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At 12:54 PM 10/28/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>If one dies while his commodity account has trades in it,
>he may wish that
>his heirs could close any open trades immediately without
>waiting for
>PROBATE to allow an order to be placed. How quickly do you
>think you could
>get an OK from the Probate Court to kill some disastrous
>trade? You are at
>the mercy of the attorney and the courts................. Dead men cant
>trade! if one expires overnight, the broker has to close the position
>out immediately, thats the rules according to my commodities
>broker.craig
Hi, Craig!
Your statement sounds reasonable. Assuming that you die, and the broker
closes your trades and you were not operating under a trust, what then
happens to the funds? You might have a joint account with your wife and she
immediately would have title? Could she use those funds? Maybe she could.
Legally, though, could she? Does she have to account to the other
beneficiaries or possible heirs? Does the money have to go through PROBATE,
legally?
My accountant tells me that the best tax deduct is the one that never is
audited. It could be that money that goes to a joint owner never is
questioned and is like the tax deduct that never is audited.
With the trust I outlined to you, the funds legally NEVER have to go through
PROBATE; and my account would be controlled by my successor trustee who
could go ahead and trade the account or close it, as desired. There might
be a trade underway that ought not to be terminated immediately. My death
would not terminate the Trust, and would not justify the dead
man-close-the-position argument.
Note that I am not trying to sell anything. I just am sharing what to me is
an interesting, worthwhile, and money-saving idea. Anything that does not go
through PROBATE does not allow a percentage to the attorneys. (Would an
unnecessary payment to an attorney benefit my heirs in any manner?) I like
thinking that I am in control of what I am doing and that I can make better
decisions about what I want to happen for the benefit of my heirs than any
court or others can do for me after I die. The Living Trusts make that
possible.
When multi-millionaire Mr. H. L. Hunt died, he had only one pickup truck
that had to go through PROBATE. I like his example, and I have each of my
assets except vehicles in separate trusts.
BTW, however, a Living Trust does not eliminate any taxes an estate may owe.
Our trust assets still have to be considered. They just don't have to be
looked at by a PROBATE COURT.
If a trust helps your situation, use it.
Roy
Consider Practicing Random Kindness
(Read RAK's in Reader's Digest May 1992)
Roy C. Sampley
rsampley@xxxxxxxxx
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