It's important for us to put our legal affairs in order to provide comfort and support to our families when they deal with loss by doing legacy and will planning. In this episode, Sirisha discusses the crucial elements of wills and trusts with her guest, Dr. Namrita Nottani, who brings her expertise as an Estate planning lawyer.
Don't forget to utilize the legal assistance benefits offered by many companies to create your will, trust and other legal documents, to navigate the emotional and legal process of dealing with the loss of a loved one. We dive into the necessity of consolidating all relevant information regarding assets, money, accounts, and passwords. The importance of proper execution, notarization, and witnessing in ensuring a smooth transfer of assets very critical. The conversation touches on the potential complications of using online wills or legal zoom, as well as the drawbacks of adding adult children's names to property deeds or joint accounts.
Sirisha and Dr. Nottani also shed light on the intricacies of estate planning for minor children, such as the need for separate nominations for temporary and permanent guardianship. Do not wait until the last moment to make important decisions about your wills and trusts.
Lawyers can help you navigate the complex world of legacy and will plan, particularly for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation immigrants. Don't miss out on the expert advice and practical tips shared in this episode by Sirisha and her guest, Dr. Namrita Nottani, as we help listeners protect their loved ones and secure their financial future.
We encourage our listeners to engage with the show " Life Beats with Sirisha" by reaching out with ideas and suggestions through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and email.
She became fascinated by how a simple piece of paper, such as a holographic will, could hold immense power in determining the destiny of one's assets. However, she also realized the potential complications that can arise from the traditional process of probate. Understanding the desire for a simpler and more streamlined approach, Namrita dove into the world of trusts. She discovered that by setting up a trust, individuals could bypass the time-consuming probate process and allow their chosen trustee to swiftly distribute assets according to their wishes. This not only benefits the beneficiaries by providing immediate access to the property but also saves them from t
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I'm a former tech executive, a podcast host and an entrepreneur. I work with Universities on Organizations to transition students to the corporate world and building successful leadership pipelines ensuring a healthy financial future.
If you're interested in coordinating or working with me on keynotes, workshops, or on a one on one basis, you can go to my website www.sirishakuchimanchi.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sirisha (00:00):
Hello everyone to this gorgeous, it's actually
scorching Thursday.
It's been pretty hot here.
Many of you may be wondering andmay not really talk about wills
and trust.
You may not like the idea of it.
It's a fairly uncomfortabletopic.
If you're like me, it'ssomething quite challenging to
work on.
And as we're all building, ourportfolios, our wealth, we have
(00:21):
children.
It is something that we need totake time and invest in.
And really build and make surewe are protecting ourselves, our
future, and everybody around us.
So today we are going to betalking about bills and trusts.
I hope you're, picking up yournotebooks, papers and pencils
electronic devices.
So you're here to chat about it.
(00:41):
This is your host, Dr.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi.
I'm a former tech executive, apodcast host, and an
entrepreneur.
I host the podcast Women,Career, and Life.
It's spelled W O M E N C A R E RA N D L I F E.
You can find it on any of yourfavorite podcast platforms.
It's a top 30% Spotify podcast.
(01:02):
I give career and financialadvice that we get from guests
there.
I hope you're ready to tune in.
Call into the phone lines today.
We have Dr.
Namrata Notani.
I am so excited to have Namratahere.
She is not only a dentist in herformer life, but she is a lawyer
(01:22):
now too.
And we are going to dive intonot just her story, but we are
going to talk about how to dowills and trusts and legacy
planning, especially as a lot ofus, maybe first, second, third
generation immigrants, there's alot more steps to be taken.
So let's dive right in.
Namrata, thank you for beinghere.
Thank you so much for having mehere.
(01:42):
So why don't you tell us whatmade you shift from dentistry to
doing estate planning andbusiness law?
Namrita (01:49):
Actually it was a forced decision of some sort
because I had to go through amedical procedure and couldn't
do dentistry.
I have a spinal fusion surgeryin my neck and basically
couldn't move my neck enough tobe a dentist, but I can
definitely move my neck enoughto be an attorney.
So that was one of the reasonsI, and law has always been my
(02:11):
second love.
Now it's my first life.
Sirisha (02:13):
Wow, I, and it's pretty amazing that you've got to do
two incredibly hard professions.
They're not easy to do.
So kudos to you for that.
So I am actually going toannounce the phone number
because today's, I'm sure a lotof people have questions.
So the studio's number is 2 1 48 1 7, 3 3, 3 3.
And we will be talking to Dr.
(02:37):
Nata to get Advice on basicallylistening to how to get bills
and trusts done So for those ofyou who are trying to figure
this out wills and trusts aresomething we need to do.
Namrita, why don't you tell us,what is a will?
What is a trust?
What is the difference between
Namrita (02:55):
the two?
A will is something that youwrite to make sure that all the
assets that you have aredistributed according to how you
want, you intend them to.
And it's really a, basically apiece of paper, right?
You can pretty much write awill, even It can be handwritten
(03:16):
and if you do write itcorrectly, it's called a
holographic will, and it can beadmitted in court.
But it's basically just a listof rules that distributes your
assets to your loved ones.
The thing about a will is thatit does go to court.
A judge has to prove it up, makesure it's valid.
There's an an executorappointed.
Somebody has to basicallyfollow.
Those directions that you'vegiven in the will, and there's a
(03:36):
court proceeding, a hearing, andbasically it's a long, lengthy,
expensive process.
A trust, on the other hand, issomething that doesn't really
require that the whole processof the court.
So you're avoiding probate,you're avoiding court, you're
avoiding judge supervision,you're basically bypassing all
that and going directly to thetrustee that you have appointed.
And so the trustee takes care ofthe distribution without the
(03:57):
whole process of going throughprobate, which really Shortens
that process of distribution andmake sure that the heirs can get
access to the property orleaving them immediately.
Almost.
Sirisha (04:08):
Okay.
