Why Do I Need to Have Up-to-Date Beneficiaries on My Accounts?

Why Do I Need to Have Up-to-Date Beneficiaries on My Accounts?

Why Do I Need to Have Up-to-Date Beneficiaries on My Accounts? When a family member passes away, it can be a very unsettling time. There are many tasks that need to be accomplished in a short amount of time. One way that you can lessen that burden for your heirs by clearly telling them your preferences for your assets. One element of this is making certain that you have accurate beneficiaries to your retirement and investment accounts.

Nerd Wallet’s recent article entitled “5 Reasons to Add Beneficiaries to Your Investment Accounts Now” says taking the time to do this will help save your heirs and family time, money and energy when they need it most. Let’s take a look at some of the compelling reasons to do this.

  1. Your beneficiaries get to keep more money (and get it faster). When your beneficiaries are assigned to your investment and retirement accounts, the assets will pass directly to them. However, if they are not, those accounts may have to go through the probate process to settle an estate after someone dies. A typical probate case can drag on for a year or longer, and during that time, your beneficiaries are unable to access their inheritance. “Court” also means expenses, time, effort and added stress—all of which are things they’d rather avoid.
  2. Less stress for your heirs. When you make certain that you designate the beneficiaries for your accounts, it can relieve your family of a heavy burden, so they’re not trying to figure out your finances while they’re grieving.
  3. Your beneficiaries will supersede your will. If you have beneficiaries named, those choices will typically override what is written in your will. Therefore, you can see that keeping your beneficiaries up-to-date is extremely important.
  4. It’s easy and painless. If you have a retirement account, such as a 401(k) or an IRA, your account will typically have its own beneficiary form within the account itself. With this, you are able to choose your beneficiaries when you open your account or review them later. With a regular investment account, you’ll need to ask for a transfer on death (TOD) form to make beneficiary elections.
  5. You recently experienced a change in your circumstances. If you experience a big life change, like getting married or having a child, it’s critical to update or add beneficiary elections immediately. It’s best to be prepared for the unexpected.

Remember that in community property states, spouses may be entitled to half of the assets in an IRA — even if another beneficiary is listed — unless you have written consent. Ask a qualified estate planning attorney about state laws to be sure your money goes to whom you want.

It is our goal to provide our clients with the highest level of legal services in the areas of Last Will and Testaments, Living Trust, Irrevocable Trusts, Estate Planning, Probate, Asset Protection, and complete Business Planning. If you or someone you know needs information on Florida estate planning, please contact us today at 239-449-8191 to schedule your free consultation.

Reference: Nerd Wallet (January 22, 2020) “5 Reasons to Add Beneficiaries to Your Investment Accounts Now”

 

How Does the Coronavirus Relief Bill Affect Seniors?

How Does the Coronavirus Relief Bill Affect Seniors?

How Does the Coronavirus Relief Bill Affect Seniors? The $2 trillion economic relief package that Congress passed to help Americans deal with the devastating financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic contains some provisions that affect seniors. In addition to authorizing direct payments to most Americans, including seniors, the law also changes required retirement plan distributions for this year and includes two Medicare-related provisions.

Signed into law on March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides a one-time direct payment of $1,200 to individuals earning less than $75,000 per year ($150,000 for couples who file jointly), including Social Security beneficiaries. Payments are based on either 2018 or 2019 tax returns. The IRS has issued guidance, stating that anyone who did not file a 2018 tax return will need to file a simple tax return in order to receive the payment. After getting complaints that the requirement to file a tax return would be burdensome on seniors, the IRS announced that it would automatically send Social Security beneficiaries their stimulus check without their having to file a tax return. Social Security beneficiaries who receive direct deposit will get their checks directly in their bank accounts. The IRS will mail other beneficiaries a check, which may take longer than the direct deposit.

The CARES Act also affects retirement plans. Recognizing that the stock market crash has depleted many retirement plan accounts, the Act waives the requirement that individuals over a certain age take required minimum distributions from their non-Roth IRAs and 401(k)s in 2020. This includes any 2019 distributions that would otherwise have to be taken in 2020. Required minimum distributions for this year would be based on the value of the account at the end of 2019, when the account likely had more money in it. Waiving required minimum distributions will allow retirees to retain more of their savings.

