The two areas of financial goals that we are concerned about with regards to estate planning are non-tax financial goals and tax-related financial goals.  Here, we’ll focus on the former which include preserving your business’s value, increasing your financial options with regard to your estate, securing all financial options for your surviving spouse, minimizing non-tax transfer costs, and maintaining adequate liquidity.  By minimizing your tax burden your financial goals with regard to taxes ought to include:

• Businesses: If business owner’s don’t plan properly, the value of the  business could take a nose dive after the owner’s death.  One can be sure to maintain this value by using buy-sell agreements when there are multiple owners.  In the buy-sell agreement one would spell out the distribution of the business upon one of the owner’s deaths.  These agreements are commonly funded with life insurance polices.
• Estate: What you want to remember is that it is important to make your liquid assets as easy a possible for your heirs to access after your death.  You can do this by using certain types of trusts, payable on death designations for bank accounts and transfer on death designations for brokerage accounts.
• Surviving Spouse: Keep in mind that in order to be sure that your spouse won’t be plummeted with a lot of taxes upon your death is to create a trust for the surviving spouse that gives him or her access to both the income and the principle of the trust.  One way to be sure you’re paying as little as possible in fees and costs for your estate planning is to include substitutes, such as taking a title to property with joint tenancy with right of survivorship.
• Liquidity: It is imperative to set aside enough cash within your estate to take care of all the immediate non-tax and tax costs of settling an estate.  Cash, and cash equivalents, may include money market accounts, IRAs, and other investments that can be easily converted to cash.  With regard to cash related concerns post death, they are most commonly met with life insurance policies during the planning of your estate plan.

The Minko Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Estate planning is right for just about everyone.  It is not only for the very rich or very old any more.  Even though you may not be wealthy, some degree of planning will probably be necessary.  Here are some examples:

Minors: Parents need to legally indicate who they wish to care for their children after they die and more specifically how that care will be provided financially.  These provisions are normally made in your will.

Assets in multiples states: By having an estate plan in place, those people with real estate in a second state are able to avoid what is called ancillary probate, in which an additional probate process must be completed in that second state.

Small businesses: Entrepreneurs must determine what they would like to have happen to their share in the business – will it be passed on to your heirs or sold.  If it is to be sold, you need to ascertain that your share in the estate will be marketable at the time of your death.

Taxes: Some estates are large enough to require that taxes be paid upon death, in which case this is a payment that you will have to plan for.  Moreover, you will want to secure enough liquid assets to avoid the forced sale of estate assets.  This is regularly done through life-insurance planning.

Bequeathing: If you don’t specify how you want to divide your assets, the state will do so as part of the probate process.

High-liability: If your occupation positions you as a high risk  for being sued or for defending a creditors claims, estate planning will help protect your assets.  Doctors are excellent candidates for this type of planning.

Spouses: If your spouse is not a U.S. citizen, it will behoove you to provide for your spouse’s death.  The marital deduction will not be an option for you in most cases for a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen.

Disability: If you think you may become disabled, you’ll want to designate a surrogate decision maker as part of your estate planning process.  Therefore, your surrogate decision maker can provide medical and financial indications for you.  Another consideration may be to plan for potential Medicaid eligibility as part of your course.

The Minko Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Most people are familiar with the arduous experience that happen’s after a person’s death.  If you don’t have experience with it first hand than you’ve probably at least heard of this process which is called probate.  In Latin the word probate means “to prove.”  When there is a will, you must go to court so the judge may prove or determine that the will is valid.  There are several important things that you need to be able to prove:

• The document you are presenting is indeed the will that the person intended to be presented as his or her last will and testament.
• The person whose will you are presenting is indeed dead.
• The will you are presenting has not been revoked.
• The will was appropriately executed and valid in the state in which it was executed.

Every state has distinct laws regarding probate, however in general terms these things can always be proved via an affidavit by the person appointed in the will as the deceased person’s personal representative.  That representative is called an executor (male) or and executrix (female).

