Don’t Kill the Estate Plan -Titling Brokerage Accounts (and Other Assets) in Coordination with Estate Planning Documents

In this presentation, Jessie A. Gilbert, a trusts and estates attorney in Cummings & Lockwood’s Greenwich, Connecticut office, addresses the common misconceptions about how bank and brokerage accounts and other assets should be titled for estate planning purposes.  She also discusses the differences between joint tenancy with right of survivorship and tenants in common, why transfer on death is normally not the answer and how to effectively pass assets without thwarting tax planning.  (17:37)

Presentation Outline

 1.  Forms of Asset Ownership & Transfer

 2.  Individual

 3.  Revocable Trust & Titling Issues

 4.  Joint Property

      a.  Tenants in Common

      b.  Joint with Rights of Survivorship

      c.  Tenancy by the Entirety

 5.  Joint Survivorship Property Issues

      a.  Can Defeat the Estate Plan

      b.  Unintended Tax consequences

      c.  Loss of Control

      d.  Unexpected Order of Death

 6.  Beneficiary Designation

      a.  Insurance

      b.  Retirement Plans

      c.  Pension Plans

      d.  Annuities

 7.  Beneficiary Designation Issues

 8.  Transfer on Death Account Issues

 9.  How does Estate Plan Die??

10.  Reviving a Plan with Disclaimers

11.  Reviving a Plan with Disclaimers:  Specific Assets

       a.  Joint Property with Rights of Survivorship

       b.  Beneficiary Designation and Transfer on Death

12.  Reviving a Plan with Disclaimers:  Potential Issues

13.  Don't Kill the Estate Plan