There are as many kinds of accidents that cause injury to people as there are people. While such activities as driving an automobile and slipping on wet floors figure more prominently in the minds of many, there is almost no end to the circumstances surrounding an accident. The law poses the basic question of whether the person for whom legal liability is sought acted with reasonable care, or whether he or she acted in a careless manner that contributed to the cause of the accident. The question of legal liability sometimes may hinge on whether there is a Aduty of care@ to protect against injuries for someone who is not expected to be in the area where the accident occurred.
One area where you never want an accident is your estate planning. You need a well designed and professionally prepared will and possibly a trust. The last thing that you want to happen is for your heirs to discover that your trust or will fails to dispose of your entire estate, or name a personal representative for your estate. A client brought me a will of his uncle. The uncle=s will disposed of lots of items of personalty but it failed to state who would inherit the remainder of the estate. Normally these type of mistakes or accidents are made by lay persons drafting their own will or some friend helping out.
A revocable living trust which is well designed will clearly state your wishes concerning who will serve as your trustee when you cannot and who will inherit your property after you die. In addition, in order to avoid probate, the well designed revocable trust needs to be funded. Funding a revocable trust is not too difficult, but it will take some attention to detail. For example, I always convey the real property owned by the client into the client’s revocable trust. Once the trust owns the property, it will avoid probate. People die, but a trust does not die. When the client passes away the successor trustee may sell the property or distribute the property outright to the beneficiary, depending upon what the trust says is to happen.
If you need an attorney, contact Brent D. Coldiron, attorney at law, 1800 E. Memorial Road, Suite 106, Oklahoma City, OK 73131 or 2801 Parklawn Drive, Suite 503, Midwest City, OK 73110; telephone (405) 478-5655 and (405) 737-2244. Brent has over 44 years experience handling a variety of legal matters, including probates, will, trusts, business formation, elder law, Medicaid qualification for nursing home care, protection against Medicaid spend down, corporations and guardianships. Give Brent a call, he knows what to do!