Video: Estate Planning in New Mexico

by | Dec 18, 2019 | Before I Die Festival

Jim Plitz with Morris Hall estate planning attorneys at Before I Die NM Santa Fe

Attorney Jim Plitz with Morris Hall estate planning attorneys speaking at the Before I Die NM Festival event in Santa Fe.

Estate planning in New Mexico can be complicated. In this video, Jim Plitz with Morris Hall, PLLC, helps explain and answer questions.

At the 2019 Before I Die New Mexico Festival, Jim tackled these questions at a session in Santa Fe. The hour-long video was recorded at Berardinelli McGee Life Event Center.

Topics include:

  • Estate planning 101 – the basics of what comprises an estate, probate, guardianship, and other elements.
  • The difference between wills and trusts, and the associated benefits of each.
  • How to make changes to a trust when you change jurisdictions.
  • Joint tenancy, IRA trusts, and other estate planning options.
  • What happens when you die without a will in place (intestacy).

Watch the video:

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Survey says:

A 2019 Caring.com survey indicates that while 76% of U.S. adults said that having a will is important, only 40% actually have one. This means a lot of Baby Boomers have not planned to die.

And don’t forget the Millennials, the next big demographic wave in the United States. They are the Baby Boomers’ young adult children. With the current rate of adults not doing estate planning, a dramatically increased number of Millennials will be scrambling to figure out what to do about their parents’ estates.

In the Caring.com survey, among that 40% of those who do have a will, 45% are White, 31% are Black, and 26% are Hispanic. Those who have a post-graduate college education are twice as likely to have a will as those with only a high school education or less.

The top four reasons these Americans said they don’t have a will are:

  • “I just haven’t gotten around to it.” 50%
  • “I don’t have enough assets to leave to anyone.” 22%
  • “I don’t know how.” 6%
  • “It’s too expensive.” 6%

Are you in the group that hasn’t done your estate planning? If you’re older than age 18, you need to do your will and maybe a trust! What are you waiting for?

Festival Sponsors

A big thank you to our sponsors who made the 2019 Before I Die New Mexico Festival possible, and most of the events free:

2019 New Mexico Festival Sponsors