Idaho Law Blog

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

We all love to watch the glitz and glitter in the lives of celebrities and envision our lives being similar to theirs. For some reason, many of us believe that celebrities have the perfect life. While I don’t know whether celebrities have a perfect life, I can tell you with some assurance that many of them make serious mistakes when it comes to their own estate planning. As an estate planning attorney my goal is to help my clients avoid making similar mistakes. Here are three serious estate planning mistakes celebrities have made in their lives that you can learn from.

1. Consider Your Debts

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

It is the dream of almost every person who is an employee. All of us envision ourselves retiring early and enjoying our free time traveling, and doing those things that we don’t get to do while we are working. While this is a dream for most people, there are some people who do in fact retire early. Regardless of whether you are seeking early retirement or are simply thinking about your future, you should include a complete estate plan as part of your planning.

Here are three specific things that you should know about estate planning can help you in your future regardless of whether you have or are about to retire early.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

After nearly 20 years of experience in working as an Idaho estate planning attorney I have helped numerous clients complete their own Idaho estate plans. Additionally, I’ve guided many families, and close relatives through the probate process in Idaho after a loved one has passed away. Based on these experiences I’ve had an opportunity to learn and work with Idaho law closely. Here are three specific Idaho estate planning secrets that I have learned.

1. Probate in Idaho May Not Be Necessary

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

As the saying goes those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. After nearly 20 years as an Idaho estate planning attorney I have seen many problems That have occurred due to the lack of planning or the failure to complete a plan. I called these Idaho estate planning horror stories. Without providing any names or dates, and by making these more generic here are three situations that I have seen and which have happened on a regular basis.

1. Creating an Invalid Will

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

Having been an Idaho estate planning attorney now for nearly 20 years, I have come to learn that most people don’t think much about estate planning until it’s too late. In fact based on my experience I have found that there are really 3 very common estate planning strategies in Idaho. By understanding what these estate planning strategies are, you can determine which one will fit your needs the best. The three most common estate planning strategies are:

1. The Do Nothing Plan

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

It isn’t uncommon as an estate planning attorney to have clients come in who have previously lived in other states. The reason they come see me is they want me to review their Estate Planning and make sure that the documents they have will be valid and useful for them while they live in Idaho. This inevitably leads to discussions about the state they previously lived in. Based upon these discussions and also based upon my own research I’ve come to learn that probate in Idaho is extremely inexpensive.

Here are some basic facts that I’ve learned about probate and why I believe it is fairly inexpensive in Idaho:

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

Many years ago there was a famous late night commercial about a rotisserie chicken cooker. The famous slogan that was used over and over again during the commercial to sell that item was “Set it and forget it.” While this may be a great slogan for a kitchen gadget, it really is a horrible idea when it comes to your Idaho estate planning and specifically your trust. If you have gone to the effort to create a trust there really are three things you should consider to make sure that your trust does what you want it to do.

1. Make Sure the Paperwork is Complete

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned through my nearly 20 years of experience as an estate planning attorney it is that death affects us all. It cannot permanently be avoided. This was reinforced to me personally when my aunt recently passed away. My family and I traveled to her memorial service where we were able to enjoy seeing family and friends that we haven’t visited with for some time. As I reflected on the events surrounding my aunt’s death and memorial service, there were three specific lessons that I learned from my aunt about estate planning.

1. Plan Ahead

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

Many times after I’ve helped a couple complete their estate planning, they will ask me whether it is a good idea for them to have a family meeting so that they can describe their estate plan to their children. Whether they should share their estate plan with their children is a very personal decision that each individual or couple must make on their own. I don’t encourage it nor do I discourage it. However, whenever a client asks me this question, I do try to give them some advice about how to do such a meeting. Here are the three most important things I try to explain to these individuals.

1. Your Estate Plan is Your Private Property