Redmond Office Law Blog

Many people have estate planning on their to-do list, but many times due to job issues, financial circumstances or just timing they are not able to get their estate plan updated or even get their estate plan completed. However, there are some simple things that can be done to make sure that your assets pass to the right people. These simple steps can be done without the cost or assistance of an estate planning attorney and when you do have time to get your estate plan done, these changes can be reviewed and/or updated. Some simple changes include updating your life insurance beneficiary and/or your retirement beneficiary.

Many people still have a parent named or an ex-spouse, but have never taken the time to update those. If something happened to you would you want your retirement to pass to your ex-husband or would you want your life insurance to pass to your mom who may be in the nursing home. Although, changing a beneficiary to a minor child or to your children in general will not allow you the control that a Trust would allow you, it does ensure that your beneficiary will inherit those proceeds. Although many of us do not like to deal with paperwork updating your beneficiaries on life insurance, CD’s and retirement accounts is a simple way to plan until you have the time or resources to get in and do a complete estate plan.

We may not all have Tiger Woods’ money when it comes to assembling a divorce or setting up a Prenuptial Agreement. However, a Prenuptial Agreement can be beneficial for individuals of varying net worth. A Prenuptial Agreement is designed to set some ground rules prior to the marriage, especially if the assets of the husband and wife are considerably different. A Prenuptial Agreement can provide and protect assets acquired prior to the marriage and it can also provide for a settlement in the event of divorce. Prenuptial Agreements can even go to the extent of providing for a settlement in the event of infidelity of either party or loss of benefits in the event of infidelity. Prenuptial Agreements are a great way to address each person’s financial issues at the beginning and not wait for these matters to be discussed when the parties decide they no longer like each other. Keep in mind that a Prenuptial Agreement is not an estate plan due to the fact that a Prenuptial Agreement is done in the event of divorce and an estate planning document is done in the event of death.

When it comes to estate planning laws many of the laws coordinate, but many of them are in direct contradiction of one another. For example, many people are aware of the fact that a family member can gift up to $13,000 per year to as many individuals as they choose and the receiver of the gift and the giver do not have to report the gift to the IRS. It is basically a freebie for both parties. Many individuals look at this option when a family member is getting older and there is a possibility of that family member entering a nursing home. Many clients will contact me and ask, “can’t my mom give each of the kids and the grand-kids $13,000 a year to get rid of her money?” Yes. Mom can gift up to $13,000 a year to as many of her family members under the IRS tax code, but the IRS tax code does not coordinate with the Medicaid laws. If mom is giving away her money so she can qualify for Medicaid down the road, then there will be a problem. Medicaid does not coordinate with the gifting laws, in fact, Medicaid is in direct contradiction to the gifting laws. Medicaid laws state that if you divest or give away your money in order to qualify for Medicaid, the government can go back five years and the value of the gift will disqualify that parent from getting nursing home care. When dealing with estate planning issues such as gifting and qualifying for Medicaid it is important that you consult an estate planning attorney who understands how these laws work together and contradict one another.

When it comes to estate planning, even the small stuff is important. Many family members are concerned that their personal property or even their collectibles will not get to the right person or that family members will not understand the value of a collectible. It is important that you take the time to make a list of those items of tangible personal property that should be passed to a specific beneficiary. There are several ways of accomplishing this.

The first option is put provisions in your Will or your Trust and the second option is to create a “tangible personal property list”. This list can be in your own handwriting, dated and signed or alternatively, if it is typed up then it should have two witnesses to verify your signature. These tangible personal property lists should then be kept with your estate planning documents and a copy should be provided to your estate planning attorney.

In addition to making the list there are several ways to manage your collectibles or create an inventory for your successor administrator. The website www.managemycollectibles.com gives collectors information on a multitude of specific software programs that allow collectors to create a database of their own collections and this electronic record can create values, identify works of art, and/or insurance on each item of personal property. If you do not want to do the tangible personal property list and you merely want to allow your children the option to bid or purchase the items at sale, but you want to limit it to family members only, there is a website that can be utilized by your administrator called www.edivvyup.com. This allows your administrator to set up an on-line auction of items of tangible personal property that can only be utilized by a password. The final alternative is to make sure that you give these items of tangible personal property away prior to your death. That ensures that the individual that you wish to have the item gets it and can enjoy it during your lifetime.

