Tag Archives: Probate

Turn into a Tree after You Die!

By 2025, it is estimated that more than 50% of all the people who die in the United States will be cremated. Gerard Moline, a Catalan artist and product designer, has come up with a very creative solution for what to do with the ashes. He has patented the design for the Bios Urn.  It is a biodegradable urn made from coconut shell, compacted peat and cellulose and inside it contains the seed of a tree. Once the deceased’s ashes have been placed into the urn, it can be planted and then the seed germinates and begins to grow.

What do you think? Would you like to leave behind a tree as your legacy?
For more information about funeral planning, cremation and burial, go to www.diesmart.com.

Have you collected the Social Security benefits to which you may be entitled?

You worked hard your whole life and paid money into the Social Security program evey month. So did your spouse. And now that you are both retired, you are relaxing, enjoying life and collecting a benefit check every month.

But Social Security benefits are not just for retirement. They are for widows and widowers, too. That’s right. Some of the money you paid into Social Security during your working life goes to survivor’s insurance from which you may one day be entitled to collect benefits. The amount of those benefits is based on lifetime earnings.

It is important to know that the surviving spouse is not the only one who can collect benefits. Surviving minor or disabled children are eligible as well.

Diesmart has received questions from widows and widowers who want to be sure they have collected all of the pension benefits to which they are entitled. However, they usually either forget or don’t know that they are leaving money on the table when they don’t file for Social Security survivor benefits as well.

Don’t forget to contact the Social Security administration to find out what steps you need to take to collect benefits to which you are entitled. www.ssa.gov/survivorplan/ifyou.htm

For more information about death benefits, go to www.diesmart.com.

Can you listen to music after you’re dead?

If a deceased loved one was a music lover and you’d like to treat that person to an eternity of music (and we don’t mean from heavenly harps), now you supposedly can.

A company in Sweden, Pause, just released a new product called the CataCoffin and its CataCombo Sound System. It’s a $30,000 coffin that delivers “godlike comfort and heavenly sound”. The luxurious coffin includes “a revolutionary customized sound system for audiophiles on the other side”. You can customize playlists and let the music play for as long as you want.

How do you do this? A special tombstone above ground displays the playlists that can be customized by the deceased’s loved ones.

The commercial promoting the CataCoffin is a little eerie but you can judge for yourself. It will give you a good idea about the quality of the coffin and how the sound system works.

Pause company CEO, Fredrik Hjelmquist, owns the first manufactured model and says customers should feel free to add track to his playlist “Pause-4-ever”. If you’re in Stockholm, he invites you to head down to the Pause store at Norrlandsgatan 14 to see it for yourself.

Is this a real product? Supposedly it is.

For more information about coffins and other topics related to planning a funeral, go to www.diesmart.com.

Inheritance control

Your will and your trust are both important in determining what will happen to your assets after your death and the death of your beneficiaries.

A last will and testament

When you die:

  • A will generally describes who inherits certain assets after your death.
  • If you leave property outright to someone in a will, they become the owners at the conclusion of probate .
  • The executor may not be able to take control of probate assets without approval of the probate court, which may take some period of time.
  • The intended time frame of probate is actually as short as possible; the process is not intended to allow an executor to spend years managing the assets in the estate.

When your beneficiary dies:

  • When your beneficiary dies, their will or state intestate succession rules determine who will inherit the property you gave them, assuming they have not transferred or sold it prior to that time.

A living trust or a testamentary trust

When you die:

  • A trust can include instructions giving someone the right to income and the use of the property during their lifetime.
  • A trust agreement may include elaborate directions regarding the management of certain trust assets and may contemplate an administration that lasts a very long time.
    A trustee can take immediate control of trust assets.

When a beneficiary dies:

Your trust can leave instructions on who has the right to income and the use of the property when the first beneficiary dies.  There are many situations in which you may want to control the second instance of inheritance:

  • You want to provide your children with income but you want the assets to go to your grandchildren.  If your children marry, your grandchildren’s inheritance cannot be je0pardized by a possible divorce.
  • You have been married before.  You want to provide income for your surviving spouse but also want to be sure your children from your prior marriage inherit some portion of your assets when your surviving spouse dies.
  • You want to be sure your children inherit your separate assets if you die first, eliminating the opportunity for a spouse or step children to claim rights to your separate property.
  • You have minor or disabled children and you want to  provide for their support and choose when or if they inherit the principal.


Do your frequent flier miles live on after you’re gone?

The New York Times recently did research to find out and the answer was far from consistent.

Only two airlines contacted have a specific, written policy that allows your miles to be transferred to a surviving family member – American and US Air. On the American Airlines site, in the section titled “Earning AAdvantage Miles”, they outline their specific policy. US Air states their policy under General Terms and Conditions.

One airline, JetBlue, said that they don’t have a specific policy but, after receiving a death certificate and other documentation, will transfer the miles to a beneficiary.

Southwest Airlines has a specific policy – it does not allow transfer of any miles after the death of a RapidRewards member.

Delta’s policy is to not transfer miles. However, upon request of a SkyMiles member’s surviving family member, they may make an exception and move the miles to their account.

United also said their policy is that miles are not transferable upon death. However, MileagePlus evidently has a form that can be completed to request transfer of miles from a deceased member’s account to that of a beneficiary. Along with the completed form, a copy of the death certificate and a $75 fee must be submitted.

If you have a lot of unused frequent flier miles, you might want to specifically bequeath them in your will. However, the airline holding them is still not legally required to give them to the beneficiary of it is against their company policy.

What’s the easiest thing to do? Make sure your frequent flier miles are on an airline that will allow your family to inherit them or start travelling more now, using up that bank of valuable miles while you can.

For more information about what happens to your assets when you’re no longer around, go to www.diesmart.com.