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Possible Law Changes for the End Of 2019

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Family walking down their street with a stroller and toddlerAs with every year, there are certain law changes that are proposed and may or may not be enacted.  Two very important and potentially very impactful issues have come to light in the last several months that may affect all estate plans in general. For clients of Family Estate Planning Law Group, please be sure to read on regarding our recommendations for reviewing and updating your estate plans as part of your client care program membership in light of these potential law changes.

The first potential change is the SECURE Act. The SECURE Act, or Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, contains 29 provisions with the goal of helping our country overcome the retirement crisis by seeking to prevent Americans from outliving their assets by increasing access to tax-advantaged accounts. This act was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year and will make sweeping changes to qualified retirement assets and procedures. To learn more about the act click here.

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Millennials Complicated Relationship with Estate Planning

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A group of young adults at a coffee shop, on laptopsIn the year 2019, Millennials are between 23-38 years old. This generation have often been criticized for not taking on the responsibilities of older generations at the same age, as they have in the past. I may be particularly biased, but as millennial myself I, do not necessarily disagree, however the answer to this question of a collective generational immaturity is more nuanced than a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

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Picking a Power of Attorney and Keeping the Peace

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A hand signing a contractMaking the decision about which family member will take on the responsibility of power of attorney may be a little easier, if you have a clear understanding of what the role entails. Your estate planning attorney has seen every possible family dynamic and will be able to help you work through this decision.

Considerable’s recent article, “How to assign power of attorney without sparking a family feud,” gives us some idea how the power of attorney can work within a family and among siblings.

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How Life Insurance Works During Retirement

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people typing on tablets and laptopsMost of us think about life insurance as income replacement for a breadwinner’s salary. That is certainly true. However, life insurance doesn’t stop being useful during the later years, says Kiplinger in a recent article, “Don’t Overlook Advantages of Making Insurance Part of Your Retirement Plan.”

The income replacement function doesn’t go away during retirement. It might even be more important.

When a spouse passes away during retirement, the surviving spouse frequently struggles financially. Some living expenses might be less when there’s just one person in a household, but the reduction in costs rarely makes up for the drop in income. One of the two Social Security checks the couple was getting goes away, and a pension payment may also be lost or reduced 50% or 75%. Life insurance can be leveraged to make certain there’s sufficient cash to compensate for that missing income. This lets the surviving spouse maintain his or her standard of living in retirement.

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How Trusts Solve Problems in Estate Planning

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person putting puzzle pieces togetherAt its essence, a trust is essentially a contract that permits a third party, called the trustee, to hold assets on behalf of a beneficiary. The trustee has a fiduciary duty to the beneficiary, that is, the trustee must put the beneficiary’s needs first. The trust document is drafted to address issues like how and when assets pass to the beneficiaries, what conditions must be met for the beneficiaries to receive assets, etc.

Because trusts usually avoid probate if assets are owned by or aligned with the trust, the beneficiaries can get access to these assets more quickly than they might if the assets were transferred using a will. If it’s an irrevocable trust, it may not be considered part of the taxable estate, which means there will be fewer taxes due at your death.

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How the Blended Family Benefits from an Estate Plan

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group holding hands walking in front of sunset in oceanAn article from The University Herald, “The Challenges and Complexities of Estate Planning for Blended Families, ” clarifies some of the major issues that blended families face. When creating or updating an estate plan, the parents need to set emotions aside and focus on their overall goals.

Estate plans should be reviewed and updated, whenever there’s a major life event, like a divorce, marriage or the birth or adoption of a child. If you don’t do this, it can lead to disastrous consequences after your death, such as unintentionally leaving all your assets to an ex-spouse.

If you have children from previous marriages, make sure they inherit the assets you desire after your death. When new spouses are named as sole beneficiaries on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and other accounts, they aren’t legally required to share any assets with the children. [Read more…]

Getting to the Heart of Estate Planning

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open scrapbook with person reaading itMore often than not, I spend my time caught up in the weeds of estate planning. Much of my writing and speaking about estate planning tends to focus on a specific topic: trusts, wills, asset alignment, etc. However, every once in awhile, I am reminded of the why of it all. At Family Estate Planning Law Group, we constantly return to the concept of “taking care of families”. It is easy to forget what you are actually doing as the mountains of paperwork requiring your signature pile up, as you get into the minutia of it all. However, when one takes a step back and remembers what they are working hard to protect, all of the details suddenly become a lot more clear. There are two big concepts that come into play when it comes to your estate plan:

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How Advance Directives Are Used When the Diagnosis is Dementia

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Two hands holding a roseWhen adult children suspect that one or both of their parents may be suffering from the early symptoms of dementia, it’s a good idea to sit down with an experienced elder care attorney to start planning for the legal issues that will follow, says The Roanoke Times in the article “What to do in absence of advance directive.”If the parent is unwilling to cooperate, the attorney will be able to refer the family to a social worker or other professional who may be able to assist. In addition, a geriatric evaluation consultation with a board-certified geriatrician will help to clarify the medical issues.

It’s wise for anyone older than 55 to have advance directives in place, should they become incapacitated so a trusted agent can fulfill the patient’s wishes in a dignified manner. Think ahead and plan ahead.

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End of Life Measures Get Complicated with Shared Legal Powers

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Black and white photo of two people holding hands

Simple things get complicated in blended families. It’s often the nature of the beast. The idea that stepchildren and a spouse will work together to make health care decisions when their parent is ill, seems reasonable. However, what happens when the spouse and stepchildren differ on what is best?

A recent article from the Grand Forks Herald, “Joint power of attorney complicated this couple’s wishes,”shares the story of what happened to one woman when her elderly husband was injured and then contracted pneumonia in the nursing home. His wife alerted her adult stepchildren, who rarely visit, and they immediately arrived to help out.

While she initially hoped that their arrival would be a comfort, the children had their own idea about what was best for their father. They basically took control of the situation and negated their father’s health care documents. They had him sent back to the hospital, thinking that would be best for his overall health.

Arriving at the hospital, the woman reported that her husband was weaker from the transfer and confused about why he was back in the hospital.

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Cancer Patients and Estate Planning

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empty hospital roomIf you’ve faced a serious illness, like cancer, had a heart attack or live with a chronic disease, it is especially important that you have an estate plan created, or updated. An estate plan includes several documents that will make it easier for your loved ones to care for you, while you are alive, as well as if your illness should become fatal. It’s not a pleasant thing to think about, but necessary, nonetheless.

The Santa Maria Times’ recent article on this subject asks, “What is the importance of estate planning, advance health care directives?” As the article explains, estate planning is just having a plan in place that addresses how you’d like to see your estate—including assets, pensions, real estate, and more—distributed, in the event of incapacitation or death.

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