Arizona Estate Planning Articles & Resources | KEYTLaw
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Table of Contents
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All About Wills
- What is a Will? You probably know that a Will is a document in which you name who will receive your property after your death. Do you know the other important functions a Will serves? How about what happens if you don’t have a Will?
- For a Will to be Valid, What Does Arizona Law Require? – Every state has different rules when it comes to estate planning. If you’re going to create an Arizona Will, you should know what Arizona law requires for the Will to be valid.
- Choosing Who Will Inherit Your Personal Property: A Personal Property Memorandum – If you have items of tangible property that you want to go to specific people, a Personal Property Memorandum is the place to write it down. And, with a Personal Property Memorandum, you can change your mind without having to see a lawyer to amend your Will.
- 7 Secrets of a Successful Will– Fix potential problems with your Will today, since you won’t be around to fix them when they arise.
- Top 10 Most Common Questions People Ask About Wills – Who needs a Will? Does it need to be witnessed? Can a Will be changed? What happens if I don’t have one?
- Non-lawyers Preparing Wills – This woman hired a non-lawyer to draft her Will. After her death, her family wound up in court fighting about the estate – something that everyone should try to avoid.
Trust Basics
- Understanding the Significance of Trusts – An explanation of basic concepts of revocable and irrevocable trusts.
- Trust Incentive & Disincentive Provisions – Sample optional trust incentive and disincentive provisions.
- Arizona Trust Companies – A list of Arizona trust companies KEYTLaw recommends if you plan to name an institutional trustee.
Special Trusts
- NFA Gun Trusts – A resource for Arizona residents to understand the NFA, Title II firearms, and how and when to use a gun trust to own and use Title II firearms.
- IRA Inheritance Trust® – A new type of trust called the IRA Inheritance Trust® can ensure your beneficiaries stretch-out distributions over their lives for tax-free growth to maximize wealth accumulation and to provide asset protection if necessary.
- Pet Trusts – Since pets are our furry “kids,” it makes sense to protect them just like our human children. Often, pets are left scared and forgotten after a tragedy. Some might even end up in shelters, or worse. Don’t leave Fido and Fluffy out of your estate plan – protect them with a Pet Trust!
- Special Needs Trusts – This Wall Street Journal article sheds light on this important type of trust for individuals with special needs.
Death & Disability Planning
- Healthcare Power of Attorney – If you are sick or injured and unable to make your own healthcare decisions, who will make them for you? With a Healthcare Power of Attorney, you decide. Without a Healthcare Power of Attorney, a court will decide—and it won’t be cheap.
- Living Wills – Remember Terri Schaivo? After a heart attack, Terri was left in a persistent vegetative state. Terri’s story made national headlines because her husband and parents couldn’t agree on what Terri herself would have wanted. Did Terri want to be kept alive artificially in her condition? Or did Terri want to refuse the aggressive medical treatment and die naturally? Since Terri didn’t have a Living Will, Terri didn’t get to make that decision.
- HIPAA Authorization – Federal healthcare privacy laws (HIPAA) prohibit medical providers from disclosing your medical information without your permission. But what if you’re unable to give permission because you’re sick or injured? You probably want a loved one to be informed of your medical condition so they can make healthcare decisions for you. If you become incapacitated, a HIPAA authorization allows your medical providers to give medical information to a person that you choose.
- Financial Power of Attorney – We all have financial obligations. Unfortunately, they don’t go away if you become incapacitated. If you are unable to handle your own finances, who will do it for you? With a Financial Power of Attorney, you can pick an agent to manage your finances – and pay the bills – when you can’t do so yourself.
Other Considerations
- Caring for Fluffy and Fido After You’re Gone – You can make sure your pet has the best possible care with a pet trust.
- Beneficiary Designations – Do you remember filling out a form naming your beneficiary when you set up your retirement account or purchased your life insurance policy? Do you remember who you wrote down? Since life insurance and retirement accounts are often some of the largest assets people own, designating the right beneficiaries is a critical part of estate planning.
- Estate Planning When a Spouse Is Not a U.S. Citizen – Ten things everyone should know about estate planning for non-U.S. citizens.
Transferring Property to Heirs
- Arizona Beneficiary Deeds – Use a Beneficiary Deed to avoid probate of Arizona real property.
- Arizona Beneficiary Deed Preparation Service – An explanation of KEYTLaw’s low-cost Beneficiary Deed preparation service.
- How to Hire KEYTLaw to Prepare an Arizona Beneficiary Deed – Complete our online Arizona Beneficiary Deed Service Agreement, print and sign the document and then send it to us with payment of $195 per Beneficiary Deed.
- Transfer Your Vehicle Probate-Free – Arizona law allows you to transfer the title to your vehicle upon death to one or more beneficiaries of your choice. This estate planning tool is easy and inexpensive, and we’ll tell you how to take advantage of it.
