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 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)

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Digital Estate Planning | Planning to Ensure the Proper Management of Your Digital Assets

Summary: Often times, society moves faster than the law. Legislatures are only now catching up to the fact that many people live much of their lives online and the individuals they name as their fiduciaries need to have a way to access that person's online accounts if the principal becomes incapacitated or dies. The enactment of these new laws creates a valuable new opportunity to modify one's will, trust and powers of attorney to ensure that the fiduciaries you designate have meaningful access. Even with these new laws and new opportunities to express your wishes in your estate planning documents, you may want to consider setting up a separate digital estate plan to ensure that you and your online assets are fully protected. 

The Uniform Law Commission is an unincorporated association of lawyers and legal scholars who work together to draft and publish "uniform acts," which are proposed laws intend to bring clarity to important areas of the law. The commission doesn't make laws; the uniform laws they put together may be thought of somewhat like templates, which state legislatures can, if they act on a uniform act at all, adopt entirely or adopt with their own changes.

One area the commission tackled recently was the thorny problem of access to digital assets. Estate planning professionals had, for years, sounded the alarm of this problem where a person died or became incapacitated and, even though that person had named a person (or people) to manage their affairs, that designated agent was unable to obtain access to electronic accounts ranging from online banking to email to social media. 

In 2015, the commission created the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Revised UFADAA). Since the commission set up the Revised UFADAA, several states have debated putting its provisions into their statutory codes. 20 have passed fiduciary access to digital asset laws, and a dozen more have introduced bills on this issue. For people residing within the states that have passed these laws, you may want to take this opportunity to consider updating your plan. Several different types of people can potentially qualify as a "fiduciary" under the Revised UFADAA. These people can include the trustee of your revocable living trust, your agent named in your power of attorney or the personal representative of your probate estate.

In order to ensure that the people you want to have access do have the access they need, you may possibly need to modify some of your estate planning documents. For example, without clear instruction in your estate planning documents, your trustee, personal representative or agent under a power of attorney, your designated fiduciary may have some access under the new law, but it may not be enough to be truly helpful. Take, as an example, North Carolina's version of the Revsied UFADAA. The law gives your fiduciary the authority to access your email but, if you've not expressed any powers explicitly in your estate planning documents, your fiduciary can only view the to/from and subject lines of the emails in your account. That's probably not very helpful, is it? However, with the proper express language in your power of attorney, trust agreement or will, your fiduciary can look at, not only the to/from and subject lines, but the entire content of your email account.

Even with advances such as the passage of fiduciary access to digital asset laws, you may still want to consider creating your own separate digital estate plan. For example, even with the new laws, Yahoo! will not give your fiduciaries access to your Yahoo! mail. If your fiduciary notifies Yahoo! that you've died, Yahoo! will simply close your email account and permanently delete everything in it. To protect yourself and your digital assets, you can create your own plan where you record all your digital accounts, from online brokerage and/or banking to email to social media. You can also record your user names and passwords. Obviously, in this age of identity theft, this is a very powerful document and should be carefully encrypted (if it is a digital file) or closely safeguarded (if it is a hardcopy document). You should take care to ensure that only the person (or people) you want to access your accounts in the event of your death or incapacity have the ability to access this information.    

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

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Estate Plan Review | New IRS Regulations Serve as a Important Reminder for Regular Estate Plan Reviews

Summary: In August 2016, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service proposed new regulations that could have a dramatic impact on the estate plans of a certain group of people. Whether you are or are not in the group of people who might possibly be affected by these changes in the statutes and regulations, the proposed change is instructive in that it reminds everyone of the importance of periodic estate plan reviews. By reviewing your estate plan regularly, you can be sure that your plan remains optimized based upon the current state of the law, even after changes are enacted.  

The proposed new IRS regulations would affect a specific section of Internal Revenue Code (Section 2704) that can have a role in certain estate plans. The new regulations, if they are enacted without additional changes, would diminish the effectiveness of certain tools used in estate plans geared toward reducing or eliminating death tax obligations.

For people who have estates large enough to exceed to the federal estate tax exemption amount, planning to avoid or minimize the impact of federal estate taxes is an important part of estate planning. In order to plan to avoid or minimize these taxes, estate planning professionals and their clients have used various mechanisms. For families that have planned using LLCs or family limited partnerships, the new regulations would "permanently and profoundly change estate planning," according to the National Law Journal.

