Should You Get Medical Power of Attorney?

June 1, 2021

The pandemic has created awareness that being suddenly incapacitated by an illness or injury is no longer a hypothetical. The last year has reminded us that health is a fragile gift, regardless of age or any medical conditions, explains the article “Now Is the Time to Protect Your Health Care Decision Making Rights” from Kiplinger. Along with this awareness, comes an understanding that having control over our medical decisions is not assured, unless we have a well-considered health care decision-making plan created by an estate planning attorney, while we are well and healthy.

Without such a plan, in the event of incapacity, you will not have the opportunity to convey your wishes or to ensure they will be carried out. This also leaves the family in a terrible situation, where siblings may end up in court fighting against each other to determine what kind of end-of-life care you will receive.

The best way to exercise your medical decision rights will vary to some degree by your state’s laws, but three are three basic solutions to protect you. An estate planning attorney will be needed to prepare these properly, to reflect your wishes and align with your state’s law. Do-it-yourself documents may lead to more problems than they solve.

Living Will. This document is used when you are in an end-stage medical condition or permanently unconscious. It provides clear and written instructions as to the type of treatments you do or do not want to receive, or the treatment you always want to receive in case of incapacity.

Health Care Durable Power of Attorney. The health care durable POA is broader than a living will. It covers health care decisions in all situations, when you are not able to communicate your wishes. You may appoint one or more agents to make health care decisions, which they will base on their personal knowledge of what your decisions would be if you were able to speak. Just realize that if two people are named and they do not agree on the interpretation of your decision, you may have created a problem for yourself and your family. Discuss this with your estate planning attorney.

Health Care Representative Laws. There are laws in place for what occurs if you have not signed a Health Care Durable Power of Attorney or a Living Will before becoming incompetent. They are intended to fill in the gap, by authorizing certain family members to act on your behalf and make health care decisions for you. They are a solution of last resort, and not the equal of your having had the living will and/or health care durable power of attorney created for you.

If the statute names multiple people, like all of your children, there may be a difference of opinion and the children may “vote” on what’s to happen to you. Otherwise, they’ll end up in court.

The more detailed your documents, the better prepared your loved ones will be when decisions need to be made. Share your choices about specific treatments. For instance, would you want to be taken off a ventilator, if you were in a coma with limited brain function and with no hope of recovery? What if there was a slim chance of recovery? The decisions are not easy. Neither is considering such life or death matters.

Regardless of the emotional discomfort, planning for health-care decisions can provide peace of mind for yourself and loved ones.

Reference: Kiplinger (April 29, 2021) “Now Is the Time to Protect Your Health Care Decision Making Rights”

Should I Create a Trust?

May 27, 2021

Most people know that a will instructs your executor regarding where to transfer your assets when you die. You may also want to consider a trust.

Nbcnew25.com’s recent article entitled “Elder law and estate planning: What you need to know” explains that a trust can give you peace of mind that your wishes will be carried out when you pass away. Your property won’t need to go through the probate process, if it’s in a trust. Your family can focus on the grieving process without having any problems with wrapping up your estate.

In addition, financial and health care powers of attorney should also be part of your estate plan. Ask an experienced estate planning or elder law attorney to help you draft these documents to save your loved ones the worry, if you must be moved into a nursing home and are unable to make decisions for yourself.

Having the correct documents in place before you or a loved one goes into a nursing home is extremely important. With a financial power of attorney, an elder law attorney could design a Medicaid plan for someone entering a nursing home to help protect their assets.

If the correct documents aren’t in place when a loved one enters a nursing home, it could create issues—one of which is the inability to protect their assets. In that case, you may also be required to appear in front of a judge to get permission for an elder law attorney to assist in protecting assets. That request could even be denied by the judge.

For a married couple, 100% of cash assets, plus the home, can be protected, and Medicaid would cover most of the nursing home cost. This is big because the cost of nursing homes can exceed be tens of thousands of dollars every month.

