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Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Avoiding Court Appointed Guardianship | Legacy Assurance Plan

Avoinding Court Appointed Guardianship | Legacy Assurance Plan

Estate Planning with Legacy Assurance Plan allows you to plan for your future decisions, avoid court appointed guardianship and protect certain assets from the probate process. Sometimes, the hardest part of the process is just knowing where to start. At Legacy Assurance Plan, we make getting started easy. Nowhere, will you f‌ind a simpler, easier or more cost-effective way to create and maintain a comprehensive estate plan, designed specifically for you and your family. We guarantee it! Learn more about what a comprehensive estate plan can do for you on our Website https://LegacyAssurancePlan.com

This article is re-published by Legacy Assurance Plan and is intended for general informational purposes only. Some information may not apply to your situation. It does not, nor is it intended, to constitute legal or medical advice. You should consult with an attorney regarding any specific questions about probate, living probate or other estate planning matters. Legacy Assurance Plan is an estate planning services-company and is not a lawyer or law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. For more information about this and other estate planning matters visit our website legacyassuranceplan.com.

This article is re-published by:
Legacy Assurance Plan
8039 Cooper Creek Blvd
University Park, Florida 34201
844.306.5272 (Phone)
info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)
#legacyassuranceplan
@assuranceplan

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Joint Tenancy With Right of Survivorship | Possibly a Risky Proposition

Summary: There are many techniques that can help you avoid the potential costs and delays of probate. Just because all of these techniques can be entirely effective at avoiding probate does not, however, mean that they are all equal. With some of these techniques, the benefits of probate avoidance come with a downside of greater risks -- risks that your planning goals may be stymied, or that plan could end up requiring costly and time-consuming court litigation to sort out.

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship (JTWROS) accounts, as well as pay-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts, can be wonderfully useful tools in some situations. Sometimes, they can even make up a helpful part of your overall estate planning. In certain circumstances, they can be a simple and low-maintenance way ensure that your assets pass to your desired beneficiaries without the hassles, costs and delays of probate administration. However, in many other situations, they can be risky. They pose the potential of having your money wind up in the hands of people other than the ones you wanted or, only less problematically, requiring expensive and stressful court litigation in order to get your wealth to the beneficiaries that you wanted to have it.

Take, for example, a case decided by the courts in September 2016. The case involved the estate of man named John, who was a senior in declining health in the final years of his life. He had both a checking account and a savings account. He had several people listed on his checking account as authorized signors. They included, in addition to John, his daughter, a grandson and the grandson's wife. On the savings account, authorized signors included John, the daughter and the grandson's wife.

The problems arose shortly after John died. First, the grandson withdrew $22,000 from John's checking account. The grandson's wife then withdrew nearly $26,000 from John's savings account. This sum of almost $48,000 represented roughly 50% of the total amount in the two accounts combined. The couple claimed that they were entitled to the money because the accounts were joint accounts with right of surviviorship. In an account that is truly a JTWROS, all of the "tenants," or owners of the account, have equal claims to the account's assets in the event of the death of the account holders.

Using these types of accounts as a probate-avoidance technique can be harmful in some situations. They can potentially put your wealth at risk if the person you've added to your account decides to use the account funds for his own purposes, rather than your goals. Alternately, even if the person you've added to your account is above reproach, your assets could still be at risk if that person divorces or is successfully sued by someone.

In John's case, the problem was a lack of clarity. If the account truly was a JTWROS asset, then the grandson and his wife had the legal right to withdraw the funds that they withdrew. However, John's daughter, in her lawsuit, claimed that the grandson and wife were not joint tenants; they were only added to John's accounts as signatories as a convenience to John. Ultimately, the courts sided with the daughter. The trial court ruled that the grandson and wife didn't have any evidence to show that John intended for the money in his checking and savings to pass to the daughter, grandson and grandson's wife as a JTWROS account would. If the outcome reached by the courts was not what John intended, then at least some of the objectives of his estate plan were frustrated. Even if the outcome did reflect John's goals for the money in his checking and savings, it took an expensive and time-consuming court battle to achieve this end.