Many people don’t think that college age students need to consider estate planning. However, if you are getting ready to send your kids off to college there are two important documents that they should consider, a medical Power of Attorney and a financial Power of Attorney. If your child were to be injured or hospitalized you would not be able to obtain information about their condition or make medical decisions for them. Additionally, if your children are still insured through your health insurance, without a medical Power of Attorney over your child, you will not be able to discuss insurance information including billing matters and/or transfer of medical records.

Additionally, it may be important for your child to give you financial Power of Attorney as well. This will allow you to get information regarding their outstanding tuition, do banking for them if they are unavailable and even handle lease agreements with their landlord. No matter what your age, once you become an adult at age 18 a medical and financial Power of Attorney are two important documents to consider.

When it comes to planning for the future many of us do not like to consider the worst case scenario. With the recent death of three children who died in a Michigan plane crash with their grandfather, it reminds us that we have to plan for the unknown. When setting up an estate plan or updating an estate plan it is important to as the question, “what if”? What if one of your children did not survive you, would you leave that deceased child’s portion to the grandchildren or would it go back into the “pot” and go to your other children? When setting up an estate plan, what if you only have one child and that child predeceases you and leaves no grandchild to inherit your assets? Would you leave the money to your nieces and nephews or would you start doling it out to various local charities? If you have already set up your estate plan I would encourage you to review what you currently have to make sure that it addresses these questions. If you are looking to set up an estate plan, I think that these are some questions that should be considered as part of the process.

Do-it-yourself Estate Planning may sound like a good idea based on the fact that the cost is greatly reduced and you do not have to spend time in a lawyer’s office, but individuals should beware of some of the pitfalls of preparing your own estate plan. A do-it-yourself estate plan can create more problems than it solves. When it comes to legal issues there is no one-size fits all for each family. In today’s society, the definition of a family is so different from household to household that it is important that your estate plan fit your situation, your family and your needs. For example, many of today’s families are a mixture of his, hers and our kids. Many individuals are in a second marriage, recently divorced or recently married and many of the do-it-yourself on-line estate planning kits just do not ask the right questions and cannot anticipate the uniqueness of each family.

The problem is that many individuals would choose to do nothing instead of spending the time with an attorney to get their estate plan set up right. In fact, some surveys indicate that every four married couples with minor children lack any documentation as to who would serve as the guardian of their minor children in the event both parents died. Unless you are a single individual who does not own property and has no children and lives from pay check to pay check, you probably need an estate planning attorney to guide you through the process. Most people make mistakes when they try on-line forms and in fact, many of the individuals do not even understand the terminology when the forms are presented to them. Do you understand the difference between a Living Will, a Power of Attorney, a Last Will and Testament and a Living Trust? Do you understand the various designations that are created within these documents and the powers that you are giving to individuals under the terms of these documents? Is it more power than you would be comfortable with if you truly understand the legal nature of each document? If you do not know the answers to each of these questions then do-it-yourself estate plans are probably not right for you.

When we hear about the death of billionaires, we think death and taxes, they must go together. However, in 2010, the IRS allowed the tax law to lapse for one year and have given all estates a free pass. In other words, Texas billionaire, Dan Dunkin’s $9 billion dollar estate will pass to his children and grandchildren death tax free. The estate tax was enacted in 1916 and this is the first time that the tax has been repealed altogether. The question is will this repeal of the estate tax last through the end of 2010 or will the IRS revisit this law before the end of the year and enact a tax law that would become retroactive back to January 1, 2010. Although the death tax effects only approximately 5,500 estates a year, it is still an issue that many individuals worry about. If the IRS does nothing before the end of 2010, the year 2011 will see an instant change with the estate tax credit dropping to $1 million. Since the treasury collected more than $25 billion dollars in estate taxes in 2008 it is definitely an issue that is going to be revisited.

When serving as the administrator of an estate, whether under a Will or Trust, many administrators do not anticipate having to evict a family member from the home. With an increasing amount of children coming back home due to job loss or financial issues, it is very possible that one of the beneficiaries of the estate may be living in the home at the time of death. If that family member is not cooperative and is unwilling to move out in preparation of the sale of the home the administrator of the estate may have to consider going through the eviction process. If the family member has been living in the home for some time they may be considered a month to month tenant and throwing all of their personal items out on the curb may be a violation of their rights. If a family member has moved back into the home and you are the administrator of the estate make sure you speak with your parents prior to their death to determine what their wishes are with regard to eviction of that family member and/or a reasonable time frame for that family member to look for alternate housing.