That is completely eye opening.
I didn't know my understandingof trust was more around taxes
and things, but I didn't realizeyou circumvent the whole process
legally and get where you wantto go much faster.
Namrita (04:18):
Absolutely.
Actually, the most common reasonwhy people do trust is probate
avoidance.
And then there is more, advancedplanning like tax and credit
shelter and, other things.
So
Sirisha (04:29):
the question that comes up is, do you set up the trust
right now when you're living anduse your whatever you're earning
through the trust now or doesthe trust start to execute When
the person is no longer there.
Namrita (04:39):
So there's several different kinds of trust, but
the most common is the livingtrust.
So the reason it's called theliving trust, it's also called a
replicable trust, is becauseyou're creating it while you're
alive.
So everything does either belongto the trust or the trust is a
beneficiary of everything youown.
But in general, theadministration, the distribution
occurs only after you're gone.
So while you have that livingtrust.
(05:01):
It's like a shopping cart.
You're inside a shop and you canpick up anything you want from
the shop and put it in thiscart.
Think of the cart as the trustand you can take things out of
the cart and put it back into,the shelves, right?
You have full flexibility untilyou check out and you check out
once and after you checked out.
Done.
That's the lock.
Sirisha (05:21):
So does it mean I don't have to actually use the trust
name when I'm buying stuff andexecuting in the shopping cart?
Or does the trust name show upin
Namrita (05:29):
different places?
So that depends on, you can buyyour property in the name of the
trust.
If you're buying a house, youcan actually buy it in the name
of the trust and the trust namewill show up there.
Okay.
But you can also have the trustname, like I said, be a
beneficiary of, let's say, abank account where, you don't
want the trust name to show upin your checkbook.
So then you want to make surethat After you're gone, the
(05:51):
account passes to the trust.
You have that trust name only
Sirisha (05:53):
as a beneficiary.
Okay.
So the, so for those of youtuning in, this is Light Beats
with Sirisha.
We are talking to Dr.
Namrata Nurtani about legacy,will and trust planning, really
looking towards the future.
I hope you're jotting down notesand you can call into the
studio.
The number is 214 817 3333.
You'll go live on air with anyquestions you might have.
(06:15):
So Namrata, we talked about willand trust.
That is very important that itreally gives you access to
resources.
I had a friend.
Okay, we actually have a callercalling in.
So let's jump right on.
You'll be on air.
Hello.
Please go ahead and ask yourquestion and introduce yourself.
(06:57):
That is correct.
Yes.
Just, yeah, thank you forcalling in and confirming that
because that is a very importantpoint.
Thank you.
For those of you just as Someonecalled in and asked, it's very
(07:19):
important to understand that atrust executes immediately, no
waiting period, everything, andthen the will has to go through
the court and stuff.
I had a friend who recently losttheir spouse and it's been very
challenging, very traumatic, notjust the legal issues, just so
much emotional stuff to gothrough.
And it's.
It's quite hard to deal withthat, and I think it's
(07:41):
important.
I know this topic is makes a lotof people very uncomfortable,
even me for a lot of reasons,and I've had this conversation
with friends over the years, butwe need to, do everything
because you're working so hardto earn money and, for your own.
South your families andeverybody else.
So you need to protect them,especially if you have minor
children.
I think that there's adifference, right?
(08:02):
If your children are under 18and over 18.
So for minor children.
So one of the things, becausethis channel is largely for the
South Asian community and a lotof people like myself are first
generation immigrants.
Very often people have, foreignbeneficiaries for the
guardianship.
What are some of the things forus to navigate that seamlessly?
(08:22):
Because how do you accessinformation?
How do you navigate that?
What are some of the challengeswe can avoid?
Namrita (08:28):
There are so many challenges, actually, if you are
a non U.
S.
citizen or, whether you have avisa or a work visa, like an H
1B, or whether you have a greencard.
Would you like to take thatquestion?
Yeah, actually.
Okay, I'll hold that thought.
Sirisha (08:41):
Yeah, we'll hold that thought and take the question on
air.
Hello, thank you for calling in.
Please go ahead, introduceyourself, and ask the question
directly.
They're on air.
Namrita (09:03):
I'm happy to give you my office number.
It's 9728148620.
The charge, sorry.
You know what
Sirisha (09:12):
we are going to actually announce Namrata's
information and contact info onthe end.
So you can definitely get intouch with her in her office to
gather this.
I'll also put this on on Spotifylater.
So you can also take down shownotes from there.
But Mr.
Khan, thank you for calling in.
That's a very importantquestion.
We'll make sure we share thatinformation.
Namrita (09:30):
And regarding the cost of your will, it actually
depends on a lot of differentthings, and I will go over that
as well in the next 30 minutesthat we have and it's basically
based on whether you want justthe will or a trust, what kind
of distributions you want in thetrust, whether you have minor
Children or adult Children,whether you have assets here or
outside the state or evenoutside the country.
(09:50):
There's a lot of differentaspects to it, and we do.
I understand that.
Thank you.
Yeah, that is pretty much whatyou said.
Pretty much all of those.
Yes, that could be somewhere inthat ballpark.
(10:11):
Definitely, yes.
It's not beyond that for asimple bill and all the
ancillary documents.
Okay.
All right.
Sirisha (10:17):
Thank you.
Thank you for that question.
So as we continue, yes, I knowwe were talking and I think his
question was a good seguebecause we need to make sure we
share your information and foreveryone to understand how to
get in touch.
But if you have minor children,because he said he had two adult
children, but if you have minorchildren and you're looking at
foreign assets and foreignbeneficiaries, What are you
(10:37):
talking about?
The challenges?
Namrita (10:38):
Yes.
So especially for minorChildren, the main thing that
people need to make sure thatthey understand when they're
doing their estate planning isthat they shouldn't just
nominate the guardians for theChildren in the will because
they need to understand a will.
Like I just said, needs to gothrough probate.
You cannot do anything in thewill.
