We would like to thank our neighbors in Covington, KY for visiting our website. If you are looking for a licensed estate planning attorney in Kentucky, you have found a reliable local resource. Located in Kenton County, Kentucky, Covington sits where the Ohio and Licking rivers converge. With a population of more than 40,000, Covington is part of the Cincinnati–Northern Kentucky metropolitan area.
What is there to do in Covington?
Mainstrasse Village, a thriving dining and entertainment district, is probably the most popular attraction for those visiting Covington. The area’s historic buildings house the local restaurants, galleries, and boutique shops. Roebling Point is another popular dining location, located at the foot of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge and extending from the Riverfront to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Renaissance Covington, a nonprofit organization created for the revitalization of downtown Covington, offers numerous exciting events throughout the year, including a Farmer’s market every Saturday from May through October. You can also find The Roebling Murals at the Covington Waterfront, which consists of a series of 18 panels portraying the history of Covington. These paintings were created on the flood wall along the Ohio River and are visible from the Roebling Bridge.
Don’t miss the Riverwalk Statues
If you haven’t seen them yet, be sure to visit the Riverwalk Statues, seven life-like bronze statues of historical figures, which is located along Riverside Drive. The figures include Chief Little Turtle, Simon Kenton, John James Audubon, James Bradley, Daniel Carter Beard, Captain Mary B. Greene, and John A. Roebling.
Chief Little Turtle was a Miami Native American chief who lead a confederacy of Native Americans against American forces. Kenton was an explorer and Audubon was an artist. Bradley was a slave who earned sufficient money to buy his own freedom. He also participated in the Lane Seminary debates on slavery. Beard founded the Boy Scouts in 1910. Captain Greene was one of the very few women who ever became licensed river pilots and boat masters. Finally, famed John A. Roebling is best known as the architect of the Brooklyn Bridge as well as the Roebling Suspension Bridge.
Estate planning is relevant to young people
Here at The Potter Law Firm, we take our commitment to our neighbors in Covington to heart. We all hear about people passing away at young ages each and every day. You never know what the future holds, and you cannot be certain that you will have time to plan your estate as a senior citizen. As soon as you are a self-supporting, responsible adult, you should have an estate plan in place. This is true for single people, but if you are married, or if you are a parent, estate planning is an absolute must.
A will is not the only option
Many people equate the process of estate planning to the creation of a last will. In fact, a will is not the best choice for many people. If you use a last will to state your final wishes, the inheritors would receive lump-sum inheritances. Everyone is not a good money manager, and this can be disconcerting if you have a spendthrift in the family. To respond to this, you could create a revocable living trust and use the trust as the centerpiece of your estate plan instead of a will. You do not lose control of the assets while you are living, so you do not have to be concerned on that level. A living trust is one option, but there are many different tools in the estate planning toolkit. You should explore the possibilities and make fully informed decisions.
Benefits of a living trust
When you use a last will as your asset transfer vehicle, you would be allowing for the distribution of lump-sum inheritances to the inheritors. This can be a source of concern if you have someone in the family who is not great at handling money.
To make sure that this individual would have resources to draw from over the long haul, you could create a living trust. While you are alive and well, you could act as the trustee and the beneficiary, so you would continue to control the assets.
Naming a successor trustee
You name a successor trustee to take over the trust administration duties after you are gone, and you name a successor beneficiary. It is possible to name an individual that you know personally to act as the trustee, but many people will use a professional fiduciary such as a trust company.
In the trust declaration, you can leave behind specific instructions about the way you want the assets to be distributed to the successor beneficiary. For example, you can instruct the trustee to distribute a certain amount each month.
Planning for capacity, as well
Another advantage that you gain with a revocable living trust is the ability to account for incapacity. Unfortunately, many elders become unable to handle their own finances eventually, with Alzheimer’s disease being a leading culprit. In the trust declaration, you could empower a disability trustee to administer the trust in the event of your incapacitation.
If you have questions regarding living trusts or any other estate planning matters, please contact the experienced attorneys at The Potter Law Firm for a consultation. You can contact us either online or by calling us at (606) 324-5516 (Ashland, KY), (859) 372-6655 (Florence, KY), or for individuals in North Carolina (704) 944-3245.