In addition, the CARES Act allows individuals adversely affected by the pandemic to make hardship withdrawals of up to $100,000 from retirement plans this year without paying the 10 percent penalty that individuals under age 59 ½ are usually required to pay. Individuals who use this option will still have to pay income taxes on the withdrawals, although the tax burden can be spread out over three years.  The dollar limit on loans from retirement plans is also increased until the end of the year.

Finally, the Act includes a couple of small but potentially important provisions for Medicare beneficiaries.  While the Centers for Disease Control has been advising people to have a three-month’s supply of needed medications on hand during the coronavirus crisis, many Medicare Part D plans limit the amount beneficiaries may order.  The CARES Act requires that during the crisis Part D plans must lift these restrictions.  Also, when a vaccine against COVID-19 is finally developed, it will be available to Medicare beneficiaries as part of Medicare, not Part D, and there will be no cost to beneficiaries.

For more information about what is in the CARES Act, click here and chere.

For information from the IRS about coronavirus tax relief, click here.

For an IRS warning about scams related to the relief payments, click here.

It is our goal to provide our clients with the highest level of legal services in the areas of Last Will and Testaments, Living Trust, Irrevocable Trusts, Estate Planning, Probate, Asset Protection, and complete Business Planning. If you or someone you know needs information on Florida estate planning, please contact us today at 239-449-8191 to schedule your free consultation.

Will Your Estate Plan Work Now?

Will Your Estate Plan Work Now?

Will Your Estate Plan Work Now? The demise of the stretch IRA is causing many IRA owners and their advisors to take a look at how their estate plans will work under the new law. An article from Financial Advisor titled “Navigating The New Estate Planning Realities” offers several different planning alternatives.

Take larger IRA distributions during your lifetime. If possible, take the IRA distributions and reinvest them in a Roth IRA or other assets that will receive a stepped-up income tax basis on the death of the account owner. The idea is to take out significant additional penalty-free amounts from IRAs during your lifetime, so you will hopefully be taxed at a lower rate than you would be otherwise, with the net after-tax funds then reinvested in either a Roth IRA or other assets that will receive a stepped-up income tax basis when you die.

Paying all or part of the IRA portion of the estate to lower-income tax bracket beneficiaries. The theory here is that if we have to learn to live with the new tax law, at least we can attempt to minimize the tax pain by doing estate planning with a focus on tax planning. If a person has four children, two in high-income tax brackets and two who are in lower tax brackets, leave the IRA portion of the assets to the children in the lower tax brackets and assets with a stepped-up basis to the higher earners.

Withdrawing additional funds early and using the after-tax amount to purchase income-tax-free life or long-term care insurance. Rather than withdrawing all of the IRA funds early, freeze the current value of the IRA, by withdrawing only the account growth or the RMD portion, whichever is greater. Note that this won’t work if the withdrawals push the person’s income into the next higher tax bracket. All or a portion of the after-tax withdrawals then go into an income-tax-free life insurance policy, including second-to-die life insurance that pays only upon the death of both spouses.

Paying IRA benefits to an income tax-exempt charitable remainder trust. This involves designating an income-tax exempt charitable remainder trust as the beneficiary of the IRA proceeds. Let’s say a $100,000 IRA is made payable to a charitable remainder unitrust that pays three adult children or their survivors 7.5% of the value of the trust corpus (determined annually) each year, until the last child dies. Assume this occurs over the course of 30 years, and that the trust grows at the same 7.5% rate for the next twenty years. The children would net nearly $400,000. Note that the principal of the trust may not be accessed, until it’s paid out to the children, according to the designated schedule.

Every situation is different, so it is important to sit down with your estate planning attorney and review your entire estate, tax liabilities under the new law and how different scenarios will work to both minimize taxes during your lifetime and for your heirs. It’s possible that your situation benefits from a combination of all four strategies.

It is our goal to provide our clients with the highest level of legal services in the areas of Last Will and Testaments, Living Trust, Irrevocable Trusts, Estate Planning, Probate, Asset Protection, and complete Business Planning. If you or someone you know needs information on Florida estate planning, please contact us today at 239-449-8191 to schedule your free consultation.

