Article by Stanley M. Vasiliadis, Esq., CELA
Wills and trusts are foundational estate planning tools. While each is used to distribute assets to beneficiaries, they do so in different ways. Each also has its own distinct uses and advantages. They’re often used together to close gaps in an estate plan and prepare for multiple scenarios that might otherwise cause unexpected burdens for heirs.
A “last will and testament,” or simply, as a will, is the most basic estate planning tool. It provides instructions about what should happen to your assets — including bank accounts, real estate, investments, business assets, digital assets, and personal items — after you die.
Dionysios Pappas, an attorney with the law firm of Vasiliadis Pappas Associates, cautions that “wills do not control disposition of assets you own with others as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, such as jointly-owned bank accounts. Nor do they control disposition of assets that pass by way of beneficiary designation, such as life insurance, annuities, or IRA, 401(k) or other non-qualified retirement plan assets. And they don’t control assets in a trust.” These various items are referred to as “non probate” assets.
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