Bogleheads.org

I would approach this with the same philosophy I had when seeking childcare decades ago. I'd want as many impartial "eyes" on care as possible, and not rely on the integrity and skills of a single person. It's true that one can get lucky and find an outstanding person to fill an important guardian/fiduciary role, but the consequences of having bad luck are too catastrophic to justify the risk. For child care we chose a large national daycare chain with corporate rules of conduct and near zero tolerance for mistakes by workers. We and other parents were always ready to report a concern, even if it didn't directly affect our child. A reasonable quality continuing care facility will benefit from similar group oversight. Some resident...

As a tax preparer, I am interested in what "good" means to others: 1. Is it low price? 2. Is it fast turnaround? 3. Is it accuracy (how does one know if its accurate)? 4. Is it a preparer who takes aggressive tax positions? What qualities define good? I’m also searching for a new tax preparer because the one I have now is “not good” for the following reasons: 1) She “overlooked” the 1099-r for taxable distribution from an inherited IRA 2) She “missed” the $12,000 of estimated tax paid for a Roth rollover 4) She inexplicably reported capital gains from U.S. index funds as foreign income All the documents are uploaded as PDF files so it’s not like they were misplaced. I now have to spend the weekend fact-checking the return because...

Doctor Rhythm wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 4:56 pm I don’t think so. You will get a 1099-R and need to report that.

I file an 8606 because I have made non-deductible contributions to a traditional IRA in the past. I don’t report the DCP (401a) to Roth rollovers on it.

Thank you! One less question for the tax preparer…

UC allows after-tax contributions to the Defined Contribution Plan, followed by rollover to a Roth IRA (mega backdoor Roth).

Does the DC Plan qualify as a "deemed IRA" and require filing of form 8606? My tax preparer has just been entering the rollover amount on line 5a with the word "rollover" under it.

It's great that you came here for information because the penalty for filing the required form late is 25% of the inheritance, with little hope of appeal.

Here is the required form: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f3520.pdf

Here is an article on the harsh consequences of late filing of the form: https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxnotes/2 ... 4e61676fa6

And here is a recent thread on the topic: viewtopic.php?t=392849

We are in the process of doing 403B to Roth conversions with the intent of naming the trust the beneficiary of the Roth IRAs. Our income will be higher in retirement, due to pensions and Social Security income, even if tax rates stay the same. Roth conversions will save money in the long run.

The trust should be able to receive the distributions from the Roth accounts without incurring tax, but is the tax-free characterization preserved when a distribution is made to our beneficiary, or it is counted as regular income?

I have the same feeling, though I am close to retirement now. All of my early planning and saving means that I will not spend it all in my lifetime, so I have focused my research on estate planning. It turns out that strategies for accumulation of wealth are simple compared to the strategies for the distribution of wealth. Even though I won’t be around when the estate is transferred to the next generation, I have enjoyed learning about different types of trusts and the tax consequences of each.

This calculator allows you to input detailed retirement income information and runs simulations. It’s free too:
https://www.honestmath.com/

If you are setting up a living trust, how would you handle things like tax deferred accounts. If you name the name the heir as a beneficiary, they will have 10 years to withdraw the funds. If you name a trust as a beneficary, you would only have 5 years. If you have young kids though, naming them as a beneficiary means they will get the funds at 18. If you want to hold the funds in a trust for them until they are 30, then they need to go into a trust. This might result in a lot of taxes since they would be taxed at the trust rate? I was wondering what options I have. What about Roth IRA and 401K. Inherited Roth ira for example have RMD, but the RMD is not taxed. If a trust was name as the beneficary, would they also be tax free withdraw wi...

The National Association of Estate Planners and Councils has a search tool to look for local Estate Planning Councils, some of which provide directories of attorneys who are members: https://www.naepc.org/membership/find_council I originally posted a link to the NAEPC website which provides a link to accredited estate planners, but the link did not turn up names of attorneys whom I know are members, so something is wrong with the search information. However, many highly qualified estate planning attorneys are not members of the council and won’t show up using that tool. If you have investments at Fidelity you can visit their estate planning link and find a list of attorneys in you area. Many will offer a complementary initial phone call to ...

bsteiner wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 8:54 pm

Ranunculus wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 11:32 am I have had several foreign inheritances wired to my account at a US bank and never had to report anything. ...