Many people are concerned about identity theft while they are living, but what about identity theft after you are deceased. Although, it may appear to be a fairly rare problem for many deceased family members, it is still a precaution that should be considered. As we all know, thieves will exploit just about anyone, living or deceased. Not only should you minimize the risk of identity theft while you are living, your family should be aware of ways to minimize identity theft after death. Here are some things to consider:

1. When placing an obituary in the newspaper, do not include the deceased person’s street address.

2. You may want to mention the birth year or the age they were at the time of death, but avoid providing the entire month, date and year of the decedent.

3. Make sure that the funeral home is providing notice of death to the Social Security office. If not, make sure that you verify with Social Security that the individual has died.

4. It is also important to contact all of the decedent’s financial institutions to let them know that the individual has died and identify whether or not a successor Trustee or a Personal Representative will be stepping in to handle the accounts.

5. Contact the Secretary of State and let them know that the individual has passed away, thereby cancelling the Michigan Driver’s License and it’s usability.

6. Contact all financial institutions and let them know that the individual has died and that any active durable powers of attorney is null and void and advise them of the individual that will be contacting them as the Personal Representative of the estate or Trustee of a living Trust.

7. Consider having all of their mail transferred to a P.O. Box number or to the administrator’s home to avoid credit card applications or other information being stolen from their mailbox.

Apparently, the names of Soap Operas sometimes fit the subject matter of their show. Recently, the Young and the Restless featured an estate planning topic involving a young bratty child who is suing his parents over a Trust fund. For those of you that are fans of the Young and the Restless and/or Victor Newman, you will know that Victor’s child sued him for Trust funds. Most of us do not live in the soap opera world and so for many of my clients, this is not a common situation. The question is, could it happen…? Possibly! Typically, if a parent sets up an irrevocable Trust and had funded that Trust over the course of the parent’s lifetime, that parent is not able to take that money back or change the terms of the Trust. If an irrevocable Trust had been set up by a parent the Trustee would be obligated to honor the terms of the Trust. If the parent has set up a regular revocable Living Trust and the child has learned that the parent’s Trust does not provide for that child to receive money until a much older age, a child has no control over a revocable Trust if a parent is still living. When setting up a revocable or irrevocable Trust it is important to consider your children’s ability to manage money, their maturity level and even any outside influences that may effect their ability to handle money.

When it comes to estate planning, it is important to have a contingency plan. For example, many people only think of planning for the next generation. However, we must also address the issue of a child predeceasing a parent or even a grandchild predeceasing a grandparent. In recent months we have heard a variety of sad stories, including stories about a plan crash killing everyone on board except an 8 year old child, tornadoes wiping out entire sections of local towns and car accidents killing all the occupants of the vehicle. Although we do not like to dwell on these tragedies, they are all an indication of why succession planning is important. When setting up your estate plan it is important to consider the “what if’s”, as they relate to you and your family. Questions such as, what if your child did not survive you, what if you have no children and would you leave your estate to your brothers and sisters? What if one of your brothers and sisters predeceases you, would you give it back to the other surviving siblings or would you pass it on to the children of a deceased sibling? If you have already completed an estate plan now is a good time to review that plan and make sure that you have your contingency plan in place.

Statistics say that Autism is on the rise. In fact, statistics show that 1 in 70 males and 1 in 100 females have Autism, which represents a rise of almost ten percent As families find themselves facing this medical issue, it is important that they take the time to address their estate planning issues as well. An Autistic child will most likely be entitled to government assistance throughout the course of his or her life. Such government assistance is typically in the form of Medicaid and Social Security (SSI), which is a needs based program. Based on these two government programs, the recipient of these benefits is not allowed to retain more than $2,000 of assets in his or her own bank account. If a parent does not do the necessary estate planning during their lifetime and they leave a large sum of money to an Autistic child, that child may automatically loose their benefits. The child or the guardian/conservator on behalf of the child, would then be forced to spend down the funds to under $2,000 only to be faced with the issue of re-appling for Medicaid once the funds are gone.

However, during the course of a parent’s lifetime, Special Needs provisions can be set up within their living Trust. The Special Needs provisions allow for money to be held in Trust for the Autistic child’s lifetime, but the child is not treated as the owner of the funds. A successor Trustee is then given permission to use the funds for comforts and luxuries that the child will need throughout the course of his or her lifetime. Many of these needs are not provided to the child through the government assistance mentioned above. Since the child does not have control of the funds and the funds do not appear in the child’s personal account or under the child’s Social Security number, these funds will be protected throughout the child’s lifetime. At the death of the child, the funds can then pass back to other children or even on to a non-profit to fund research on Autism. When dealing with a family member with Autism a simple Will or no estate planning at all will not protect that family member.

