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Ways to Give Back this Holiday Season

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volunteers with boxes

Charitable donations are a way to spread the holiday spirit and practice generosity. We encourage clients to make donations to causes they truly believe in.

The values of philanthropy can be a part of your estate plan through charitable donations. Making donations through your estate plan can also reduce tax liability for yourself, your estate, and your loved ones. Including giving in your estate plan can inspire your loved ones to follow your legacy, and you can set an example for generations after to be charitable, volunteer, and display empathy in everyday life.

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Comparing Estate Planning to a Snowstorm

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snowstorm with a bridge and car

Living in New England, snowstorms are extremely common in the winter. When I was a child, a snowstorm meant no school, drinking hot cocoa, and building snowmen in the front yard. As an adult, snowstorms can be irritating and disruptive, especially when you have a long driveway to clear. Snowstorms can be unexpected and if you do not have a winter jacket, heat, or a shovel to help you out, you may be in trouble.

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Why Have a Family Care Meeting™?

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family walking in a field of grass together

by Kristin Carroll

Communication is key, and this is your chance!

We get asked about our Family Care MeetingTM a lot these days.  Everything from when can I schedule mine to what’s the point?  The first question is easy, if you’re a client and you’ve signed your estate plan, give us a call, we’d love to schedule a Family Care MeetingTM for you and your trusted advisors or loved ones!  The second question might take a little more explaining.

We often ask our clients, when do you need an estate plan to help care for your family?  The somewhat morbid answer is, of course, when you’re no longer around to care for them yourself.  Someone else is going to have to administer the plan you created; you won’t be able to do that.  Doesn’t it make sense that they have some idea what it’s going to look like before they need to be involved?

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New Proposed Tax Law May Dramatically Affect Massachusetts Estate Tax Planning – Part 2: Eliminating the Step-Up in Basis at Time of Death

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Last week we addressed how new proposed tax law may lower the federal gift and estate tax threshold and prohibit current gifting strategies to lower Massachusetts estate taxes, as well as the window right now to take advantage of those current strategies.  If you did not get a chance to read that blog, go check it out here.

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Talking With Your Family About Your Estate Plan

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Family Estate Planning Law Group’s Family Care Meeting™ is a great way to begin talks with your family about your estate plan. By bringing together your team, which can include your loved ones, our attorney team, a financial advisor, accountant, or any other professional you want included, the Family Care Meeting™ opens up communication, facilitating the conversation and answering questions from all those involved.

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Infographic: What to Consider When Choosing a Guardian for Your Children

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It can be difficult to plan for the unthinkable, but if you have minor children, not only is choosing a guardian a “must-do,” it can also afford you peace of mind. You may find choosing a guardian to be challenging, but it does not need to be overwhelming. In a recent blog post, we went over some aspects to consider when choosing a guardian and we’ve also compiled them into an infographic for you.

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Top Ten Estate Planning Mistakes You Can Make During Covid-19: And How You Can Avoid Them – Part 3

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This is Part 3 of the Top Ten Mistakes blog series.  Click here to catch up on Part 1 and here for Part 2.

Today we’re going to wrap up our series on the mistakes we often see in estate planning.  While we’re all about planning here at Family Estate Planning Law Group (it’s even in our name), we know that some plans work better than others.  Here are our last three reasons why:

Mistake #8: My Estate Planning Attorney Does Not Need to Know My Other Advisors

Many people come to this conclusion because they know that if their estate planning attorney spends an hour talking to their financial planner, they are going to get billed for it.  Perhaps you have learned this the hard way.  While financial planners, CPAs, insurance professionals, and attorneys practicing in other areas all concentrate on different things, they often overlap, particularly when it comes to your estate plan.  Doesn’t it make sense for your team of professionals to start talking to each other now, instead of having to try to figure it out once you are not around to make decisions to clarify things anymore?

The solution to this problem is both simple and challenging.  The simple part is to get your team of professionals talking to each other now.  The challenging part is to find professionals who won’t charge you by the hour.  Working with an estate planning attorney with an ongoing care program allows you to feel confident that they are coordinating with the people they need to in order to make sure your plan is going to work without always having to worry about what the bill is going to be at the end. [Read more…]

Top Ten Estate Planning Mistakes You Can Make During Covid-19: And How You Can Avoid Them – Part 2

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This is Part 2 of the Top Ten Mistakes blog series.  Click here to catch up on Part 1.