Form 3520: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f3520.pdf?

Thank you, I did not know about this form. Our previous (retired) tax preparer had said the inheritance was not taxable and did not need to be reported. It was over $100,000 though, so clearly we should have filed form 3520 with the return. It's only been a few years so I'll ask our current tax preparer how we should proceed, the fines for non-compliance are hefty.

I have had several foreign inheritances wired to my account at a US bank and never had to report anything. The estates were settled abroad so I don't know anything about the foreign tax consequences. I had to open an account at Bank of America to have the funds transferred since my local credit union was unable to process foreign currency wires. I kept careful records of the inheritance details in the event of an audit but nothing ever happened.

Helpful replies, thank you. It gives me a starting point in discussions for amending the current document. The biggest problem in choosing a corporate trustee is that we won’t be able to evaluate their services when they are needed most. Online reviews of corporate trustees seem to disproportionately reflect unhappy beneficiaries who have been denied access to funds. If the real estate is sold it may eventually be preferable to designate Vanguard, Fidelity or Schwab as trustee, though I don’t know whether the brokerages will administer a spendthrift trust.

The other thread on trusts has me considering this question again. We have a "spendthrift trust" in place for our sole beneficiary, with a corporate trustee designated as executor and trust administrator. Although our beneficiary (late 20's) is quite intelligent and holds a good well-paying job, she is not financially savvy and may be vulnerable to predatory individuals. The size of the estate is mid-seven figures. One thing we neglected to do in setting up the trust is include a provision that allows her to change trustees if she is unsatisfied with the service she receives from the designated corporate trustee. How should this be worded? Should we provide a list of alternate corporate trustees and limit the number of changes tha...

People seldom mention estate planning in Roth conversion threads. A Roth has significant advantages over taxable retirement accounts if you plan to set up a trust that does not distribute all RMD from the inherited accounts to beneficiaries each year. Trust income is taxed at 37% after only about $13,000. If the trust receives distributions from a Roth IRA, no tax will be due on those distributions. Similarly, if you name beneficiaries to inherit the account directly they will not owe tax on the distributions taken over 10 years. In contrast, a sizeable taxable inherited account can have a dramatic effect on a beneficiary's tax situation. Unless you plan to spend all of your savings in your lifetime you should consider the future tax conseq...

A large unexpected inheritance can be both a nice surprise and a huge disruption to someone else’s estate plan. For example, if any of the nieces and nephews have been named as beneficiaries of a spendthrift trust for their own protection a large windfall could undermine the planning done by their parents. You may want to discuss your plan in general terms with the parents of your beneficiaries to find out how you should leave the funds in trust for them.

This thread has some suggestions for finding rich people attorneys (RPA) https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=330397 If you have an account at Fidelity you can log in and use their attorney finder tool. They have an option to screen for firms that focus on high net worth individuals. It’s pretty easy to pick out the RPAs from a line-up. They frequently are licensed to practice in both NY and FL, where the rich people are concentrated. They often state unequivocally on their websites that they work with rich people, hoi polloi need not apply. That doesn’t guarantee that they are creative and well-informed though. It’s helpful to have a list of arcane tax-related questions that you know the answer to so you can test their knowledg...

...Our approach has been to make Roth conversions every year and leave our beneficiary named on the taxable retirement accounts. Most of our assets will go into a spendthrift trust with a corporate trustee, but what’s left in the retirement accounts will go directly to our beneficiary, paid out over 10 years... Ranunculus - Could you explain what you mean by making "Roth conversions every year"? I thought that, generally, converting from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA was a one time event? To the contrary, most people try to spread out the Roth conversions to avoid a huge tax hit in any particular year. You need to sit down with your previous tax returns to determine how much you would like to convert each year, taking into acco...

....... Since you're in California, you would probably have a revocable trust. ......... California taxes trusts based on the location of the trustees. If it's feasible, you may want to consider having trustees outside California (but not in states that tax trusts based on the location of the trustees). ......... If the trust is established in California (where my wife & I currently live), and I select a trustee outside of California as co-trustee (like Vanguard, Fidelity, or Schwab), is trust income not taxed by California after our death? (assuming beneficiaries do not live in California). Or does the trust location (situs?) need to move out of California? Can a Calif attorney include that direction that the trust location must move ...

