Ashlea Ebeling
speaker
2,002 appearances
38 recordings
1 series
first heard Jul 2022
last heard Feb 2025
Ashlea Ebeling’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsNo recordings in the last 12 months.Older appearances are listed below; set an alert to hear about the next one.
Appearances
You basically need to do that annual reminder.
voice-verified
You need to put it on your calendar and check and coordinate this with your estate plan, understanding that it's not the will, but it's the beneficiary form that's important.
voice-verified
Once you've filled out the form, print it out, keep it in a safe place with your wills and other estate planning documents, like powers of attorney or any kind of health care powers, and then consider talking to your intended beneficiary about it.
voice-verified
If it says you don't have anyone listed, still call up HR and make sure they do a search to see who you might have put on your initial application when you opened the account.
voice-verified
Well, with that standard plan, you're really leaving everything up to the surviving spouse.
voice-verified
They have no obligation to then leave assets to adult stepchildren.
voice-verified
So if you have children from a prior marriage, they could be left out in the cold.
voice-verified
The typical order of operations for married couples with children is for everything to go to the surviving spouse and then to the children.
voice-verified
And that's whether you have it set up that way in a will or a trust.
voice-verified
The tricky thing is if you have no estate plan, then it's just the default rule, whatever your state law says, and then you could really be in trouble.
voice-verified
With that standard plan, you're really leaving everything up to the surviving spouse.
voice-verified
They have no obligation to then leave assets to adult stepchildren.
voice-verified
So if you have children from a prior marriage, they could be left out in the cold.
voice-verified
I spoke to an attorney in Michigan in a worst case scenario.
voice-verified
The blended family, the parents had put together a joint trust with the idea that the assets would all be divided among their children when the second one died.
voice-verified
But the surviving spouse ended up just taking everything out of the trust and instead leaving everything to the one son.
voice-verified
So the three children sued and the case is now pending years later, still in Michigan, where they're trying to divvy up the assets.
voice-verified
That was a poor drafting of the trust.
voice-verified
That's one thing, like making really clear whether you want just income going to the surviving spouse or if you want a certain amount being left for the children.
voice-verified
So really careful drafting of wills and trust is essential.
voice-verified
Showing 741–760 of 2,002 · page 38 of 101
← Previous
Next →