and this might be just the board to ask ....how many of you have all your affairs in order  in case of your demise? What age were you when you went ahead and bought your burial or cremation  plans? My parents have already done everthing  an being the oldest child I am the executor of their will ..... do most of you have a will already in place  and what about a trust  not sure of what the difference is.....I have one brother mentally ill  that I support already  but  want to make sure he is cared for in his later years ......BTW  I do not have any plans on going any were soon LOL  have been thinking about this for awhile now  I do not want to be a burden if  something were to happen  being single  makes it easier  but really do not want to have uncle  SAM grab  my assets in  probate case..... so any advice out there ?  also do hand  written  or videos  hold  up in court......I have 3 homes  so want to make sure family is taken care of first and formost

Victoria you need a good estate attorney.  It is well worth the few hundred it will cost.

My wife and I had our wills and living wills and power of attorneys drawn up 10 years ago when we lived in Maryland.  We moved to North Carolina a year ago.  Since I have ALS, I have been getting my affairs in order.  I had to redo most of the documents to comply with NC laws.

Sounds like one of the problems that you will have is identifying an individual for you to give your power of attorney to in case there are any medical decisions that need to be made on your behalf.  I named my spouse and if she is unavailable, my son.

Are your homes all in Arizona or other states?  There are some documents like the living will that appear to be specific to a state.  It deals with such things as do you want "heroic" measures to be performed to save your life.  In NC, it needs to be prominently displayed in the home so the EMT's will know what to do.  If they do not see it, they will take all appropriate steps to save your life.  In my case, all I want them to do is make me comfortable.

It's late at night and I am not thinking to clearly.  I am probably just bringing up a few of the issues you will need to consider.  You also need to consult a CPA or a Tax Lawyer about the tax implications involved.

I am sure there are some CPAs and lawyers that will jump on this tomorrow.

If you are like me I don't have a big estate to bequeath so I got one of those legal deals where you join for several months. They made the will with the information I supplied. I did that about 11 years ago. I have one car payment that is covered with an insurance policy. That car is driven my my grand daughter. I have a prepaid funeral arrangement with a funeral home and I will be buried at the national cemetery. I have put my daughter on my checking account and savings. She will continue to have access to that when I die. The house I don't give a shit about but if one of my children want it they just take up the payments. My house payment is a lot less that an apartment would be. My main vehicle is payed for and I will this year list my son as co-owner on the registration. If you have a brother that needs to be taken care of you should check with a finance expert.

A good estate attorney that knows all the angles is a necessity.  Every person should have a proper legal will, a living will, a medical surrogate, and have someone assigned as power of attorney.  Having a bank account with another person is also a good idea, in case you are incapacitated and cannot sign a check.  I even knew a married couple where the husband passed away and she did not have access to his account and didn't even know his atm pin number.  Was a real hassle for sure.  And it does make it very easy on those left behind to have your funeral/burial wishes filed with your estate lawyer.

When I had kids is when I had all the estate documents done. I also joined a Memorial Society rather than buy a burial plot or planned cremation - what if you move to another City?

A Will is a document that instructs the court (probate) on what you want to have done with your estate when you pass away. Certain assets bypass the probate process. Those assets are ones that have their own instructions (beneficiary designations on insurance products, financial accounts, etc.). I recommend against hand written or videos. Best to have it in writing and, at a minimum, reviewed by an attorney. There are certain requirements that the court has, and miss any one of them, and you open up the will to being challenged (did you date it, did you revoke prior wills, did you initial each page, is it entirely hand written, was it properly signed, was it witnessed, was it witnessed properly, is every word legible, what did you mean by ABC or XYZ, etc.)

A Trust is an entity that is separate from you. Assets owned by the trust are also not subject to probate. A Trust can also be a beneficiary for insurance products, financial accounts, etc. Or, they can be direct owners/joint owners. A Trust also has a trustee, which directs affairs of the trust. You can be the trustee when you are alive, and designate someone else (brother's guardian, or another person independent of the guardian) to be the successor trustee.

By having a 3rd person be the Trustee, it minimizes the problem of the Guardian spending all the trust assets in a way that does not really benefit your brother (I presume you want to leave everything to him). For instance, Sister could be the Guardian of your brother, and Uncle be the Trustee. Uncle can set up a monthly allowance, and Sister could request additional amounts as needed. Thus collusion between Uncle and Sister would be required to waste Trust Assets: Sister deems it is in Brother's best interest to have month long vacations in Hawaii - Uncle tells her to dream on.

There are pros/cons to revocable vs. irrevocable trusts. The main benefit is the avoidance of inheritance taxes with irrevocable trusts. But, there are extra burdens/risks with irrevocable trusts.

In general, the more you can avoid probate, the better. For your real estate, one common method is to make a revocable trust the owner of the real estate, with you as trustee. Then it is almost like you owning it. When you die, the trust becomes irrevocable, and the real estate does not have to go through probate. If you have both an irrevocable and revocable trust, the revocable real estate trust could "pour over" into the irrevocable trust - at the time of your death, the assets are distributed (transferred) to the irrevocable trust. That way, only one trust, the irrevocable one, has to have all the complex provisions. Arizona also has a Beneficiary Deed, which may accomplish the same thing.

Since you are green on the issue, it is best to discuss it with a professional. Maybe get some will/trust planning software to educate yourself and draft the outline of a plan. That will save time ($'s ) with the lawyer.

I was about 35 when I made my will. But "planning" is an ongoing process. To keep uncle sam out of your business all your real estate and annuities should be in a trust. Trusts can tie your hands but it just takes planning to avoid problems.

I know one Guy who put all his assets in a trust so any women (ie marriage, baby, scandal) or business partners could not get to his wealth.

A will does not avoid probate a trust continues on even is a trustee dies and is not subject to probate.