Based on my research several years ago, trust companies and bank trust departments that offer the administration of special needs trusts are more likely to offer fiduciary services. It makes sense, the beneficiary of a special needs trust will require more personal oversight by the trust department than someone who is merely receiving a cash distribution each year. A solo senior in need of memory care is essentially a special needs client, so the same criteria should apply in selecting a corporate trustee.

I just wanted to double check, the only issue with naming the trust as a beneficiary of a 401K or Traditional IRA is the tax burdens pursuant to the Secure Act? No other issues? thanks The trustee can distribute it out, so it’s not exactly a guarantee the retirement distributions will be taxed at trusts brackets. But wouldn't a trust that specifies distributions based on "Health, Education, Maintenance, Support" need to be amended to include the ability to distribute the RMDs in order to avoid taxation? It puts the trustee in a complex situation, making the decision to increase distributions in excess of HEMS and risking that the beneficiary loses/squanders the funds and blames the trustee. I suspect a corporate trustee might pre...

This is a good summary of the main drawback to naming a trust as beneficiary of retirement accounts, and a good estate planning attorney should bring this up and discuss the options. Our approach has been to make Roth conversions every year and leave our beneficiary named on the taxable retirement accounts. Most of our assets will go into a spendthrift trust with a corporate trustee, but what’s left in the retirement accounts will go directly to our beneficiary, paid out over 10 years. Are you suggesting that even the Roth assets will be paid directly to the (spendthrift) beneficiary and NOT to the spendthrift trust? Wouldn't you rather have those protected as well? IIRC, the spendthrift trust could be treated as a non-individual recipient...

I am not an accountant, tax attorney, or tax expert. You don't mention if you are taking about a Traditional 401k/IRA (i.e. pre-tax) or a Roth 401k/IRA (i.e. tax free). If you are talking about a Traditional 401k/IRA, you may want to look into the tax implications of naming a trust as beneficiary. Under the Secure Act, a trust must take required minimum distributions or RMD's from an inherited 401k/IRA over a very short period of time (I believe 5 or 10 years depending upon the circumstances). If those RMD's are meant to accumulate in the trust (as opposed to being paid out to the beneficiary), then they would be subject to the Trust Tax rates which are extremely high (https://smartasset.com/taxes/trust-tax-rates). Above only around $13K o...

Does anyone have any experience with retaining a lawyer for estate planning and setting up a living trust? How is the best way to find a good lawyer at a reasonable price? I googled around and find so many choices its overwhelming. If you have an account with Fidelity, you can log in and find a directory of estate planning attorneys through their "attorney finder" link. You will still need to interview the attorneys and determine whether they are appropriate for your needs, but it is a good starting point (https://www.fidelity.com/go/fidelity-estate-planner?ccsource=vn_estateplanner) Most regions also have an Estate Planning Council chapter. Search Estate Planning Council of [your city or county or state]. Some councils list a di...

... The Attorney Finder feature requires a log in to Fidelity. ... Thanks. I found it. It was better than I expected. Among the ones I know or know of, there was a range from excellent (including lawyers I've referred matters to) to good to a few that I would stay away from. That’s encouraging, I guess the Fidelity list is a reasonable source to begin a search for a new attorney. I’m not sure it is. Some people might be able to figure out which are excellent, which are good, which should be avoided, and which are in between, and which category they should focus on. But other people may be overwhelmed by the large number of names. When I go to the Fidelity website below (and login), https://myguidance.fidelity.com/ftgw/pna/customer/olep/#/t...

WoodSpinner wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 4:10 pm

Ranunculus wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 1:36 pm Minor children would be considered "eligible designated beneficiaries" so they are eligible for an exception to the 10 year rule and would qualify for stretched distributions over their lifetimes. If the distributions were made to their trusts it would be important that the trust is worded correctly. Here is a good explanation of the options: https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/wea ... to-a-trust

I believe the bolded section is incorrect. My understanding is that They can stretch until the age of majority and then have 10 years to empty the account.

Not sure what the impact of a trust is on their ability to stretch….

WoodSpinner

Yes, apologies, I edited the post.