When it comes to actress Lindsay Lohan, rules never seem to apply. In most situations where we think of a conservatorship proceeding, we think of a senior individual that is mentally or physically not able to handle their own affairs. Usually, a family member petitions for conservatorship to protect the individual from mismanaging their funds or being financial exploited. If we think of a conservatorship being for those specific reasons then it all makes sense. Lindsay Lohan’s father has petitioned the court to serve as her conservator to prevent her from mismanaging her funds or from being exploited. The question that needs to be addressed is, whether her father is the best individual for the job. In a conservatorship proceeding the court will need to evaluate whether or not she is truly incapable of managing her own affairs and is potentially a financial threat to herself and additionally, whether her father is capable of doing a better job. Additionally, the court is not inclined to control the finances of someone that is mentally competent and an adult, but there are always exceptions.

When we think of charitable giving we think of making a small or large gift directly to a charity when a request is sent to us in the mail. Fortunately, there are a lot of other creative ways to make charitable gifts. Most important for donors to understand when making a gift is that they can be as specific, detailed and controlling as they desire. If you choose to not place restrictions on the gift you need to understand that charity will have the discretion to use the money for any purpose within their organization. If the nature of the charity’s focus changes or if their CEO changes and you suddenly find that you are not in agreement with their mission statement, it will be too late to control the gift or to request it be given back.

It is important that you carefully consider what the gift can be used for. Additionally, you may want to consider having instructions that if the purpose for which you gave the gift no longer exists, that the remaining portion of the gift passes to another charity or another department within the charity. Obviously, nominal gifts do not afford donors this amount of control, but when considering a larger gift to a charity during your lifetime or at death there are many ways that the donor can advise or control that gift even from the grave.

For female advisors, attorney’s, Trust officers, bankers and financial advisors if you are interested in learning more about charitable giving through the Kalamazoo Community Foundation contact my office and we will get you more information on their upcoming seminar. You are also welcome to contact Joanna Dales at jdales@kalfound.org

When we talk about special issues and special needs many times people think of a child or family member who may have a mental or physical disability and needs to be protected. In the past, I have addressed issues regarding what I refer to as a special needs trust to ensure that a child receiving government assistance does not have his or her benefits affected when a parent dies.

Recently, I had a family member contact me regarding concerns over a wife’s gambling habits. The husband was concerned that if he passed away prior to his wife’s death and left her all of the assets that she would “blow through” these assets in no time at all. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to provide for his spouse, he was just concerned that there would not be funds available when she needed them for nursing home care, assisted living or any other needs that may arise. More and more, spouses are contacting me and asking me how do I protect these funds if I predecease my wife and she is left with the bulk of the assets? How do I know that she will not blow them in Las Vegas the next week? It is very important that these couples or this spouse get in and meet with a qualified estate planning attorney to discuss setting up a trust that has control mechanisms within the trust that only provide for distributions to the spouse for health, support, medical needs, assisted living needs, etc. The trust needs to put someone other than the spouse in control of the money to ensure that the money is there for her life time.

Gift of Life Michigan, the state’s only federally designated organ recovery organization, has launched a massive statewide campaign to  save lives by working to help add one million names to the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.

Michigan ranks 42^nd nationwide in the percentage of registered drivers who have officially expressed their wish to someday become organ, eye and tissue donors. Adding one million names to the state’s confidential database will bring Michigan in line with the national average of 39 percent.

Just 24 percent of drivers in this state have signed the registry.  Part of the reason Michigan lags behind other states: Most residents aren’t aware that signing the back of a Michigan driver’s license or state ID isn’t enough to be a donor anymore. Residents now must join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry by going online to www.giftoflifemichigan.org, by calling 800.482.4881 or by visiting a Secretary of State branch office.  

Adding more names to the state’s confidential database will remove a family’s burden of making a decision about organ donation during their shock and grief. It also will make more organs available for the 3,000 people waiting in Michigan for a second chance at life.

You are encouraged to rally support from employees, family members, neighbors, friends and colleagues.  There’s a critical need for life-saving organs in our state, so Michigan needs more residents to commit to giving organs and tissue. It could be the only chance some of us ever have to save a life.

After joining the Michigan Organ Donor Registry, a red heart logo will be placed on the individual’s Michigan driver’s license or state ID, indicating that person’s wish to someday be a donor.

Last year in Michigan, 288 people donated organs – not nearly enough to meet the need.

In fact, 18 people die every day in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant. More than 105,000 are on the national waiting list for organs.

