Robinson ♦ Thatcher, LLP

Posts Tagged ‘Estate Planning’

Happy Friday!  It’s been an exciting but busy week.  Hopefully laughter is the best medicine……

I found this comic strip, One Big Happy by Rick Detorie.  It’s fantastic!

Out of the mouths of babes:

It’s been a busy couple of weeks here at Robinson – Thatcher, LLP.  Our motto is “Bringing Peace to Your Family”.  To that end, we strive to make your journey through the legal system as painless as possible.  We also work to keep the financial costs as reasonable as possible.

So, when I saw this joke, I knew we had to include in our Friday Funnies posts!

A woman walked into her attorney’s office asking for an estate plan.  He said he would be happy to assist her, but he required a $5,000 retainer.  She wrote the check and gave it to him.  He thanked her and asked her to tell him about her estate.  She replied, “You just took it.”

From “The Complete Book of Wills, Estates & Trusts” by Alexander A. Bove, Jr., Esq.

A while ago, I started posting humorous bits on our Facebook page as Friday Friday Funnies.  After my Aunt passed away suddenly, I fell out of that habit.

The practice of law (especially a family-oriented practice like Robinson – Thatcher, LLP) is so frequently filled with such emotionally draining issues like divorce, custody battles and bankruptcy) that I decided to bring back the Friday Funnies on a slightly bigger scale.   Instead of limiting my post to Facebook, I’m bringing it to the Robinson – Thatcher blog as a whole.  So tune in on Fridays for a little bit of levity.

For the first post in this feature, I thought I would put up a tried and true bit of humor that I found around the web.  Thanks to Maxine for the image.  I think my Aunt Julie would have got a kick out of it – she was always the life of the party.

Following on the heels of the New Year are two very important dates in my life.  The first is my birthday, the second is the anniversary of my father’s death, just two days later.  One of the very last things my dad said in his life was “Happy Birthday” to me.  So, at this time of year, when we are all making resolutions (or better yet, goals) for the new year, I tend to reflect on my dad and the example he set for my life.

With that frame of mind, when I recently read an article on the importance of elder care, and selecting the right provider, it started me thinking about my dad’s illness and the lessons I learned from the examples he and my mom set.

Living Trust

My parents had a “living” trust to take care of the financial aspects of death.  I previously discussed Living Trusts and other necessary estate planning documents, here.

Advance Health Care Directives

My both my mom and dad had advance care directives and medial peers of attorney allowing each other to make necessary medical care decisions. Just as important as having the legal documents in place, my parents discussed their wishes with each other (and me).

Before giving someone the power to make decisions on your behalf, make sure that person knows how YOU would make the decisions.

Long Term Care Insurance

My parents invested in long term care insurance. This insurance became vital in my dad’s illness. When they first purchased the insurance, I thought it was a great idea to help me when it came time to paying for a nursing home for them!

As it turned out, they needed the insurance sooner than expected, because my father passed away when he was only 65 (in no sense of the word was my father “elderly”). However, he did fight a ten year battle with cancer. When we learned that the cancer has spread to his lungs and liver and that the chemotherapy was more likely to kill him than save him, dad insisted on coming home (despite the fact that most of the hospital staff thought he should go to a rehab facility or nursing home).

Dad was too weak and ill to care for himself, my mom arranged for his care through a combination of hospice care and a wonderful in home care provider Visiting Angels in Orlando, FL.   As you might imagine, 24 hour, in home care can be costly.  Although, medicare covered some of the expense, my mom was able to pay for Dad’s care because she and my dad had the foresight to invest in long term care insurance.

At Robinson – Thatcher, LLP our mission is to bring peace to your family. Part of that mission is to ensure that our clients, friends, and neighbors have the necessary tools in place to enable their peace of mind knowing that their families are taken are of as they would wish.

Wishing you peace.

This post will continue my series on how to gain peace of mind knowing that you have provided for your children in the event of tragedy.

In previous posts I discussed the importance of having a written nomination and the different types of guardians you should consider. Today’s post will discuss some of the characteristics that you should consider in selecting the people you will name as the physical guardians for your children (guardian if the person).

In putting together your list of people that you might consider, ask yourself: who would be a better guardian than foster care?

After you have your list of potential candidates, now is the time to carefully consider important qualities in your choice of guardian.

Some things you may want to consider include (in no particular order):

• Politics
• Religion
• Physical location
• Parenting style
• Education
• Life style
• Travel preferences
• Age of your guardian
• Your children’s relationship with the guardian

This list is not exhaustive but it is a start.

Remember, these are the people (or person) who will be raising your children in your place, so think carefully about how you are raising your children and what is important to you.

In my next post, I’ll be discussing guardians of the estate and things you may want to consider in selecting the person who will look after your child’s financial well being.

If you have any questions, please contact me or another qualified estate planning attorney.

Wishing you peace.

This post is the next article in my series started on the things you should do to get your house in order so that you can have peace of mind knowing that your family is take care of in the event that something horrible were to happen to you.

I began the series with some information on the importance of having a written guardian nomination document and I promised that I would discuss some of the things you ought to take into consideration when choosing WHO you want to name as guardian for your kids.

What you probably didn’t know is that there are two kinds of guardians that you can nominate: 1) guardian of the person and 2) guardian of the estate. A guardian of the person is responsible for providing day to day care — things like food, shelter, taking the kids to school and the like. The guardian of the estate is responsible for the financial estate you may have left your children.

The guardian of the person and guardian of the estate can be the same person. However, in my opinion, it is better to have some checks and balances in the system. Having separate guardian of the person and estate means that there are several people whose job it is to watch your babies if you can’t be there to do it your self.