Reference: Financial Advisor (Feb. 11, 2020) “Navigating The New Estate Planning Realities,”

 

Beware the Rush to Make Your Own Will Online

Beware the Rush to Make Your Own Will Online

Beware the Rush to Make Your Own Will Online: With COVID-19 affecting more and more Americans, people across the country are scrambling to set up wills and end-of-life directives. Over the last two weeks, online will companies have seen an explosion in users, according to the article, “Coronavirus Pandemic Triggers Rush by Americans to Make Online Wills,” published by CNBC.com.

However, as online wills grow in popularity, estate and elder lawyers increasingly caution against using them, for several reasons.

  • Will the documents be legally valid? Since most of these do-it-yourself wills are created and executed without any oversight from an attorney, a larger number of wills may not be executed in compliance with the proper will formalities, and that could end up invalidating the will.
  • Do you fully understand the questions and consequences of your answers? There are many nuances in estate planning, as well as a good bit of legal jargon. Confusion over the question or the consequences of a decision can result in costly mistakes … and could even mean your will won’t hold up to a challenge in court.
  • What about asset protection? There is more to estate planning than just giving your stuff away after you die. How you transfer ownership of your assets can mean the difference between a protected inheritance and legacy for many generations … or the squandering or loss of a person’s life’s work within a few years … or months … after they pass away.
  • Is there any planning for long-term care? It’s estimated that more than half of people turning age 65 who will need some type of long-term care services in their lifetimes. Proper estate planning should balance the possibility that you will need assistance paying for nursing home care (Medicaid), with other estate planning goals. Mistakes in this area could disqualify you from receiving assistance should you need it.

As COVID-19 keeps people home, meeting with a lawyer to create a will could not be easier. In most states, a lawyer’s services have been deemed “essential,” even during stay-at-home orders. We are doing everything we can to make our services as easy and convenient for you as possible, including meeting over telephone, online video services and other innovative ways to ensure you get the planning you need while complying with all safety measures.

Resource: Coronavirus Pandemic Triggers Rush by Americans to Make Online Wills, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/25/coronavirus-pandemic-triggers-rush-by-americans-to-make-online-wills.html

It is our goal to provide our clients with the highest level of legal services in the areas of Last Will and Testaments, Living Trust, Irrevocable Trusts, Estate Planning, Probate, Asset Protection, and complete Business Planning. If you or someone you know needs information on Florida estate planning, please contact us today at 239-449-8191 to schedule your free consultation.

 

Medicare is Expanding Telehealth Services During Coronavirus Pandemic

Medicare is Expanding Telehealth Services During Coronavirus Pandemic

Medicare is Expanding Telehealth Services During Coronavirus Pandemic: As part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government is broadly expanding coverage of Medicare telehealth services to beneficiaries and relaxing HIPAA enforcement. This will give doctors the ability to provide more services to patients remotely.

Medicare covers telehealth services that include office visits, psychotherapy, and consultations provided by an eligible provider who isn’t at your location using an interactive two-way telecommunications system (like real-time audio and video). Normally, these services are available only in rural areas, under certain conditions, and only if you’re located at one of these places:

  • A doctor’s office
  • A hospital
  • A critical access hospital (CAH)
  • A rural health clinic
  • A federally qualified health center
  • A hospital-based dialysis facility
  • A skilled nursing facility
  • A community mental health center

Under the new expansion, Medicare will now pay for office, hospital, and other visits provided via telehealth in the patient’s home. Doctors, nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers will all be able to offer a variety of telehealth services to their patients, including evaluation and management visits, mental health counseling, and preventive health screenings. In addition, relaxed HIPAA enforcement (the law governing patient privacy) means doctors may use technologies like Skype and Facetime to talk to patients as well as using the phone.

In addition to Medicare’s expansion, states are also allowing doctors to provide telehealth services to Medicaid beneficiaries. For example, New York will now cover telephone-based evaluations when an in-person visit is not medically recommended. Many other states are following suit.

This expansion of telehealth services will allow older adults who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 to stay home and still get medical advice. If you need to see a medical provider during this health emergency, check to see whether they are employing telehealth services. To use telehealth services, you need to verbally consent and your doctor must document that consent in your medical record. For information from AARP on what you might expect during a virtual doctor’s visit, click here.

