Estate Planning: Last Will and Testament in Mexico

Revoking a Beneficiary in the Trust with a Will.
When finances are low and time is short due to Health Issues.

If you have property in a trust In Mexico and thought about leaving a Will to make sure that the property is received by your beneficiaries, you do not need a Will, the Trust has a Estate Planing clause that contains your instructions, I suggest that you read the trust agreement and verify that everything is ok.

If you are elder an probably facing a number of medical issues, some which could be terminal, God forbid, and your finances are modest and cannot spare paying thousands to update a trust, then you have several choices, I will just mention 2:

1. Update the trust, and yes, there ill be costs that may surely exceed $5,000 dollars plus legal fees, or

2. See a notary and leave a Last Will and Testament, where you can remove and or replace alternate beneficiaries.

Under the last of the two options, in an emergency, or if you do not want to pay the costs fees associated with modifying the fideicomiso to remove and replace the alternate beneficiaries, just see notary and mention that you own a property (or several) and that you are revoking the appointment of the beneficiary or beneficiaries in the trust and that the Last Will and Testament will prevail over any other designation or appointment mad in the trust.

Many times parents and children develop bad blood and the parents and trust owners, more so when elder and with limited funds, can save thousands by simply seeing a notary and revoking the designation of those that they named when thy created the trust.

It is critical that the trust owners make sure that the notary records he Will with the State and that the original beneficiaries are eventually informed that the parents revoked the appointments with a Will, thus the designation made in the trust becomes null and void, even if the alternate were not aware.

If you don’t need to make changes to the trust and you own cars, jewelry, family heirlooms that you wish that they are passed to your ones, have savings and or investments in Mexico, and other complexities, then it is a good idea to give a Will to govern that, but let the property remain under the control of the Real Estate Trust.

Regards.
Rafael Solorzano.

Originally published here.