Lucretia Ryan

Comments

• Jeff, Thanks for sharing. Your experience is definitely a cautionary tale. My parents didn't have a trust set up. I was able to sell my mother's house while she was alive before she became incapacitated. She needed the money from her house to pay for the assisted living which was over $10,000 a month the year she passed.

  Post: The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented

  Link to comment from June 3, 2026

• A number of people have asked how to find a good estate attorney. If you live in NY or Conn I would recommend my estate attorney Anne Crane acrane@mclaughlinstern.com 203-313-4190. You really need an estate attorney that is for your state.

  Post: The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented

  Link to comment from June 3, 2026

• I agree. Each state have very different estate laws.

  Post: The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented

  Link to comment from June 1, 2026

• I have been talking to Vanguard and Fidelity about being a trustee. They offer these services. I also heard Charles Swarb offers trustee services but I haven't spoken to them. https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/applications/solSum_trust.pdf

  Post: The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented

  Link to comment from May 30, 2026

• I have both a living revocable trust and a will and a durable power of attorney plus a health proxy. Here is a good article that shows what each does and the differences. https://www.ironclad.law/power-of-attorney-revocable-trust

  Post: The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented

  Link to comment from May 30, 2026

• This is a very good point. If you don’t “fund” your trust it’s not useful. The way I funded my revocable trust is changing the deed in my house to the name of the trust. I also changed the beneficiary’s to the name of the trust. But this is very individual on what is the best way. You need very specific instructions from your estate attorney. That is why I stress a good estate attorney is crucial

  Post: The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented

  Link to comment from May 30, 2026

• Yes this is exactly the risk with just having transfer on death on the deed. If her condo was in a revocable living trust with an incapacity clause they wouldn’t have had to go to court. Thank you for sharing.

  Post: The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented

  Link to comment from May 30, 2026

• The issue with transfer on death is there is no incapacity clause. So for the example I used in my article if the mother becomes incapacitated like dementia and the daughter needs to sell the house to pay for assisted living she cannot with a transfer on death. She has to go to court. A power of attorney document may work or may not depending how it’s written. So that is the risk on not having a revocable living trust and just a transfer on death. So people just need to make an educated decision on what works for them and understand the risks. Thanks for your comment

  Post: The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented

  Link to comment from May 26, 2026

• You are correct. Just to clarify. Her father didn't have enough bank assets to continue to pay all of the costs to maintain the house. The majority of his assets were tied up in the equity of the house which she couldn't sell until probate was finished. That is why she had to use her own assets until she could sell the house. Thank you for pointing this out.

  Post: The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented

  Link to comment from May 25, 2026

• I agree a good estate attorney who comes highly recommended is worth it. But I’d also recommend educating yourself especially around the tax implications. The first time I used an attorney recommended to me by my cpa the attorney didn’t set up a revocable living trust. I now have an excellent estate attorney who setup my estate and educated me and it is totally a different experience. My estate is so much better protected. The cost was totally worth it.

  Post: The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented

  Link to comment from May 24, 2026