For married couples, in many instances, the income of the spouse who is entering the nursing home may be able to be transferred to the spouse who still lives at home. That’s important because the spouse at home may depend on the other spouse’s income to help make ends meet.

For singles, at least 60% to 70% of cash assets, plus the home, can be protected, so that Medicaid would cover most of the nursing home cost.

Moving a loved one into a nursing home can be stressful enough, without having to worry about the cost. Help yourself and your family, by preparing the proper documents ahead of time to eliminate some of the stress.

Working with an elder law attorney who specializes in Medicaid planning is a wise move. Don’t wait until it is too late.

Have things in order, so you or a loved one can avoid any unnecessary stress and keep the assets that you’ve acquired during your lifetime.

Reference: nbcnew25.com (April 30, 2021) “Elder law and estate planning: What you need to know”

How to Protect Digital Property

May 25, 2021

When people built wealth, assets were usually tangible: real estate, investments, cash, or jewelry. However, the last year has seen a huge jump in digital assets, which includes cryptocurrency and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). Combine this growing asset class with the coming biggest wealth transfer in history, says the article “What happens to your NFTs and crypto assets after you die?” from Tech Crunch, and the problems of inheriting assets will take more than a complete search of the family attic.

One survey found only one in four consumers have someone in their life who knows the details of their digital assets, from the location of the online accounts to passwords. However, digital assets that require two factor authentication or biometrics to gain access may make even this information useless.

There are many reports about people who purchased digital assets like Bitcoin and then lost their passwords or threw away their computers. More than $250 million in client assets vanished when a cryptocurrency exchange founder died and private keys to these accounts could not be found.

Digital assets need to be a part of anyone’s estate plan. A last will and testament is used to dictate how assets are to be distributed. If there is no will, the state’s estate law will distribute assets. A complete list of accounts and assets should not be part of a will, since it becomes a public document when it goes through probate. However, a complete list of assets and accounts needs to be prepared and shared with a trusted person.

Even traditional assets, like bank accounts and investment accounts, are lost when no one knows of their existence. If a family or executor doesn’t know about accounts, and if there are no paper statements mailed to the decedent’s home, it’s not likely that the assets will be found.

Things get more complicated with digital assets. By their nature, digital assets are decentralized. This is part of their attraction for many people. Knowing that the accounts or digital property exists is only part one. Knowing how to access them after death is difficult. Account names, private keys to digital assets and passwords need to be gathered and protected. Directives or directions for what you want to happen to the accounts after you die need to be created, but not every platform has policies to do this.

Password sharing is explicitly prohibited by most website and app owners. Privacy laws also prohibit using someone else’s password, which is technically “account holder impersonation.” Digital accounts that require two factor authentication or use biometrics, like facial recognition, make it impossible for an executor to gain access to the data.

Some platforms have created a means of identifying a person who may be in charge of your digital assets, including Facebook and more recently, LinkedIn. Some exchanges, like Ethereum, have procedures for death-management. Some will require a copy of the will as part of their process to release funds to an estate, so you will need to name the asset (although not the account number).

A digital wallet can be used to store access information for digital assets, if the family is reasonably comfortable using one. A complete list of assets should include tangible and digital assets. It needs to be updated annually or whenever you add new assets.

Reference: Tech Crunch (April 5, 2021) “What happens to your NFTs and crypto assets after you die?”

Can a Person with Alzheimer’s Sign Legal Documents?

May 20, 2021

If a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or any other form of dementia, it is necessary to address legal and financial issues as soon as possible. The person’s ability to sign documents and take other actions to protect themselves and their assets will be limited as the disease progresses, so there’s no time to wait. This recent article “Financial steps to take when dealing with Alzheimer’s” from Statesville Record & Landmark explains the steps to take.

Watch for Unusual Financial Activity

Someone who has been sensible about money for most of his life may start to behave differently with his finances. This is often an early sign of cognitive decline. If bills are piling up, or unusual purchases are being made, you may need to prepare to take over his finances. It should be noted that unusual financial activity can also be a sign of elder financial abuse.

