Backpacking Grand Canyon 2005

In April 2005, I backpacked the Grand Canyon for the first time. I was accompanied by my friend, Gary Leister, and my son, Jason Tompkins.

We hiked the South Rim routes, descending the South Kaibab Trail on Day 1 of our 2 day backpacking trip. As we descended the 4,740 ft. elevation loss from the trailhead to the bottom of the Grand Canyon we encountered snow, then hail, and finally rain.

The top photo of me was taken during the hail storm with O'Neil Butte in the background. In the bottom photo, I am standing at the "TipOff", just below the Tonto Platform. You can see the Colorado River on the left side of the photo.

We camped the night at the Bright Angel Campground, and slept the night in an all-night downpour.

On Day 2, we hiked back out of the Canyon on the longer, but less steep Bright Angel Trail under sunny skies.

Two years later (May 2007), I backpacked the Rim-to-Rim trip (23.9 miles) across the Canyon with my son, Jason Tompkins, and my daughter, Kristin McClintic, and 3 others.

Grand Canyon to many hikers is the holy grail of backpacking. Hiking the Canyon twice has been one of the most rewarding experiences for me as a hiker.

I am hoping to tackle the Hermit Trail in a couple of years.

Thanks for reading. Dwight

http://www.tompkins-law.com

SELECTING A SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE

The Selection of a Successor Trustee is perhaps the most important decision in the creation of a Living Trust.

It is not by mistake that Living Trusts are called "TRUSTS", because the Successor Trustee manages your Trust Estate and distributes your estate without court supervision. Thus, the person you select to be your Successor Trustee must be above everything else, TRUSTWORTHY.

Another important quality is the ability to act as Trustee and carry out your directions. Does your Successor Trustee have the ability to handle money, open and close bank accounts, review bills and pay them, hire a realtor to sell real estate, keep an accounting of your Estate, deal with lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, insurance companies, etc.?

Ideally, your Successor Trustee should be someone who is younger than you and therefore likely to survive you. This is more important as you get older. When you are 35 years old, your 40 year old brother would be a good nominee as the Successor Trustee. However, when you are 75 years old, having your 80 year old brother may not be such a good choice.

Finally, is the Successor Trustee living close to you and your Estate? Of course, trustworthiness and ability are the most important factors, but it is easier for a Successor Trustee to handle your affairs if he or she is local. But, with emails, faxes, wire transfers, overnight delivery, and so forth, someone can act as Successor Trustee from a great distance in today's world.

Always ask the questions, do I trust my Successor Trustee to carry out my wishes? And is my Successor Trustee capable to handle financial and legal matters?

DWIGHT EDWARD TOMPKINS, ATTORNEY AT LAW

http://www.tompkins-law.com

Please visit my website, and thanks for reading my blog.

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information contained herein is not a substitute for legal advice from a qualified attorney in your jurisdiction.

Retirement Accounts, Life Insurance & Annuities Part 2

The Role of Retirement Accounts, Life Insurance and Annuities in Estate Planning - Part 2

In my last post I set out the general rule in estate planning that all of the assets should be titled in the name of the trust.

I also set out the 3 general exceptions to that rule: Retirement Accounts, Life Insurance and Annuities.

We saw that the reason for the exceptions is that these 3 kinds of assets have beneficiaries designated to receive the assets upon the death of the owner and/or the insured.

In the last post, I discussed retirement accounts.

Now, I will briefly talk about life insurance and annuities.

Life insurance and annuities are closely related to each other. Annuities for the most part are provided by life insurance companies.

An easy definition for an annuity is that it is a hybrid of a life insurance policy and an investment. Although that it is pretty general, it will do for our discussion.

The center-piece of life insurance is the naming of beneficiaries as it is the purpose of life insurance to "benefit" loved ones if the insured passes away.

Therefore, for estate planning purposes, the ownership of the policy is not as important as the naming of beneficiaries.

There are certain situations where ownership is an important factor, but as a general rule the beneficiary designation is the key in life insurance.

If you have a life insurance policy on your life or an annuity, it is wise to periodically review the designations of primary and secondary beneficiaries to see if they are up to date.

DWIGHT EDWARD TOMPKINS, ATTORNEY AT LAW

WEBSITE: http://www.tompkins-law.com/

This blog is intended for information purposes only, and does not constitute legal advice or a substitute for legal advise by a qualified attorney in your jurisdiction.

Copyright 2009 Dwight Edward Tompkins All Rights Reserved