Paul O. Dillon, Attorney at Law

Can You Transfer Co-op to a Trust as Part of Estate Plan?

Real estate is often one of the more significant parts of an estate. Whether the property is a single-family home, a condo, or a co-op (cooperative), it needs to be addressed in the estate plan. A recent article from Habitat, “Trust Transfers in Co-ops: Balancing Estate Planning and Building Interests,” explains how co-op boards view these transfers, providing useful insight for those considering putting real estate property into a trust.

The board will watch how maintenance payments are handled once the transfer occurs. In a co-op, you don’t own the apartment or townhouse. You instead own shares in the building. When individual shareholders fail to stay current on maintenance payments, the board has a straightforward path to dealing with the issue of non-payment. It can pursue the shareholder’s personal assets or foreclose on the shares.

When a trust owns the co-op, the board has less control over who lives in the unit, so recovery is unclear. The question of the voting rights for a trust versus an individual also has to be clarified. If three siblings now own the co-op through a trust, who has the right to vote in a shareholder meeting? Someone must be designated to participate in the board’s annual meeting and vote on the trust’s shares to maintain quorum requirements.

Determining who pays the co-ops’ legal fees to review the trust request is another issue the board will address. When the owner is an individual, the transfer cost falls on the shareholder making the request, not the building. This occurs with current shareholders who seek to transfer their shares into a trust and new purchasers who want to buy into a unit owned by a trust.

When faced with a request to transfer a unit into a trust, the board also considers whether or not it will permit heirs to automatically be allowed to live in the co-op. Most co-ops have rigorous review processes to protect the financial well-being of the building. Beneficiaries should not expect to move in without going through the same approval process as any new purchaser, whether they plan to live in the unit themselves or if they are going to sell the unit to someone else.

Condominiums are owned differently, so the transfer process will be different than for a co-op. Most condos don’t give their boards as much control as in a co-op. Some condos try to impose similar restrictions when a property is transferred to a trust. However, they don’t typically have the right to do this. A local estate planning attorney should be consulted to review the condo bylaws before moving the property into a trust.

Understand the condo may not have the legal right to prevent a property from being transferred into a trust. However, they might make life uncomfortable for beneficiaries trying to move into a unit or trying to sell the unit. An experienced estate planning attorney should be involved with the transaction before the trust is created and executed.

Another issue to be considered concerns an existing mortgage. Transferring co-op shares into a trust includes surrendering the current stock certificate and lease. To do so, the lender has to approve this process. A new stock certificate is then issued to the trustee on behalf of the trust. There may be tax implications, as units owned by a trust might not qualify for any co-op/condo tax abatement, which could impact the overall estate plan.

This trend appears to be growing, and while some boards may initially refuse the request, many now understand that trust transfers can facilitate the shareholder’s estate plan, while maintaining the building’s best interests.

Reference: Habitat (December 2024) “Trust Transfers in Co-ops: Balancing Estate Planning and Building Interests”

How to Avoid Estate Planning Mistakes in 2025

Even if you could remove all of the emotions about estate planning, like considering your eventual demise and the possibility of incapacity, it can still feel a bit overwhelming. Having an experienced estate planning attorney on your team makes the process far easier, with the knowledge you’re in good hands. A recent article from GO Banking Rates, “4 Expert Insights on Avoiding Estate Planning Pitfalls for 2025,” explains how estate planning helps to avoid family fights, lost assets and legacies.

Estate Planning encompasses your entire life. Wills express how you want assets to be distributed, and trusts minimize taxes by taking assets out of the probate estate. However, an estate plan is more than these two pieces. Estate plans include incapacity plans, caring for children and transferring wealth in a number of ways.

If someone becomes incapacitated and hasn’t created a Durable Power of Attorney, no one can manage non-healthcare matters, from paying utility bills to maintaining their home. A family member must go to court to obtain guardianship to do anything.

Every estate plan should include a Healthcare Power of Attorney and HIPAA release authorization so a designated person can be involved with their loved one’s healthcare, talk with their doctors and be involved in any medical decision-making.

Keeping beneficiary designations up to date. Beneficiaries aren’t just the people you name in a will. Designated beneficiaries are those listed on retirement accounts, investment accounts, life insurance policies and other documents to receive assets when you die. Make sure these names are up to date, especially if you haven’t reviewed them in years. Any account with a beneficiary designation does not go through probate, and your will has no control over these assets.