- Intestate Succession – What happens if you die without a Will? Your property will be distributed in accordance with Arizona’s laws of intestate succession. This article explains how it might work in your situation.
- How to Hold Property – A description of the various ways to hold property, including joint tenants with right of survivorship, community property with right of survivorship, tenants in common, and tenancy by the entirety.
Estate Planning Mistakes
- Would You Perform Surgery On Yourself? Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning Mistakes – KEYTLaw’s top 5 reasons to avoid DIY estate planning. This is a must-read article for anyone considering DIY estate planning.
- Anna Nicole Smith’s Will: The Saga Continues For Her Family – A great example of a bad estate plan.
How Do I?
- How Do I Protect My Loved Ones with an Estate Plan and Avoid the High Cost of Procrastination and Neglect – How your family may suffer severe financial loss if you die or become incapacitated without a comprehensive estate plan.
- How Do I Handle A Deceased Family Member’s Facebook Account – Instructions on how to memorialize and remove a loved one’s Facebook account, who can memorialize and remove an account, and tips for copying media before removing an account.
- How Do I Transfer Real Property Into A Trust – An introduction to Arizona Beneficiary Deeds, when one is appropriate, the benefits and drawbacks to using a Beneficiary Deed, and forms provided by statute.
- How to Hire KEYTLaw to Prepare an Arizona Beneficiary Deed – Complete our online Arizona Beneficiary Deed Service Agreement, print and sign the document, and then send it to us with payment of $495 per Beneficiary Deed.
Questions? Book a free meeting or call or email one of our Arizona estate planning attorneys. We don’t charge to talk to people.
Revocable Living Trusts
- Understanding the Significance of Trusts – An explanation of basic concepts of revocable and irrevocable trusts.
- Trust Incentive & Disincentive Provisions – Sample optional trust incentive and disincentive provisions.
- Beneficiary controlled asset protected trusts that protect inherited assets from the beneficiary’s creditors, ex-spouses and bankruptcy
- Arizona Trust Companies – A list of Arizona trust companies KEYTLaw recommends if you plan to name an institutional trustee.
Death & Disability Planning
- Healthcare Power of Attorney – If you are sick or injured and unable to make your own healthcare decisions, who will make them for you? With a Healthcare Power of Attorney, you decide. Without a Healthcare Power of Attorney, a court will decide—and it won’t be cheap.
- Living Wills – Remember Terri Schaivo? After a heart attack, Terri was left in a persistent vegetative state. Terri’s story made national headlines because her husband and parents couldn’t agree on what Terri herself would have wanted. Did Terri want to be kept alive artificially in her condition? Or did Terri want to refuse the aggressive medical treatment and die naturally? Since Terri didn’t have a Living Will, Terri didn’t get to make that decision.
- HIPAA Authorization – Federal healthcare privacy laws (HIPAA) prohibit medical providers from disclosing your medical information without your permission. But what if you’re unable to give permission because you’re sick or injured? You probably want a loved one to be informed of your medical condition so they can make healthcare decisions for you. If you become incapacitated, a HIPAA authorization allows your medical providers to give medical information to a person that you choose.
- Financial Power of Attorney – We all have financial obligations. Unfortunately, they don’t go away if you become incapacitated. If you are unable to handle your own finances, who will do it for you? With a Financial Power of Attorney, you can pick an agent to manage your finances – and pay the bills – when you can’t do so yourself.
Special Trusts
- NFA Gun Trusts – A resource for Arizona residents to understand the NFA, Title II firearms, and how and when to use a gun trust to own and use Title II firearms.
- IRA Inheritance Trust® – A new type of trust called the IRA Inheritance Trust® can ensure your beneficiaries stretch-out distributions over their lives for tax-free growth to maximize wealth accumulation and to provide asset protection if necessary.
- Pet Trusts – Since pets are our furry “kids,” it makes sense to protect them just like our human children. Often, pets are left scared and forgotten after a tragedy. Some might even end up in shelters, or worse. Don’t leave Fido and Fluffy out of your estate plan – protect them with a Pet Trust!
- Special Needs Trusts – This Wall Street Journal article sheds light on this important type of trust for individuals with special needs.
Transferring Property to Loved Ones
- Arizona Beneficiary Deeds – Use a Beneficiary Deed to avoid probate of Arizona real property.
- Arizona Beneficiary Deed Preparation Service – An explanation of KEYTLaw’s low-cost Beneficiary Deed preparation service.
- How to Hire KEYTLaw to Prepare an Arizona Beneficiary Deed – Complete our online Arizona Beneficiary Deed Service Agreement, print and sign the document and then send it to us with payment of $195 per Beneficiary Deed.