Of course it is possible that your first reaction might be, "I don't have an LLC or a FLP... why should I care?" The reason comes down to one thing... options. In estate planning, there are often multiple different vehicles available to get you to where you want to go, regardless of what your individual estate planning destination is. Your estate planning attorney can help by taking the facts about you and your estate, alongside your goals and objectives, and analyzing them in terms of the relatives benefits and drawbacks of each estate planning tool available to you. A substantial change in the IRS regulations governing death taxes and estate planning may alter what type of planning vehicle is best for you.

You might also find yourself thinking, "I'm not rich... I shouldn't have to worry about federal estate taxes, should I?" While the current federal estate tax exclusions are relatively high, that doesn't necessarily mean that only rich people potentially face federal estate tax obligations when they die. In some situations, small business owners and family farmers could find their estates over the limit and their loved ones left with a hefty estate tax bill after they die.

Even if you are not rich, not a small business owner, not a farmer and generally unlikely to have an estate tax obligation when you die, the proposed new IRS regulations still serve as an important warning to you when it comes to estate planning. Many things that could impact your estate plan can potentially change in quick fashion. One of these possibilities is changes to the law. Changes in the applicable laws or regulations may fundamentally alter the analysis regarding what works best for you in terms of estate planning. If you make the mistake of simply executing a plan and never reviewing it, you may end up with a plan designed to function under a legal landscape that no longer exists by the time of your death.

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)

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@assuranceplan

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Estate Planning | Being Vigilant in Maintaining Your Plan in Order to Keep Control and Achieve Your Goals

Summary: In a recent judicial ruling, a court gave a man's stepchildren the proceeds of two of his non-probate accounts even though the man had recently cut the stepchildren out of his will and had told a friend that that the friend would receive the entirety of the man's wealth. The man's plan did not achieve this goal of giving the friend "everything" because the man did not do the proper upkeep on the beneficiary designation forms tied to the non-probate accounts. This case serves as clear illustration of just how important proper estate plan maintenance is to the overall well-being of your plan.

The story of a Lexington, Kentucky man and the post-death transfer of his assets played out in the Kentucky courts recently. The distribution of this man's wealth potentially serves as yet another example of why estate planning maintenance is SO important. The facts of the case raised the distinct possibility that the man changed his estate planning goals but, because he did not do the proper maintenance work, he left behind a situation filled with uncertainty... which ended up requiring the involvement of the legal system and produced an outcome that may not have matched his true intentions.

In the case, the deceased man had no children of his own. He did, however, have two stepchildren. The man's wealth included both probate and non-probate assets. The man created a will that left everything to his wife if she survived him, otherwise everything went to his stepchildren. He also had an Individual Retirement Account and another non-IRA account with Vanguard Group. The beneficiary designations on both accounts mirrored the distribution plan of his will.

The wife died before he did. Initially, the man engaged in careful plan maintenance. He updated his will to name his stepchildren as the beneficiaries of his estate. Additionally, he contacted his IRA institution and obtained (and completed) the necessary paperwork to update the death beneficiary designations of those accounts, naming the two stepchildren as co-beneficiaries.

Sometime after engaging in this maintenance, the man decided that his estate planning goals had changed. He created and signed a new will. This will left his entire probate estate to an unrelated friend. The stepchildren received nothing. He spoke to his friend about this change in his plan. He indicated that the friend would receive "everything" from him. What he didn't do, however, was update his beneficiary designation forms with Vanguard. Once a year, Vanguard contacted him to inform him about the status of his beneficiaries. The provider told the man that, if the names were not correct, he needed to update the designations by going online or by calling the provider.

The man died without ever making this change on his accounts. Ultimately, the friend and the stepchildren ended up in court, battling over who was the rightful recipient of the death benefit payouts on the two Vanguard accounts. Both the trial judge and the appeals court sided with the stepchildren. The mere fact that the man informed his friend of his intention to alter his plan was not enough. The law required something called "substantial compliance," which in this case, meant updating the beneficiary forms. Not only was this true in the case of these accounts, the outcome would have been the same if the asset in dispute had been an annuity or a life insurance policy.