Whenever a person dies without a will or with a will found to be invalid or incomplete, there is still probate and in most states there are additional concerns that must be researched and determined:

• Was the deceased married and survived by his or her spouse?
• Was the deceased survived by lineal descendants?
• Were the deceased children also the lineal descendants of the deceased’s spouse?
• Does the deceased have lineal descendants who are not the lineal descendants of the deceased’s surviving spouse?

The Minko Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

I had the pleasure of chatting with one of our clients who was at our office a couple of days ago for a final signing appointment. Her daughter was with her for support. It was a wonderful feeling for me to see how happy they both were to have her estate plan complete.

Anthony quizzed me, “Brooke, how old do you think Ms. So-and-so is?”

“Seventy-nine?” I stated pretty confidently. With my background as Director of Lifestyles at various retirement communities, I have come in close contact with hundreds of senior citizens. Therefore, my best guess at her age was actually based on the average senior that I have worked with. But I know better than most people that age is just as much a matter of attitude as anything else… if not more. There are very old sixty-nine year seniors and I have also met many very young at heart eighty-niners.

As it turned out, this client is actually eighty-nine years of age, which did surprise me. She stood upright and walked with fantastic posture and grace. She had an outfit that was well put together and her hair and makeup was groomed very nicely. But perhaps most noticeable was that when she spoke, she spoke with confidence, a big smile, and a twinkle in her eye.

During our chat, I asked her what her secret to her longevity and successful aging was. She quickly responded that involvement in community, faith in a higher power and surrounding herself with friends have all been important to staying young. This client of ours is an inspiration at eighty-nine years old and she’s living with such a fantastic attitude.

The Minko Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

A common mistake that many people make is leaving a Last Will and Testament that is obviously out of date. No one is above it, not even the rich and famous. As a matter of fact, they make great examples. The following two cases portray the importance of keeping a current Last Will and Testament and are examples of the potential and costly ramifications that can haunt our legacy.

In 1953, Robert F. Kennedy (“Bobby”) named his brother, John F. Kennedy as successor guardian of his children. However, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy ten years later, Bobby never amended his Will. When Bobby was himself assassinated just five years after his brother’s death this could have turned into a difficult situation. Incidentally, Bobby’s Will was written for a scenario just as this. If any of the executors failed to act, then there were specific persons listed to take the role.

It may seem strange that Bobby, a lawyer, failed to restate his Will after John was killed in 1963. Taking this a step further, it is even more baffling because Bobby was not just any attorney, but none other than the Attorney General of the United States of America. In my own practice, I have often come across lawyers that are remiss in maintaining current estate plans. Perhaps for Bobby, like most over-worked attorneys, his personal affairs took a back seat.

In 2001, Ted Ammon’s was murdered in his mansion in East Hampton, New York. Although he had been going through an obnoxious and nasty divorce, this rich kid never updated the Will that he had signed in 1995, before the divorce and before his murder. The Will left his wife, Generosa, everything. Generosa would have been entitled to nothing once the divorce was finalized. It never was.

At 45 pages long, Ted Ammon’s Will was the best money could find. At the time of his murder, he was still legally married to Generosa, and his Will was valid and admitted to probate. However unfortunate, his Will was out of date. One can’t help but wonder what was going through the minds of Mr. Ammon and his fine and fancy lawyer’s when they failed to revise his Will despite his imminent divorce. Let these stories be a word to the wise: Don’t put off until tomorrow, the will that you can update today.

The Minko Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When it comes to Estate Planning what do most Americans have in common? A disproportionate amount die without a valid Last Will and Testament. Once dead, the court files about their estates state that they died intestate — that is, without a valid Last Will and Testament. These files, all of which are public record (which is surprising to most) can make for fascinating reading.

For the majority of Americans who die without a valid Will, this creates unnecessary expenses, avoidable problems, and horrific taxes. Moreover, without a Will, the state determines who will get your assets, when they will get them, and who is to administer your estate and take care of any minors.

Most people have their own reasons for not leaving a Will. But, sometimes the Will exists but cannot be located. Other times, relatives or friends with reasons of their own are able to make a Will conveniently “vanish” if it does not benefit them. Lastly, Wills are sometimes lost when a lawyer moves offices and files are misplaced as a result.