Things will get messy if beneficiaries on your accounts are no longer in your life. Assets could go to an ex-spouse, an estranged family member, etc.

Choosing your executor with care. Many people get stuck when there is no obvious person to manage this task. An experienced estate planning attorney can help you work through this issue, since a poor choice could put your entire estate plan at risk. Whoever you choose to serve as executor—the person who manages your estate—will need to deal with financial institutions, family members, government agencies and every facet of your life. Many automatically name their eldest child or best friend, which might lead to disaster if they are not available, good with details, fiscally knowledgeable, or able to manage your family’s personalities. Ensure that they are up for the task and also have a backup executor named.

Introduce your family to your estate planning attorney, financial advisor, CPA and other professionals in advance. The people who help you manage the business side of your life will be able to help you better if family members know who they are, how to contact them and have already met them. They don’t have to be friends. However, making introductions in advance can make their work together easier.

Reference: GO Banking Rates (Nov. 17, 2024) “4 Expert Insights on Avoiding Estate Planning Pitfalls for 2025”

Millennials and Gen Z Need Estate Plans Now

People with modest assets, young adults and parents should all have estate plans to protect themselves while they’re living, protect their children and provide a means for transferring assets of any size to heirs of their choosing. This is estate planning in a nutshell, with details furnished in a recent article from yahoo! finance, “Why millennials and Gen Z should have a basic estate plan.”

Most people first think about estate planning when they have children. It’s a good reason, as a will is used to name a guardian who will raise the children if both parents should die. Otherwise, a court will decide who should raise the children, and it isn’t always a family member. However, this is far from the only reason to have a will.

All adults should have two essential documents: a durable power of attorney and a healthcare power of attorney, also known as a healthcare proxy. These documents give other people, referred to as “agents” or “representatives,” the legal power to act on behalf of the adult if they cannot do so. We don’t like to think about becoming incapacitated. Nevertheless, it happens, and when it does, having these estate planning documents makes it possible for another person to act on your behalf.

If there is no power of attorney, the family will need to go to court to have someone named as a guardian of the incapacitated person. The process is both stressful and costly. Having a POA is far easier. When you have an estate planning attorney create a POA, you also get to name the person you want to be in charge. The court may not choose the person you would have wanted.

Wise parents have their children sign a healthcare power of attorney when they turn 18. Unless this happens, the parent may no longer be part of the newly-minted adult’s healthcare, including talking to doctors, discussing health insurance issues and being involved with decision-making.

If it seems unnecessary for an 18-year-old to have a last will and testament, there are more than a few reasons for doing so. First, an 18-year-old who has been accumulating cryptocurrency might have assets to protect. In the same way, parents don’t have the right to make medical decisions for an 18-year-old; they don’t have any say over their property. If the young adult has bank accounts, digital assets, car loans, or student loans, the parent will be better protected if there is a simple will. If there is no will, the grieving family will have to go through probate, the court process of determining who will receive the young person’s assets.

Having a young adult think about having a will is a good life lesson. As they age, they must update their plan to reflect life’s milestones. Estate planning is an evolving process similar to owning and maintaining a home.

Young adults working and with retirement accounts should be mindful of who they name as their beneficiary on retirement accounts, insurance policies and any other financial account allowing a beneficiary to be named. These assets don’t pass through probate but go directly to the designated beneficiary. Keeping a list of these accounts and who was named as a beneficiary is also good practice for young adults.

Younger adults who tackle estate planning early on are setting themselves and their families up for success in the future. Many estate planning attorneys start working with one generation and are happy to advise their children as they grow into adulthood.

Reference: yahoo! finance (Nov. 18, 2024) “Why millennials and Gen Z should have a basic estate plan”

How Does a Trust Work in an Inheritance?

It’s not easy to create an estate plan without the guidance of an experienced estate planning attorney. They can help work through the many moving parts and address concerns about how family members will respond to your plan to pass on assets. A recent article from msn, “3 Reasons to Seriously Consider Using a Living Trust to Pass an Inheritance to Your Family,” says. At the same time, you may think keeping things simple with a last will and testament may be sufficient, but there are also good reasons to use a living trust.

If you have many beneficiaries, a living trust allows you to control assets while living and after you’ve passed. If you have a large family and want to include grandchildren, nieces and nephews in your estate plan, the living trust is easier than a will. Beneficiaries can be easily added or removed, as events like marriage, birth and divorce occur within the family.