It is not 100% clear what the man's true goals were. If, however, he DID intend for his friend to get everything, including the proceeds of his non-probate accounts, and for the stepchildren to get nothing, then his plan did not achieve this goal and it failed to do so solely because he did not do the required maintenance on all of the parts of his plan. 

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University Park, Florida 34201

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Revocable Living Trusts | 4 Things You May Not Have Known

Summary: Over the last several decades, revocable living trusts have become much more familiar to an ever-increasing percentage of the public. Many people have become educated about living trusts' benefits when it comes to avoiding the time, stress and expense involved in probate administration. Others may also be aware of living trusts' possible advantages when it comes to protecting your privacy by keeping the specifics of your wealth out of the public record. But living trusts have the potential to do much more than that. Properly drafted, executed and funded living trusts can offer a wide array of positives to the person who includes it in their estate. 

(1) A living trust may help protect you if you become mentally incapacitated. If you experience a medical event, whether it is a degenerative condition like Alzheimer's disease, a massive trauma like a stroke or some other event that renders you mentally unable to make decisions on your own behalf, it may be necessary to go to court and ask a judge to appoint someone, known as a "conservator" or "guardian of the estate," to be responsible for managing your wealth and making your financial decisions for you. If, however, you have a properly funded living trust, this court process may be unnecessary. With a properly funded living trust, your trust holds your assets and, upon the onset of your mental incapacity, your trust would dictate that your successor trustee would take over the duties of managing your wealth, which could avoid the need for a conservator at all.

(2) A living trust may protect your family if you leave behind minor or young adult children. If you have minor children, the person you want to care for them until they reach adulthood may not necessarily be the person you want to manage your child's inheritance. In a similar fashion, you may be less than comfortable with your 18, 19 or 20-year-old having unrestricted access to, and control of, his/her inheritance. In either circumstance, your trust can help. Instead of having a judge appoint a conservator to manage your minor child's money, or leaving your young adult child to manager his/her own money, you can place that inheritance in your trust and empower your successor trustee to manage that wealth, including delaying certain distributions until the child passes certain life milestones like college graduation or marriage, or reaches certain ages, like 21, 25 or even 30. Even if the bulk of your child's inheritance will come from the proceeds of your life insurance, your trust can still help if you name the trust as the beneficiary and then place instructions for distribution of that money inside your trust document.

(3) A bank account owned by a living trust may have greater federal insurance protection than one held by an individual. If you own a bank account in your own name, it is insured by the FDIC up to $250,000. With trusts, however, the FDIC insures bank accounts at a maximum amount equal to $250,000 per beneficiary. That means that, if your living trust calls for your wealth to be distributed to your three children and two of your grandchildren, the FDIC will insure your trust's bank account up to $1.25 million!   

(4) A living trust is not a complete substitute for a will. While a properly executed and funded living trust can offer you the benefit of avoiding probate, it does not mean that you should avoid preparing a will. A companion will for living trusts, which is often called a "pour-over" will, should still be part of your estate plan. Your pour-over will protects you in case you have assets that you forgot, obtained shortly before your death or otherwise did not get funded into your trust (for whatever reason.) Your pour-over will also protects you if you have minor children, as it can be used to indicate to the courts who you would like to be appointed as the person responsible for caring for your child until that child reaches adulthood.

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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Estate Planning | To Ensure that You are in Complete Control

Summary: Family relationships today are more complicated than ever. According to recent statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control, more than 40% of new births in the US are born to unmarried mothers. With fewer children than ever being born to married parents, the importance of NOT relying on intestacy laws is higher than ever. Whether you are worried about illegitimate children (or illegitimate children of your children) "coming out of the woodwork" after your death, or you want to ensure that your estate provides for someone who is like a child or grandchild to you (but with whom you do not have a biological relationship,) a detailed estate plan can give you the control over your legacy that you need to ensure that your wealth goes to the people who matter to you.    

Dianna Allen was one such of example of illegitimacy and the estate planning near-catastrophe her circumstance caused. Ola Irene Tucker, mother to three children, died in 2010. Two of Tucker's children died before her, with the third passing mere months after she did. Tucker died with no estate plan in place, meaning that her estate would be distributed according to the intestacy laws of her home state of Tennessee. In September 2010, two of Tucker's grandchildren asked to be appointed co-administrators of the estate, which would mean that they would handle distributing their grandmother's wealth. They informed the court that Tucker had five grandchildren, including Allen. 