Designate a Power of Attorney

The best time to designate a person to take care of finances is before she shows signs of dementia. It’s not an easy conversation, but it is very important. Someone needs to be identified who can be trusted to manage day-to-day money matters, who can sign checks, pay bills and supervise finances. If possible, it may be easier if the POA gradually eases into the role, only taking full control when the person with dementia can no longer manage on her own.

An individual needs to be legally competent to complete or update legal documents including wills, trusts, an advanced health care directive and other estate planning documents. Once such individual is not legally competent, the court must be petitioned to name a family member as a guardian, or a guardian will be appointed by the court. It is far easier for the family and the individual to have this handled by an estate planning attorney in advance of incompetency.

An often-overlooked detail in cases of Alzheimer’s is the beneficiary designations on retirement, financial and life insurance policies. Check with an estate planning attorney for help, if there is any question that changes may be challenged by the financial institution or by heirs.

Cost of Care and How It Will Be Paid

At a certain point, people with dementia cannot live on their own. Even those who love them cannot care for them safely. Determining how care will be provided, which nursing facility has the correct resources for a person with cognitive illness and how to pay for this care, must be addressed. An elder law estate planning attorney can help the family navigate through the process, including helping to protect family assets through the use of trusts and other planning strategies.

If the family has a strong history of Alzheimer’s disease or other cognitive diseases, it makes sense to do this sort of preparation far in advance. The sooner it can be addressed, even long before dementia symptoms appear, the better the outcome will be.

Reference: Statesville Record & Landmark (April 11, 2021) “Financial steps to take when dealing with Alzheimer’s”

How Does an Inherited IRA or 401(k) Work?

May 18, 2021

The rules for inheriting retirement assets are complicated—just as complicated as the rules for having 401(k)s and IRA to begin with. Mistakes can be hard to undo, warns the article “Here’s how to handle the complicated rules for an inherited 401(k) or IRA” from CNBC.

The 2019 Secure Act changed how inherited tax deferred assets are treated after the original owner’s death. The options depend upon the relationship between the owner and the heir. The ability to stretch out distributions across the heir’s lifetime if the owner died on or after January 1, 2020 ended for most heirs. Exceptions are the spouse, certain disabled beneficiaries, or minor children of the decedent. Otherwise, those accounts must be depleted within ten years.

Non-spouses with flexibility include minor children. That’s all well and fine, but once the minor child turns 18 (in most states), the 10-year rule kicks in and the individual has 10 years to empty the account. Before that time, the minor child must take annual required minimum distributions (RMDs) based on their own life expectancy.

These required withdrawals typically begin when a retiree reaches age 72, and the amount is based on the account owner’s anticipated lifespan.

Beneficiaries who are chronically ill or disabled, or who are not more than ten years younger than the decedent, may take distributions based on their own life expectancy. They are not subject to the ten- year rule.

Beneficiaries subject to that ten-year depletion rule should create a strategy, including creating an Inherited IRA and transferring the funds to it. If the inherited account is a Roth or a traditional IRA, the process is slightly different. Distributions from a Roth IRA are generally tax-free, and traditional IRA distributions are taxed when withdrawals occur. One point about Roths—if you inherit a Roth that’s less than five years old, any earnings withdrawn will be subject to taxes, but the contributed after-tax amounts remain tax-free.

If an heir ends up with a retirement account via an estate, versus being the named beneficiary on the account, the account must be depleted within five years, if the original owner had not started taking RMDs. If RMDs were underway, the heir would need to keep those withdrawals going as if the original owner continued to live.

For spouses, there are more options. First, roll the money into your own IRA and follow the standard RMD rules. At age 72, start taking required withdrawals based on your own life expectancy. If you don’t need the income, you can leave the money in the account, where it can continue to grow. However, if you are not yet age 59½, you may be subject to a 10% early withdrawal penalty if you take money from the account. In that case, put the money into an Inherited IRA account, with yourself as the beneficiary.