And the will is only goingthrough probate when a person is
not alive.
So if a person requires thatguardianship in any capacity,
(11:02):
let's say I'm not able to takecare of my minor child, you need
other kind of documents.
Or if I'm not alive and I needthat guardianship for my child
so that my child can havetemporary custody, be with
somebody that I trust, that Iwant, even for a short period of
time, or for a long period oftime, I need to have those
nomination documents outside ofmy will.
Especially if you have foreignguardians, right?
(11:24):
They'll take time to come tothis country.
They'll take time to, make surethat your child is safe and
secure and, within a family thatyou want to keep.
And so it's important to havenominations of guardians for
temporary purposes, as well asfor permanent purposes
separately.
And make sure that those peopleactually have the required
documents so they can show itand get their visas quickly and,
(11:46):
or even when they're here toactually go to court and be able
to manage that guardianshipbecause you do need that
Sirisha (11:52):
appointment.
Yes, and for as a person doing awill not from the lawyer
standpoint, I think there's somany discussion points, right?
The steps that kind of I thoughtabout it when I had to do it was
you had to end up consolidatingyour assets Most of us don't
realize how many bank accountsand investment accounts.
We just open across the placeand just spreads in
Consolidating that and then thesecond discussion point which is
(12:13):
very interesting is who is goingto help pick up the assets Who's
going to help?
Execute who's going to take careof the Children because people
have differing opinions aspartners, and you know that
leads to that and talking to thepeople who are going to be doing
the work.
And letting them know that theyare being nominated for it
because they might need a copyof these documents sealed
somewhere they can accessbecause we tend to keep them
(12:35):
maybe in our safe here andthere.
And most of the time you can'tfind it.
So even if you get to access andexecute on it, people should
know where your accounts are,what that information looks
like, access the information sothat then all of that can be
executed on.
And that becomes the biggestpoint.
Namrita (12:51):
Exactly.
Actually, that is a really goodpoint that you brought up.
I have to tell you that willsdon't have details of their
assets, right?
Nor do actually trusts.
We talk about distributions.
All the will has is, this, theseare my children and this is how
I want it.
I want this percentage going tothis child or, everything going
to my wife or my husband.
And a lot of people have no ideawhere their accounts are and
(13:12):
where their assets are.
And any unclaimed account goesto the state.
Sirisha (13:16):
Yeah,
Namrita (13:17):
exactly.
We have over 3 billion in thestate of Texas that is
unclaimed, that the state ownsbecause people don't know how to
access them.
So it is really important.
First and foremost, what I dowith my clients is actually make
sure that they have aconsolidated platform, that they
put everything together, whetherI need to see the amounts or
not, it doesn't matter.
They need to have it and theyneed to put it with their will.
(13:39):
Yes, that's really important andthat equally the husband and
wife need to know it, a lot oftimes the husband knows the wife
doesn't or vice versa a fewtimes, but we definitely want to
make sure that common knowledge
Sirisha (13:49):
is there.
Yeah, exactly.
And, I, this is important as wetalk about it.
If you're tuning in, you'relistening to live feeds, it's
Arisha, we are, we want to helpthe community help gather
experts and stuff for you tolisten.
And To them directly to getaccess instead of us having to
Google and step through this.
Colin definitely also reach outto me with ideas and suggestions
(14:12):
you might have things you mightwant to hear on the show.
You can, reach me through any ofmy social media platforms,
women, career, and life, W O M EN C A R E R N D L I F P
Facebook, mostly Instagramreally.
And.
All of those and email at gmail.
com.
So that is the best way to reachme You can also check out my
(14:33):
linkedin for questions or toping me on direct message search
for kuchimanchisirisha K U C H IM A N C H I S I R I S H A, and
as we're talking to Namrata,there's Will and trust and no
matter what you create are justpaper documents.
They don't really give anyoneinformation on what to do with
(14:55):
these pieces of paper that wehave.
It is important to have them.
Don't get me wrong.
But that's just a piece ofpaper.
If no one knows where yourassets are, where the money is,
what the accounts are, what thepasswords are.
There's so much that needs to bedone to get access to that
information.
So make sure you consolidate it.
I have to go back home and lookat where mine were because it's
been a while since I've donethis myself and look at
(15:17):
accessing it and putting ittogether and make sure you're
communicating to whoever isgoing to take care of it.
So what are some of the otherchallenges if if your children
are not minors?
What is then, what do you, whatis some of the advice you have
for someone who might have adultchildren?
Namrita (15:30):
So some of the pitfalls I see when people have adult
children they think that theycan avoid the whole process of
inheritance by adding the adultchild's name to their deeds to
the property deeds so that theycan just get them immediately.
Or they try to do jointaccounts, for their, with their
bank.
So one of the biggest risks ofthat especially for accounts is
that you're basically Po yourmoney to their risk, right?
(15:55):
If they have a creditor, theyhave a lawsuit.
Now you just basically exposedthat to them.
And if you have real estate likethat, it's the same, right?
You have homestead exemption inTexas now you've suddenly, added
your child's name to it.
Your child doesn't havehomestead on that.
You've just decreased yourprotection by half.
And you also have made sure thatwhen your child ultimately
inherits that money and.
Cells at house later.
(16:15):
You don't get what is called astep of basis.
You basically pay more capitalgain taxes.
You pay more taxes with it.
That's a more complicated topicand maybe not something I'll put
in detail here.
But the thing is that there is alot that goes, what you
mentioned about paper documents.
It's very correct.
What you get are just paperdocuments.
What is more valuable is thecounseling with it.
It's the actual advice of whyyou're doing this, what you want
(16:40):
to put in that paper and howit's going to be executed later
on, right?
What is the actual process?
And that is something mostpeople don't realize.
That's why they're like, we cando this on LegalZoom.
We can just go to online willsand we'll just have this bunch
of paper that we sign andnotarize and keep.
And they don't realize thatdoesn't avoid anything.