In my next post in this series, I’ll discuss the guardian of the person in more detail. Until then, if you have any questions or concerns I urge you to contact me or another estate planning attorney.

Wishing you peace.

I’ll admit it, I love watching the TV show House.  In this week’s episode, Dr. House and the team gave a young woman the news that she had only two days to live.  (This type of news happens much more frequently on House than in real life).  It started me thinking, if I were given this news, is my house in order?  (The good news is that Dr. House figured out what was wrong and the young woman was cured!)

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be discussing the type of planning that we all should do so that if given only two days to live, we could spend those two days with our family rather than in frantic planning.

The Number One Most Important Thing Every Parent Should Have

Since I’m a parent, I’ll start with most important thing every parent should do: properly nominate guardians for their minor children.

A question that I have been asked on more than one occasion is “My child already has godparents.  Isn’t that enough?” No. It is not.  If something were to happen to both parents, court approval is necessary to establish guardianship for your children. The godparents you picked may be the people the State would pick, but they may not.

Properly Authenticated Writing Required

California law requires that parents nominate guardians for their minor children in writing.  This “writing” can either be in a separate document or as part of a formal will.  If the nomination is made in a will, it must comply with the authentication requirements for a will.  A separately prepared nomination should also be adequately witnessed to ensure its authenticity and will be given due weight by the reviewing court.

If you haven’t yet put your house in order, I urge you to contact The Law Offices of Laura L. Thatcher or another qualified estate planning advisor as soon as possible, so that you and your family have the peace of mind that comes with knowing you are prepared for whatever life throws at you.

Next week on the South Bay Blawg. . .

In my next post, I’ll be writing about the process of nominating guardians and the qualities you may want in the guardians you pick for your children as well as other factors you should consider.

I repeatedly advise my clients and friends who have children that there are certain indispensable documents they should have in place in the event that the unthinkable happens.  The following is a list of some of the most important documents every parent should have, along with a description of why they are important.  There are other important things to consider, but this list will help start the conversation regarding what you need to have in place to protect you, your family, and most importantly, your children.

Will

Although not the only element is a well thought out estate plan, a will is probably the single most important document for parents of minor children.  A will is the instrument by which your wishes for legal guardians for your children are created.  Without a properly drafted will, that nominates legal guardian for your minor children, the decision of who will become the guardian for your children will be left up to the court.

Depending on your estate planning needs, a will can serve several different functions in your estate plan.  Your will can be the foundation by which you transfer your assets after your death.   Or, if you have a living trust in place, a will is drafted as a “pour over will” which operates to transfer into the trust any assets which may have been left out.

When assets transfer via a will, it will be necessary to go through a process called probate.  While there is nothing inherently wrong with the probate process, there are two main drawbacks to probate:  it can be expensive and assets transferred through probate are accessible to the public.

Revocable Living Trust

A Living Trust can serve as the foundation for your Estate Plan.  In fact, it should be the foundation of your estate if your estate is over $100,000.  As the name suggests it is Revocable at any time by the Creator(s) and can also be amended or changed as your circumstances change without legal aid if you so desire.  The Trust is also recognized as a living entity (like a corporation) in the sense that it continues to live after your life to administer the affairs of your estate.

With a trust, you not only avoid the expense of probate, but you can customize how your estate will be distributed.  A living trust will allow you to continue to provide financial guidance after your death.  Trust can also be used to provide for the care of your pets after your death and to put conditions upon how your estate will be distributed to your beneficiaries.

If you have children, I recommend either establishing a revocable living trust, or at minimum, a testamentary trust.

Living Will

The purpose of a is, should you wish, to prevent your assets from being used to unnecessarily prolong your life, so that they may be used instead to benefit your children or other family.  The Living Will also allows for certainty in decision making in the event of an extended illness.  In a Living Will you nominate a decision maker and provide guidance as to your wishes.

Durable General Power of Attorney

A Durable Power of Attorney is designed to allow its designated Attorney in Fact to make asset administration decisions on your behalf in the event that become incapacitated.  The Durable Power of Attorney relates only to those assets which may be outside of a Trust.  (Assets which are in the Trust can automatically be administered pursuant to the terms of the Trust).

Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care

This document is required in order to legally allow an Attorney in Fact to make health care decisions on your behalf in the event that you cannot make them for yourself.

Medical Information Disclosure Authorization

This document provides authorization for disclosure of medical information to your agents, pursuant to the requirements of Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Why do I need an estate plan?  The following provides a list of possible reasons to have an estate plan:

• You have children.  If you die without an estate plan in place, a judge will determine who will be the guardian for your children

• You care who inherits your property.  If you do not have a will, California laws of intestate succession govern who gets control of your property.  In that case your property is distributed as follows:
  • Your spouse gets one half of all community property;
  • Your children get a pro-rata share of the remaining property;
  • If you are not married and don’t have children, your parents and other relatives would inherit your property;
  • If you have no relatives, your property reverts to the state of California.
• You want to control how your money is used.  A living trust can be used to determine how your money is spent.  For example, you can set conditions on when your children will inherit the money you leave for them.  You can also provide that your children receive money only if they get certain grades or attend college.
• You want to give money to charity.
• You have a large estate.  If you have significant assets and property, sophisticated estate planning is necessary to avoid estate taxes.
• You want to disinherit a member of your family.
• You have a child with special needs.  If you have a child with special needs, you can set up a trust to provide for your child while keeping eligibility for government funds.

Without proper estate planning, you have no control over what happens to your children or your assets.  With a will, you have the power to determine who get your money after you die and to nominate guardians over your children.  A living trust gives you the ability to have control over your assets even after you die.  A trust is an effective way to guide your children and loved ones even after death.

I urge you to contact me or another qualified attorney to discuss your estate planning options.