Understanding Trust Lawyers

Answer 1

When seeking to hire a lawyer specializing in trusts and estates, it is crucial that the lawyer have a thorough understanding of concepts such as remainders and executory interests. Before meeting with a trust attorney, it is often a good idea to come up with a simple list of questions to test the knowledge of the attorney. Simply ask questions involving remainders and executory interests, to see if an attorney really has the expertise to handle one’s own estate. This article will discuss the knowledge a client should know about remainders and executory interests before meeting with a lawyer.

There are many key concepts to know, when it comes to remainders. First, it is important to understand that a remainder follows an limited estate if it is a life estate, term of years, or fee tail. A fee simple will never include a remainder.

Another point to consider involves future interests and remainders. If an inherently limited estate also contains an added limitation, then the grantee’s future interest that follows will still be a remainder. In that scenario, there would not be both an executory interest and a remainder. Rather, because the remainder is the larger interest out of the two, the remainder would be considered to include the executory interest.

A remainder will be considered contingent if it is transferred to an unascertained taker. An unascertained person is someone that is unidentified, not yet born, or not alive. Also, the heirs of a living person are not considered as being ascertained. A person’s widow, widower, or devisees are also not considered to be ascertained.

In a trust, if a human cannot be specifically pinpointed as entitled to a remainder, then a remainder-holder can not yet be identified in that scenario. Lastly, a remainder with a condition precedent is considered to be contingent.

Now, it is also important to discuss executory interests so one has a knowledge of this subject matter before meeting with an estate attorney. An executory interest is considered to be held by a grantee and follows an estate that may end early. The estate may end early due to a condition that is added to its description or by a condition within the description of the executory interest following it. Also, executory interests are either considered to be springing or shifting.

Overall, these terms are crucial to know before meeting with an estate attorney. The more informed one is, the better estate planning one can engage in.