It just makes, gives you morecomplications.
(17:02):
I had a, one of my first clientsdid that and it took a year and
a half of probate to get herhouse to her because the house,
the will wasn't executed right.
It wasn't notarized by the rightpeople or actually witnessed by
the right people.
Because you cannot haveinterested
Sirisha (17:16):
witnesses.
Yes.
You cannot have interestedparties.
Conflict of interest.
Remember that you cannot haveyour friends and family who are
going to be part of thisexecution.
You can have friends and family.
You can't have children.
Execution practice also, right?
You can't have those folks on
Namrita (17:28):
it.
You want to make sure thatpeople who are actually
inheriting under your will arenot.
Yes, or touching
Sirisha (17:33):
it in any way.
Yeah, very true.
And the thing is the cost of theprobate must have been
incredibly high compared to whatjust off doing the will because
the gentleman Mr.
Khan called and asked us righthow much it was.
Yeah.
And
Namrita (17:45):
when people ask me that question, I'm very often I tell
them whatever I charge you isgoing to be way lesser than what
it's going to cost your familyif you don't do it right.
It'll be way lesser.
That's for sure.
So it is affordable.
Sirisha (17:57):
Exactly.
And Namrata has her own legaland a lot of you, you have to
also check a lot of companieshave benefits for legal
assistance and legal law billsand trust that, you know, to
their legal plan.
So check that out also as aresource.
That's one of the benefits ofyour company.
So if you're working for acorporation, don't let that sort
of The money go away and use itbecause it is important to have
(18:19):
these I've heard of so manyinstances of people here, people
back home who have struggledwith not having it.
And it's just, it's a lot ofpain that we create without
realizing for the people who arenot only dealing with having
lost the person that they love,but dealing with this sort of
emotional legal process that noone knows, right?
You have to find the lawyer, youhave to figure out what to do.
(18:41):
It's just a lot of hardship.
So If we can put that things inorder, then it helps us to give
others comfort, a little bit ofcomfort in the time of
Namrita (18:51):
hardship that they're going through.
Absolutely.
It is peace of mind more thananything else.
Sirisha (18:56):
Yes.
Yes.
And this might, this, this codeis so apt, death and taxes are
not avoidable.
We have to execute that.
As much as I hesitate to usethat code on a live talk show,
it is a true statement.
And we can do everything toenjoy our life and make everyone
else around us do that.
The thing is,
Namrita (19:13):
life is unpredictable and we don't want to be thinking
about this when we are dying.
Nobody wants to.
We want to do this while we arehealthy and happy and know what
we want rather than, when aperson is dying, the last thing
you want to tell them is here,go make a will, right?
You don't want to do that.
I actually was at a hospital twodays ago, Sreesha because I was
(19:35):
trying to create a will andtrust for a gentleman.
He's 85, so he's lived a goodlife.
His daughter called me at 730 inthe morning and said, we are
taking him to the hospital andhe may not live.
And the will and trust documentswere not executed.
So I actually, I took myassistant and went with, for the
notarization, everything.
I took the documents and I wentto the hospital.
You know what?
The worst part was the fact thathis daughter was not really
(20:00):
completely present with him forthe process of, what he was
going through.
All she was really worried aboutwas the will hadn't been done.
The dress hadn't been done.
What about this property andthat property?
Is that how anybody wants todie?
Yeah,
Sirisha (20:14):
I know.
It's heartbreaking.
It is.
And it's, yes, I guess totallywrong timing.
And it is.
And just my own personal story.
I did mine when my first son wasborn.
And then went and updated when Ihave a few years after my second
kid.
So if you're having children,I'm that's what I started to
have this conversation withfriends just because when you
have young children, lifehappens so many things that can
(20:36):
happen and you do not want toleave that in limbo.
The way I look at it is I don'twant the state to make my
decision for me because somebodyelse will make my decision if I
don't decide for myself.
So I want if I want to do what Ithink I want to get done, then I
have to make the decision andprepare these documents.
Namrita (20:53):
Absolutely.
If you don't have a plan, thestate has a plan for sure.
You don't like it.
You won't like it.
Sirisha (20:59):
Exactly.
So for those of you listeningin, definitely, think about will
and trust.
Namrita, why don't you shareyour number?
We have a few minutes.
So I just want to make sure whatis the number and how did the
people reach you?
So
Namrita (21:10):
the easiest way to reach me is actually through my
website is www.nodanilaw.com.
That's N as in Nancy, o T as inTom, A as in apple, N as in
Nancy, I as in India, n a wdotcom.
And there is a tab there forbook a call and you can just
click on it and add yourconvenience.
Just book a call with me.
It's a free call.
It's, it's a short introductorycall, and then we take it from
(21:31):
there.
You can also just call my officeto make an appointment.
4 6 9 9 2 9 9 4 3 9.
That's my office number.
The number that I previouslyeven the gentleman that's my
cell number and a lot of peoplewill call me on that as well.
So I'll give it to you.
It's 972 814 8620 again.
My office number is 469 929 9439and my cell number is 972 814
(21:54):
8620.
Sirisha (21:56):
Yes, and if you actually listen to radio caravan
from time to time, you probablyheard her advertisement, you
know I didn't realize it was herand a number of time.
I actually have met many yearsago through our kids Being in
the same age group, but it is awonderfully done ad so classy So
tastefully done which bringsthis right to the heart where
this mom is talking to herfriend and her son comes and
(22:17):
says mom Let's go to graduationtry and listen to it on the
radio and then you'll rememberwhat i'm talking about if you've
heard it so We've got to diveinto wills and trusts.
I just want to also let you knownext week as we are talking
about all of these topics andwe're getting ready for school.
I will have a school counselorand a speech therapist coming in
(22:38):
to talk about how do you preparechildren, how to access the
resources.
You might have elementary,middle school, high school, etc.
So much transition.
