Shields and Boris Blog on Elder Care, Health Care, and Caring in General

Finding Tips On Estate Planning at the Theatre

Don't wait until there is a crisis situation to make a will. If drafted in response to a crisis, the disposition of your estate may not be the result of thoughtful, careful consideration but a knee-jerk reaction influenced by the situation.

Update on the Status of Federal Estate Tax

As the first billionaire to die in this year without an estate tax, Duncan presents a tempting opportunity for a revenue-strapped Congress to follow through on threats to reinstate the tax for 2010 and possibly even make it retroactive to the beginning of the year.

Michael Jackson Estate Makes Land Mark Estate Deal With Sony

The Estate of Michael Jackson landed a deal yesterday with Sony for a reported $200 million. The landmark deal could even progress to as much as $250 million by the year 2017. Most of the money though will go to pay his enormous debt, estimated at around $400 million dollars. This announcement comes as the circumstances around his death are still being litigated, his doctor Conrad Murray is due in court April 5 on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

The Governator Says Health Reform Will "Beat Up" California

Experience you can trust! The Elder Law Offices of Shields & Boris has been recognized as a leader in the field of elder law and estate planning. Both James P. Shields and Thomas J. Boris are members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, NESA, Veteran Benefits Institute, ElderCare USA and the Hyatt Legal Services Network. Some PA probate lawyers do not understand the recent changes in Medicaid and also updated Pennsylvania inheritance taxes.

When a will isn’t enough

If you’ve prepared a will, it may be tempting to pat yourself on the back and consider your estate planning duties done.  Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy.  There are a number of different types of property that don’t pass via a will, so you’ll need to address those items separately.

 

What can’t be covered in your will

 

Not all assets or type of property can be passed on through your will.  You’ll need to do more than just prepare a will if you have property or assets that fall into any of the following categories:

• Life insurance with a named beneficiary
• Retirement plans like 401k or IRA plans paid to a named beneficiary
• Bank accounts paid upon death to a named beneficiary
• Stock accounts transferred-on-death to a named beneficiary
• Income savings plans
• Property held in joint tenancy
• Property held in a trust

 

This is one reason that it is so important that you speak with an experienced, qualified estate planning attorney when preparing your will / estate plan.  You don’t want to leave a tangled mess of assets for your estate administrator or your heirs to sort through after you pass.  A complete estate plan will take all of these factors into consideration.

Want to avoid probate? You have options!

One important goal for many people seeking help with their estate plan is how to avoid probate.  If you’re also looking to keep your estate out of probate when you pass away, the good news is that you have several different ways of doing this. 

 

Why would you want to avoid probate?  There a few good reason.  Probate is a public process and many people prefer that their assets be distributed privately.  Probate can also be very time consuming and costly for your heirs, so it makes sense to avoid it whenever possible.

 

Consider these three ways of avoiding probate:

1. Living trust: you can set up a living trust to hold your assets.  You maintain control of the trust while you are alive, but when you pass away the trust goes to your beneficiary. 
2. Joint ownership: when you purchase property with your spouse or partner, you can chose to own it jointly or by tenancy by the entirety (which is only available to married couples in Pennsylvania).  In both types of ownership when one partner dies the other has the right of survivorship, so they take over complete ownership of the property.
3. Payable or transfer on death: you can add a payable on death (POD) designation to your bank accounts so your beneficiary receives them when you die, and you can set up your securities to transfer on death (TOD) to your beneficiary.

 

Please click on the links above to read more about these issues in our law library articles.

Managing your online accounts and passwords

Can you answer this question: how many online accounts do you have?  If you’re like many people, you may have no idea.  Think about the types of activities that you engage in online.  You can monitor your investment accounts, send and receive email, upload photos, check on your savings plan, update your life insurance, and much more.

 

Having all of these online accounts is great when you are alive, but without a little planning this web of internet logins can create a real headache for your survivors.  Think about it: if you died tomorrow, would anyone be able to track down all of your various online accounts – and the passwords that go along with them?

 

If your family knows about the accounts, there are hoops they can jump through to get access – but it could cost them time and money.  What about accounts that nobody may know about, like a ‘secret’ savings account you were contributing to as a surprise, or other private online accounts?  What will happen to them if you don’t note their existence somewhere?

 

To save your survivors and your estate executor from unnecessary frustration and expense, take some time to record all of this information somewhere, and either give it to a trusted friend or your attorney.  You can also lock it up in a safety deposit box or your home safe – just make sure somebody knows how to get a key to either of those.

