Q In last week’s column a reader asked about her husband being able to change their joint trust after she dies and cut out the beneficiaries that she wants to give money to. Essentially, I think you said that yes, it would be possible. So, does this mean that if I die before my husband and he remarries, he can leave everything to his new (presumably younger) wife?

A As mentioned in that column, it is somewhat difficult to answer since trust documents vary so widely from person to person. If your joint trust is set up so that when one of you dies the trust continues for the benefit of the surviving spouse, all assets continue to be fully available for the surviving spouse and the surviving spouse retains the authority to amend (change) the trust, then yes, technically you or your husband — depending on which of you goes first — could remarry and leave everything to your new “presumably younger” spouse. As an aside, it does happen with some regularity.

Now, it is possible to set your trust up so that one-half of the assets will go into an irrevocable trust if you die first and the other half remains in your husband’s name (or in a survivor’s trust which is revocable). The irrevocable trust could not be altered, and ostensibly, those assets would remain available for your spouse during his lifetime if needed but whatever is left when he dies would go to the originally named beneficiaries. It would somewhat protect those assets from the new wife.

Speak with your attorney about the pros and cons of your estate plan and make a fully informed decision about what works best for you and your husband.

Q My mom and I had a falling out about ten years ago. At that time, she signed a will disinheriting me. Since then, we reconciled but it looks like she didn’t update the will. Now she has passed away and the attorney is saying that even though we made up and I was helping her in her last years, I will get nothing. She told friends and family that we made up and that she intended to leave me everything. What can I do?

A I am sorry for your loss. To have this kind of situation on top of the grief of losing your mom must be extremely difficult. Unfortunately, written and signed documents will, in general, trump everything else. Your mom should have revoked her will and prepared a new one. Consult with an attorney but I think you have an uphill battle on your hands. We had a situation recently where Sister One died without a will. She had no living spouse, children or parents so her estate transferred by intestate succession (probate) to her only sibling, Sister Two. We went through the entire probate and transferred all the assets to Sister Two. Shortly thereafter, we became aware of a safe deposit box held in Sister One’s name. On opening the box, we found a will that left everything to charity. We were in the unfortunate position of having to demand that Sister Two return all the assets and we then probated Sister One’s will and gave everything to the charity. The legal fees in this case were a great deal more than they should have been.

Written documents are very powerful and are virtually the only thing that can speak for us when we are not here to speak for ourselves. The moral of the story is keep your documents updated and make sure your executor or trustee knows where to find them.

Liza Horvath has over 30 years of experience in the estate planning and trust fields and is the president of Monterey Trust Management, a financial and trust Management Company. This is not intended to be legal or tax advice. If you have a question call (831) 646-5262 or email liza@montereytrust.com