So definitely tune in number twoas we had just wrap up any
parting words for people tothink of as they're, whether
they're trying to decide whatshould push them to make that
decision to go ahead and getthis thing done.
(22:59):
The
Namrita (23:00):
Only thing I can tell you and I have told you that
before is, my tagline plan whileyou can, because honestly, if
you're alive, you're over theage of 18, you should have
something from whether it'sbasic to the most complex with
you have, you all have assets,you all have an estate, because
anything, even a Facebookaccount is something that's an
asset in the state, which needsto be somebody.
(23:22):
Ooh, they're digital assets,right?
If you think about it, you don'twant to know who's gonna get
access to that.
So everything has that.
And so it's important that youplease plan while you can,
because this is not for you,it's for your loved ones.
Just know that it's really,you're gonna be gone.
It's really how they're going tobe, taking care of themselves
when you're not there to takecare of them.
So just think about that and.
(23:43):
Don't procrastinate because itcan be late.
Yes.
And then you won't be able to do
Sirisha (23:46):
anything.
And thank you.
Thank you, nata.
This has been very good.
Do definitely reach out womencareer and life
Hello everyone to this gorgeous, it's actually
scorching Thursday.
It's been pretty hot here.
Many of you may be wondering andmay not really talk about wills
and trust.
You may not like the idea of it.
It's a fairly uncomfortabletopic.
If you're like me, it'ssomething quite challenging to
work on.
And as we're all building, ourportfolios, our wealth, we have
(00:21):
children.
It is something that we need totake time and invest in.
And really build and make surewe are protecting ourselves, our
future, and everybody around us.
So today we are going to betalking about bills and trusts.
I hope you're, picking up yournotebooks, papers and pencils
electronic devices.
So you're here to chat about it.
(00:41):
This is your host, Dr.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi.
I'm a former tech executive, apodcast host, and an
entrepreneur.
I host the podcast Women,Career, and Life.
It's spelled W O M E N C A R E RA N D L I F E.
You can find it on any of yourfavorite podcast platforms.
It's a top 30% Spotify podcast.
(01:02):
I give career and financialadvice that we get from guests
there.
I hope you're ready to tune in.
Call into the phone lines today.
We have Dr.
Namrata Notani.
I am so excited to have Namratahere.
She is not only a dentist in herformer life, but she is a lawyer
(01:22):
now too.
And we are going to dive intonot just her story, but we are
going to talk about how to dowills and trusts and legacy
planning, especially as a lot ofus, maybe first, second, third
generation immigrants, there's alot more steps to be taken.
So let's dive right in.
Namrata, thank you for beinghere.
Thank you so much for having mehere.
(01:42):
So why don't you tell us whatmade you shift from dentistry to
doing estate planning andbusiness law?
Namrita (01:49):
Actually it was a forced decision of some sort
because I had to go through amedical procedure and couldn't
do dentistry.
I have a spinal fusion surgeryin my neck and basically
couldn't move my neck enough tobe a dentist, but I can
definitely move my neck enoughto be an attorney.
So that was one of the reasonsI, and law has always been my
(02:11):
second love.
Now it's my first life.
Sirisha (02:13):
Wow, I, and it's pretty amazing that you've got to do
two incredibly hard professions.
They're not easy to do.
So kudos to you for that.
So I am actually going toannounce the phone number
because today's, I'm sure a lotof people have questions.
So the studio's number is 2 1 48 1 7, 3 3, 3 3.
And we will be talking to Dr.
(02:37):
Nata to get Advice on basicallylistening to how to get bills
and trusts done So for those ofyou who are trying to figure
this out wills and trusts aresomething we need to do.
Namrita, why don't you tell us,what is a will?
What is a trust?
What is the difference between
Namrita (02:55):
the two?
A will is something that youwrite to make sure that all the
assets that you have aredistributed according to how you
want, you intend them to.
And it's really a, basically apiece of paper, right?
You can pretty much write awill, even It can be handwritten
(03:16):
and if you do write itcorrectly, it's called a
holographic will, and it can beadmitted in court.
But it's basically just a listof rules that distributes your
assets to your loved ones.
The thing about a will is thatit does go to court.
A judge has to prove it up, makesure it's valid.
There's an an executorappointed.
Somebody has to basicallyfollow.
Those directions that you'vegiven in the will, and there's a
(03:36):
court proceeding, a hearing, andbasically it's a long, lengthy,
expensive process.
A trust, on the other hand, issomething that doesn't really
require that the whole processof the court.
So you're avoiding probate,you're avoiding court, you're
avoiding judge supervision,you're basically bypassing all
that and going directly to thetrustee that you have appointed.
And so the trustee takes care ofthe distribution without the
(03:57):
whole process of going throughprobate, which really Shortens
that process of distribution andmake sure that the heirs can get
access to the property orleaving them immediately.
Almost.
Sirisha (04:08):
Okay.
That is completely eye opening.
I didn't know my understandingof trust was more around taxes
and things, but I didn't realizeyou circumvent the whole process
legally and get where you wantto go much faster.
Namrita (04:18):
Absolutely.
Actually, the most common reasonwhy people do trust is probate
avoidance.
And then there is more, advancedplanning like tax and credit
shelter and, other things.
So
Sirisha (04:29):
the question that comes up is, do you set up the trust
right now when you're living anduse your whatever you're earning
through the trust now or doesthe trust start to execute When
the person is no longer there.
Namrita (04:39):
So there's several different kinds of trust, but
the most common is the livingtrust.
So the reason it's called theliving trust, it's also called a
replicable trust, is becauseyou're creating it while you're
alive.
So everything does either belongto the trust or the trust is a
beneficiary of everything youown.
But in general, theadministration, the distribution
occurs only after you're gone.
So while you have that livingtrust.
(05:01):
It's like a shopping cart.
You're inside a shop and you canpick up anything you want from
the shop and put it in thiscart.
Think of the cart as the trustand you can take things out of
the cart and put it back into,the shelves, right?