Careful planning can potentially help you avoid an unfavorable situation like what happened with this man's estate. There are ways to create a plan that will take the guesswork out of your planning goals. One example is a revocable living trust, which can allow you to dictate, with great specificity, exactly what you want to achieve with regard to each of your assets and each of your beneficiaries. In addition to this, it can also benefit you by avoiding probate while also sidestepping some of the risks involved with other probate-avoidance techniques like JTWROS accounts.

This article is published by the Legacy Assurance Plan and is intended for general informational purposes only. Some information may not apply to your situation. It does not, nor is it intended, to constitute legal advice. You should consult with an attorney regarding any specific questions about probate, living probate or other estate planning matters. Legacy Assurance Plan is an estate planning services-company and is not a lawyer or law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. For more information about this and other estate planning matters visit our website at www.legacyassuranceplan.com.

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx9HBYFIYdohfnrfW_XRkIQ

Monday, March 27, 2017

Trust Funding | You’ve Created Your Estate Plan With a Revocable Living Trust… Now What?

Summary: Proper estate planning is a process, not just a single task. Rather than being a single step, estate planning is more like an ongoing journey. Just because you have set up and executed a set of estate planning documents, that doesn’t mean your estate planning is “done.” This is especially true if you have a plan with a revocable living trust. Once you’ve put your signature on all of your documents, including your living trust, there are beneficial things you can begin doing almost right away to ensure that your plan will be properly maintained.

One of the first things you can do, if you haven’t begun already, is put together a list of all your assets. You’ll need to list both your titled assets (like your home and vehicles, for example,) as well as your personal property (like furniture, jewelry and collectibles.) You’ll need each of these lists for two different reasons. For assets like real estate, vehicles and financial accounts, you will need to make certain that they are funded by executing the proper paperwork establishing that you have transferred ownership of that asset from you as an individual to you as the trustee of your trust. Of course, this means that one of the first things you’ll need to do after you’ve finished compiling your list is obtaining all of your current ownership documents, such as the deeds to all of your real estate properties and the titles to all of your vehicles.

For your real estate, funding means obtaining a deed from an attorney putting the transfer into legal effect. For your vehicles, funding entails a trip to the DMV and re-titling the auto. For your financial accounts, the institution where you hold your account(s) probably has their own special proprietary paperwork they’ll require you to fill out to complete the transfer.

When it comes to your personal property, especially specific items that you want to specifically distribute to a particular beneficiary, your list will be especially helpful in making certain these assets get funded, too. They get funded a bit differently, however, since they don’t have deeds, titles or other ownership paperwork. These assets get listed in a special place in your trust, which is usually referred as “Schedule A,” “Appendix A” or something similar. Listing these assets in your trust’s schedule is a means of putting down in writing your intent to transfer them from you to your trust, where they can be distributed in accordance with the special instructions you’ve laid out in your trust document.

A popular self-help book from the 1990s advised, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” That may be true in a lot of areas, but not when it comes to funding your trust. Here, you want to be more like Santa Claus, as in “making a list and checking it twice” in order to be sure you’ve not left anything out. Do you hold an ownership interest in a business like an LLC, partnership or corporation? These assets can potentially be transferred into your trust, depending on the business’s operating agreement or articles of incorporation. Do you hold any copyrights, patents or trademarks? The appropriate government office (the U.S. Copyright Office or the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) have transfer forms. Additionally, if someone owes you money (whether from a loan or a legal judgment,) you can create a document that says that you are transferring, or assigning, your right to collect that debt to your trust.

