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00:00:00 – 00:00:24

The best way to minimize estate taxes is die with nothing. No assets, no taxes. That’s a bit facetious, but the answer is right now it’s about $13, $14 billion before you’re going to be taxed. And that law is changing. As of 2026, it’ll drop in half unless the latest tax bill is passed and then it’ll stay there. So I can’t quite give you a number just yet.

00:00:24 – 00:00:51

There are a lot of people who worry about estate taxes. Most of the people I deal with are in the $1 to $8 to $10 million range. So it’s not an issue. The other one they ask about is income taxes. Generally, there’s really no income taxes due. You have to do an income tax return for the decedent up till the day they died. But generally, there’s no income tax due for the estate itself. If you want to discuss this, give me a call. We’ll go through it.

This transcription was AI generated.

This transcription was AI generated

Transcription:

00:00:00 – 00:00:25

Probate cases in Colorado are filed in the county in which the decedent lived. You can, if you’re smart and diligent, file it yourself and handle it yourself. And I deal with people who do that and answer particular questions for them from time to time. But generally, it’s not a good idea. You don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night and worry that you messed something up because you are personally liable if you’re the personal representative and you did something wrong.

00:00:25 – 00:00:40

So if you’re thinking, hey, I would like to try this on my own, go ahead and give me a call. I’ll kind of talk you through it. There’s only so much I can help you with. If you decide you want to do it on your own, there are ways you can do it. If you think that you need help, I’m here for you.

This transcription was AI generated.

This transcription was AI generated

Transcription:

00:00:00 – 00:00:27

There is in Colorado what’s called the small estate affidavit. If the decedent left $82,000 or less, that’s this year’s number, which will probably change, you can file a small estate affidavit, which really just means you sign this small estate affidavit saying there was less than $82,000 in the estate and I’m the natural person to be handling the estate. And then you can take that to the bank, you can take that to DMV, you can

00:00:27 – 00:00:49

Take that to whoever’s handling investment accounts and you act as a personal representative without actually filing a probate case. That form is available online. Just Google small estate affidavit Colorado and you’ll find it. It’s just something you sign, get notarized and use that in the death certificate and you should be fine.

This transcription was AI generated

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00:00:00 – 00:00:22

You can transfer assets to a trust and avoid probate. The question is whether that’s a good idea or not. There are other ways to transfer assets, typically a beneficiary deed or a trust. Let’s talk about beneficiary deed. Beneficiary deed is you write a deed today and it says, I give my property to my daughter, Susan.

00:00:22 – 00:00:40

That deed is then recorded, but it’s not effective until you pass away. So the day you pass away, basically she owns. The other way to do it is to put her on a deed today. The problem with that is she’s on the deed today, and if she gets some kind of liability, that property could be subject to that liability.

00:00:41 – 00:01:06

And she also has the right to ask for what’s called partition and just force you to sell the property. So the beneficiary deed works better. If you’re at all concerned about what she’s going to do with the property after you pass, then you ought to be thinking about a trust. Now, a trust would then let you say, okay, she has to sell it or she doesn’t have to sell it or she has to sell it and share the proceeds with her brother.

00:01:06 – 00:01:15

or her children. So if you want to discuss ways to avoid probate, give me a call. We’ll talk it through and see what’s right for you.

This transcription was AI generated

Transcription:

00:00:00 – 00:01:01

Probably about once a month, I will get a call from someone who’s moved here from another state. Typically, it’s California, it’s Illinois, it’s New York. I actually got several calls from Oregon this in the last few months. Typically, they say, “I have a plan. I have a will. I have trust. I have powers of attorney. What do I do?” Well, if it’s fairly recent, you’re probably fine. 99% of the time, you’re not going to make any changes. If it’s older though, you will want to have a review

00:00:30 – 00:01:17

first because the law has changed quite a bit in the last 10, 15 years on some of those items. And if it’s older than that, 20, 25 years, you’re going to see that there are new ways to handle what you want. And then the final problem is maybe you change what you wanted. So give me a call. We’ll review your documents, see if there are any changes warranted, and go from there.

This transcription was AI generated

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00:00:00 – 00:01:02

Sentimental items in an estate plan are are easy to deal with. One way is you put it in your will. So, there’s a line in your will that says, “My daughter Debbie gets grandma’s brooch.” The problem with that is that if you decide that you don’t want Debbie to get it, you have to redo your will. There is what’s called a tangible personal property statement. So if you say in your will, I have one of these or I might have one of these, you can write in that tangible personal property

00:00:31 – 00:01:14

statement, Debbie gets grandma’s bridge. And then the next day decide, no, I don’t want Debbie to get it. I want Susie to get it. You just tear up the first one and write a new one. You don’t have to redo your will. If you want to talk about personal property statements um with me, I’m happy to take your call and we can discuss that or any other estate planning.