Estate Planning Newsletter

Transfer on Death Registration of Securities

TOD or transfer on death registration of securities allows an investor to arrange for transfer of securities upon the investor's death without the necessity of having the securities go through probate. The executor or administrator of an estate does not have to take any action regarding specific securities that have TOD registration or even entire accounts t... (Read More)

In a civilized society, a legal mechanism for dealing with a deceased person's property is essential. Think of the chaos that would result if, when someone died, the law allowed anyone free access to take all or any part of the deceased person's property on a "first come" basis. Instead, we have developed a system that protects and sometimes directs the dist... (Read More)

An intentional transfer of property made from the generosity of the transferor is known as a gift. The person who makes a gift is known as the donor. The person who receives a gift is known as the donee. There are three basic time periods during which a person can make a gift. First, a person can make a gift during life. Second, a person can make a gift a... (Read More)

The special purpose served with a voting trust is to transfer the right to vote shares of stock without losing control of the stock itself or any other rights associated with it, such as appreciation, dividends, or other distributions. The voting trust is most often used with closely held companies where it is deemed advisable to allow one or more specific i... (Read More)

When a trustee receives a distribution, it can be difficult to determine whether he should pay it to the beneficiary or add it to the "corpus" (the trust property). Questions also can surface as to who is responsible for certain expenses that arise during administration of the trust. Of course, the trustor (the person making the trust) may make other provisi... (Read More)