Do you know if this advice applies to a trust for minor children in the event of both parents death? We were advised to list the spouse as primary beneficiary and the children's trust as contingent. When and if we trust adult kid(s) to use the money wisely then the beneficiary would change to the kid(s) directly. Does that sound right? Our goal was leave as much flexibility to the trustee as possible/reasonable and leaving retirement accounts directly to minors might force the money into a UT(G?)MA account. Minor children would be considered "eligible designated beneficiaries" so they are eligible for an exception to the 10 year rule and would qualify for stretched distributions over their lifetimes. If the distributions were mad...

You pose excellent questions and the advisor and attorney who stand to profit from you as a client should be able to provide logical, intelligent answers. The fact that you are here asking your questions is the same reason I ended up here asking questions; attorneys who do not provide good advice. Naming a trust as beneficiary of retirement accounts is fraught with potential pitfalls. First, the trust must be written in a specific way so that inherited retirement accounts are not required to be liquidated within 5 years. The trust is commonly referred to as "see through trust", meaning that the beneficiaries are clearly identified as individuals (https://www.irahelp.com/slottreport/%E2%80%9Csee-through%E2%80%9D-trusts-%E2%80%93-w...

You pose excellent questions and the advisor and attorney who stand to profit from you as a client should be able to provide logical, intelligent answers. The fact that you are here asking your questions is the same reason I ended up here asking questions; attorneys who do not provide good advice. Naming a trust as beneficiary of retirement accounts is fraught with potential pitfalls. First, the trust must be written in a specific way so that inherited retirement accounts are not required to be liquidated within 5 years. The trust is commonly referred to as "see through trust", meaning that the beneficiaries are clearly identified as individuals (https://www.irahelp.com/slottreport/%E2%80%9Csee-through%E2%80%9D-trusts-%E2%80%93-wh...

Hoping that knowledgeable folks will confirm my understanding (or lack thereof) of the taxation of retirement benefits left to individuals in trust. Using the following example: John died in 2021 and left his pretax IRA to Trust for Mary. (Please ignore any potential RMD or trustee authority issues.) In the year 2022: Inherited IRA had investment gains of $350k $150k was distributed from the IRA to Trust for Mary. $100k was distributed from Trust for Mary to Mary’s personal account. The balance on 12/31/2022 in the IRA was therefore $200k higher than on 1/1/2022 Are the following correct: 1) Trust for Mary is responsible for tax on $50k (i.e. the IRA distribution of $150 minus $100k passed through to Mary). This will be at trust tax rates....

bsteiner wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 8:53 am

Ranunculus wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 7:41 pm ...
The Attorney Finder feature requires a log in to Fidelity. ...

Thanks. I found it. It was better than I expected. Among the ones I know or know of, there was a range from excellent (including lawyers I've referred matters to) to good to a few that I would stay away from.

That’s encouraging, I guess the Fidelity list is a reasonable source to begin a search for a new attorney.

... I have not found a new attorney yet and am still researching names. I used the Fidelity Estate Planning tool to access their list of attorney referrals. ... I don't know if these attorneys have a track record with Fidelity clients, or if they just paid to be listed on the Fidelity site. ... One question I plan to ask is how we should leave $2MM+ in pretax retirement accounts to our beneficiary, who is named as sole beneficiary of a trust with spendthrift provisions. The suggestion "name the trust as beneficiary" is wrong because the SECURE Act will require that our inherited retirement accounts be liquidated over a 10 year period, and new guidance from the IRS says that distributions will need to be made each year of year 1-1...

I am also in CA and have, unfortunately, only encountered attorneys willing to do "basic" estate plans. It wasn't until I found this forum and read the many excellent contributions from the sharp attorneys who donate their time here that I realized how inadequate our trust is. My impression is that the trust we have is a boilerplate document with very minor modifications inserted to customize it to our circumstance. For the main purposes of a trust it satisfies the necessary requirements but it does not provide us with a complete estate plan. We still have substantial sums in retirement accounts that are not protected by the trust. Our attorney told us to just name our trust as beneficiary of the retirement accounts, but this can...

Your friend should definitely visit an estate planning attorney if she is concerned that either daughter or the grandchildren will not manage their inheritance well. Others will likely weigh in on the best type of trust she should consider. From a personal perspective, I hope she will choose a strategy that treats both daughters equally rather than single out the newly married daughter for more stringent access to her inheritance. Life is unpredictable and the "stable" daughter could easily become just as risky as the newly married daughter. A $1.5MM estate does not provide excessive cushion for retirement years, unless she has significant sources of guaranteed income (pension, social security etc.). She may well end up spending d...