IRAs and 401(k)s are complicated. Speak with your estate planning attorney to make an informed decision when creating an estate plan, so your inherited assets will work with, not against, your overall strategy.

Reference: CNBC (April 11, 2021) “Here’s how to handle the complicated rules for an inherited 401(k) or IRA”

What Emergency Documents Do I Need in Pandemic?

May 13, 2021

With the threat of COVID-19, we’ve all come face-to-face with our mortality. However, are you prepared for the worst?, asks KSAT in its January 23 article entitled, “Important documents you need to have handy in case of an emergency.”

A consumer report recently found that just 7% of those ages 19 to 29 have an advance directive for health care emergencies, and even fewer have a will. Estate planning is one of the most worthwhile things we could do for ourselves or our loved ones.

The article explains that your estate is everything you own, and if it’s not protected, it could be taken away from your loved ones.

An extremely important document to have, in addition to a will, is a living will and a healthcare proxy or power of attorney. These documents let you designate the individual who will make decisions on your behalf, if you cannot speak for yourself.

In addition, a HIPAA authorization permits an individual you trust to speak with your healthcare staff and receive your personal medical information.

Another key document is a financial power of attorney. This empowers you to designate an agent to handle your debts, contracts and assets. A financial power of attorney must be signed and notarized.

You should also consider payable on death and transfer on death designations, which transfer assets to designated beneficiaries without probate.

It is important to conduct a digital asset inventory to list your entire online presence and include all accounts, logins, passwords, social media, and professional profiles, and most importantly, a list of everything you have on autopay.

Last, you need a last will and testament. This lets you to name an executor or personal representative to handle your postmortem affairs. However, a last will does not keep assets out of probate.

One last note: you can prepare a personal property memorandum to list the beneficiaries of any sentimental, non-monetary items.

Reference: KSAT (San Antonio) (Jan. 23, 2021) “Important documents you need to have handy in case of an emergency”

Which Celebrities have Left Spouses Out of Their Wills?

May 11, 2021

However, it’s not a given that a spouse will become a decedent’s heir or guardian of their estate, says Wealth Advisor in its recent article entitled “These Celebs Cut Their Spouses Out Of Their Will.” This can make headlines because it’s so rare and appears to be cold-hearted.

Some think the first famous person to do this was William Shakespeare. The Bard gave his wife the “second-best bed” and other furniture. He bequeathed his substantial fortune to their daughter. Read about other famous spouses who were disinherited.

Ric Ocasek. In 1989, Ocasek of the Cars married supermodel Paulina Porizkova. In a May 2018 Instagram post, Porizkova announced that she and Ocasek had “peacefully separated” a year earlier. Porizkova also tried to make it clear that she felt no animosity toward Ocasek, and that their relationship had evolved over the decades. According to USA Today, the two had begun the formal process of legally divorcing, before Ocasek died in September 2019. At the time, they still lived together. When Ocasek’s will was read, it included an addendum which said, “I have made no provision for my wife Paulina Porizkova (‘Paulina’) as we are in the process of divorcing.” He added, “Even if I should die before our divorce is final… Paulina is not entitled to any elective share… because she had abandoned me.”

Larry King. The famous broadcaster who survived multiple heart attacks, quintuple bypass surgery, lung cancer, angina and COVID-19, died in January at 87. King was married seven times, the last being Shawn Southwick. They wed in 1997 at UCLA Medical Center right before he underwent heart surgery. Like so many of his other marriages, that one ended in divorce. Just after beginning divorce proceedings, King amended his will — albeit with a handwritten note expressly denying Southwick any claims to the estate he’d leave behind. In the document, King requested that his money “be divided equally among my children Andy, Chaia, Larry Jr, Chance & Cannon.” However, the divorce was never finalized, so King and Southwick were still technically married, and he purposely left her nothing. It is looking like a lawsuit between Southwick and his estate.

