Is it time to review your estate plan?

When did you last review your estate plan?  How long ago did you put in place your estate plan?  5 years? 10 years?  Over 10 years?  Do you currently have an estate plan in place?

 

Reviewing one's estate plan serves at least two critical functions.  First, a review can guarantee your plan still functions according to your wishes.  All these questions can be answered by comprehensively reviewing your estate plan:

·         Do your assets still go to who you want?

·         Are the correct people listed in decision-making roles?

·         Have your desires changed for who you want to receive your assets?

·         Have certain decision-makers moved away?

·         Have minor children now become responsible adults who are ready to serve on your behalf?

Secondly, a review can alert you to new laws affecting your estate plan?  An example from a few years ago would be the changes regarding access to medical records with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).  A more recent example is the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which changed estate and gift taxation rules.  Whether it is the State Legislature or Congress, both organizations continue to pass laws to meet changing circumstances.  Staying up-to-date can mean the difference between a plan accomplishing your goals and a plan that causes unneeded problems and headaches.

For all our clients, we offer complimentary reviews every 3 years.  For clients, it is a chance to review their estate plan to ensure everything is current and there are no major changes requiring updates due to the passage of new laws.  For us, it is a chance to talk with clients and ensure their estate plan continues to meet their objectives.

If you have not put in place any estate planning documents, you are not alone.  In fact, you are in the majority!  Shocking numbers indicate that over 50% of people pass away with no estate planning documents in place.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2015/07/11/estate-plan-will/71270548/  This often leads to countless hours, disputes, and unnecessary stress on loved ones who are dealing with your passing. 

Whether you worked with us in the past or wish to work with us in the future, give us a call today or send us an e-mail by clicking here!  We are always happy to assist individuals, businesses, and families, plan for a smooth and seamless future!

9 Mistakes that Tear Families Apart

Mistake #1: Relying on the Law.  If you do not set up an estate plan, upon your death your property will be distributed according to the laws of your last state of residence.  Often, the law will require the probate judge to give your property to someone other than the people you would have chosen.

Mistake #2: Relying on a Will.  If your estate plan consists only of a Will, your heirs may face many costly problems such as probate and conservatorship proceedings.  A Will is the most common estate planning tool, but it is usually not the best tool to use.

Mistake #3: Relying on Community Property laws.  Relying on the Community Property laws is a position many clients take.  However, your property will still have to go through probate on the death of the spouse.  Also, Community Property ownership requires a conservatorship if a spouse is incapacitated and the home needs a mortgage, home equity line, or to be sold.  Relying on the Community Property laws is not a good estate plan.

Mistake #4: Relying on Guardianships.  These Court supervised proceedings for addressing your physical or mental incapacity are costly, time-consuming and horribly burdensome.  Your properly set up Revocable Living Trust, as well as Powers of Attorney, Durable Powers of Attorney for Health Care, and Physician’s Directives and Releases avoid this issue.

Mistake #5: Relying on the small estate affidavit or informal administration procedure to avoid probate.  Most people assume they have fewer assets than they actually have.  In Wisconsin the small estate exemption that avoids probate is permitted only for estates consisting of less than $50,000.

Mistake #6: Relying on a gifting program as your way of avoiding probate. The law allows you to give away your property at a rate of $14,000 per person per year.  A married couple can give $28,000 per year to anyone they choose without gift tax consequences.  While this is an effective way to reduce the size of your estate, trying to spend your last dime on your last day is difficult to put odds on, plus you lose control of the assets you have given away, and beneficiaries get total control over everything that has been given to them.

Mistake #7: Relying on the Courts to take care of your child’s finances.  If you die intestate (with no Will) or with only a Will, and your property passes to your minor child, the Court will put your child’s money into a Court-supervised guardianship requiring at least annual accountings to the Court.  Naturally, this may require hiring CPAs to prepare accountings, and lawyers to file those accountings with the Court, plus filing fees, all of which comes out of the inheritance.   It also means that the Court determines the person who will serve as guardian of the property, who may not be the person you would have chosen.

Mistake #8: Relying on a form kit for your Will or Living Trust.  One size does not fit all because no two people or families are alike.  From your family’s needs and dynamics to its personalities and values, can you imagine any form kit ever being suitable for any family?  If you use a form kit, you’re asking for problems.  If your will is not properly executed, it will not be valid.  The only estate plan you can rely on is one that is custom prepared by a qualified estate planning and asset protection lawyer.

Mistake #9: Relying on the wrong attorney.  Most attorneys know very little about estate planning.  What’s more, even some estate planning attorneys don’t put much time or energy into comprehensive protections for your family’s unique circumstances.  That’s why I urge you to choose an estate planning attorney who has the primary focus, mission and purpose to help you achieve your family’s estate planning and asset protection goals:  protecting, preserving and passing on more of what you’ve worked for.