It is our goal to provide our clients with the highest level of legal services in the areas of Last Will and Testaments, Living Trust, Irrevocable Trusts, Estate Planning, Probate, Asset Protection, and complete Business Planning. If you or someone you know needs information on Florida estate planning, please contact us today at 239-449-8191 to schedule your free consultation.

What Is So Important About Powers Of Attorney?

What Is So Important About Powers Of Attorney?

What Is So Important About Powers Of Attorney?: Powers of attorney can provide significant authority to another person, if you are unable to do so. These powers can include the right to access your bank accounts and to make decisions for you.

AARP’s article from last October entitled, “Powers of Attorney: Crucial Documents for Caregiving,” describes the different types of powers of attorney.

Just like it sounds, a specific power of attorney restricts your agent to taking care of only certain tasks, such as paying bills or selling a house. This power is typically only on a temporary basis.

A general power of attorney provides your agent with sweeping authority. The agent has the authority to step into your shoes and handle all of your legal and financial affairs.

The authority of these powers of attorney can stop at the time you become incapacitated. Durable powers of attorney may be specific or general. However, the “durable” part means your agent retains the authority, even if you become physically or mentally incapacitated. In effect, your family probably won’t need to petition a court to intervene, if you have a medical crisis or have severe cognitive decline like late stage dementia.

In some instances, medical decision-making is part of a durable power of attorney for health care. This can also be addressed in a separate document that is just for health care, like a health care surrogate designation.

There are a few states that recognize “springing” durable powers of attorney. With these, the agent can begin using her authority, only after you become incapacitated. Other states don’t have these, which means your agent can use the document the day you sign the durable power of attorney.

A well-drafted power of attorney helps your agent help you, because she can keep the details of your life addressed, if you cannot. That can be things like applying for financial assistance or a public benefit, such as Medicaid, or verifying that your utilities stay on and your taxes get paid. Attempting to take care of any of these things without the proper document can be almost impossible.

In the absence of proper incapacity legal planning, your loved ones will need to initiate a court procedure known as a guardianship or conservatorship. However, these hearings can be expensive, time-consuming and contested by family members who don’t agree with moving forward.

Don’t wait to do this. Every person who’s at least age 18 should have a power of attorney in place. If you do have a power of attorney, be sure that it’s up to date. Ask an experienced elder law or estate planning attorney to help you create these documents.

Reference: AARP (October 31, 2019) “Powers of Attorney: Crucial Documents for Caregiving”

It is our goal to provide our clients with the highest level of legal services in the areas of Last Will and Testaments, Living Trust, Irrevocable Trusts, Estate Planning, Probate, Asset Protection, and complete Business Planning. If you or someone you know needs information on Florida estate planning, please contact us today at 239-449-8191 to schedule your free consultation.

 

Staying Connected to Family in a Nursing Home When Visits are Banned

Staying Connected to Family in a Nursing Home When Visits are Banned

Staying Connected to Family in a Nursing Home When Visits are Banned: The spread of the coronavirus to nursing home residents has caused the federal government to direct nursing homes to restrict visitor access. While the move helps the residents stay healthy, it can also lead to social isolation and depression. Families are having to find new ways to stay in touch.

Nursing homes have been hit hard by the coronavirus. The Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington near Seattle was one of the first clusters of coronavirus in the United States and is one of the deadliest, with at least 35 deaths associated with the facility. In response, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance to all nursing homes, restricting all visitors, except for compassionate care in end-of-life situations; restricting all volunteers and nonessential personnel; and cancelling all group activities and communal dining. While these actions are necessary to prevent the spread of the virus, they can leave families worried and upset and residents feeling isolated and confused.

Families are taking varying tacks to keep in contact with their loved ones, many of whom don’t fully understand why their family is no longer visiting. Nursing homes are also helping to facilitate contact. Some options for keeping in touch, include the following:

  • Phone calls. Phone calls are still an option to be able to talk to your loved one.
  • Window visits. Families who are able to visit their loved one’s window can use that to have in-person visits. You can hold up signs and blow kisses. Talking on a cell phone or typing messages on it and holding them up to the window may be a way to have a conversation.
  • Facetime and Skype. Many nursing homes are facilitating video calls with families using platforms like Facetime or Skype. Some nursing homes have purchased additional iPads, while others have staff members going between rooms with a dedicated iPad to help residents make calls.
  • Cards and letters. Sending cards and letters to your loved ones is another way to show them that you are thinking of them. Some nursing homes have also set up Facebook pages, where people can send messages to residents.