Mickey Rooney. Rooney was married eight times between the 1940s and 1970s, among them screen stars Ava Garner and Martha Vickers, and Jan Chamberlin, his final wife. Rooney and Chamberlin wed in 1978 but separated in 2012. They did not divorce, and they were still legally married when Mickey died at age 93 in 2014. The Los Angeles Times says that Mickey “disinherited everyone except one stepson, according to a will filed along with court papers that showed assets of just $18,000.”

Reference: Wealth Advisor (April 5, 2021) “These Celebs Cut Their Spouses Out Of Their Will”

Have Estate Planning Conversations with Aging Parents

May 6, 2021

Let’s start with this idea: maybe your parents are going to leave you a generous bequest as part of their estate plan. Do you know this for a fact, or is it wishful thinking? The only way to know, advises a recent article from Yahoo! Finance titled “How To Talk to Your Parents About Their Estate (Without Making It Awkward),” is to have a conversation, or a series of conversations. It’s not the first awkward conversation you’ll have with your parents, but it may be a bit stickier than you expect.

No matter how you approach it, this is a sensitive issue. How do you avoid appearing greedy or selfish? There is actually a lot more to know beyond the inheritance issue. You need to know how to ensure that your parents’ wishes are carried out, while they are living as well as after their deaths.

It will be helpful to be aware that the prospective inheritance amount may change over the course of your parents’ remaining lives. You also don’t want your parents thinking that you consider yourself entitled in any way to the assets they have built over the course of their lives.

Instead, start the conversation by talking about their estate plan. Explain that you want to be able to follow their instructions. You might reference an article or blog post that you have read about the importance of estate planning. You can also talk about your own estate plan, explaining that you have created an estate plan to protect your children and family members and to be sure that your instructions are followed.

Don’t be afraid to acknowledge how difficult this conversation is for you. Reassure them that you are not looking forward to their demise, but you have concerns about how things will work out when the time does come.

Depending upon your family dynamics, holidays may be a good time to address estate planning. This provides an opportunity for all family members to be included and for concerns and plans to be shared among involved siblings.

This does not mean discussing inheritances at the dinner table. Focus on what your parents’ wishes are and include a conversation about what values they would like to pass on to the next generation. If there are family histories or stories to share, this is also part of your inheritance.

Regardless of when or how you approach the topic, you do want to be sure your parents have a plan in place, so there is a path for whoever will be taking care of them and their assets. Ask if they have these key legal documents:

A Last Will, also known as a Last Will and Testament
A Power of Attorney to designate someone to make financial and legal decisions, if they are not able to do so for themselves.
A Living Will or health care directive that will designate someone who can make healthcare decisions and address end of life care for them.

Ask where your parents keep these documents, and how you can find them when the time comes. Are they in your father’s night table, or in a lockbox in the attic? If they have a financial advisor or estate planning attorney, who is that person? You’ll need to be able to access the documents and speak with their estate planning attorney.

A few awkward moments now will help all of you as your parents, and you, move through the coming stages of life.

Reference: Yahoo! Finance (March 25, 2021) “How To Talk to Your Parents About Their Estate (Without Making It Awkward)”

What Is Fair in a Second Marriage and Estate Planning?

May 4, 2021

The assets you and your second spouse bring into the marriage need to be carefully considered when revising your estate plan, says a recent article “Value of an Estate Plan Review With a Second Marriage” from Mondaq. If there are children from one or both partner’s prior marriages, those too need to be considered. If you plan on having children together, the estate plan needs to include this as well.

The best time to prepare this new estate plan would be before the wedding. This way, you can both go forward with the wedding and celebration with clear minds and hearts.

Start with a complete inventory of all assets and debts. List financial accounts, including investments, savings and checking accounts. Real estate and any personal assets, pensions and tax deferred retirement accounts should be included.

Review your wills, trusts, health care plans and directives, powers of attorney and any other estate planning documents at this time.

There may be assets that need to be retitled, and beneficiaries on all assets that permit designated beneficiaries should be updated at this time. Check to be sure a prior spouse is not the beneficiary of any life insurance or pensions. Any debts or liabilities that one partner brings to the marriage should be reviewed at this time. Comingling accounts and marriage will make both spouses responsible for each other’s debts, which should be discussed candidly.