The complication with Tucker's estate emerged when a third grandchild challenged Allen's right to receive any portion of their grandmother's estate. While Allen claimed to be the biological daughter of one of Tucker's sons, and had provided to the court evidence to show that she was an out-of-wedlock child born to Tucker's son, she had a problem. As the opposing grandchild pointed out to the court, Allen's mother was married to another man when Allen was conceived and born. The other grandchild argued that, under Tennessee law, this meant that Allen was not a child born out of wedlock at all, but was the legal daughter of the other man (the husband of Allen's mother.) This would mean Allen had no legal relationship to Tucker's son or to Tucker and, because of that, had no right to receive anything from Tucker's estate. Based on the state of Allen's mother's marriage, the trial court agreed and ruled in 2014 that Allen could not pursue a claim to part of Tucker's estate.

By the summer of 2015, the Tennessee Court of Appeal overturned that ruling and sent the case back to the trial court. While the law creates a strong legal presumption that a child born to a married woman is the child of that mother and that husband, this presumption is not irrefutable. With enough proof on her side, Allen could possibly overcome this presumption and establish that Tucker's son was her biological father.  

While the appeals court's ruling clears the way for Allen to receive a portion of her grandmother's estate, it points out many pitfalls of failing to plan. First, this case started in September 2010 and, by the late summer of 2015, was once again pending before a trial court in Loudon County, meaning that the administration of Tucker's estate ultimately took five years or more to resolve! 

Additionally, the facts of Tucker's case point out just how few situations in today's world fit into the tidy, clear-cut parameters of intestacy laws. Sometimes, one has children who have children of their own outside the bounds of marriage. Without an estate plan, one's wealth is potentially in jeopardy from one's long-lost illegitimate children or the illegitimate children of one's own children. The case of the estate of rock singer Prince is such an example, with numerous individuals coming forward claiming that the dead musician is their biological father. 

The same is true in reverse. The greeting card aisle in your local store has an entire selection of cards conveying love and affection to someone who role is "you're like a mother to me." Similar relationships exist between people who have grandparent-grandchild type relationships despite having no biological connection. In any of these circumstances, proper and careful planning is a must. A well thought out plan will allow you to dictate the terms of the distribution of your wealth. Within certain legal limitations (like the prohibition against completely disinheriting a surviving spouse,) your plan gives you the freedom and control to direct your wealth to all of the people who matter most to you, and to ensure that only your true loved ones take from your estate.

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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Estate Planning | 5 Common Mistakes People Make

Summary: People have lots of things they think they know about estate planning. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're a bit off-base and sometimes they're wrong. By educating yourself, you can learn why experts universally agree that everyone needs an estate plan, as well as how to move pro-actively to ensure you get the best plan possible for you.  

As with any area knowledge, estate planning is something that may seem very mysterious or overwhelming to some. For others, they may think they know about estate planning, but as the old quote from English essayist Alexander Pope says, "a little learning is a dangerous thing." In order to make informed decisions about your estate plan, it helps to know what is truth, what is misconception and what is myth. With that in mind, here is a group of five erroneous thoughts people have about estate planning, and why they can be dangerous.

(1) I don't have enough wealth to justify creating an estate plan. Experts universally agree that, regardless of the size of your estate, you should create an estate plan. Even if you have only modest wealth, chances are that you care about the legacy you'll leave behind and who receives your assets. If you don't create a plan, the state makes one up for you and the distribution plan your state creates probably won't match your wishes. Additionally, a thorough estate plan does a lot more than just distribute your assets. It also can enhance your control regarding who manages the affairs of your estate after you die, who would make decisions for you if you became incapacitated and who takes over as the guardian of your minor or special-needs children. 

(2) I already have a will, so my estate plan is set. Not necessarily. A will is an integral part of any estate plan, but a will by itself is rarely enough. Your will allows you to dictate directions regarding the distribution of your assets, but it does provide you any assistance regarding who acts on your behalf if you were alive but unable to make decisions for yourself. A complete estate plan would, in addition to a will, also include a financial power of attorney that allows you to designate an agent who would step in to manage your finances when you're unable, as well as documents that would allow a person of your chooisng to make decisions for you regarding personal, healthcare and end-of-life choices.