You have full flexibility untilyou check out and you check out
once and after you checked out.
Done.
That's the lock.
Sirisha (05:21):
So does it mean I don't have to actually use the trust
name when I'm buying stuff andexecuting in the shopping cart?
Or does the trust name show upin
Namrita (05:29):
different places?
So that depends on, you can buyyour property in the name of the
trust.
If you're buying a house, youcan actually buy it in the name
of the trust and the trust namewill show up there.
Okay.
But you can also have the trustname, like I said, be a
beneficiary of, let's say, abank account where, you don't
want the trust name to show upin your checkbook.
So then you want to make surethat After you're gone, the
(05:51):
account passes to the trust.
You have that trust name only
Sirisha (05:53):
as a beneficiary.
Okay.
So the, so for those of youtuning in, this is Light Beats
with Sirisha.
We are talking to Dr.
Namrata Nurtani about legacy,will and trust planning, really
looking towards the future.
I hope you're jotting down notesand you can call into the
studio.
The number is 214 817 3333.
You'll go live on air with anyquestions you might have.
(06:15):
So Namrata, we talked about willand trust.
That is very important that itreally gives you access to
resources.
I had a friend.
Okay, we actually have a callercalling in.
So let's jump right on.
You'll be on air.
Hello.
Please go ahead and ask yourquestion and introduce yourself.
(06:57):
That is correct.
Yes.
Just, yeah, thank you forcalling in and confirming that
because that is a very importantpoint.
Thank you.
For those of you just as Someonecalled in and asked, it's very
(07:19):
important to understand that atrust executes immediately, no
waiting period, everything, andthen the will has to go through
the court and stuff.
I had a friend who recently losttheir spouse and it's been very
challenging, very traumatic, notjust the legal issues, just so
much emotional stuff to gothrough.
And it's.
It's quite hard to deal withthat, and I think it's
(07:41):
important.
I know this topic is makes a lotof people very uncomfortable,
even me for a lot of reasons,and I've had this conversation
with friends over the years, butwe need to, do everything
because you're working so hardto earn money and, for your own.
South your families andeverybody else.
So you need to protect them,especially if you have minor
children.
I think that there's adifference, right?
(08:02):
If your children are under 18and over 18.
So for minor children.
So one of the things, becausethis channel is largely for the
South Asian community and a lotof people like myself are first
generation immigrants.
Very often people have, foreignbeneficiaries for the
guardianship.
What are some of the things forus to navigate that seamlessly?
(08:22):
Because how do you accessinformation?
How do you navigate that?
What are some of the challengeswe can avoid?
Namrita (08:28):
There are so many challenges, actually, if you are
a non U.
S.
citizen or, whether you have avisa or a work visa, like an H
1B, or whether you have a greencard.
Would you like to take thatquestion?
Yeah, actually.
Okay, I'll hold that thought.
Sirisha (08:41):
Yeah, we'll hold that thought and take the question on
air.
Hello, thank you for calling in.
Please go ahead, introduceyourself, and ask the question
directly.
They're on air.
Namrita (09:03):
I'm happy to give you my office number.
It's 9728148620.
The charge, sorry.
You know what
Sirisha (09:12):
we are going to actually announce Namrata's
information and contact info onthe end.
So you can definitely get intouch with her in her office to
gather this.
I'll also put this on on Spotifylater.
So you can also take down shownotes from there.
But Mr.
Khan, thank you for calling in.
That's a very importantquestion.
We'll make sure we share thatinformation.
Namrita (09:30):
And regarding the cost of your will, it actually
depends on a lot of differentthings, and I will go over that
as well in the next 30 minutesthat we have and it's basically
based on whether you want justthe will or a trust, what kind
of distributions you want in thetrust, whether you have minor
Children or adult Children,whether you have assets here or
outside the state or evenoutside the country.
(09:50):
There's a lot of differentaspects to it, and we do.
I understand that.
Thank you.
Yeah, that is pretty much whatyou said.
Pretty much all of those.
Yes, that could be somewhere inthat ballpark.
(10:11):
Definitely, yes.
It's not beyond that for asimple bill and all the
ancillary documents.
Okay.
All right.
Sirisha (10:17):
Thank you.
Thank you for that question.
So as we continue, yes, I knowwe were talking and I think his
question was a good seguebecause we need to make sure we
share your information and foreveryone to understand how to
get in touch.
But if you have minor children,because he said he had two adult
children, but if you have minorchildren and you're looking at
foreign assets and foreignbeneficiaries, What are you
(10:37):
talking about?
The challenges?
Namrita (10:38):
Yes.
So especially for minorChildren, the main thing that
people need to make sure thatthey understand when they're
doing their estate planning isthat they shouldn't just
nominate the guardians for theChildren in the will because
they need to understand a will.
Like I just said, needs to gothrough probate.
You cannot do anything in thewill.
And the will is only goingthrough probate when a person is
not alive.
So if a person requires thatguardianship in any capacity,
(11:02):
let's say I'm not able to takecare of my minor child, you need
other kind of documents.
Or if I'm not alive and I needthat guardianship for my child
so that my child can havetemporary custody, be with
somebody that I trust, that Iwant, even for a short period of
time, or for a long period oftime, I need to have those
nomination documents outside ofmy will.
Especially if you have foreignguardians, right?
(11:24):
They'll take time to come tothis country.
They'll take time to, make surethat your child is safe and
secure and, within a family thatyou want to keep.
And so it's important to havenominations of guardians for
temporary purposes, as well asfor permanent purposes
separately.
And make sure that those peopleactually have the required
documents so they can show itand get their visas quickly and,
(11:46):
or even when they're here toactually go to court and be able
to manage that guardianshipbecause you do need that
Sirisha (11:52):
appointment.
Yes, and for as a person doing awill not from the lawyer
standpoint, I think there's somany discussion points, right?
