Downs Law Firm, P.C.

Laurel Maryland Estate Planning Blog

Estate planning review

Why Review Your Estate Plan?

Life rarely remains the same and those changes mean it is time to take a fresh look at your estate plan. Time marches on and a person’s life changes. That creates the situation of there not being a doubt of whether an estate review is necessary but simply becomes a questions of when it will be reviewed, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader in “It’s important to periodically review your estate plan” Most people get their original wills and other documents from their estate planning attorney, put them into their safe deposit box or a fire-safe file drawer and forget about them. There are no laws governing when these documents should be reviewed, so whether or when to review the estate is completely up to the individual. That often leads to unintended consequences that can cause the wrong person to inherit, fracture the family and leave heirs with a large tax liability. A better idea: review the estate plan on a regular basis. For some people with complicated lives and assets, that means once a year. For others, every three or four years works. Some reviews are triggered by changes in life, including: Marriage or divorce Name Changes Death Large changes in the size of the estate A significant increase in debt The death of an executor, guardian or trustee Birth or adoption of children or grandchildren Change in career, good or bad Retirement Health crisis Changes in tax laws Changes in relationships to beneficiaries and heirs Moving to another state or purchasing property in another state Receiving a sizable inheritance Beneficiaries in need of protection due to Special Needs, creditors, or Tax Problems. What should you be thinking about, as you review your estate plan? Here are some suggestions: Have there been any changes to your relationships with family members? Are any family members facing challenges or does anyone have special needs? Are there children from a previous marriage and what do their lives look like? Are the people you named for various roles—power of attorney, executor, guardian and trustees—still the people you want making decisions and acting on your behalf? Does your estate plan include a durable power of attorney for healthcare, a valid living will, or if you want this, a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order? Has your estate plan addressed the possible need for Medicaid? Do you know who your beneficiary designations are for your accounts and are your beneficiary designations still correct? Your beneficiaries will receive assets outside of the will and nothing you put in the will can change the distribution of those assets. Have you aligned your assets with your estate plan? Do certain accounts pass directly to a spouse or an heir? Have you funded any trusts? Finally, have changes in the tax laws changed your estate plan? Your estate planning attorney should probably take a look at the impact of state law changes, as well as federal. Reference: New Hampshire Union Leader (Jan. 12, 2019) “It’s important to periodically review

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Guardian and conservator

Is a Guardian Needed? Consider Other Options

Some of the options are less intrusive than a guardianship or a conservatorship. Sometimes, guardianships and conservatorships are necessary when some members of a family believe a loved one is becoming mentally or physically incapacitated. However, there are other options, according to On Common Ground News in the article “Alternatives to guardianship and conservatorship.” What is the difference between the two? These are legal proceedings that vary in name from State to State. In Maryland, these proceedings are guardianships and take two forms: Guardian of the person and guardian of the property. A Guardian of the person decides on living situation and most medical care: The Guardian of the property handles the property and lets the appointed person their ward’s finances and assets, buy and sell businesses, and enter into commercial transactions. Either process will involve a court proceeding, ordinarily with an attorney representing the family and a separate attorney representing the incapacitated person. Guardian of the person can sometimes be avoided by relying on the Maryland Health Care Surrogate law, which basically allows next of kin to make medical decisions for someone who does not sign a living will or health care power of attorney. This can be a good alternative to Court if the family is united in their decision-making. It doesn’t work well if they are not. Alternative options for the Guardian of the property include a Durable Power of Attorney (DPA), which permits a competent individual to name another person as their legal representative regarding finances and other matters. There can be specific instructions, and this also can include an agent who is named to make health care decisions. A DPA is broader in power than a living will and applies any time the individual becomes incapable of either making or communicating health care decisions on their own behalf. A second alternative is creating and funding a revocable living trust, where you can appoint a chain of command to manage assets in the Trust. Many of our clients name a trustee child or other individual as a co-trustee to be in the wings to manage assets at disability. Options like powers of attorney and trusts have the distinct advantage of allowing the person to lose the capacity to make decisions while there is still time. Perhaps the last stage can set the stage for future family functioning or dysfunction. We recently represented a family with a child that is developmentally delayed, as has recovered a personal indury settlement for damages that are causing the delay. We were in the Howard County Circuit Court asking a Judge to consider allowing the funds to be placed into a special needs trust format so that they would not need to be spent before the State could render aid. The Judge approved that my clients were able to make plans for their child that would not involve ongoing Court intervention and allowed our request. She recognized that the family was capable, caring, and trustworthy to do so. An estate planning

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What is Probate and Should You Avoid It? Part I

Probate is what’s left over I draw about ten frying pans a week on a legal pad. This is not due to my great artist ability. We offer fee consultations to our client’s named financial successor after a person dies. That would be the Personal Representative, or executor, of a Last Will and Testament, or the Successor Trustee of a Revocable Living Trust. For trust clients, they are almost always the same person(s). In those consultations, I draw a frying pan. You see, Wills work through a Court process called probate. They are not effective until a Court appoints you as the actual representative, in Maryland by passing an Order and issuing Letters of Administration. Probate is the process of “Proving” the Will, meaning that interests parties are notified, and have a chance to object to the will. It is not necessarily good or bad. It is necessary if a will is to be used to distribute assets. Assets don’t necessarily go through this process: Often nothing does. The process is avoided by either Title or Contract. Title is by the form of ownership: Most husbands and wives own virtually everything this way as tenants by the entireties (T by E). If your spouse dies and the house, bank accounts and vehicles are in both names, then they are not in the frying pan. They get diverted by the title. You can own assets jointly with rights of survivorship (JWROS). At the death of one joint owner, the assets go to the survivor. You can also own property with another person as tenants-in-common, meaning that title of your portion does not convey by title at death. Like everything in life, title transfer can be good and bad. It’s great because it’s free. It’s bad because it can have unintended consequences. I transfer my house to myself and my son as joint owners, to “avoid probate”. My son has a car accident, and suddenly I may lose my home because my son owns part of it. Adding someone to the deed is simple, but not necessarily a good idea. I had a client who had two nieces that she put on her two investment accounts, each with a balance of about $200,000. One niece was named as a joint owner of each account. She later entered a long-term care facility. Her one niece dutifully paid the bill for over a year. The other decided to wait and see. When my client died, the niece who was faithful to her got next to nothing, while the other got her full account. How do you think they are now getting along? Also, it may be that a beneficiary should receive their inheritance in a controlled manner. Special needs beneficiaries need may want their benefits preserved. Someone with a drug problem might be best served with specific controls. A child getting divorced might want to buffer their inheritance. Title transfers are simple but don’t allow for any controls. They say there is more than one

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