ESTATE PLANNING QUESTIONNAIRE

FOR SINGLE ADULT

FAMILY INFORMATION

Full Name: ___________________________________________ Date of Birth ____________

Address: _____________________________________________________________________
Home Phone: ___________________________ Work Phone: ___________________________

Children’s Names Address (if different) DOB/Age

______________________ _________________________________ _________________

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FIDUCIARY INFORMATION

EXECUTORS – The executor is the person responsible for handling your probate estate at
your death. He or she sees to it that any debts or taxes your estate must pay do, in fact, get
paid, and then is responsible for distributing the remaining estate according to your Will.

Executor’s Full Name: __________________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________

You should also name at least one Alternate Executor to serve if your first choice is unable or
unwilling to serve.

Alternate Executor’s Full Name: __________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________

Second Alternate Executor’s Full Name: ___________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________

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GUARDIANS (for minor children, i.e. children who are under the age of 18) – The guardian of
the estate of a minor child is responsible for overseeing the assets of the child and reporting to
the Probate Court on the assets that come in from, or for, the child, and the assets that go out
to, or for, the minor. The guardian of the person of a minor child is responsible for the child’s
care and custody. You can name different people to serve in each capacity, or the same person
to serve in both capacities, or two people to serve together in one or both capacities. When
choosing a guardian, keep in mind a person’s (1) age, (2) location (the school district of the child
is determined by where the guardian resides), and (3) religious and educational values.

Guardian of the Estate’s Full Name: _______________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________

Guardian of the Person’s Full Name: ______________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________

You should also name at least one Alternate Guardian to serve if your first choice is unable or
unwilling to serve.

Alternate Guardian of the Estate’s Full Name: _______________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________
Alternate Guardian of the Person’s Full Name: ______________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________

TRUSTEES (beyond self, and if trust is necessary) – The trustee’s foremost responsibilities are
to manage the assets in the trust and make distributions to the beneficiaries according to the
terms of the trust.

First Successor Trustee’s Full Name: ______________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________

Second Successor Trustee’s Full Name: ___________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________

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AGENTS FOR POWERS OF ATTORNEY – “Financial” powers of attorney enable someone to
act on your behalf with respect to financial matters. “Health care” powers of attorney enable
someone to act on your behalf with respect to medical decisions in the event you are
incapacitated. If you do not have powers of attorney and become incapacitated, a guardian will
need to be appointed over you. Guardianships can be expensive and contentious, and they are
also a matter of public record. Powers of attorney can help you avoid the need for a guardian.

Agent’s Full Name: ____________________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________

You should also name at least one Alternate Agent to serve if your first choice is unable or
unwilling to serve.

First Alternate Agent’s Full Name: ________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________

Second Alternate Agent’s Full Name: ______________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________ Relation to you: ___________________________

DISTRIBUTION OF ESTATE FOR CHILDREN

Before completing this section, you may want to review the discussion that starts on page 5,
entitled “Is a Trust Right for You?”. This section assumes that you want to leave your children
with equal shares. If this is not the case, please describe your wishes in the “Additional
Information” space provided on page 6. Additionally, if you have any children with special
needs, or any other circumstance that you believe is noteworthy, please describe your child’s
medical condition or the circumstances on the next page.

(1) If any child is under 21, should child’s share, or children’s shares, be immediately distributed
once that particular child reaches the age of 21, as opposed to share or shares being
distributed with “strings attached” or in staggered distributions (example: at 25, 1/3, at 30,
1/2, and at 35, all)? _________________________________________________________

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(2) If all children are over 21, should each child’s share be distributed outright, as opposed to
distributing it with “strings attached” or in staggered distributions (example: at 25, 1/3, at 30,
1/2, and at 35, all)? _________________________________________________________

If the answer to (1) or (2) was “no,” then a trust may be necessary, in which case the following
should be answered:

Point at which funds are to be divided into separate shares for children (prior to
this point, funds can be kept in a single trust fund for all children – example,
“when youngest reaches 21”): ________________________________________

Age at which children begin to receive income: __________________________

Age(s) at which children receive outright distributions of principal, and how much
(example: at 25, 1/3, at 30, 1/2, and at 35, all): ___________________________
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

If there is any additional information you wish to provide, please feel free to do so in the space
provided, or on an additional sheet of paper.
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IS A TRUST RIGHT FOR YOU?

When it comes to distributing your assets to your children, the three general options are (1)
leaving a child’s inheritance to them “outright,” (2) placing an inheritance into a Uniform
Transfers to Minors Act account, or (3) leaving an inheritance to your children “in trust.”

