For years, I have been counselling clients as to who should have a revocable trust without ever thinking of a serious trap for the unwary. But as can happen, even after many decades of practice, you encounter clients whose circumstances make you rethink what you thought you knew and re-evaluate the sufficiency of your checklists.
Like many practitioners, I recommend revocable trusts to clients for a variety of reasons: probate avoidance, continuity of care for loved ones, and incapacity planning. One of the most obvious candidates for a revocable trust is the client who has real estate in another state. One of the reasons to create a revocable trust is to avoid probate which is generally required if the decedent owned real estate. So, it is a no-brainer to create a revocable trust if the client has real estate in another state. Even if you don’t mind having an estate probated in your home state, there is no reason to probate in two states. I suspect that many, if not most, practitioners would recommend a revocable trust to clients with this particular set of circumstances without a second thought.
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Doyle D. Sanders is an attorney and shareholder with Bradshaw, Fowler, Proctor & Fairgrave, P.C., with offices in downtown Des Moines and an office in Johnston since 1985. He is licensed to practice law in the state of Iowa. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and practices primarily in wills, trusts, estate planning and probate law. He has been selected for inclusion in Iowa Super Lawyers and Great Plains Super Lawyers.
Mr. Sanders is a native of Vinton, Iowa, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, his Masters of Business Administration, and his Doctor of Jurisprudence with Honors from Drake University.
He is a member and former chair of the Iowa State Bar Association Probate Section; and as a member of the legislative committee, he has drafted numerous legislative changes to the Iowa probate and trust codes.
He was elected to the American College of Trust Estate Counsel in 2004 and serves on the ACTEC Employee Benefits Committee and the Elder Law Committee. He is a member of the ABA Probate and Trust Law Section and the Mid-Iowa Estate and Financial Planners Club.
His interest in charitable giving and how it can be implemented in estate planning led him to assist in the founding of the Mid-Iowa Planned Giving Council, the Johnston School Community Foundation, the Valley UMC Foundation, and the Service Above Self Foundation of the Rotary Club of Northwest Des Moines and others. He has served as his Rotary Club’s Foundation chair for many years and is chair of the Rotary District 6000 Endowment Committee.
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