One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people, and those who give tissue can improve the quality of life for up to 50 sick or injured people.

With the health care reform bill and the daily news reports, many people are automatically inclined to think that the health care bill will give them additional benefits if entering a nursing home. The reality is that the health care reform bill does not modify or change the medicaid laws as they relate to nursing home coverage.

People need to realize that nursing home coverage is either based on private pay with your own funds or requires that you spend your funds first and then apply for government assistance (Medicaid). Many of the rules that were put in place several years ago still apply. Your home, car and personal property are protected assets and do not have to be sold. However, any retirement accounts, bank accounts, certificates of deposits, savings bonds, annuities, or cash value in life insurance policies are considered an available asset that must first be utilized by the nursing home patient before government assistance will kick in. Many people believe that the government “takes” your money. The reality is the State and Federal government require that you account for your available funds and once they determine that you do not have any available funds or that you have exhausted them, then Medicaid can be considered. However, the government does not take your money, they ask you to spend it first.

Once again, Hollywood provides us with additional estate planning issues to discuss. Recently, the Federal Court of Appeals ended a 15 year long battle between Anna Nicole Smith and her former 80 year old husband. The Federal Court of Appeals determined that the original Texas Court that had ruled against Anna Nicole Smith was in fact correct in that she was not entitled to any of the money from the Smith Estate.

We know that Smith signed his Trust almost 12 years before he married Anna Nicole and he never updated the Trust to provide for her or to indicate that he was not providing for her. Anna Nicole Smith sued the estate for what she claims was promised to her and ultimately the court denied her request. This is a good example of where 12 year old estate plans need to be updated. It may have been in the best interest of Howard Smith to update his estate plan to either provide for Anna Nicole Smith or to specifically provide that he was leaving her nothing. By not providing either way, he left the issue up in the air and ultimately he left it for the courts to decide. It would have been much quicker and probably much easier if Howard Smith’s son would have been able to present the court with a document which specifically excluded Anna Nicole Smith from his estate as opposed to remaining silent on the matter.

When changing circumstances occur in your life, it is important to review your estate plan and make sure that the terms of your plan address those changes or that you update the estate plan to make sure that they are not ignored. Do not assume that your family will know what you want or that a verbal request will suffice.

Many of us rely on our family members for a variety of different things, babysitting our children, walking a dog or hosting the holiday dinner. For many family members, that is a reasonable job to give them, but the question is are those same family members capable of serving as your successor Trustee or money manager. All of us have our strengths but we also have our weaknesses. When choosing a successor Trustee or administrator, you need to take into account not only that family members personality, but that family members capabilities. For example, does your brother-in-law handle his own family check book and the responsibilities of paying bills or is that handled by his wife? Does your brother-in-law have experience with his own investment portfolio and funding and reviewing his own retirement accounts and will he understand what will be required of him in the event he needs to manage your investments at the time of death or incapacity?

Many times we just assume that a child will assume the role of trustee when in fact that child is out of state and somewhat unavailable, they are overwhelmed by their own family obligations and/or their own work obligations. When choosing a successor Trustee you need to look at that individuals qualities and determine if they are the best person for the job. If not, you may want to consider giving the job to a corporate trust department. Many of them charge a fee, but the fee is nominal in light of all of the work that they do for you and additionally, they remove the personal aspect out of the process and look at it as just a transfer of funds.

Danielle will be speaking at the following events, most of which are open to the public. Please call for details or registration.

April 27, 2010. The New Michigan Trust Code. 12 noon - 1:30 pm. Edward Jones Investments, Advisor James Reslock, 9570 W M Ave., Kalamazoo, Michigan. The seminar will be held at KCMS (Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies), 1000 Oakland Drive, Kalamazoo, Michigan. A seminar presented on the new Michigan Trust Code and what it means for you and your estate plan.

May 27, 2010. The Best of Both Worlds. 11:30 am - 1:30 pm. Allegan General Hospital, Michigan Room, Allegan, Michigan. The second seminar in the series presented by the Allegan General Hospital Foundation in cooperation with the Allegan Community Foundation.

October 14, 2010. The ABC’s and the Alphabet Soup of Planned Giving. 11:30 am - 1:30 pm. Allegan General Hospital, Michigan Room, Allegan, Michigan. The last seminar in the series presented by the Allegan General Hospital Foundation in cooperation with the Allegan Community Foundation.

For more information or if you would like to attend one of the seminars, please contact my office. All dates, times and locations are subject to change.