The steps that kind of I thoughtabout it when I had to do it was
you had to end up consolidatingyour assets Most of us don't
realize how many bank accountsand investment accounts.
We just open across the placeand just spreads in
Consolidating that and then thesecond discussion point which is
(12:13):
very interesting is who is goingto help pick up the assets Who's
going to help?
Execute who's going to take careof the Children because people
have differing opinions aspartners, and you know that
leads to that and talking to thepeople who are going to be doing
the work.
And letting them know that theyare being nominated for it
because they might need a copyof these documents sealed
somewhere they can accessbecause we tend to keep them
(12:35):
maybe in our safe here andthere.
And most of the time you can'tfind it.
So even if you get to access andexecute on it, people should
know where your accounts are,what that information looks
like, access the information sothat then all of that can be
executed on.
And that becomes the biggestpoint.
Namrita (12:51):
Exactly.
Actually, that is a really goodpoint that you brought up.
I have to tell you that willsdon't have details of their
assets, right?
Nor do actually trusts.
We talk about distributions.
All the will has is, this, theseare my children and this is how
I want it.
I want this percentage going tothis child or, everything going
to my wife or my husband.
And a lot of people have no ideawhere their accounts are and
(13:12):
where their assets are.
And any unclaimed account goesto the state.
Sirisha (13:16):
Yeah,
Namrita (13:17):
exactly.
We have over 3 billion in thestate of Texas that is
unclaimed, that the state ownsbecause people don't know how to
access them.
So it is really important.
First and foremost, what I dowith my clients is actually make
sure that they have aconsolidated platform, that they
put everything together, whetherI need to see the amounts or
not, it doesn't matter.
They need to have it and theyneed to put it with their will.
(13:39):
Yes, that's really important andthat equally the husband and
wife need to know it, a lot oftimes the husband knows the wife
doesn't or vice versa a fewtimes, but we definitely want to
make sure that common knowledge
Sirisha (13:49):
is there.
Yeah, exactly.
And, I, this is important as wetalk about it.
If you're tuning in, you'relistening to live feeds, it's
Arisha, we are, we want to helpthe community help gather
experts and stuff for you tolisten.
And To them directly to getaccess instead of us having to
Google and step through this.
Colin definitely also reach outto me with ideas and suggestions
(14:12):
you might have things you mightwant to hear on the show.
You can, reach me through any ofmy social media platforms,
women, career, and life, W O M EN C A R E R N D L I F P
Facebook, mostly Instagramreally.
And.
All of those and email at gmail.
com.
So that is the best way to reachme You can also check out my
(14:33):
linkedin for questions or toping me on direct message search
for kuchimanchisirisha K U C H IM A N C H I S I R I S H A, and
as we're talking to Namrata,there's Will and trust and no
matter what you create are justpaper documents.
They don't really give anyoneinformation on what to do with
(14:55):
these pieces of paper that wehave.
It is important to have them.
Don't get me wrong.
But that's just a piece ofpaper.
If no one knows where yourassets are, where the money is,
what the accounts are, what thepasswords are.
There's so much that needs to bedone to get access to that
information.
So make sure you consolidate it.
I have to go back home and lookat where mine were because it's
been a while since I've donethis myself and look at
(15:17):
accessing it and putting ittogether and make sure you're
communicating to whoever isgoing to take care of it.
So what are some of the otherchallenges if if your children
are not minors?
What is then, what do you, whatis some of the advice you have
for someone who might have adultchildren?
Namrita (15:30):
So some of the pitfalls I see when people have adult
children they think that theycan avoid the whole process of
inheritance by adding the adultchild's name to their deeds to
the property deeds so that theycan just get them immediately.
Or they try to do jointaccounts, for their, with their
bank.
So one of the biggest risks ofthat especially for accounts is
that you're basically Po yourmoney to their risk, right?
(15:55):
If they have a creditor, theyhave a lawsuit.
Now you just basically exposedthat to them.
And if you have real estate likethat, it's the same, right?
You have homestead exemption inTexas now you've suddenly, added
your child's name to it.
Your child doesn't havehomestead on that.
You've just decreased yourprotection by half.
And you also have made sure thatwhen your child ultimately
inherits that money and.
Cells at house later.
(16:15):
You don't get what is called astep of basis.
You basically pay more capitalgain taxes.
You pay more taxes with it.
That's a more complicated topicand maybe not something I'll put
in detail here.
But the thing is that there is alot that goes, what you
mentioned about paper documents.
It's very correct.
What you get are just paperdocuments.
What is more valuable is thecounseling with it.
It's the actual advice of whyyou're doing this, what you want
(16:40):
to put in that paper and howit's going to be executed later
on, right?
What is the actual process?
And that is something mostpeople don't realize.
That's why they're like, we cando this on LegalZoom.
We can just go to online willsand we'll just have this bunch
of paper that we sign andnotarize and keep.
And they don't realize thatdoesn't avoid anything.
It just makes, gives you morecomplications.
(17:02):
I had a, one of my first clientsdid that and it took a year and
a half of probate to get herhouse to her because the house,
the will wasn't executed right.
It wasn't notarized by the rightpeople or actually witnessed by
the right people.
Because you cannot haveinterested
Sirisha (17:16):
witnesses.
Yes.
You cannot have interestedparties.
Conflict of interest.
Remember that you cannot haveyour friends and family who are
going to be part of thisexecution.
You can have friends and family.
You can't have children.
Execution practice also, right?
You can't have those folks on
Namrita (17:28):
it.
You want to make sure thatpeople who are actually
inheriting under your will arenot.
Yes, or touching
Sirisha (17:33):
it in any way.
Yeah, very true.
And the thing is the cost of theprobate must have been
incredibly high compared to whatjust off doing the will because
the gentleman Mr.
Khan called and asked us righthow much it was.
Yeah.
And
Namrita (17:45):
when people ask me that question, I'm very often I tell
them whatever I charge you isgoing to be way lesser than what
it's going to cost your familyif you don't do it right.
