Boulder City Magazine is a monthly publication full of information about Boulder City and Southern Nevada. Boulder City Magazine features the Boulder City Home Guide, a real estate guide to Boulder City and Southern Nevada.

Boulder City Magazine® March 2006 Issue

Cover Story	Spotlight on Business	Tech Tip
Recreation Zone	BCPD Informer	Your Health
Short Stories	Home Care	A Kid's View
Library Corner	Money Matters	Lawyer's Edge
Boulder City History	The Arts	Porter Update
Reid Report	Travel Now	Day Trip'n

Lawyer's Edge
by Bruce L. Woodbury, Esq.
Jolley, Urga, Wirth, Woodbury & Standish

Trust Me On This One
Nearly everyone should at least have a Will as a bare minimum form of estate planning.

However, most people who have accumulated or plan to accumulate assets of any significant value would benefit by creating a Living Trust. To do so is less complicated and less expensive than commonly believed.

A Living Trust (sometimes confused with a Living Will, which is another name for a health-care directive), has many advantages compared to a Will. The primary advantage is the total avoidance of the complications and cost of probate upon death. The assets are transferred to the designated beneficiaries through simple and inexpensive paperwork which is kept private. For individuals who own real estate in a state other than their place of residence, there can be multiple probate proceedings without a Living Trust.

In addition, even though Nevada has no inheritance tax, there is a federal estate tax, which can be substantially reduced or eliminated entirely through a Living Trust. Another advantage of the trust is the ability to designate a successor trustee to manage your assets for your benefit if you become incapacitated. This usually eliminates the need to have legal guardianship proceedings in court in such situations.

An individual or a couple can retain total control over the trust property by serving as the original trustee and reserving the right to revoke or amend the trust at any time. With the help of a good attorney the process of conveying ownership of the assets to the trust is uncomplicated. Having a trust creates no restriction on one’s ability to buy, sell or give away assets.
The best way to choose a qualified, ethical attorney whose estate planning fees are reasonable is to ask relatives, friends or trusted financial advisors for their recommendations. Don’t put off these decisions until it is too late.

Bruce Woodbury can be reached at www.juww.com.

Boulder City Magazine®
688 Wells Rd #A
Boulder City, Nevada 89005
Phone (702) 294-1392 Fax (702) 294-1392
E-mail: BoulderCityMagazine@gmail.com