1. “OUTRIGHT” – Unless you have a trust in place or specify that an inheritance left to a
minor should pass to an UTMA, a minor child will need a guardian of his or her estate
appointed to administer the money. This opens the door for the expense and publicity
associated with guardianship proceedings and results in a child’s inheritance eventually
being received by the child at the age of 18, as discussed below, and is typically the
least popular option.

2. UNIFORM TRANSFERS TO MINORS ACT (“UTMA”) ACCOUNT – An UTMA account

can be created for any minor by any person, either while living or at death. The
accounts are held until the child reaches a certain age. In Ohio, like most states, that
age is 21. As discussed below, a custodian of a child’s UTMA account manages the
money without court supervision until the child reaches the age of 21, at which point the
child receives all that remains in the account.

3. TRUST – The third and final option is to leave a child’s inheritance in trust. Trusts offer
much more flexibility than either one of the first two options, as discussed below.

The following chart summarizes the basic possibilities and issues relating to distributions to
minors. These possibilities and the differences offered by each option are discussed in greater
detail on the next page.

Basic Will UTMA Account Trust

Single Share for
Children No No Yes
Outright Distributions all at 18 all at 21 whenever, if ever
Provides Flexibility No No Yes
Avoids Guardianship
Proceedings No Yes Yes
Creditor Protection
(yours) Potentially Potentially Potentially
Creditor Protection
(theirs) No No Yes

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Single share for children: With either a basic Will or a Will that creates UTMA accounts for
minor children, assets must be divided into separate shares for each child. With a trust, assets
can be held in a common fund for your children, and divided once the youngest reaches a
certain age. The simplest way to think about how this benefit might work is to think in terms of
your current finances. You take care of your children from a single share, rather than setting
aside, for example, equal one-third shares for each of your children’s expenses each month, so
you might want a trustee to have the same flexibility to care for your children from a common
fund.

Outright distributions: How comfortable are you with your children receiving your entire net
worth (including the payout on any life insurance policy) at 18 or 21? Unfortunately, a significant
percentage of children who receive large inheritances upon turning 18 or 21 squander their
inheritance relatively quickly, or see their inheritances as an excuse not to work hard. An
inheritance that is kept in trust can be distributed in staggered distributions over a number of
years to guard against these dangers. As an example, many parents will distribute one-third of
the principal of the share at 25, one-half of the remaining principal at 30, and all of the principal
at 35. Many parents will also keep their children’s shares in trust for their children’s lifetimes to
give the children creditor and divorce protection and to allow what is set aside for their children
to pass to grandchildren without being included in the children’s estates.

Flexibility: Somewhat related to the above points is that issue of flexibility. You may want to
make sure your parents are provided for without leaving them an outright distribution. You may
want to make sure an inheritance to a special needs child won’t prevent him or her from
qualifying for Medicaid assistance. Or, for whatever reason, you may want to make earlier, or
later, distributions for one child as compared to your other children. By and large, in instances
where your typical “divide evenly and distribute outright” structure is not the desirable disposition
of your assets, a trust is the only vehicle that enables you to carry out your goals.

Guardianship Proceedings: While having a Will lets you appoint a guardian of the estate,
nothing you can put in your Will allows your guardian to get around the requirement that he or
she file annual reports with the Court that detail all of the assets that come into the guardian’s
hands and all of the distributions that the guardian makes. This process can be time-
consuming, and the reports become a matter of public record. Meanwhile, if your Will sets up
UTMA accounts for minor children, or if you have a trust in place, a guardianship of a child’s
estate can be avoided.

Creditor Protection (Yours): If you pass assets outside of probate, your unsecured creditors
cannot reach those assets. As an example, suppose you have a $500,000 term life insurance
policy and $100,000 in student loan debt. If you have designated a beneficiary for that policy,

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the $500,000 death benefit will pass to the beneficiary outside of probate, and nobody will have
to pay the $100,000 in student loan debt. Ohio is in the minority of states that allow for this to
happen, as most states will allow an unsecured creditor to reach assets that do not pass
through probate. Nevertheless, in Ohio, if you do not have a beneficiary designated, the
$500,000 benefit will pass through probate, the $100,000 in student loan debt will need to be
paid, and only $400,000 will pass to your beneficiaries.

Creditor Protection (Theirs): If your children run into creditor issues at any point in their lives,
an outright distribution of assets at your death will cause those assets to be reachable by your
children’s creditors. However, if you leave your children assets in trust and the trust has
“spendthrift” language, which basically prevents the child from receiving a distribution from the
trust if that distribution is going to be used to satisfy a creditor’s claims, then the trust assets can
be preserved until the child’s creditor issues are resolved.