With today’s economy, many parents find themselves helping out their children in a variety of ways. Some parents are paying a child’s mortgage to keep it from going into foreclosure, some parents are helping children pay the legal fees for filing bankruptcy and some are even helping a child get started after a divorce. In many situations, parents are helping one of their children, but find that their other children are self sufficient and do not need the financial support. Most parents want to keep things as equal as possible amongst all of their children and once financial support has been provided, it may be necessary to review or update the parents estate plan to ensure that a provision is added to the Trust to provide for the lifetime advancement. In other words, if the parent had helped one child and not the others should the amount that was loaned or gifted to the child to help them out reduce the share of their inheritance when both parents are gone? Alternatively, many parents are in a financial situation to not only help out the child in need, but turn around and make lifetime gifts to the other children to keep things equal. Regardless of what a parent is able or willing to do, keeping your estate plan up to date with the change in circumstances of you and your family is important.

The simplest and most universal way to revoke a Will is to simply sign a new one. Unfortunately, people prepare Wills when their children are young and do not review that Will until something catastrophic occurs. In many situations, the individual is not in a position to make the changes. When determining whether or not someone has the capacity to amend or revoke a Will the court will look at whether that individual understood the natural objects of his or her bounty. Basically, the individual needs to have some understanding of the assets that they are passing and understand who they are passing it to and the effect that that will have. The same requirements are needed for revoking a Will. However, many times revoking a Will seems more obvious based on the activities that are allowed to revoke an old Will, they include burning, tearing, obliterating or actually destroying the Will or any part of it. Unfortunately, many individuals have given out copies of their Will or they have actually filed the original with the probate court and the action of burning, tearing, obliterating or actually destroying the Will is merely an act of destroying a copy. If the individual does not communicate that to the court, to his or her attorney or to the executor of the Will many individuals may not know that this activity occurred. Like all estate planning documents, waiting until the last minute is never a good idea. Amending your Will, revoking your Will or setting up a trust should be done when you are healthy and of sound mind. Unfortunately, too many of us take our health and our sanity for granted and put it off thinking that we can do it tomorrow.

Although many of us cannot relate to being the heir to the Hooters franchise with an estimated value of $130 million.  Many of these families face similar issues as those of more simple means. With the recent death of Robert Brooks, owner of the Hooters franchise, the family is facing a variety of issues that should have been addressed prior to the owner’s death. Mr. Brooks was survived by his son Coby Field of his first marriage, his daughter Bonie Bell of his second marriage and his wife Tammy, who was 21 years his junior. Mr. Brooks’ son was actively involved in the business and it does not appear from the simple Will that Mr. Brooks prepared that he accounted for his son’s active participation. Mr. Brooks also failed to provide for any privacy by merely setting up a simple Will.

Individuals that are involved in second marriages with children of a previous marriage and children of the current marriage need to take a variety of issues into consideration. For example, is there an active child in the business and should that child receive special consideration when it comes to the transfer of the family business? Should the children of both marriages be treated equally? Should the second wife receive a large inheritance if the assets were owned before the marriage? Do you want your assets and family feuds to become public knowledge which is what happens when a Will is probated or would you prefer to have things handled more privately with a Living Trust?

In addition to all of that, individuals need to make sure that their estate plan is up to date. From the information provided, it appeared that Mr. Brooks was not even living with his second wife at the time of his death. Clearly, if you have separated from a spouse, in middle of divorce proceedings or if the relationship has changed significantly, an update to your estate plan may be necessary.

When choosing someone to serve as your durable power of attorney or financial agent, you should evaluate a variety of issues. You should establish if that person has any prior financial problems or if that person has a criminal record. You should determine if that individual currently manages his or her own finances. Too often, individuals do not have family members to turn to serve as their power of attorney. In many instances, they turn to a long term friend or even a neighbor. In a recent case in New York a 90 year old woman designated a long time neighbor to serve as her power of attorney. He had been her neighbor since 1978 and she had known him for a long time. When the women died, her cousin’s determined that her power of attorney had embezzled money from her over the course of several years. In fact, they not only learned that he had embezzled from her, but that he had been charged with embezzlement in previous years and had served four months in jail for theft. When choosing a durable power of attorney that is not a close family member that you can trust, you should consider naming two agents so that there is a checks and balances or if you are at an age where you are not managing your finances any longer, perhaps a durable power of attorney is not the route to go. At that point, you may want to consider designating an institution to serve as a corporate Trustee and most of these financial institutions are regulated and there are several people acting on your behalf. This might be the necessary checks and balances that you may need.