 

You can read more about this issue in our law library article “Estate administration and online accounts: logins, passwords, and big headaches”.

Unexpected problems resulting from an untimely death

News about the sudden and unexpected death of pop legend Michael Jackson has shaken the world, leaving fans, friends, and family reeling.  As the dust begins to settle the question becomes: what will happen to Jackson’s estate?

 

It is not yet known if Jackson had a will, however that has not stopped speculation about what will happen to his three children and his varied and unusual estate holdings.  It could take years and a great deal of money to untangle his affairs, and the chance of legal battles erupting is high.

 

What can we learn from Mr. Jackson’s tragic and untimely death?  As estate planning attorneys, naturally we want to use this opportunity to stress the importance of making estate planning a priority in your life.

 

Keep in mind that creating a good estate plan is only the first step, albeit a very important one.  Once you have an estate plan completed, be sure that you review it every few years to ensure that it is still accurate and that your wishes have not changed.

 

In addition, if you experience a significant “life event” (birth, marriage, divorce, death) make sure that any necessary changes are made to your estate plan.  If you move to another state, you should also take some time to ensure that your plan meets all the legal requirements of your new home town.

 

The bottom line is that you can avoid a costly, protracted battle among your heirs and their lawyers by keeping on top of your estate plan, while at the same time feeling confident that your wishes and desires will be respected after you pass.

The importance of getting the right legal advice when administering an estate

A cautionary tale about the perils of accepting probate advice from someone other than a qualified attorney appeared in a Florida newspaper earlier this month.  In the fictitious story, a man is named as successor trustee of his mother’s revocable trust and personal representative of the pour-over will.

 

After their mother’s death, the man and his sister want to avoid legal fees so they ask a friend of the sister’s son – a young man fresh out of law school who has not yet passed the bar exam – for help.  To cut a long story short, the recently graduated unlicensed law school student does not give the correct legal advice for properly handling the mother’s estate.

 

As a result, a few years down the road the man is sued by his sister over his mishandling of the estate.  The law school student – now an attorney – is named as a co-defendant.

 

The entire mess could have been avoided if the man had hired a competent, qualified probate attorney.  As the fictional man learned, acting as a successor trustee, personal representative, or executor of a will is not as simple as selling all the assets, keeping a little for yourself, and divvying up the rest with your siblings.

 

You can read more about estate administration and probate in our law library and in our Frequently Asked Questions section.

Is it time for a beneficiary audit?

It is an unpleasant scenario and unfortunately one you won’t be able to do anything about: after your death, your assets are given to a former spouse or somebody you no longer wanted them to go to because you forgot to update your beneficiary list before you passed away.  It is a situation that some families find themselves in after the death of a loved one, but it is a sad scenario that you can avoid now.

 

It is always a good idea to check in on your estate plan documents periodically and make sure that the information they contain is still relevant.  One area to focus on is your beneficiaries – the people who will inherit your assets after you pass away.

 

It isn’t uncommon for life changes to necessitate a change to your beneficiary list, and unless you want your estate to end up in probate or contested by your survivors it’s a good idea to keep the list current.

 

Don’t think of estate planning as a once-in-a-lifetime event.  It isn’t an event – it is a process, something you take care of and manage throughout your life.  To learn more about estate planning and elder law in Pennsylvania, please contact the law offices of Shields and Boris.

 

The importance of estate planning in a down economy

There is no way to hide from it – as we all know the U.S. economy is in a recession.  Your estate has probably already taken a hit, what with real estate values down and stock prices depressed.  But regardless of what is going on in your portfolio, it is as important as ever to make sure you have all your ducks in a row in case you should pass unexpectedly.

 

One unfortunate side-effect of a bad economy is that your estate may be more prone to disputes after your passing.  When money is tight, heirs can become unusually adversarial, and all your careful planning could be for naught if you don’t make sure your will and trust documents are precisely worded.

 

It is important that you sit down with your estate planning attorney and determine if the intent of your will matches the wording in your will.  You want to be sure there is no “wiggle room” that could result in protracted legal battles amongst your heirs.  It isn’t uncommon for attorneys to see the number of fights over inheritance go up in a recession, and you should do what you can now to make sure your will and trust documents don’t cause problems down the road.

 

You can read more about estate planning in our library articles “Could you be doing more to manage your estate and protect your assets?” and “Three Reasons to Focus on Estate Planning”.