Here's a video discussing common estate planning mistakes that many of my clients seem to continually make in their estate plans. For example, assets with beneficiary designations generally pass outside of the client's living trust or will (i.e., the disposition of IRAs and insurance policies are determined by the underlying beneficiary designation and not the client's living trust or will). Another example is the usage of joint tenancy as a simplified way to let the surviving joint tenant inherit property, even though such a device may subject such property to creditors of the inheriting joint tenant. And of course, procrastination is the biggest estate planning mistake. Why plan today since we can do that tomorrow? But tomorrow never comes for those who pass away without a properly formulated estate plan. Robert J. Kolasa is an estate planning lawyer in Lake Forest Illinois.
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