Based on the inventory, one or the other partner may wish to have a prenuptial agreement to protect their individual financial interests. A prenuptial agreement may also be used to waive respective rights to each other’s property. These agreements are also used to serve as a means of retaining control of a business and defining premarital assets and debt.

When children are involved, decisions need to be made as to how assets are to be divided. Does one spouse want to leave their assets to their own children or to all of the children?

One way of addressing children in a second marriage is to create a separate marital trust to ensure that the new spouse receives the share of the assets you want them to have, while preserving your children’s inheritance. In the case of IRAs, it may be prudent to split them into separate IRAs among your spouse and children to protect the children’s inheritance.

When naming new beneficiaries, be aware that your new spouse may have mandatory rights to certain assets, such as qualified retirement plans. The only person who can inherit a Health Savings Account (HSA) without it becoming taxable, is your spouse. Remember to change this from your former spouse to the new spouse. Naming your children as the beneficiary would cause the account to be taxable on your death.

An estate planning attorney who has worked with second and subsequent marriages can help facilitate a discussion about structuring an estate plan. Working with a professional who knows how these situations are resolved can be a great help in getting the process started and keeping it moving forward.

Reference: Mondaq (March 2, 2021) “Value of an Estate Plan Review With a Second Marriage”

Should I Name a Living Trust Beneficiary of a Roth IRA?

April 29, 2021

The simple answer is yes, a living trust can be the beneficiary of a Roth IRA. However, without knowing more about an individual’s specific circumstances, it’s hard to know if this is a wise move.

A November 2018 article from NJ Money Help entitled, “Be careful when choosing a beneficiary,” explains that there are several things you need to know when considering a living trust as the beneficiary of a Roth IRA.

By designating a living trust as your beneficiary, the distributions from the Roth at your death will become mandatory based on the life expectancy of the oldest beneficiary named in the trust.

This is an important point if you’re currently married. That’s because you’ll forfeit the ability for a spousal rollover, by naming the trust as your beneficiary.

Current law permits IRAs to be passed to a spouse as a beneficiary, and the spousal beneficiary can treat the account as if it was their own IRA.

In the case of a Roth IRA, this means the surviving spouse can continue to defer distributions tax-free for their lifetime.

By naming the living trust as beneficiary, this benefit is lost no matter if your spouse is one of the living trust beneficiaries.

Why?

Distributions are required to begin immediately, if the beneficiary is anyone other than a spouse.

Thus, you would forgo the ability to allow the funds to continue to grow tax-free for a longer period of time.

You should talk about this with an experienced estate planning attorney. He or she will be able to look at your entire financial situation before you determine if this is a wise move for you.

Reference: NJ Money Help (Nov. 2018) “Be careful when choosing a beneficiary”

Estate Planning Blog

Serving Clients Throughout North Central Missouri

Should You Get Medical Power of Attorney?

Should I Create a Trust?

Can a Person with Alzheimer’s Sign Legal Documents?

How Does an Inherited IRA or 401(k) Work?

What Emergency Documents Do I Need in Pandemic?

Which Celebrities have Left Spouses Out of Their Wills?

Have Estate Planning Conversations with Aging Parents

What Is Fair in a Second Marriage and Estate Planning?

Should I Name a Living Trust Beneficiary of a Roth IRA?

SUBSCRIBE!

RECENT POSTS

Should You Get Medical Power of Attorney?

Should I Create a Trust?

Can a Person with Alzheimer’s Sign Legal Documents?

How Does an Inherited IRA or 401(k) Work?

What Emergency Documents Do I Need in Pandemic?

Which Celebrities have Left Spouses Out of Their Wills?

Have Estate Planning Conversations with Aging Parents

What Is Fair in a Second Marriage and Estate Planning?

Should I Name a Living Trust Beneficiary of a Roth IRA?

Categories

Contact Us