planning Attorneys For more information, please join us for an upcoming FREE seminar. If you have additional questions or concerns about how to incorporate the Indiana Transfer on Death Property Act into your estate plan, contact the experienced Indianapolis estate planning attorneys at Frank & Kraft by calling (317) 684-1100 to schedule an appointment.
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