If you’d like to ensure that you maximize the resources available to your loved ones and keep your family out of Court and out of conflict, schedule a Family Life and Legacy Planning Session.™ We can review your existing plan and help you make adjustments that will help you achieve your goals.

This article is a service of The Estate Planning Group and Davidson Law Office, LLP, your Life & Legacy Planning Lawyers, who believe in developing trusting relationships with families for life. We don’t just draft documents, we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love.

What happens to my Facebook profile after death?

Facebook! With users easily surpassing 1,000,000,000, Facebook is arguably the most common social media platform. However, what happens to your Facebook page when you pass away? Who has access to your profile upon your death? Can you have your account deleted upon your passing?

Each person has their own Facebook page, right? The whole point of Facebook is you can make that page your own and post, share, like, whatever you want. However, when "you" are no longer available to take care of your page, what happens to it? Surprising to many, access to one's Facebook profile can become highly restricted after a person passes away, even if that person is a mother trying to access her deceased daughter's account. http://thehill.com/policy/technology/335759-german-court-rejects-mothers-request-to-access-deceased-daughters-facebook

As the desire for greater access to decedents' accounts grow, Facebook has come up with several different options for accessing a decedent's page.

One of the most common means is the legacy contact. Each person can designate one of their Facebook "friends" to serve as their "legacy contact" after they pass away. This individual has the authority to write posts on their wall, post articles (e.g. an obituary), and even shut down their Facebook page. This process can work great if you have a desire to notify distant relatives/friends of your passing when most of your communication is through social media. As social media becomes the norm for notification about such events, the legacy contact option is becoming more and more popular. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/02/12/facebook-policy-change-allows-one-final-post-after-death/23184757/

Another option is to have Facebook simply delete your profile upon your passing. This option is great for the individual who simply wishes their online persona to die with them. No exposure of past messages or lingering digital presence. Instead, your Facebook profile is simply deleted after Facebook is notified of your passing.

A final option utilized by some, but certainly not condoned by Facebook, involves sharing your username and password with a trusted person and informing them to login as you after your passing and shut down your profile. While this may be the simplest option, sharing username and passwords is a risky proposition, indeed!

While Facebook is just one electronic provider, there is no denying that online accounts are becoming more pervasive. And while Facebook is just one example, with online banking, automatic billing, etc. all becoming much more commonplace, knowing how your online accounts will be addressed are a top priority to ensure an easy and smooth process for the loved ones you leave behind!

If you’d like to ensure that you maximize the resources available to your loved ones and keep your family out of Court and out of conflict, schedule a Family Life and Legacy Planning Session.™ We can review your existing plan and help you make adjustments that will help you achieve your goals.

This article is a service of The Estate Planning Group and Davidson Law Office, LLP, your Life & Legacy Planning Lawyers, who believe in developing trusting relationships with families for life. We don’t just draft documents, we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love.

Will your loved ones know what to do when you are gone?

If you have named children, family, or friends as a successor trustee of your family trust, they likely do not know what the job entails.  Our office encourages talking with successor Trustees now to eliminate some of the unknowns about what it means to serve in this role.

In a standard revocable family trust, a husband and wife are listed as co-trustees during their lifetime.  Only when both spouses pass away, does a successor trustee step in to administer the family trust.

In a nutshell, a successor trustee's job is to secure all of a decedent's assets and distribute those assets according to the terms of the trust.  The trustee can be thought of as a "manager," who keeps an accurate account of all amounts received and any expenses paid out.

The first job of a successor trustee is to gather information about all of the assets the individual(s) owned prior to passing away.  The length and work required depends on the particular assets and how well records were kept.

To complete this job, the successor trustee will need to have a Certification or Affidavit of Trust proving that the Trust is in existence and a certified Death Certificate.

Once trust assets have been discovered, such assets will likely need to be sold or liquidated.  All proceeds should be deposited into a checking account in the name of the Family Trust.  Trust assets that cannot be sold right away should be maintained and updated.

The successor trustee should keep a running inventory of the assets coming in and any expenses paid out.  Taxes will still need to be filed, and known creditors may need to be paid.

Once all creditors and taxes have been paid and assets are liquidated, distributions according to the trust terms can begin.  The trustees should have the beneficiaries sign a form acknowledging receipt of their inheritance and releasing the trustee from any liability.

For more details on the role of successor Trustees, come to one of our future seminars.  We will be discussing these roles and more!!!  Take a look at our upcoming events by clicking the below link:  http://www.theestateplanninggroup.com/upcoming-events/

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.