Make 2017 the Year You Complete Your Estate Plan!

The start of the New Year almost always brings with it new goals and resolutions.  So, what is the best way to meet these goals head-on and successfully complete them?  Oftentimes, the key is in not taking one giant leap, but small steps, providing us the best possible chance to succeed!

 

With estate planning, adopt a similar approach.  Taking manageable steps can make all the difference between completing your estate plan and giving yourself and your family peace of mind, and putting it off for another year, potentially putting your loved ones at risk in the event something happens to you.  Here are just a few benefits of putting an estate plan in place:

 

Nominate an individual you trust to make health care decisions:  Nominating a trusted individual who knows your health care wishes can ensure your desires are followed.  Without planning ahead, your family is likely to have to go to Court before making health care decisions on your behalf, incurring additional money and time during an already stressful period.

 

Name someone to manage your financial affairs if you are unable to do so:  Executing a Financial Power of Attorney ensures your financial affairs continue seamlessly during your life and any legal decisions can be made on your behalf.  In the absence of a Financial Power of Attorney, no one can legally make these decisions for you, whether that person is a spouse, a child, or a close friend.

 

Provide for your children and loved ones from future potential creditors, predators, and unnecessary taxes:  Protecting your loved ones from others and sometimes themselves, can ensure your desires are followed.  A proper plan promotes family harmony upon your passing by making the process proceed smoothly without undue stress and delays.

 

Protect your assets, both during your lifetime and after:  Planning ahead can make all the difference in protecting your most cherished assets for yourself and your family members.  Advanced planning options to protect assets in the event of a need for advanced health care expenses may be warranted to protect your assets.

 

To take the first step toward giving yourself peace of mind and a lasting legacy come to our free educational seminar being held in the Village of Hilbert Community Room on Saturday, February 4th at 10:00 AM.  We will be providing an overview of how a properly drafted comprehensive estate plan can save your family time, money, and promote harmony among your beneficiaries.  Please call or e-mail our Client Services Director Sandie at sandie@epgwi.com to reserve your spot today!

 

 

For more information about this seminar and our upcoming events, go to www.TheEstatePlanningGroup.com today!

Timing is Everything in Legal Life Planning!

With Christmas fast approaching and the New Year practically upon us, discussions of goals and resolutions for the upcoming year frequently come up.  Invariably, when legal life planning is discussed, many times a "We'll do that next year" approach is adopted.

The legal life planning process, though, can only fully use all available tools if sufficient time exists.  Adequate preparation can mean the difference between having options and protecting your assets versus facing additional expenses and headaches down the road.

One of the best ways to plan ahead is to formally nominate someone to make health care and financial decisions for you when you are unable to communicate those desires.  Failing to execute Health Care and Financial Power of Attorney documents can result in your loved ones being forced to go to court, spending time and oftentimes thousands of dollars, to gain such authority.

Planning ahead about how best to pass your assets can also help ensure a smooth process for your chosen beneficiaries, while minimizing administrative costs.  Wills and other non-probate tools, like a payable-on-death (POD) designation or a life estate deed are often used, but other legal options, like a revocable trust, may deserve consideration too.

When attempting to protect assets from a future need for a nursing home stay and qualify for the government program that pays for such care ("Medicaid"), planning ahead is especially critical.

If you have gifted or sold any assets for less than fair market value within 5 years of trying to qualify, the Medicaid system requires the difference to be repaid before you qualify (the "5-year look back period").  Putting in place legal tools now to safeguard those assets before a need for nursing home care arises can avoid this issue.

Timing is everything in legal life planning!  Protections to put in place now to protect yourself and your loved ones will be discussed at our first seminar of the new year on Saturday, January 14^th at 10:30 a.m.  This seminar will be held at the Weyers-Hilliard Library in Green Bay.  More details can be found here:  http://www.theestateplanninggroup.com/event/life-and-legacy-planning-weyers-hilliard/

From all of us at Davidson Law Office and The Estate Planning Group, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!

Asset Protection May Not Be A Good D-I-Y Project

I like to point out how Do-It-Yourself lawyering can be very costly - when it comes to protecting your family and your assets, it is really an area where people can be penny-wise and pound foolish. Unfortunately, when you or your family need the protection of a well constructed plan is when the shortcomings will be sorely felt. 

Individuals and businesses will sometimes take steps in order to protect some of their assets from potential liabilities and/or creditors. Asset protection planning is nothing new, and, if done right by an experienced professional can be legal, ethical and provide the desired security.