(3) Living trusts are only for the very rich. Not true. While it is true that living trusts can offer certain tax-related benefits to people with large estates, they also provide advantages that people with any size estate can receive. Properly created and maintained, they avoid probate. This has the potential to save your family time and money distributing your wealth after your die. Also, probate administrations matters are public in most states, while the process of wrapping up a living trusts is typically carried out without the creation of any public records. So, if you're concerned about privacy, this can be a substantial benefit.

(4) I created a plan with all of those documents. They're signed, notarized and safely stored. I'm all finished. Also not true. Your estate plan is similar to your car, your home or your health. They need regular care and maintenance. A periodic analysis, or check-up, can ensure that the plan you executed is still in optimal condition. Maybe something in your life has changed. Maybe the law has changed. Or maybe you just changed your mind about something. A periodic review can make sure that your plan meets your goals as they stand today.

(5) Anyone can create an estate plan. This is a mistake, too. You may have found a form book at a library or an office supply store. Or maybe it was a page on the Internet. Those documents were probably drafted by capable professionals, but they may not have been lawyers from your state, and they definitely weren't created based upon a personal consultation with you. The best estate plans are those whose documents are customized based upon the unique estate planning laws of your state of residence and the specific parameters of your desires and objectives. Also, be careful about picking just any lawyer. You probably wouldn't want an expert in patent law to defend you in a murder trial and you also probably wouldn't choose a mergers-and-acquisitions attorney to handle your child custody case. Similarly, an attorney from your home state who deals regularly with estate planning cases can offer you advice, insight and strategies that other lawyers might not have.

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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New Laws May Put a New Spin on Your Estate Plan

Summary: There are lots of reasons to consider an estate plan review each year. In addition to taking the opportunity to review any life-event changes you've experienced, an annual plan review can make sure that your plan is optimized for any changes that have taken place in the law. New laws may have opened doors to new opportunities, or trap doors to new pitfalls. A thorough review can make sure that your plan is working at its best in light of any new estate planning laws your state may have. 

There are lots of reasons to consider getting an estate plan "check-up" in the first quarter of a new year. People use the changing calendar to engage in many resolutions, including ones related to getting organized and better caring for themselves and their loved ones. And, what better way to get organized and to best care for yourself and your loved ones than to ensure that your estate plan is still in tip-top shape, right? This is all definitely true, but there is also another reason to use the early months of a new year to get an estate plan review: changes in the law. January 1 is a common date for new statutes to take effect, and some of those statutes may offer you new estate planning opportunities.

Many aspects of the law have changed recently as a reflection of changing culture. Same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states. This matters in many ways, including estate planning. As author Angela D. Giampolo recently pointed out in The Legal Intelligencer: "There are 1,138 identified federal statutes in which marital status is a factor in receiving federal benefits, rights and privileges." Another legal shift that has followed a cultural shift is that more and more states' laws are catching up to the modern relationship that many people have with their households pets, where the pet is seen less as merely a piece of property and more as a beloved and vital part of the family. Pet trusts and estate planning for pets are recognized in more states than ever before.

Other legal changes have taken place independent of any social/cutlural shifts. The number of states that recognize transfer-on-death (TOD) deeds, for example, has nearly doubled in the last few years. That's because, in 2009, a group called the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws drafted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act. This spurred many states into action. Just over a dozen states recognized TOD deeds in 2009. Today, two dozen states plus D.C. have laws giving these deeds recognition. 

In addition to these changes, there are also the alterations that take place after each legislative session. Each state's legislative body considers numerous bills every session, and passes many of them. Some of those relate to estate planning. These changes may require your plan to undergo no changes. But, sometimes, the changes in the law do dictate that you should consider altering your plan. These alterations may be needed to take advantage of new opportunities and benefits that have only now come available thanks to the new changes in the law. On the other hand, your plan may need changes to avoid new pitfalls that the changed laws have created for plans like yours.   

It's somewhat like income taxes. Each year, there are new changes to the laws and regulations governing income tax returns. Sometimes, they're big. Other times, they're very small. Regardless, you want to make sure that your accountant or tax preparer is creating your return using the latest rules. The same goes for estate planning. A thorough "check-up" can make sure that your plan has been analyzed, and optimized, for the current state of law.

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. 

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