The living trust allows you to get very specific about exactly how much of which asset you want to pass to each beneficiary. If your heirs include minors, a living trust consists of a trustee who can manage their assets until they reach a certain age. You can also determine at what age you want beneficiaries to receive your wealth. You might, for instance, decide to give a grandchild their inheritance not when they reach the age of majority (legal age) but when they turn 30.

Do you own real estate property? This asset can be tricky to bequeath in a will, especially if you own property in multiple states. Your estate would have to go through probate in each state, which all have their own rules and laws. This becomes expensive and time-consuming. Retitling real estate property into a living trust means the properties don’t need to go through probate. Your estate planning attorney will help make this an efficient process.

Trusts should be in your estate plan if privacy is important to you. Most people don’t know their wills become public documents as part of probate. This means anyone who is interested can read your will. This could be an estranged family member who feels they were wrongfully left out of the will, an ex-spouse, creditors, salespeople and thieves.

The public nature of probate is another reason why wills should not contain any specific account information, like account names, numbers, or the amount of money in the accounts. For the same reason, the names of digital assets, including user names and passwords, should never be included in a will.

Trusts are one of many means of passing assets to heirs without anyone except the grantor (the person creating the trust), the trustee (the person in charge of managing the trust), and the beneficiaries knowing about the trust’s existence and what it contains. This is especially important if your situation includes someone you wish to keep in the dark about your assets or your intentions.

Meet with an experienced estate planning attorney to discuss the different ways to pass wealth to loved ones, including a will and trusts. Learning what options are available will allow you to make an informed choice.

Reference: msn (Nov. 2, 2024) “3 Reasons to Seriously Consider Using a Living Trust to Pass an Inheritance to Your Family”

Planning to Protect Your Children’s Inheritance: Asset Protection

No one likes to think about the possibility of losing a lifetime of earnings through unfortunate events like divorce, spendthrift heirs, or litigation. However, ignoring these risks won’t prevent them. A recent article from Kiplinger, “Want Your Kids to Inherit? You Need an Asset Protection Plan, ” explains several asset protection strategies used to protect wealth from disappearing in nefarious ways.

Prenuptial agreements aren’t the most welcoming topic when your adult child announces their engagement. Still, this should be discussed and encouraged no matter how much you love your prospective new family member. A prenuptial agreement or prenup is a contract between two adults agreeing on how they will distribute assets in case of divorce. This legally binding document addresses assets, debts, spousal support, alimony, gifts and inheritances. It’s also helpful as a supporting document if one of the spouses should die unexpectedly. However, the couple should have a will, power of attorney and other estate planning documents created as soon as they are married.

Depending on the state, there may be laws concerning when the prenup is signed for it to be valid. Signing a prenup under duress could make it invalid, so this needs to be addressed in a timely manner.

Another option is to create a postnuptial agreement (postnup). Spouses may contractually agree to terms outlining the distribution of assets in the event of a divorce after the wedding.

Asset protection includes determining and formalizing how assets will be passed on to heirs. Parents should consider creating trusts as part of their estate plan. Trusts allow grantors (the person creating the trust) a much higher degree of control over who receives the assets in the trust and takes them out of the probate estate.

For example, the trust may call for a beneficiary to receive a portion of their inheritance at ages 30 and 40 and the balance at age 50. An heir with a drug dependency might be required to complete a rehabilitation program or maintain employment over a steady period of time before the trustee can distribute some or all of the assets in the trust.

If assets are left through a will, a number of vulnerabilities are created. First, they are part of the probate estate and subject to federal and state taxes. Second, the will becomes a public document when it goes through probate, so creditors can learn if someone is receiving an inheritance. Creditors may include ex-spouses, credit card companies and financial institutions.

An experienced estate planning attorney is familiar with the tools used to protect assets and ensure that they pass to the next generation according to your wishes. Protecting a lifetime of hard work is a worthy endeavor, creating a legacy and providing security for those you love.

Reference: Kiplinger (Nov. 9, 2024) “Want Your Kids to Inherit? You Need an Asset Protection Plan”

What Is the Great Wealth Transfer?