The Courts, however, are none too pleased to see people playing shell games solely for the sake of hiding an asset. There is a whole set of Federal and State statutes which deal specifically with the concept of a "fraudulent conveyance" or fraudulent transfer of assets. In bankruptcy proceedings, for example, any transfer of assets occurring within a specified time of the bankruptcy filing will be scrutinized and will often be voided, bringing the asset back into the pool available to the bankruptcy creditors.

The Do-It-Yourself brand of asset protection can sometimes take amusing turns. As this December 23 decision of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals illustrates, you can't give away your asset and have it, too! Although Jezeski v. Jezeski involves a transfer to protect assets from an ex-spouse in a divorce proceeding, the decision bears import with regard to evading creditors of any kind.

Stanley Jezeski was about to divorce his wife, Rosalie, so he "gave" a parcel of land to his brother, Thomas, under a contract that called for Thomas to "sell" the land back after the divorce was finalized. The idea was that Stanley would go through the divorce, lose whatever he had to lose, but get to keep his prized parcel of land.

Once the divorce was final, Stanley wanted his land back (can you see where this is going?), but Tom said "no can do, mon frere." As it turns out, Thomas refused to honor the contract and decided to keep the land for himself. So Stanley sued his brother Tom to enforce the contract.

Ultimately, Rosalie did not get the land, but then, neither did Stanley. The Court held that Stanley could not enforce the contract because it was a fraudulent contract in the first place, created for the sole purpose of defrauding the Family Court.

So, lucky Tom. He got the land. He might have let Stanley continue to hunt it, too, if it weren't for that d*#d lawsuit.


Attorney Kevin W. Davidson is a Wisconsin probate, wills, trusts and estate planning attorney with The Estate Planning Group, LLC / Davidson Law Office,  LLP – Wisconsin estate planning attorneys who provide Life & Legacy planning helping Wisconsin’s families plan for an uncertain future so they can stop worrying and start living, with offices in Appleton, Kaukauna and Green Bay (coming soon to Kimberly!).  Call us if you’d like our family of professionals to help you ensure your family and your legacy are protected no matter what happens.

Time To Take Steps Toward Asset Protection

I've recently run into a string of situations wherein Asset Protection Planning could have saved my clients or their families significant monies and countless worries and headaches.   The most important pair of words in that sentence is "could have,"  which, of course, begs the question "if?"

The answer to that "if" is simple, yet ignored by nearly everyone, every day.  That answer is "if they had put in place an asset protection plan."  Simply put, no plan, no protection.

Simple enough?

Of course, plans vary, and levels of protection vary along with those plans, but the  bottom line is that everyone can benefit from the tools and techniques of asset protection planning.

The fundamentals underscoring the need for asset protection are counterintuitive to the American Dream - we want ot own things.  Regrettably, everything you now own becomes a potential liability and a potential target. 

A statistic related to me by a colleague recently was that it is now estimated that 1 in 3 Americans can expect to be dragged into a lawsuit.  A staggering statistic - take a look at the person to your left, now take a look at the person to your right, one of you three are likley to be involved in at least one lawsuit.

Another staggering figure was related to me at a client's kitchen table.  As we discussed the husband's pending return home from a short stay at a local nursing home, talk turned to the potential costs if he was unable to return home.  The nursing home had quoted a rate of $7,480.00/month!  It is easy to see how a modest estate may leave nothing for children, grandchildren or other loved ones with these levels of expenses for care.

Whether the particular desire or need is to protect real estate for heirs or from creditors, to protect assets for beneficiaries in the event of a need for medical care, or to protect business or family assets from unforseen creditors, or simply to avoid the erosion of esate value imposed by the probate process, steps can be taken to secure your assets, and to secure peice of mind.

First step, of course, is to contact an asset protection attorney to discuss what's at risk and what can be done to protect it. 

It's time to take that step toward securing your assets, before it's another "could have" statistic. 

* Note that this information is provided as general information only and does not constitute legal advice with regard to any particular set of circumstances. As with any legal issue, consult with an experienced attorney if you have questions regarding matters related to the topics discussed in the blog or video. Davidson Law Office and Attorney Kevin Davidson do not provide legal advice outside of an attorney/client relationship memorialized by a written and signed contract for legal services.

Davidson Law Office, LLP is an Appleton, Wisconsin law firm with a focus on business, asset protection and estate planning. Serving clients throughout Wisconsin from the heart of the Fox River Valley, with offshore asset protection services, intertnational business corporations, domestic business structures, irrevocable trusts, family living trusts, life estates, powers of attorney, and complete estate and family security planning packages.  Attorney Kevin W. Davidson is a registered overseas agent for Anguilla B.W.I.'s Corporations Ministry.  Free consultations.