Idaho Estate Planning for Landowners

The purpose of estate planning is to give you an opportunity to have an orderly way to distribute your property, money, and assets to those you love. Often, people use their estate planning, including their last will and testament as a way of distributing land to family members or other loved ones. Regardless of whether you are concerned about your home, or real estate that is located in other states, or a family farm, ranch or other business that owns land, we have the skill, ability, and expertise to help you.

Our premier Idaho estate planning team has assisted clients for over 70 years in creating customized Idaho estate plans that deal specifically with land ownership. We have created countless estate plans that have dealt with various kinds of land ownership. The goal of each of these plans is to create and make the distributions that the client specifically wants to accomplish after they pass away. Consisting of partners Randy Budge and Lane Erickson and attorneys Nate Palmer and Dave Bagley, our team of Idaho estate planning lawyers can help you define what your plan is so that it will be specifically followed by your family and loved ones.

Our goal is to carry out your wishes and goals. If you are a homeowner, if you own land in several different states, or if you are a farmer, ranch owner, or have some other business that owns or deals with real estate, we are confident that we can help you too. Each of these types of land ownership and the ways that we can help are listed below.

The first type of land ownership that we often assist our clients with is owning a home, because this is the most common type of land ownership that exists with our clients. If you own a home, you may have concerns about any mortgages that exist, as well as which of your family members or other loved ones may become the owners of that property. Additionally, you may have concerns about your own needs later in your life, including the need for Medicaid assistance if it becomes necessary for you to live in an assisted living center.

We have helped numerous clients discuss the current circumstances of their home as well as their future plans for that land. Oftentimes a written last will and testament is adequate for a client to plan on transferring ownership of the home to their family members or other loved ones after they die. However, sometimes clients may need a written trust in order to protect their home ownership and assure that it will be available to pass to their family members and loved ones. We have both the skill and the experience necessary to assist our clients with these plans.

When it comes to owning land in more than one state things can become a little more complicated. Regardless of whether these properties include vacation homes, investment properties, or other land ownership in other states, we have the skill and experience necessary to help. In this instance, we discuss with our clients what their overall goals are in owning these properties while they are alive as well as what their plan would be for distributing these properties to others after they pass away. By learning what our clients’ needs and desires are, both during their lives and after they die, we can provide options for them in how their land that is owned another States can be protected through their estate planning.

Most often, when we are working with a client who owns land in multiple States, we find that one of the best estate planning tools to utilize is that of a living trust. By using a living trust, we are able to protect the land while our clients are alive as well as provide a plan for distribution through the trust that can avoid multiple probates from being filed. Through this powerful estate planning tool, we can often save our clients and their family and loved ones money as well as a time.

Other estate planning tools could also be utilized. These may include creating ownership deeds with a right of survivorship, or placing these out of state properties into a business entity such as an LLC. The point is, there are several options available to individuals who own properties in several states that can save them time and money and help avoid other problems that could arise.

The ownership of a family farm, ranch operation or some other business land ownership in Idaho or in multiple states creates numerous opportunities and other potential problems that need to be dealt with as well. Often, parents who have these types of land ownership may have some children working with them in the family business. A distribution of the family business, including the land involved with the business, makes sense to those who have participated in the business’s operation, especially when the goal is to continue the family business on into the future after you pass away. However, often there are other children or family members who are not actively participating in the business that parents also want to provide for through their estate planning. Through the use of entities such as LLCs or other entity options, by including life insurance to provide cash when you pass, and utilizing other estate planning tools, we can assist our clients in coming up with a plan that will allow the family business to continue while at the same time providing for family members who did not actively participate in the business.

These things could become even more complicated if we are talking about mixed families through second or third marriages. However, our Idaho estate planning team of lawyers are experienced in dealing with these situations and can provide simplified solutions to assist you and your family. We have assisted numerous clients with these types of estate plans and we are confident that we can help you too!

Our experienced Estate Planning team of attorneys can help you and your family with your Idaho estate plan or with your probate needs. Whether you are seeking your own customized Estate Plan or need a Probate for a loved one who has passed, we are available to discuss your options and answer your questions at an initial consultation. Call us toll free at 877.232.6101 or 208.232.6101 for a consultation with the Racine Olson team. You can also email us directly at racine@racinelaw.net. We will answer your questions and will help you solve your Idaho Estate Planning and Probate problems.