You’ve undoubtedly heard the expression “The Great Wealth Transfer” in recent months. However, what does it mean for you and your family? A recent article from The Street, “The Great Wealth Transfer: Strategies for Beneficiaries,” explains how the anticipated transfer of more than $84 trillion will impact families.

Between 2020 and 2045, a massive amount of wealth is expected to transfer from baby boomers to Generation X, millennials and Generation Z. As more people live longer and wealth from increases in home equity and investments, the assets will eventually be passed across generations. How wealth has been transferred to heirs has changed, drawing the attention of estate planning attorneys and financial advisors.

In the past, wealth was typically created through owning a family business or inheritances from multiple generations. Today’s wealth takes many different shapes, including investment growth, home equity, cryptocurrency and retirement accounts. Inheritances are more likely to come from a complex financial portfolio than from inheriting a farm or family business.

Attitudes about inheritances and money are also shifting. Millennials and Gen Z members have grown up in times of economic instability and may be less focused on stewarding wealth for the next generation. These generational differences may create family stresses, which can be avoided through estate planning and family discussions. Open conversations about these differences can prevent surprises or assumptions.

Minimizing or avoiding taxes and unnecessary expenses is always part of estate planning. Trusts are used to minimize both estate taxes and probate costs. Using a revocable living trust allows the trust creator to control assets during their lifetime and avoid having assets go through probate after death. Using an irrevocable trust also removes assets from the estate and can be used in planning for other needs, like a Medicare Asset Protection Trust.

Gifting with warm hands, or giving during your lifetime, is a way to reduce the size of a taxable estate and enjoy seeing the impact of a gift on a family member or beloved friend. In 2024, individuals may gift as much as $18,000 per recipient yearly without incurring gift tax. This reduces the taxable estate considerably, as there is no limit on the number of recipients a person can give a gift to.

A step up in basis lets the value of inherited assets be “re-set.” Someone inheriting a stock portfolio worth $100,000 at its inception but now worth $1,000,000 has a new cost basis. When you sell the asset, you will save substantial capital gains taxes upon the sale of the asset. The new cost basis is the $1 million valuation, not the $100,000 purchase price. Talk with your estate planning attorney about how to best manage this kind of transfer if it is in your future to obtain the best possible results.

Working with the right professionals can make an enormous difference when managing wealth is new. An estate planning attorney with knowledge of wealth transfer laws and tax planning can prevent heirs from being blindsided by unexpected taxes.

Reference: The Street (Oct. 28, 2024) “The Great Wealth Transfer: Strategies for Beneficiaries”

How a Serious Diagnosis Changes Estate Planning

A thoughtful conversation with Jonathan Clements, a long-time and well-respected personal finance reporter, appeared in a recent article on Morningstar, “How Illness Can Change the Way You Approach Your Finances.” Clements, who covered personal finance for The Wall Street Journal for decades, was diagnosed with advanced cancer and told he had about a year to live. He spoke with a reporter about his financial and estate planning decisions considering his illness.

Accelerated Giving to Children. Clements has been giving more to his children and funding 529 plans for grandchildren. He lives in one of the few states with an inheritance tax—Pennsylvania. His wife won’t have to be concerned with the inheritance taxes. However, his children will. The Keystone State puts a 4.5% tax on every dollar they inherit, regardless of whether they live in Pennsylvania.

Streamline Investment Accounts. Even before the diagnosis, Clements noted he had simplified his financial accounts. He’d had four credit cards and trimmed that number to two, learning that closing credit card and bank accounts takes a lot of time and effort.

Shred Outdated Records. Like so many of us, he had bank records going back decades. A shredder has been working overtime in his home, getting rid of bank documents and tax returns dating from 1986. Clements now has seven years of tax returns and supporting materials.

Powers of Attorney. Despite such a serious diagnosis, Clements admitted to not having a Power of Attorney until recently. He had moved from New York to Pennsylvania four years ago to be closer to his daughter and grandsons.  However, he had never gotten around to updating his POA. Sound familiar? If you moved and haven’t updated your POA, now would be a good time to do so.

The Problem with Inertia and Estate Planning. Clements is far from the only person to delay getting estate planning documents taken care of, readily admitting, “The cobbler’s children have no shoes.” Everyone should have an estate plan created by an experienced estate planning attorney, with adjustments made if they move, have children or grandchildren, divorce, or remarry. Many people fail to make these updates, and their loved ones are left to deal with the aftermath.