In our last blog, we discussed the first four mistakes you can make: Procrastination, assuming wills or trusts avoid probate, leaving assets to a child or special needs beneficiary (directly), and assuming trusts take away beneficiary control.  Today we’ll look at the next three.

Mistake #5: Not Organizing Your Information During the Pandemic

Have you organized all your financial records, deeds, tax information, insurance information, and estate planning documents in one secure place or central location? Does your family know where that is?  Do they know what medications you take or who your doctors are?  How about your lawyers, accountants, or financial planners?  These are all things you might want to consider at any time, but they are especially critical now during this pandemic when things can change quickly.

If your financial information and records are not organized before death or disability (by you, the person who knows where everything is), your loved ones can be left with a morbid scavenger hunt trying to find and recreate financial information and records during an emotionally difficult time.  This may keep them from being able to make timely, important financial decisions.  Your family will not be able to handle your affairs, take care of you, or advocate on your behalf during the pandemic if they can’t find your information or do not have legal authority to do so.

The solution to this mistake is to work with an estate planning attorney who has an ongoing care program.  Here at Family Estate Planning Law Group, our initial intake process helps you to identify all your assets as well as the team of professionals that you work with.  We then track any changes because it doesn’t matter what you own today; it matters what you own when you die or become incapacitated.

In addition to working with an attorney with a client care program, we also suggest having a Family Care MeetingTM where you invite your caregivers (children) and your professionals (financial planners, CPAs, etc.) to discuss your plan so everyone understands how it will work.

Finally, we love the “Grab and Go” Kit suggested by Healthassist which you can check out here.  It’s a list of things you might want to have readily available in case you get suddenly ill and have to go to the hospital during this pandemic. [Read more…]

Top Ten Estate Planning Mistakes You Can Make During Covid-19: And How You Can Avoid Them – Part 1

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We’ve been talking a lot recently about the mistakes we see in estate planning because now, more than ever, we are finding that people feel uncertain, and they want to know their loved ones are secure.  Despite the best of intentions, sometimes estate plans just don’t work because they were not set up or maintained properly (or you never had one to begin with).  While we all want to feel good about our planning, we also want to make sure it is not a false sense of security.  The next few blogs will address the mistakes we often see, and how you can make sure that you don’t fall prey to them!

Mistake #1: Procrastination

One of the biggest and most common mistakes that we see in estate planning is procrastination.  For many, creating an estate plan (or updating the one they did 15 years ago) is something they are always meaning to get to but never actually do.  The biggest mistake you can make is not having an estate plan, because the probate court has one for you.  And for those who do have a plan, their biggest mistake may be not having looked at it in years.  Changes in the law, changes in what you own, family changes, job changes, changing your residence, and changing your wishes can all keep an old plan from being effective if it is not updated.  In our experience, most estate plans fail because they do not reflect what you want to have happen now.

The solution to this mistake is simple: create an estate plan or update your existing estate plan.  Even if you are not quite sure who you want involved or the exact details you want to be included in your plan, someone who specializes in estate or elder law planning will be able to help you with that.  Additionally, if you work with a firm that has an ongoing care program, you can always update your plan if you change your mind or if your situation changes. [Read more…]

Reasons You Might Not Accept an Inheritance and Denying It

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Although most of us probably cannot even imagine a scenario where we would refuse an inheritance, there are actually situations where it would make sense. Some of these situations include:

  • The property left to you could require significant upkeep, therefore significant financial outlay. A property could have extremely high property taxes or insurance, or an older home could require so much upkeep that it is simply not financially feasible to accept the gift.
  • Accepting the inheritance could potentially interfere with your eligibility for a necessary government assistance program.
  • The inheritance may generate a level of tax obligation that you are simply not able to pay.
  • You might want the property left for you to go to another person.
  • You could be contemplating filing for bankruptcy and do not want the property to be sold to pay your creditors or have it otherwise interfere with your bankruptcy proceedings.
  • You could be thinking about divorce and do not want to take the chance that the inheritance could be subject to the marital property division laws in your state.
  • You simply may not like the item left to you or want the inheritance.

[Read more…]

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Family Estate Planning Group
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Lynnfield, MA 01940

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