Recent studies show that about half of Americans still make resolutions, but fewer than 10% of us are successful in maintaining them, says The Sentinel in “Elder Care: New Year’s resolutions.” This year, try making your resolutions simpler and more time-sensitive, and maybe you’ll have more luck maintaining them. Start with your estate plan. A call to your estate planning attorney to make an appointment won’t take a lot of time, and it will get the process started.
Getting your estate plan in order in 2019 will prevent your family from unnecessary stress and costs in the future. Here are a few examples of what can happen to families who don’t plan properly.
A married couple owns a home and some investments. To protect their assets, they create a Revocable Living Trust and transfer all their assets into the trust. They believed that by doing so, they’ll avoid probate and preserve assets from long-term care costs. However, while a revocable trust can avoid probate, if properly created and funded, it has limited other benefits.
When the husband needed nursing care, the couple was surprised to learn that putting their largest asset—their primary residence—in a revocable trust resulted in a situation where the home was counted as an asset for Medicaid to pay for care.
As Texas residents, their principal residence can be excluded for consideration for eligibility—if certain conditions are met. However, federal law specifically directs that real estate in a revocable trust is a countable resource. Had they placed the residence in an Irrevocable Asset Protection Trust five years prior, or even kept the residence out of a trust, they would have had more options.
Not having a will is never a good idea. A local musician had a successful career that resulted in him having a good deal of wealth. He had a son from his first marriage and when his son was born, he told his first wife that he wanted his assets to pass to her upon his death. If she died before him, he wanted his assets to go to his son. However, he never had a will made.
The first marriage ended in divorce, and he became estranged from his son. He had a daughter with a new partner and planned to leave everything to his new partner. If she passed before him, he intended to leave everything to his daughter. However, once again, he failed to have a will made.
With no will, state law governs who receives his assets. In the musician’s case, his assets pass in equal shares to his two children.
Notice that none of his assets pass to his current partner. The only way she could have inherited his assets, would have been for him to have a will. While he had told his partner that he did not want his son to get anything, under state law, his assets are to be split equally between his children.
With an estate that included songs that were copyrighted, both of his children (and any individuals claiming to be his children), may receive income streams. The court must first determine who his legal children are, before any assets can be distributed. A will would have prevented this entire mess.
These are just two examples of what happens when planning is not done correctly, or not at all. Make it one of your priorities to call your estate planning attorney.
The Petrosewicz Law Firm can assist you with your estate planning needs. Contact us today at (281) 344-9455 or [email protected].
The Petrosewicz Law Firm can assist you with your estate planning and trust needs. Contact us today at (281) 344-9455 or [email protected].
Reference: The Sentinel (Jan. 4, 2019) “Elder Care: New Year’s resolutions”
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