My Client's Two Wishes:1. Don't Ever Cremate My Body.2. Also, Scatter My Remains Over My Favorite Hiking Trail.

[Crickets]

You get it.

It's obvious.

You can only scatter someone's remains if they're getting cremated, right?

Nobody is taking body parts like some kind of serial killer and leaving them around town.

But not every conflict in an estate plan is that obvious.

Sometimes it takes a trained eye to find the problems hiding in the document.

I recently reviewed a trust prepared by one of those out-of-state trust mills.

It contained a fascinating contradiction:

One section said:

"One trustee can revoke the trust."

The very next paragraph said:

"Two trustees are required to amend the trust."

Think about that for a second.

It takes two trustees to make a small change...

but only one trustee to completely cancel the entire trust?

That makes no sense.

And that is exactly how conflicts end up in probate court.

Not every problem jumps off the page.

Some conflicts are buried in technical language that seems perfectly reasonable until someone actually has to administer the trust.

Other provisions may not conflict with each other, but they may no longer make sense based on changes in the law.

For example, many older trusts were drafted as AB trusts because the federal estate tax exemption was much lower than it is today. An AB trust divided assets into separate "buckets" to maximize estate tax benefits.

For many people today, that structure may be unnecessary or may create additional complexity.

The point is not that every old trust is bad.

The point is that your life changes. Laws change. Your trust should make sense for the world you actually live in.

Reviewing a living trust is one of the best sleep aids I know.

Some people actually die from boredom trying to read one.

And honestly? I don't blame them.

Estate planning documents are full of words and concepts most people never encounter.

The question isn't:

"Do you have a trust?"

The better question is:

"Do you understand what your trust says?"

Because the people who need to understand it most may be the ones reading it when you are no longer there to explain it.

Talk to someone who can translate it into plain English.

You'll sleep better at night.

Or just review your trust before going to bed every night.

That works too.