The good news is this: there are other options. You can develop a trust during your lifetime that owns all of your assets; immediately upon your death the assets in the name of the trust are transferred to those you have indicated for such. In this instance the trust sidesteps the court procedure in which a Will is proved to be valid or invalid as determined by the judge. This process is known as probate.

In the end, those who fail to plan, plan to fail. This couldn’t be more true with regards to estate planning. In sum, the first, and most important thing to remember is that having absolutely no plan is a big mistake.

The Minko Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Estate Planning is the indication of  all the rights, titles, and interests that you have in the property you own.  When devising your estate plan you’ll want to keep in mind the accrual of your property, how you would like to maintain it’s value, and lastly how your estate will be disseminated upon your death.  Meanwhile, give careful thought to the most operative approach, keeping both tax and non-tax goals in mind.

Estate planning and financial planning overlap in some areas, including income-tax planning, investment planning, insurance planning, and retirement planning.  The three foremost objectives of estate planning in include: preserving the wealth that has been passed down through previous generations, using the wealth as desired during your lifetime, and passing on to your heirs the greatest possible amount of that wealth after your death.

There are, of course, several key words that are unique to estate planning.  They will be covered further in the future, but here is a brief overview: “Probate” means to prove…proving who is entitled to get the property if the person who died did not make that clear before his or her death either via a will or some type of trust.  “Testator” (male) and “testatrix” (female) refer to people who leave a valid will upon their death.  “Intestacy” is what an estate is called if there is no will.  Partial intestacy means the will did not effectively dispose of all the assets.

Three types of property classifications are generally used in estate planning: Real property includes land and any permanent improvements on that land.  Tangible personal property includes property other than real estate that has a value because of its physical existence.  This includes such things as cars, furniture, and collectibles.  Intangible personal property includes property that you can’t touch but that has a value because of the legal rights you hold.  This can include a stock certificate or an installment note but can also include copyrights, patents, and other intellectual property rights.

The Minko Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability among children and young adults in the United States. Each year, an estimated 1.5 million Americans sustain a TBI. That’s 8 times the number of people diagnosed with breast cancer and 34 times the number of new cases of HIV/AIDS each year.  As a consequence:

• 50,000 people die each year.
• 230,000 people are hospitalized annually and survive.
• 80,000 to 90,000 people experience the onset of long-term disability each year.
• The cumulative result is that today an estimated 5.3 million people – 2% of the U.S. population – are living with a permanent TBI-related disability.

There are assistance programs designed to help disabled people who have little or no income by providing cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.  For a brain injured person to qualify and continue to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues – Medicaid, and other such programs, severe restrictions exist on the value of assets the disabled person may own.

An inheritance or life insurance benefit left to a brain injured person may threaten their eligibility.  Moreover, when an accident is involved, an insurance settlement could further complicate things, drastically posing a problem for their eligibility.

A Special Needs Trust will protect the brain injured person’s eligibility for these assistance programs while at the same time securing assets for long term care.  This is a unique kind of trust which holds title to property for the benefit of a child or adult who has a disability. Moreover, it can be used to provide for the needs of a disabled person by supplementing benefits received from various governmental assistance programs.  A Special Needs Trust as with any trust is effective because it gets assets out of your name legally and such as cash, personal property, or real property, or can even be the beneficiary of life insurance proceeds.

At Minko Law Office, all of our trusts include emergency provisions which state that the trust converts to a special needs trust if required.  For example, should a trustor die, leaving an inheritance to a special needs beneficiary without first updating their trust, in this instance the trust would automatically revert to a Special Needs Trust to protect the beneficiary from losing their benefits due to now owning a larger value of assets.

Just as heart-wrenching as it was, the example of Terri Schiavo demonstrates for us how crucial it is to make our wishes known in a living will before we are in a position where we are not able to is very important. In recognition of Brain Injury Awareness Month, sit down with your attorney and put your wishes in writing.

source: www.tbirecovery.org

The Minko Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

New blog posts coming soon!

The Minko Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.