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

Click Below To See Other Legacy Assurance Plan Related Sites:

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx9HBYFIYdohfnrfW_XRkIQ

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Revocable Living Trust | Your Estate Plan Can Protect You in Many Ways, Some of Which May Surprise You

Summary: Many people are aware that some forms of estate planning can offers a certain type of protection as one of their benefits; namely, protection. But they may also do more. They may protect you from the potential costs and delays of probate administration, they may protect you from the loss of privacy deriving from having the details of your estate become public record, they may possibly protect you from potentially unnecessary and stressful conservatorships proceedings in court, and they may even potentially protect you from claims by people professing to be your heirs who were left out of your plan. Properly drafted and implemented, a complete estate plan can do many things for you and your family, probably even more than you would have thought.

A lot of people who are familiar with estate planning know that you can plan to avoid probate. Planning to avoid probate can help save you time, money and stress, as probate administration can be drawn out and expensive. An estate plan with a revocable living trust isn't the only way to avoid probate administration, but an estate plan with a living trust and its companion, the "pour over" will, can accomplish several other ends that may have great value for you.

This form of planning may also protect your privacy. In many locations, probate administration case files are public record, meaning that anyone potentially can look at the contents of your estate simply by requesting your estate's file from the court clerk. If, however, your wealth is funded into a living trust, you avoid this as, in most states, living trusts and the distribution of their assets are not matters of public record and their details cannot be accessed by anyone with a file number. In addition, a plan with a properly funded living trust may be able to reduce the possibility of needing to go to court to seek appointment of a conservator to make financial decisions on your behalf should you become mentally incapacitated and be unable to make decisions for yourself. With a living trust, the management of your funded assets transfers seamlessly from you to the successor trustee you chose if you become incapacitated.

However, your estate plan with a living trust may provide you with an additional protection that is not as well known: protection against people claiming to be your long-lost children in order to get a portion of your wealth. Generally, the law assumes that all parents want to leave something to all of their children. So, in general, the laws have a default inheritance for children. This means that, if someone who isn’t in your will goes to court claiming to be your child, and the judge rules that they are legally your child, then they may get a “cut” of your estate.

In some states, though, that rule applies only to a person’s probate estate. Oklahoma, for example, has explicitly ruled that these “pretermitted heirs” rights to a distribution do not extend to the assets funded into a living trust. In other words, if someone files a court claim alleging that they are your long-lost “love child,” and you have a fully funded living trust, then it doesn’t matter what the court decides about that person’s parentage, they still cannot take anything from your trust.

All this goes to show that proper estate planning, including the possibility of incorporating a living trust into your plan, has many potential benefits and multiple ways in which your plan can be a value protector to both you and your family.

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

Click Below To See Other Legacy Assurance Plan Related Sites:

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https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/108736377719628241578/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx9HBYFIYdohfnrfW_XRkIQ

Monday, March 20, 2017

Creating An Estate Plan | Don't Procrastinate Getting an Estate Plan, But if You Have, Don't Give Up!

Summary: When it comes to estate planning, the best time to act is right away. Acting promptly protects you from the many unexpected things that can crop up in life, whether they involve a loss of mental capacity or even sudden death. However, even if you've waited and your mental abilities are not what they used to be, do not simply assume that you are no longer allowed to create or update an estate plan. It is always best to consult experienced professionals who can explain exactly what the rules and what you are (or are not) allowed to do. You may have more options than you would have thought.

Helen Weste was a divorced woman living in New Jersey. When she reached her mid 60s, she executed a will. That will split Weste's assets between her sister, eight nieces and nephews and two charities. By 2001, Helen's health and mental sharpness started to decline. By April 2002, doctors diagnosed Weste with severe dementia. The family decided to move Weste into an assisted living facility. Earlier that year, Weste, who was 74 by this point, visited an attorney about her estate plan. She signed the new document in March 2002. That will left a small portion of her estate to one of the charities and two of the nieces, but gave her home and 90% of her remaining estate to John Brek, a neighbor who had befriended Weste and performed odd jobs around her house. The new will also named Brek as executor.