- Transfer Your Vehicle Probate-Free – Arizona law allows you to transfer the title to your vehicle upon death to one or more beneficiaries of your choice. This estate planning tool is easy and inexpensive, and we’ll tell you how to take advantage of it.
- Intestate Succession – What happens if you die without a Will? Your property will be distributed in accordance with Arizona’s laws of intestate succession. This article explains how it might work in your situation.
- How to Hold Property – A description of the various ways to hold property, including joint tenants with right of survivorship, community property with right of survivorship, tenants in common, and tenancy by the entirety.
Estate Planning Mistakes
- Would You Perform Surgery On Yourself? Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning Mistakes – KEYTLaw’s top 5 reasons to avoid DIY estate planning. This is a must-read article for anyone considering DIY estate planning.
- Anna Nicole Smith’s Will: The Saga Continues For Her Family – A great example of a bad estate plan.
How Do I?
- How Do I Protect My Loved Ones with an Estate Plan and Avoid the High Cost of Procrastination and Neglect – How your family may suffer severe financial loss if you die or become incapacitated without a comprehensive estate plan.
- How Do I Handle A Deceased Family Member’s Facebook Account – Instructions on how to memorialize and remove a loved one’s Facebook account, who can memorialize and remove an account, and tips for copying media before removing an account.
- How Do I Transfer Real Property Into A Trust – An introduction to Arizona Beneficiary Deeds, when one is appropriate, the benefits and drawbacks to using a Beneficiary Deed, and forms provided by statute.
- How to Hire KEYTLaw to Prepare an Arizona Beneficiary Deed – Complete our online Arizona Beneficiary Deed Service Agreement, print and sign the document, and then send it to us with payment of $495 per Beneficiary Deed.
Other Considerations
- Caring for Fluffy and Fido After You’re Gone – You can make sure your pet has the best possible care with a pet trust.
- Beneficiary Designations – Do you remember filling out a form naming your beneficiary when you set up your retirement account or purchased your life insurance policy? Do you remember who you wrote down? Since life insurance and retirement accounts are often some of the largest assets people own, designating the right beneficiaries is a critical part of estate planning.
- Estate Planning When a Spouse Is Not a U.S. Citizen – Ten things everyone should know about estate planning for non-U.S. citizens.
Steps to Hire Us to Prepare Your Custom Estate Plan
- Step 1 Review the Contents of Our Estate Plan: To protect your most valuable assets—your loved ones—read about the 36 documents and services we will give you if you hire us to prepare your comprehensive estate plan with a revocable living trust or watch our video about the documents and services.
- Step 2 Book a Free Meeting: Book a free no-obligation office, phone, or Zoom video meeting with one of our estate planning lawyers to get answers to your questions and design your custom estate plan. To book a free meeting, go to the Keyt’s online calendar. During this meeting, we will answer your questions and work with you to design your custom estate plan.
- Step 3 Submit Our Online Estate Plan Questionnaire: Before your free meeting with a KEYTLaw, LLC, attorney, we’d like you to complete and submit our optional Estate Plan Questionnaire so he has time to understand your situation before the meeting. If you don’t have time to submit the questionnaire before the meeting that’s ok. We can collect the information during our meeting. Submitting the Questionnaire helps us design an estate plan that meets your goals. All information you enter will be strictly confidential. The more of the Questionnaire you complete, the better, but please don’t get stuck if there is something you aren’t sure of. If you don’t know how to answer a question, skip the question. You can always go back and fill in more of the information or make corrections later.
- Step 4 Meet with Richard Keyt or His Son Richard C. Keyt in Our Office, by Phone or a Zoom Video Meeting: During this meeting we will learn about you and your loved ones and your concerns, answer your questions and design a custom estate plan that will protect your most valuable assets – your loved ones. We will also collect the information we need to prepare your estate plan documents.
- Step 5 Come to Our Office & Sign Your Documents. During this meeting we will answer your questions, make any changes you want to make and you will then sign your documents. We will provide two witnesses and a notary. We are located at 7373 E. Doubletree Ranch Road, Suite 135, Scottsdale.
- Step 6 We Mail You a 3-Ring Binder that Contains Your Estate Plan Documents. All your documents are organized behind tabs in the binder. You will also get a thumb drive that contains digital pdf files of all of your signed documents.
Richard Keyt (Rick, the father at 480-664-7478) and his son, former CPA Richard C. Keyt (Ricky at 480-664-7472), are Arizona wills, trusts and estate planning attorneys. They have 305 5-star Google reviews and 422 5-star Google, Facebook & Birdeye reviews. They want to prepare a custom estate plan for Arizona residents that protects their most valuable assets – their loved ones. Call, email, or book a free office, phone or Zoom video meeting.
