Lawyer recommendation for fairly simple living domestic trust?
June 17, 2024 9:02 PM Subscribe
I am an American married to a Chinese national. We live abroad, she has no TIN, and in the case that I die, I want to set things up so that it will be as easy for her as possible. Looking for a lawyer to help me do so. Any recommendations?
I know I could probably do this via legal zoom or something, but given the added complexity of a Chinese national etc etc, I figure that as long as it isn't too expensive (say <1k USD, but ideally in the 500-600USD region?), it'd be Adult of me to make sure that if I die, she can easily get access to my assets.
So I'm looking for recommendations for lawyers that deal with these sorts of things, are competent but ideally not suuuper expensive. People often say "just look at the bar website" but...I much prefer an actually recommendation, ideally from someone who knows them, has used them etc.
I'm not super rich or anything, but I do have various retirement accounts, bank accounts, etc and I know it would not be easier for her to navigate, especially given she wouldn't have a tax id number etc.
A friend who knows about these things recommended the living domestic trust, which I think could then be a beneficiary of the retirement accounts etc...but I actually don't know, so am also open to advice on how to best "pave the way" for her in case I were to die. I realize it will likely be annoying either way, but I want it to be at least as manageable and organized as possible, as opposed to her having to individually go wave my death certificate at 8 different financial institutions, each of which will be difficult because she doesn't have a tax number.
(note that I'm in good health etc, but we've been married for a while now and she is financially dependent on me and I think it'd just be The Right Thing To Do)
If it matters: I'm an American citizen, currently a resident of Japan, my wife is a Chinese citizen, also currently a resident of Japan. My address in America is in Texas.
Oh, and we have no children.
I know I could probably do this via legal zoom or something, but given the added complexity of a Chinese national etc etc, I figure that as long as it isn't too expensive (say <1k USD, but ideally in the 500-600USD region?), it'd be Adult of me to make sure that if I die, she can easily get access to my assets.
So I'm looking for recommendations for lawyers that deal with these sorts of things, are competent but ideally not suuuper expensive. People often say "just look at the bar website" but...I much prefer an actually recommendation, ideally from someone who knows them, has used them etc.
I'm not super rich or anything, but I do have various retirement accounts, bank accounts, etc and I know it would not be easier for her to navigate, especially given she wouldn't have a tax id number etc.
A friend who knows about these things recommended the living domestic trust, which I think could then be a beneficiary of the retirement accounts etc...but I actually don't know, so am also open to advice on how to best "pave the way" for her in case I were to die. I realize it will likely be annoying either way, but I want it to be at least as manageable and organized as possible, as opposed to her having to individually go wave my death certificate at 8 different financial institutions, each of which will be difficult because she doesn't have a tax number.
(note that I'm in good health etc, but we've been married for a while now and she is financially dependent on me and I think it'd just be The Right Thing To Do)
If it matters: I'm an American citizen, currently a resident of Japan, my wife is a Chinese citizen, also currently a resident of Japan. My address in America is in Texas.
Oh, and we have no children.
Response by poster: Ok, I'm happy to update my budget accordingly. I encourage others to recommend lawyers they think are good, even if it will be larger than the budget in the OP.
posted by wooh at 10:31 PM on June 17
posted by wooh at 10:31 PM on June 17
apologies, not a direct answer: the bogleheads.org forum is another online community (focused around low cost investing in passively managed index funds) where you may get good advice if you sign up and ask this question.
e.g. a google query for living domestic trust international site:www.bogleheads.org finds this thread from 2015 which isn't exactly the same as your situation, but seems sort of close.
posted by are-coral-made at 1:56 AM on June 18
e.g. a google query for living domestic trust international site:www.bogleheads.org finds this thread from 2015 which isn't exactly the same as your situation, but seems sort of close.
posted by are-coral-made at 1:56 AM on June 18
This does seem like a problem that a trust would solve. All of the accounts get registered to the trust. You are the trustee and control all the money in life. When you die, the trust still owns the accounts. The trust then distributes the money to your spouse. You need a successor trustee (a trusted person or a lawyer) to do the distributions when you are gone. Perhaps your spouse could be the successor trustee, but I am not sure if it would be easier to have a US person in that role. Find a good trusts and estates lawyer local to some jurisdiction that makes sense to you (eg, you have assets or connections there.). I have someone in IL that is good and charges around 5k (for budget comparisons) but I am not sure IL makes sense for you. You can do it all on Zoom in any event.
posted by Mid at 6:38 AM on June 18
posted by Mid at 6:38 AM on June 18
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Your budget seems low. I had a trust done in Washington state in the mid 2000s and it cost me something like $1000-1500 at that time.
posted by shock muppet at 10:08 PM on June 17 [1 favorite]