In this unprecedented time, families will need to get creative to stay in touch with their loved ones. For more articles about how families and nursing homes around the country are coping with the new restrictions, click here, here, and here.

It is our goal to provide our clients with the highest level of legal services in the areas of Last Will and Testaments, Living Trust, Irrevocable Trusts, Estate Planning, Probate, Asset Protection, and complete Business Planning. If you or someone you know needs information on Florida estate planning, please contact us today at 239-449-8191 to schedule your free consultation.

Protecting Your Loved One in a Nursing Home During the Pandemic

Protecting Your Loved One in a Nursing Home During the Pandemic

Protecting Your Loved One in a Nursing Home During the Pandemic. As the coronavirus spreads across the United States, nursing home residents are among the most vulnerable to the disease. How to try to ensure that your loved one stays healthy?

The first thing you can do is research the nursing home. While you likely made inquiries before your loved one moved in, you may not have gotten into specifics about the facility’s policies for preventing infection. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has a factsheet that covers key questions to ask nursing home officials about their infection prevention policies, including:

  • How does the facility communicate with family when an outbreak occurs?
  • Are sick staff members allowed to go home without losing pay or time off?
  • How are staff trained on hygiene?
  • Are there private rooms for residents who develop symptoms?
  • How is shared equipment cleaned?

You can also check on staffing levels. Facilities that are understaffed may have workers who are rushing and not practicing good hand-washing. There are no federal minimum staffing levels for nurses aides, who provide the most day-to-day care, but the federal government recommends a daily minimum standard of 4.1 hours of total nursing time per patient.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the CDC have issued guidance to nursing homes to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, including restricting all visitors except in end-of-life situations. You should follow the rules of the facility. If the facility is not limiting or not allowing visitors, do not try to break the rules.

You should check with the facility to make sure it is following the guidance from CMS and the CDC, which includes recommendations to do the following:
•    Restrict all visitors, with exceptions for compassionate care
•    Restrict all volunteers and nonessential health care personnel
•    Cancel all group activities and communal dining
•    Begin screening residents and health care personnel for fever and respiratory symptoms
•    Put hand sanitizer in every room and common area
•    Make facemasks available to people who are coughing
•    Have hospital-grade disinfectants available

To read the detailed guidance from the CDC, click here.

It is our goal to provide our clients with the highest level of legal services in the areas of Last Will and Testaments, Living Trust, Irrevocable Trusts, Estate Planning, Probate, Asset Protection, and complete Business Planning. If you or someone you know needs information on Florida estate planning, please contact us today at 239-449-8191 to schedule your free consultation.

Estate Planning Documents for a Natural Ending

Estate Planning Documents for a Natural Ending

Estate Planning Documents for a Natural Ending. If you want to control your demise, there are a handful of documents that are typically created during the process of developing an estate plan that can be used to achieve this goal, says the article “Choosing a natural end” from The Dallas Morning News.

The four documents are the Medical Power of Attorney, the Directive to Physicians, the Out-of-Hospital Do-Not-Resuscitate, and the In-Hospital Do-Not-Resuscitate. Note that every state has slightly different estate planning laws. Therefore, you will want to speak with an experienced estate planning attorney in your state. If you spend a lot of time in another state, you may need to have a duplicate set of documents created. Your estate planning attorney will be able to help.

For the Medical Power of Attorney, you are appointing an agent to make health care decisions, if you cannot. This may include turning off any life-support systems and refusing life-sustaining treatment. Talk with the person you want to take on this role and make sure they understand your wishes and are willing and able to carry them out.

You have the right to change your agent at any time.

The Directive to Physicians is a way for you to let physicians know what you want for comfort care and any life-sustaining treatment in the event you receive a diagnosis of a terminal or irreversible health condition. You aren’t required to have this, but it is a good way to convey your wishes. The directive does not always have to be the one created by the facility where you are being treated, and it may be customized to your wishes, as long as they are within the bounds of law. Many people will execute a basic directive with their estate planning documents, and then have a more detailed directive created when they have a health crisis.

The Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) forms come in two different forms in most states. Unlike the Directive to Physicians, the DNR must be signed by your attending physician. The Out-of-Hospital DNR is a legally binding order that documents your wishes to health care professionals acting outside of a hospital setting not to initiate or continue CPR, advanced airway management, artificial ventilation, defibrillation or transcutaneous cardiac pacing. You need to sign this form, but if you are not competent to do so, a proxy or health care agent can sign it.

The In-Hospital DNR instructs a health care professional not to attempt CPR, if your breathing or heart stops. It is issued in a health care facility or hospital and does not require your signature. However, the physician does have to inform you or make a good faith effort to inform a proxy or agent of the order.

If you would prefer not to spend your final days or hours hooked up to medical machinery, speak with your estate planning attorney about how to legally prepare to protect your wishes.

It is our goal to provide our clients with the highest level of legal services in the areas of Last Will and Testaments, Living Trust, Irrevocable Trusts, Estate Planning, Probate, Asset Protection, and complete Business Planning. If you or someone you know needs information on Florida estate planning, please contact us today at 239-449-8191 to schedule your free consultation.

Reference: The Dallas Morning News (Jan. 12, 2020) “Choosing a natural end”

 

Do You Want to Decide or Do You Want the State to Decide?

Do You Want to Decide or Do You Want the State to Decide?

Do You Want to Decide or Do You Want the State to Decide? A will allows you to direct your assets to the people you want to receive them, rather than the alternative, which is relying on the laws of your state to direct who receives your assets, says the article “Will you plan now or pay later?” from the Chron.com.

A will is also the document used to name an independent executor with successors, in the unlikely chance that the first executor fails, refuses or becomes unable to serve. Your estate planning attorney will discuss the use of special trusts to provide for family members who are disabled, trusts for minors or special needs family members or even adult children.

There are three big considerations you may not have even considered that would require you to have an estate plan created in recent years to be reviewed or revised. Years ago, the federal tax exemption, which allows a person to leave a certain amount of money to beneficiaries, was much smaller than it is now.

This was a “use it or lose it” exemption. Here’s an example of how things have changed. In 1987, when the exemption was $600,000 per taxpayer, a couple would use a by-pass trust to shelter the first $600,000 upon the first to die to take advantage of the exemption. In 2020, the exemption is $11.58 million. The “use it or lose it” law is different. Therefore, if your will still has a by-pass trust for this reason, it may be best to discuss it with your estate planning attorney. It is likely that you don’t need it anymore.

You also want a will to have some control over what happens to your assets when you die. Let’s say Betty and Bob have three children. Bob dies, leaving his assets to Betty, then Betty dies and leaves all of her assets to her three children. One of the children, Bea, dies shortly after Betty dies. Bea’s will leaves all of her assets to her husband Bruce.

Bruce remarries. When Bruce dies, the share of the family’s assets that Bruce inherited from his wife Bea may be left to Bruce’s second wife or the couple may spend them all during their marriage. If Bruce divorces his second wife, she may win those assets in a divorce settlement. Would Betty and Bob have wanted their assets to go to their grandchildren, instead of their son-in-law’s second wife and children?

An estate plan can be created to protect those assets, so they remain within the family, going to grandchildren or to the children of Betty and Bob.

While most people think of an estate plan as a plan for death, it’s also a plan for illness and incapacity. A perfectly healthy person is injured in a car accident or suffers a stroke. Without having documents like a power of attorney, power of attorney for health care, living will and medical privacy documents, the family will spend a great deal of time and money trying to establish legal control over the estate.

Speak with an estate planning attorney today to update your current will or create a will and the necessary documents to protect yourself and your family.

Reference: Chron.com (January 16, 2020) “Will you plan now or pay later?”

It is our goal to provide our clients with the highest level of legal services in the areas of Last Will and Testaments, Living Trust, Irrevocable Trusts, Estate Planning, Probate, Asset Protection, and complete Business Planning. If you or someone you know needs information on Florida estate planning, please contact us today at 239-449-8191 to schedule your free consultation.