It’s a common mistake for people to assume that after creating a trust, their work is done. If your assets are not properly titled to the name of the trust, a whole host of issues can arise when the time comes for trust to be administered. What’s worse is that the purpose for creating the trust could be defeated by failing to properly fund the trust.
If you take a moment and actually think about it, you are probably registered on several—if not dozens of—websites. You make accounts associated with various websites and sign in with your unique username and password.
When I started thinking about my own online activity, several accounts immediately came to mind, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, iTunes, and even bank accounts. Then I really gave it some more thought. What about my tablet, smartphone, laptop and/or desktop computer, Twitter, Amazon? The list goes on!
Have you ever thought about what happens with these accounts and devices when you die?
Last week, the world was in shock when news broke about the sudden and unexpected death of pop icon, Prince. Prince died at his residence in Minnesota at the young age of 57.
As some mourned by flooding the internet with his greatest hits, others wondered about his estate. Prince had no known children, no current spouse, and no living parents. This leaves us all wondering: Who will receive his assets? Did he have proper estate planning in place?
Last Wednesday, March 30, 2016, we were inspired by Dr. Susan Farella-Busch’s most thoughtful discussion on “life with dementia.” You could hear a pin drop in the room of over 70 health care professionals at our Round Table Luncheon at Puglia’s of Garden City.
Sometimes, you find yourself in a place where you never thought you would be. We are all getting older and with that we are caregivers; we suffer the loss of loved ones.
Under New York law, the answer as to whether you can disinherit your spouse is … not really.
In New York, there is something called the spousal right of election, which states that a surviving spouse has the right to assert his or her right to elect to inherit a portion of your net estate. As a result of this law, you cannot disinherit your spouse without your spouse’s waiver of this right.
When speaking with clients about the complicated Medicaid rules, availability, and exceptions, they often reply something like, “Wow, there’s so much to know.”
Clients come to us because we know the rules, and more importantly, we know the exceptions.
Oftentimes when creating an estate plan, it is requested that a family member or friend be disinherited. There are many reasons why one would chose to disinherit someone. Perhaps the person creating the estate plan has already provided the family member or friend with gifts during his or her lifetime. Perhaps he or she wants to avoid disqualifying the person from government benefits. There might have been a falling out between the individuals. Or there might be tax reasons for wanting to disinherit.
No matter what the reason is, it is important to understand the potential pitfalls of disinheriting someone.
Many families assume it’s better to disinherit their child with special needs. Their intentions are loving—they don’t want the child to lose their government benefits as a result of inheriting; they don’t want to do their child more harm than good. They think it would be better to leave everything to their other children, trusting that those children will take care of the child with special needs.
Often times when clients make an appointment with our law firm, they have a very specific estate planning concern or issue. They may have a particular focus in mind, such as updating a will or avoiding probate. With a plethora of details to consider, it is often challenging for individuals to adequately address all aspects of their personal “big picture”, i.e. their complete estate.
Why should you contact the charity that you are planning to name as beneficiary?
People often wish to leave money to charities. This blog contains real-world scenarios in which individuals leave assets to charities:
Example #1: Tom has no children and no living relatives. His net worth is about 10 million dollars. Realizing his estate would be taxable, he wanted to strategically make a bequest to his alma mater, the church that he attends, and a hospital that he credits with saving his life.
He contacted his alma mater to inform them of his intentions. He signed a letter of intent specifying the dollar amount of the gift he intended to leave. As a result, the college named an endowment after him, with the funds to be used to create a scholarship.
He spoke with the pastor at his church about his intentions, and he was able to hear about the good work that the church will be able to do as a result of his gift.