After Weste died in March 2010, the family admitted the 1994 will to probate. In 2011, Brek sought to probate the 2002 will. One of the nieces, Joanne Halkovich, challenged Brek's request to probate the newer will. She argued that her aunt lacked the mental capacity required to execute a will when she signed the newer will. Both sides had competing expert opinions regarding Weste's mental functioning. The niece had an expert who testified that Weste did not understand either who the recipients of her new will were or the volume of her assets. She also presented records from her aunt's treatment in April 2002, just a month after she signed the newer will. Those doctors rated Weste on a numerical functioning scale where 21-30 was considered "severe problems," and they gave Weste a score of 20.

On the other hand, Brek also had an expert, and this psychologist testified that Weste had testamentary capacity. Weste's attorney also testified, stating that he'd been practicing law for more than three decades and had no doubt that Weste had the required mental capacity. The New Jersey courts ultimately sided with Brek. The requirement for testamentary capacity is a low bar. The trial judge pointed out that Weste was still living alone when she made the newer will, and if she had the functioning ability to live alone and care for herself, she had the capacity to make a will. The appeals court upheld that conclusion

Obviously, the best time to create or update your estate is.... NOW! Chances are very low that your clarity of mind will be higher in the future than it is today, but there is a very real chance that your mental functioning could decline in the future. Furthermore, none of us are promised tomorrow, meaning that you should get your current estate planning goals placed into valid written legal documents right away, so that you are prepared for whatever the future might bring.

However, if you've procrastinated, don't turn that error into a double mistake by thinking that the degree to which you've declined during that time of procrastination means that the door has been totally shut on your creating or updating your plan. Perhaps the biggest lesson to be taken from the case of Weste's will is that, in general, most states have a very low bar on what level of mental functioning you have to have in order to create or alter an estate plan document. Don't assume. Go out and seek definitive answers from experienced estate planning professionals. You'll be glad for the information and you may find out the answers are more favorable than you would have thought.

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

Click Below To See Other Legacy Assurance Plan Related Sites:

https://www.facebook.com/legacyassuranceplan

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https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/108736377719628241578/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx9HBYFIYdohfnrfW_XRkIQ

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Powers of Attorney | Debunking 3 Common Myths

Summary: Like almost any legal document, there is confusion and misunderstanding that sometimes surrounds the legal document known as a power of attorney. By educating yourself about what these documents can (and cannot) do, you can develop a greater knowledge about how they function as an integral part of a complete estate plan, and have the peace of mind that goes with understanding which claims about these documents are actually just myths.

1) Signing a Power of Attorney (POA) document means surrendering control of your right to make your own decisions. This is a common misconception about POAs. This one is not true on a number of levels. First, in some states, you can execute what's called a "springing" POA. That means that the POA does not become effective, and the agent you name in the document does not possess any authority, until you have been properly declared to be mentally incompetent and unable to make your own decisions. Once you're declared legally incompetent, you've lost your ability to make your own decisions, anyway. All this type of POA does is put into writing the person you want to make your decisions once you cannot make them for yourself. In doing so, this may possibly reduce the need to go to court to have a judge appoint a conservator or guardian over you. Even if your POA is immediate, and not springing, you still have nothing to fear. Your POA simply adds another person (whom you've named) who can make these decisions. If, for example, you create an immediate POA for certain financial decisions that names your son as your agent, all that means is that, as long as you're alive and competent, either your son OR YOU may make those financial decisions on your behalf.

2) You can only name a licensed attorney to act on your behalf under a POA. This is also not true and a misunderstanding of the terminology involved. A person who has passed the bar exam and been sworn in by their state's Supreme Court is an "attorney at law." Yes, it is true that another name for an agent named under a POA is an "attorney in fact," but there is no requirement that your attorney-in-fact have any sort of legal education, training or experience in order to be your attorney-in-fact. Your state may have certain requirements on who may serve as an attorney-in-fact, but none of those requirements have anything to with whether or not your proposed agent is, or is not, a licensed attorney-at-law.