Talk With Your Family About Your Estate Plan, Finances and Wishes. After decades of writing on personal finance, Clements is well-versed in all personal finance matters, investments and how they impact estate planning. However, when he sat down to speak with his family after the diagnosis to talk about his estate, what he thought was simple and straightforward wasn’t clear to them.

Beneficiary designations, last will and testament, investments, how wills go through probate and how some assets pass through probate, and others don’t were second nature to him but not to family members. The initial family meeting was followed by countless conversations with his two adult children and his wife to clarify things like probate, Roth IRAs versus traditional IRAs and how assets are passed.

Having a conversation with your loved ones and meeting with an experienced estate planning attorney should be done before a terminal diagnosis arrives. It takes time to work through the details, and family members will need more than one conversation to fully understand your wishes. Leaving behind a well-organized estate is leaving a gift to loved ones.

Reference: Morningstar (Oct. 20, 2024) “How Illness Can Change the Way You Approach Your Finances”

Why an Updated Estate Plan Is Critical, Especially Now

Without a properly prepared and current estate plan, property is distributed following the intestacy law of the decedent’s state of residence. In most cases, the laws are centered around kinship, with spouses and children dividing percentages of the estate.

If you had something else in mind, it wouldn’t matter—the time to create and update an estate plan is while you’re living. We all know this. However, many just keep procrastinating. A recent article, “Make sure your estate plan is updated to reflect law changes,” from Los Altos Town Crier, explains precisely what pitfalls your loved ones will face if you put off creating an estate plan until it’s too late.

Probate can be minimized or avoided with a professionally prepared estate plan. The probate experience varies with the jurisdiction: in some courts, it’s a streamlined process, while in others, it is a series of delays, sometimes stretching out over months or even years. The time and costs of probate also depend upon the complexity of the estate. In some states, probate can cost 4—7% of the estate’s total value.

An estate planning attorney works with clients to create a means of passing assets to their intended beneficiaries without court involvement. This takes many different shapes depending on the family, the value of the assets, the structure of ownership, etc. Trusts, payable on death accounts, joint tenancy ownership and LLCs (Limited Liability Corporations) are just a few means of passing wealth without involving probate.

Estate planning attorneys help clients control how and when assets are passed to heirs. For instance, if someone had a child who is exceptionally mature and responsible, they may wish to provide the child with their inheritance upon their death. A trust can be created to address the concerns of a family with an adult child who, for whatever reason, cannot manage money. The trust can have a trustee who will be charged with distributing assets according to directions provided by the parents—after achieving certain milestones, at specific ages, or when the trustee deems funds should be distributed.

Incapacity is unpleasant to consider but is as much a part of estate planning as planning for asset distribution after death. Without having a plan for incapacity, the family may be forced to go to court and petition for a supervised conservatorship, a costly and stressful process.

Incapacity or death are the last things on the minds of new parents. However, when a new child joins the family, updating an estate plan to include naming a guardian becomes critical. If there is no will or the will has never been updated to reflect the addition of children, the court determines who will raise the children. Any interested party may petition the court to be appointed as a guardian. The court ultimately makes the decision. However, the decision by the parents, as expressed in an estate plan, will have more weight than an estranged sibling.

An estate plan protects the family by lessening the chances of family disputes and legal battles, which can lead to lifelong divisions. A meeting with an estate planning attorney will give you insight into the importance of having an estate plan and how it serves as a gift to loved ones.

Reference: Los Altos Town Crier (Oct. 29, 2024) “Make sure your estate plan is updated to reflect law changes”

Estate Planning and Protecting Your Privacy

It’s never too early to start considering your estate plan and preparing for what you want to leave behind. This includes some things, like personal journals, you might not want to leave behind. These are just a few good points made in a recent article from yahoo! finance, “Planning your estate? Decide who gets your passwords—and who will burn your journals.”

If your journals are online, you’ll want to leave the platform information, login name and password of whoever you’ve decided is going to manage the journals after you’ve passed. You might consider following the example of one person, who has a pact with her estate planning attorney and close friend: whoever dies first will burn and delete all of their journals. They don’t have deep, dark secrets; they don’t want hurt feelings or misunderstandings with their family members.

Most estate planning focuses on dividing financial assets and personal possessions and deciding who will be the executor, the person in charge of administering the estate. However, there’s more than real estate and investment accounts to consider. Digital assets need to be addressed, and because they exist online and with no paper trail, they can become problematic.