I have a science PhD and have worked in academia for decades. In addition to being passionate about the research, an important factor to long term career success is the connections you make with other scientists.The best way to make connections is to work in different institutions for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral research. Research is increasingly translational, meaning a collaboration between molecular biologists, chemists, statisticians and bioinformatics (data crunching). Technological advances have made basic research very expensive and dependent on extremely expensive equipment, so focusing on well funded large schools is a good strategy. Postdoctoral research is far more important as a bridge to a permanent position than g...

... my Dad had a pour over will. But it was still a court process (handled by my attorney) to get those "non beneficiary" accounts to forward to me as the executor. Good point. Many times when someone has a revocable trust, his/her Will has to be probated anyway for one reason or another. Pay close attention to the advice your attorney provides regarding retirement assets (IRAs, 401K etc). Our attorney suggested we designate the trust as beneficiary of these accounts, which would have added unnecessary administrative costs and a potentially high tax burden to our single beneficiary estate. I don’t know if it’s laziness, ignorance of the SECURE act or something else, but suggesting the trust as beneficiary of retirement assets is ...

Pay close attention to the advice your attorney provides regarding retirement assets (IRAs, 401K etc). Our attorney suggested we designate the trust as beneficiary of these accounts, which would have added unnecessary administrative costs and a potentially high tax burden to our single beneficiary estate. I don’t know if it’s laziness, ignorance of the SECURE act or something else, but suggesting the trust as beneficiary of retirement assets is a common mistake. For our next trust update I will ask prospective attorneys how they recommend handling retirement assets. The answer to that question alone will help narrow the choices.

Wouldn't distributions from an IRA to a trust be considered income to the trust? If so, any amount over $13,000 that is not distributed to beneficiaries in the year it is deposited in the trust would be taxed at a rate of 37%. If the trust does distribute the full amount to beneficiaries each year then there is no reason to have it in trust in the first place. Unless your IRA is small, or beneficiaries are wildly irresponsible spendthrifts, it would seem the better strategy is to name them as beneficiaries of the IRA and skip the trust.

I don't have specific recommendations, but a good way to find estate professionals in any region is to search the membership of the local Estate Planning Council. The New Hampshire council has a searchable membership (some councils don't), though they don't have a category for fiduciaries. A good start may be to contact trust officers and ask whether they do this type of work, or whether they can recommend someone who does. Look for people with CTFA credentials (certified trust and fiduciary advisor).

Here is the link to the New Hampshire organization: https://www.nhepc.org/members/directory ... 8/%20/%20/

I‘m glad this topic resonated with people. About ten years ago the NYT had a great detailed piece about the challenges faced by this industry segment: mostly, tech and changing demographics. As a single person (a huge market btw- single, divorced, widowed men and women), it’s surprising to me how many different trust and planning needs we have from married folks without anyone catering to this segment. Another big gap in successor trustee discussions is the role of the successor trustee during the time between the trustee's mental incapacity and death. Everyone's focus is on the fate of their estate upon death, but many people will face years of living existence when someone else will be in charge of their finances and decisions on their b...

Once my spouse and I reach 72 we will be earning considerably more than we are now with pensions, SS and RMD combined. Even if one of us dies early the other will have enough to live comfortably on SS and pension survivor benefits.

Our plan is to convert as much to Roth IRAs as possible in the years before RMD and reduce risk as much as possible in portfolios. Stocks are currently 25% and we will probably reduce further. Large chunk is in cash and real estate and we are adding to a municipal bond ladder. We don't see any point in taking on unnecessary risk at this point.

Thank you for providing the answers to the questions you posted.

I also wanted to point out that if the bonds were issued in October 2001 the current composite rate is 6.59%. You can look up historic fixed rates and variable rates on the table provided here: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/re ... dterms.htm

The fixed rate has been negligible since 2008, so those are great bonds to be holding now that the variable rates are higher. Something I hadn't realized when I started purchasing I-bonds in 2000 is that the variable rate can be negative, which reduces the "fixed" return you receive. This has only happened once in recent history, in 2015.