3) POAs are only for seniors. This isn't true and it can be a dangerous mistake for younger people to make. You are never too young to have a complete estate plan, including POAs, in place. One does not have to be older to suffer a sudden traumatic illness, be seriously injured at work or in a car, or suffer some other sort of major calamity that causes a loss of mental capacity or even premature death. If you care about what happens to your wealth, your minor children or yourself (or both,) then you need a complete estate plan in place. Having POAs in place will not involve giving up any control while you are alive and have mental capacity and, if something should happen that triggers a loss of capacity, then your POAs may be exactly the sort of planning needed to prevent your family from having to go through potentially expensive and stressful court proceedings to get a conservator or guardian named to make decisions on your behalf.

They say that knowledge is power. This is definitely true when it comes to estate planning. By learning what information regarding estate planning is accurate and what are just myths, you can get a better handle on what your estate plan can do for you, and be better equipped to take an active role in creating or updating your plan to achieve the goals you want.

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

Click Below To See Other Legacy Assurance Plan Related Sites:

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx9HBYFIYdohfnrfW_XRkIQ

Monday, February 27, 2017

Esate Planning Laws | Enactment of New Laws Reminds Us of the Importance of Estate Plan Reviews

Summary: Estate planning-related court cases can teach a lot about what are good ideas, and bad ideas, in planning one's estate. They can remind us, as one recent case did, of the substantial and often needless risks involved in adding co-owners to your assets for the purpose of convenience or probate avoidance, as well as educating us that, if your estate planning goals change, it is vital to get your plan updated to reflect those new objectives.

Real-life estate planning scenarios spelled out in the pages of court decisions can provide valuable insight into planning techniques, including what worked... and what didn't. Take for example, a case from Michigan from late summer. A father, who had four children (three sons and a daughter) executed an estate plan in 2002. His will stated that his assets should be distributed evenly between his four children.

The father's assets including several bank accounts, including one with Bank of America with a substantial balance, as it contained the proceeds of the 2006 sale of the father's house. The bank account listed the father as a co-owner of the account. The other co-owner was his son, Mel. Mel considered his status on the account to be one of mere convenience for his father. Mel only used his status to manage the account, and never utilized any of the money in the account for his own benefit. Sometime later, though, Mel's sister, Mary, was added as another co-owner. Mary did use the money for her own needs, taking it for both herself and her daughter. According to the daughter, her father had given her oral approval to use the money for her own benefit, once telling her that she did not need to ask permission, but simply to take the money, as he planned on disinheriting his sons upon his death, anyway.

After the father died, Mel, as his father's executor, sued Mary on behalf of the father's estate. Mary was accused of improperly taking funds that belonged to the father and using them for her own gain. Mary asked the trial court to throw out the lawsuit, arguing that, because she was listed as a co-owner of the account, there was a legal presumption that she was allowed to use the money on herself and the estate had not submitted enough evidence to the court to prove that she acted wrongfully. The trial court ruled in her favor. The estate took the case to the court of appeals, and that court reversed the lower court's ruling. That court ruled that there was no legal presumption in favor of the daughter and that the estate had presented enough evidence to the trial court to raise the possibility that the father never meant for the bank account funds to be used for the benefit of anyone other than himself during his lifetime.

Regardless of whether the daughter acted legally or not, the father's plan offers a clear example of a plan gone awry. This was, in no small part, the result of multiple mistakes. If the father wanted the bank account money used only for his benefit during his lifetime, but wanted some of his children to have certain abilities regarding the account, there were better tools available to him. For one, he could have created a financial power of attorney and included the management of the bank account in the powers assigned to his agent. Alternately, he could have funded the bank account into a trust, and given one or more children authority as trustees to manage the trust. In either situation, the father would have had the protection that comes with the fact that both an agent under a power of attorney and a trustee of a trust has what's called a "fiduciary duty" to handle the assets they manage in a proper way.

Simply naming another person as a co-owner of a bank account, much like simply "adding" someone to the deed of your home in order to avoid probate, creates some significant and arguably needless risk. A co-owner of an asset often has wide freedom in making decisions regarding that asset. Furthermore, this plan potentially exposes this asset to claims made by creditors of the person you've added to the account.