It'll be way lesser.
That's for sure.
So it is affordable.
Sirisha (17:57):
Exactly.
And Namrata has her own legaland a lot of you, you have to
also check a lot of companieshave benefits for legal
assistance and legal law billsand trust that, you know, to
their legal plan.
So check that out also as aresource.
That's one of the benefits ofyour company.
So if you're working for acorporation, don't let that sort
of The money go away and use itbecause it is important to have
(18:19):
these I've heard of so manyinstances of people here, people
back home who have struggledwith not having it.
And it's just, it's a lot ofpain that we create without
realizing for the people who arenot only dealing with having
lost the person that they love,but dealing with this sort of
emotional legal process that noone knows, right?
You have to find the lawyer, youhave to figure out what to do.
(18:41):
It's just a lot of hardship.
So If we can put that things inorder, then it helps us to give
others comfort, a little bit ofcomfort in the time of
Namrita (18:51):
hardship that they're going through.
Absolutely.
It is peace of mind more thananything else.
Sirisha (18:56):
Yes.
Yes.
And this might, this, this codeis so apt, death and taxes are
not avoidable.
We have to execute that.
As much as I hesitate to usethat code on a live talk show,
it is a true statement.
And we can do everything toenjoy our life and make everyone
else around us do that.
The thing is,
Namrita (19:13):
life is unpredictable and we don't want to be thinking
about this when we are dying.
Nobody wants to.
We want to do this while we arehealthy and happy and know what
we want rather than, when aperson is dying, the last thing
you want to tell them is here,go make a will, right?
You don't want to do that.
I actually was at a hospital twodays ago, Sreesha because I was
(19:35):
trying to create a will andtrust for a gentleman.
He's 85, so he's lived a goodlife.
His daughter called me at 730 inthe morning and said, we are
taking him to the hospital andhe may not live.
And the will and trust documentswere not executed.
So I actually, I took myassistant and went with, for the
notarization, everything.
I took the documents and I wentto the hospital.
You know what?
The worst part was the fact thathis daughter was not really
(20:00):
completely present with him forthe process of, what he was
going through.
All she was really worried aboutwas the will hadn't been done.
The dress hadn't been done.
What about this property andthat property?
Is that how anybody wants todie?
Yeah,
Sirisha (20:14):
I know.
It's heartbreaking.
It is.
And it's, yes, I guess totallywrong timing.
And it is.
And just my own personal story.
I did mine when my first son wasborn.
And then went and updated when Ihave a few years after my second
kid.
So if you're having children,I'm that's what I started to
have this conversation withfriends just because when you
have young children, lifehappens so many things that can
(20:36):
happen and you do not want toleave that in limbo.
The way I look at it is I don'twant the state to make my
decision for me because somebodyelse will make my decision if I
don't decide for myself.
So I want if I want to do what Ithink I want to get done, then I
have to make the decision andprepare these documents.
Namrita (20:53):
Absolutely.
If you don't have a plan, thestate has a plan for sure.
You don't like it.
You won't like it.
Sirisha (20:59):
Exactly.
So for those of you listeningin, definitely, think about will
and trust.
Namrita, why don't you shareyour number?
We have a few minutes.
So I just want to make sure whatis the number and how did the
people reach you?
So
Namrita (21:10):
the easiest way to reach me is actually through my
website is www.nodanilaw.com.
That's N as in Nancy, o T as inTom, A as in apple, N as in
Nancy, I as in India, n a wdotcom.
And there is a tab there forbook a call and you can just
click on it and add yourconvenience.
Just book a call with me.
It's a free call.
It's, it's a short introductorycall, and then we take it from
(21:31):
there.
You can also just call my officeto make an appointment.
4 6 9 9 2 9 9 4 3 9.
That's my office number.
The number that I previouslyeven the gentleman that's my
cell number and a lot of peoplewill call me on that as well.
So I'll give it to you.
It's 972 814 8620 again.
My office number is 469 929 9439and my cell number is 972 814
(21:54):
8620.
Sirisha (21:56):
Yes, and if you actually listen to radio caravan
from time to time, you probablyheard her advertisement, you
know I didn't realize it was herand a number of time.
I actually have met many yearsago through our kids Being in
the same age group, but it is awonderfully done ad so classy So
tastefully done which bringsthis right to the heart where
this mom is talking to herfriend and her son comes and
(22:17):
says mom Let's go to graduationtry and listen to it on the
radio and then you'll rememberwhat i'm talking about if you've
heard it so We've got to diveinto wills and trusts.
I just want to also let you knownext week as we are talking
about all of these topics andwe're getting ready for school.
I will have a school counselorand a speech therapist coming in
(22:38):
to talk about how do you preparechildren, how to access the
resources.
You might have elementary,middle school, high school, etc.
So much transition.
So definitely tune in number twoas we had just wrap up any
parting words for people tothink of as they're, whether
they're trying to decide whatshould push them to make that
decision to go ahead and getthis thing done.
(22:59):
The
Namrita (23:00):
Only thing I can tell you and I have told you that
before is, my tagline plan whileyou can, because honestly, if
you're alive, you're over theage of 18, you should have
something from whether it'sbasic to the most complex with
you have, you all have assets,you all have an estate, because
anything, even a Facebookaccount is something that's an
asset in the state, which needsto be somebody.
(23:22):
Ooh, they're digital assets,right?
If you think about it, you don'twant to know who's gonna get
access to that.
So everything has that.
And so it's important that youplease plan while you can,
because this is not for you,it's for your loved ones.
Just know that it's really,you're gonna be gone.
It's really how they're going tobe, taking care of themselves
when you're not there to takecare of them.
So just think about that and.
(23:43):
Don't procrastinate because itcan be late.
Yes.
And then you won't be able to do
Sirisha (23:46):
anything.
And thank you.
Thank you, nata.
This has been very good.
Do definitely reach out womencareer and life
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