Some of the side comments in the article were new to me, such as this one: Through the end of 2021, beneficiaries who inherit a retirement plan sponsored either by a governmental entity (e.g., the Thrift Savings Plan, a governmental 457(b) plan, a governmental 403(b) plan), or pursuant to a collectively bargained agreement (e.g., a plan maintained by a union) are not yet impacted by the SECURE Act’s changes to the post-debt distribution rules. I had never seen that detail mentioned in discussions on the SECURE Act. I'm going to copy it and place it with trust documents in case something happens to us this year, all of our tax deferred accounts are affected. 457 accounts are not mentioned in 26 USC 408 (except in passing and are not an indi...

I've been frugal all my life and married a frugal spouse. I made a decision early on that I would splurge on certain things including travel, quality shoes and hotels. I just can't stand Motel 6 and I like to sleep well on vacation. Now I have great memories, healthy feet, and never had bed bugs. Retirement should be good.

Some of the side comments in the article were new to me, such as this one: Through the end of 2021, beneficiaries who inherit a retirement plan sponsored either by a governmental entity (e.g., the Thrift Savings Plan, a governmental 457(b) plan, a governmental 403(b) plan), or pursuant to a collectively bargained agreement (e.g., a plan maintained by a union) are not yet impacted by the SECURE Act’s changes to the post-debt distribution rules. I had never seen that detail mentioned in discussions on the SECURE Act. I'm going to copy it and place it with trust documents in case something happens to us this year, all of our tax deferred accounts are affected. I'm trying to keep estate planning as simple as possible but had a nagging feeling t...

Some good discussions have appeared in the forum on the use of CRTs to extend the stretch of payouts to beneficiaries beyond 10 years. This article appeared a few weeks ago and is a great source of detailed information. https://www.kitces.com/blog/charitable-remainder-unitrust-crut-secure-act-stretch-ira-lifetime-distribution-beneficiaries-crt-10-year-rule-tax-deferral/ Ultimately, it’s not a stretch (Ha! Get it?) to say that it takes a near-perfect storm for an individual to find themselves in a situation where naming a CRUT as the beneficiary of their retirement account will be better off for their beneficiaries from a wealth-transfer perspective than simply accepting the reality of the 10-Year Rule as a Non-Eligible Designated Beneficiar...

In my experience it's all about the lawyer, not the firm. Similar to a medical practice where one doctor can be insightful and analytical while another is treating each patient in assembly line fashion. You start with a generic document then customize it based on your needs and preferences. A good attorney will listen carefully to you and make appropriate recommendations, asking questions along the way. A less helpful attorney will stick as closely to the boilerplate as possible, brushing off your questions and attempting to seal the deal without much additional effort. This forum has some excellent threads that cover most of the situations you will consider for your trust. Once you educate yourself here you will be in a much better positio...

I work at a university that doesn't pay faculty as much as other universities, so they use a concept of "total compensation" to argue that the benefits we receive (health care, pension, vacation etc.) more than compensate for our below average pay. The same principal applies to living in Germany, and many other European cities. You may not make as much salary as you do here, but you have an outstanding public transportation system, excellent health care that includes extended time off to recover from physical and mental illness, greater level of personal safety, networks of trails and open space for recreation; the list goes on. The social benefits are also impossible to quantify. Have you seen the stories of whole towns coming to...

And here's what can happen if you choose the wrong small law firm to administer your trust: https://mynewsla.com/crime/2021/05/07/dead-95-year-old-womans-trusted-hemet-lawyer-arrested-did-he-steal-her-320000-by-faking-trust-account-changes/ According to the DA’s office, Thompson established a living trust for a 95-year-old woman, whose identity was not disclosed, in May 2019. The trust specified that the defendant, designated the “trust protector,” had no beneficiary interest in the event of the victim’s death, prosecutors said. The woman directed that 100% of her estate go to a children’s hospital after her passing, according to investigators. She died in November 2019, and the DA’s office said that the next month, Thompson allegedly renam...

I post this suggestion every time the question arises of finding a competent estate/financial planning professional. Visit the web site of your local Estate Planning Council. If you are in NYC, here is the website: https://www.epcnyc.com/

This one does not appear to allow public access to the membership directory, but you can view the names of the board members and some information on new members. Members of estate planning councils include attorneys, CPAs and financial advisors who have an interest in continuing education and professional interaction with others in the field.

Here is directory access for the council of Eastern NY: https://www.epceasternnewyork.org/members/directory and Central NY: https://www.epccny.org/members/directory