Additionally, the father's estate plan may have been out-of-date and needed an update. If the father sincerely had a goal to distribute all (or even a larger-than-one-quarter portion) of his wealth to his daughter, then his 2002 will would not have accomplished this objective. A new or amended will would have allowed him to change the distribution pattern of his estate, updated to reflect his current wishes regarding the amount that each child should get.

Regardless of what your goals are, potential pitfalls exist when you try to use the wrong the wrong technique to achieve an objective. By working with experienced estate planning professionals, you can protect yourself from falling victim to choosing the wrong tool for the job at hand.

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

Click Below To See Other Legacy Assurance Plan Related Sites:

https://www.facebook.com/legacyassuranceplan

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https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/108736377719628241578/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx9HBYFIYdohfnrfW_XRkIQ

Friday, January 27, 2017

Revocable Living Trusts | How Your Living Trust Can Help Your Loved Ones 'Enjoy the Little Things'

Summary: Estate planning involves dealing with a variety of things. While you may associate the financial side of your estate planning with distributing large assets like your home, car or financial accounts, sometimes assets with much smaller dollar-values may mean the most to your loved ones. With proper and complete estate planning, you can ensure that your wishes and preferences about the distribution of your assets, both great and small, are known and can be followed.

When people think about estate planning, they often think first about the distribution of their assets. And, often, when they think about the distribution of their assets, they think first about the "big-ticket" items, like houses, vehicles, financial accounts, and so forth. However, sometimes those are not the assets that matter most to loved ones. Sometimes it is things with lesser amounts of dollar-value that may mean the most, and can generate the most happiness, or hostility, among your loved ones. That's why, when you create your estate plan, it is very important to ensure that, not only have you planned for the assets that have high dollar values, but also for those things that have high sentimental value.

The things that may matter to your loved one could be extremely varied and, sometimes, surprising. This aspect of estate planning can be a great way to begin a conversation about estate planning with your loved ones. As you prepare to create your estate plan, your children or other loved ones may be uncomfortable thinking about serving as your health care proxy, but might be more willing to discuss with you the tangible personal items that have always given them that "warm and fuzzy" feeling.

This has a two-fold benefit: it gives you an opening to begin the conversation you need to have with your loved ones about your goals and objectives in terms of your estate planning, and it also gives you an opportunity, potentially, to discover things you did not know. Maybe you never knew how much your old rocking chair meant to your daughter. Or what a strong affinity your son had for that vintage-but-rusty toy fire truck you kept in the basement. If you have multiple loved ones who all cherish the same item, this conversation may give you the chance to take these "popular" items and reach an compromise agreeable to all regarding who gets what. By having this conversation, you can learn these things and be more prepared to complete your estate plan in full.

Once you're armed with this factual information, what should you do with it? If you have an estate plan with a revocable living trust, it may seem challenging to ensure that your tangible personal effects get to the destinations you want. After all, you may wonder... how you fund a bunch of Beanie Baby dolls into your trust? Fortunately, your trust has a way for you to ensure the correct destination for these personal effects. You can create what's called a "schedule," which is included as part of your trust agreement document. For many people, when they establish a revocable living trust, this schedule will be called "Schedule A." Regardless of what you name the schedule, it is the place where you can list assets that do not have deeds or titles or other written documents establishing ownership. Your Schedule A can include everything from your furniture to your china, crystal and silverware to antique toys to your baseball card collection. Depending on the type of asset you've listed in Schedule A, you may also want to write up a "Bill of Sale" from you to your trust. Your attorney can help you decide which assets, if any, require this step.

A character from a popular 2009 zombie movie created several life rules that he passed on to viewers, including one that recommended to "enjoy the little things." In real life, sometimes it is the littlest things that create the biggest enjoyment. With a carefully thought out and complete estate plan, you can ensure that your goals will be achieved to the biggest extent possible.