Estate planning attorneys advise everyone to have an estate plan. Don’t think you have all the time in the world to do it, since we never know when an accident or diagnosis may occur. Think through all of your belongings, digital and otherwise, and make a plan so your loved ones aren’t faced with secrets or surprises.

Think of your estate plan as a kindness to loved ones. They are overwhelmed by grief and not in the best state of mind to make hard decisions, like figuring out what kind of end-of-life care you want. By having estate planning documents with specific directions, you’ve helped them through a tough time.

Some people are really good with details. One woman with no living relatives created a notebook with all her accounts and passwords and specific directions for what she wanted to happen with everything she owned, from real estate to a favorite vase. She also planned her own funeral, knowing there wouldn’t be anyone to do it, and having specific thoughts about what she wanted to occur. She listed the guests to be invited and a menu for the funeral luncheon, including who was to cater it.

Most people don’t go to this level of detail. However, it would be helpful if they did.

Regardless of your age, you’ll need to do some estate planning. Start by taking a look at your accounts. If there’s an option to name a beneficiary to inherit the account upon your death, write in a name. If you’re young, it may be a parent or a sibling. If you’re older, it’s more likely to be a spouse or an adult child. Create a notebook of your own with a list of your accounts, including digital assets.

Consult an estate planning attorney to create a will, and don’t neglect a Power of Attorney and a Healthcare Power of Attorney. These last two documents will permit a person of your choosing to take over financial and legal matters in case of incapacity. A healthcare power of attorney, sometimes called a healthcare proxy, lets a person of your choice make decisions regarding healthcare on your behalf. If you don’t have these documents, your loved ones will need to go to court and obtain guardianship and/or conservatorship if you’re too sick or are injured and can’t communicate your wishes.

For some families, the arrival of the holiday season offers many opportunities to discuss their hopes and plans. Even if you only touch on a few points, it might be a good time to start the conversation, providing clarity and promoting the understanding that these topics must be discussed in advance.

Reference: yahoo! finance (Oct. 24, 2024) “Planning your estate? Decide who gets your passwords—and who will burn your journals”

How Can a Will Be Changed?

A last will and testament is a legal document that distributes assets, including investments, real estate and personal property after death. Once a will has been signed and executed, it becomes the foundation for an estate plan. However, what happens if you want to make changes? This is the topic addressed in a recent article from smartasset.com, “What is a Codicil to a Will?”

A codicil is a legal document that changes an already completed and valid will. Some prefer to use a codicil rather than revise their entire will, usually for reasons of economy. The codicil allows the will’s creator to update specific provisions. A codicil can be used to change beneficiaries, assign a different person to be the estate executor, or even change the size of gifts made to heirs.

Codicils are like wills: they need to be signed and witnessed according to the laws of the state to be valid. People like the ability to make changes to their wills quickly and easily. However, sometimes, a codicil is not the right way to change a will.

The codicil performs best when changes being made to the will are minor in nature. They should be used to make small changes when the testator’s wish is to maintain the overall intent of the will. For instance, the birth of a new child and the addition of an heir could be reflected through a codicil.

An experienced estate planning attorney must create the codicil. Making a note on an original will with initials and a date is not a codicil. It’s a separate document, requiring a formal signature and the presence and signatures of witnesses. Most states don’t require a codicil to be notarized. However, you should check with your estate planning attorney to find out if this applies to your state.

Making a lot of changes to a will with multiple codicils may result in estate problems in the future. There are numerous instances where multiple changes, especially repetitive ones, like taking the same person off and then adding them back, are perceived as changing the intent of the testator (the person who made the will). This leaves the entire estate vulnerable to challenges.

Some typical reasons for using a codicil:

• Changing beneficiaries
• Replacing an executor
• Revising asset distribution
• Divorce, marriage, birth, death.
• Making new bequests
• Correcting prior errors or omissions

Before having your estate planning attorney create a codicil, there are a few steps to take. First, discuss the reason for the change and whether the entire will should be revised. A new will may be better if the change is not simple and straightforward. If the codicil is being done to disinherit a beneficiary, your estate planning attorney may have other suggestions. If you have created trusts, the changes to the will don’t carry over to your trusts. They may need to be modified as well.

Reference: smartasset.com (Oct. 23, 2024) “What is a Codicil to a Will?”