President Obama’s pet project of health care reform seems to have a lot of people worried. His talk of living wills encouraging people to specify their end-of-life wishes in particular are the topics bandied about most often in tense (or downright frightened) conversations. Some people seem to think that the very act of specifying your wishes in a living will is going to put you on the Do Not Resuscitate list. We’re here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, creating a living will is a smart idea, one that can save no small amount of expense, suffering and confusion on the part of your family and your medical care providers, and we aren’t the only ones who think so. Robert Powell of The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch agrees with us, and has written an excellent article answering the frequently asked questions about living wills, explaining the differences between a living will and a health care directive, and outlining why each and every adult should have one of these documents.

If you still aren’t convinced you should have a document specifying your wishes for end-of-life treatment, call our office and we’ll be happy to answer any further questions you have. For those of you who need no convincing, we can help you execute the documents you need to get the care you want when you aren’t able to care for yourself. A living will or health care directive is a standard document in any estate plan, so if you’ve been considering creating an estate plan this may be a good time to take the plunge. Apparently executing a living will or health care directive is no longer beneficial only to you and your family; it’s also good for your country.

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Many of our clients come to our firm not just for an estate plan, but as part of a larger goal to get serious about their finances and protect their assets and family. An estate plan is a HUGE step toward that goal, but it is only one step. Other steps include being proactive about your taxes, reviewing your investment portfolio, and creating a solid retirement plan.

Our firm can give you the very best estate planning and asset protection, but the other steps may require the help of a financial advisor. Each client’s situation is different, of course; you may already have a financial advisor and have taken these other steps (many of our clients are at our office on the advice of their financial advisor, in fact), but if you haven’t, finding an advisor you are comfortable with can be a challenge.

Because estate planning and financial planning go hand in hand, our firm has relationships with a number of top notch financial advisors, and we are happy to make the introductions. Having an estate planner and financial planner who are already acquainted can have many benefits. In addition to getting a referral from a source you already know and trust, you can be sure that any financial advisor we recommend has already been vetted, and all communication and collaboration between us for your benefit will be smooth and effortless. Don’t hesitate to call and take advantage of our experience.

If you still choose to search on your own, this article in The Wall Street Journal has suggestions on how to interview and choose the best financial advisor for your family. Either way, be aware of all the steps needed to reach your ultimate goal of financial security.

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Shakespeare wrote about the seven ages of man, in which he describes the human journey from helpless child to adult and back to helpless child again:

“…Infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon, and second childhood, ‘sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything’”.

Anyone who has had to watch as their parents age knows how true this passage can be. And just as difficult as watching your parents age can be talking to them about it. No parent wants to show weakness in front of their child, or admit that they need help; and often their reluctance to talk is fueled by the fear that they’ll be “put away”, or have their freedom and independence taken from them. Adult children are reluctant to bring up the subject as well—they’re afraid of angering their parent, or sometimes their afraid of having their worst fears confirmed.

But ignoring the subject won’t make it go away, and waiting too long can be disastrous. The best way to talk to your parents about aging is to bring it up early, before fear and obstinance have set in. Having these discussions ahead of time prepares both parent and child for what may lie ahead, insures everybody is on the same page and that there are no surprises in store.

However, even with advance discussions and planning, it is likely that a few uncomfortable subjects will still come up. This article from Reader’s Digest has some advice on how to broach these difficult subjects (including the subject of estate planning), and even provides a few scripts to help get the conversation started. If you’re still uncomfortable, having a third party mediator can be helpful; a trusted doctor—or even your estate planning or elder law attorney—can be a calm voice of reason in deep emotional waters.

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It is human nature to want to be as informed as possible before making big decisions, and although we all know how important it is, the decision to create an estate plan is a BIG one. Most people like to do a little research and asking around before putting themselves at the mercy of an unknown attorney, but in the case of estate planning, there is just so much to know, the decision can seem daunting. The more research you do to more complicated it seems. In addition, it can be hard to know which research to trust when it seems everybody out there has an agenda.

This is why our firm would like to offer this article by the reliably agenda-free Associated Press: Will or Trust? Understanding the differences. The article is an excellent overview of the differences between a will and a trust, and why one or the other might be a better choice for your family. It also answers some frequently asked questions about wills, trusts, and estate planning in general.

Of course, each family and situation will be different, and laws vary from state to state, so although we hope you find this article helpful, we still urge you to speak to an estate planning attorney face-to-face before making your final decision.

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Google is getting into the healthcare industry. Google recently made it possible for individuals to store their healthcare records online through their Google Health Records Management Service, a move that has met with mixed reviews. Even more recently, Google Health has started offering another, similar, service: storage of your “end-of-life wishes” along with your healthcare records in their online database.

At first glance, this may seem like a great idea; what could be better than having your healthcare records and your end-of-life wishes stored in one easily accessible place? And Google does their best to make it easy for you to create an advanced directive with them as well. The problem is, not all advanced directives are created equal.

As important as it is to have an advanced healthcare directive, and to specify your wishes for your healthcare agent and your end-of-life care, it is just as important to do it the right way. First of all, each state has its own rules and regulations regarding the legality of your healthcare directive. Secondly, those laws have a tendency to change periodically, and if you aren’t going to be able to keep abreast of these changes you need to have an attorney who will. And last but not least, hospitals take their responsibility regarding patient privacy, the wishes of the patient, and the wishes of the family very seriously. Hospitals will not talk to your agent or release information about your healthcare status unless you have a directive that complies with all the laws of your state AND you have a signed and updated HIPAA Authorization.

Before jumping on the “great deal” Google offers, talk to your attorney about your own healthcare directive and HIPAA Authorization. If you are determined to take advantage of the opportunity to put all of your healthcare documents online, rather than using Google’s “easy” forms, it might be a better idea to upload your own professionally created documents.

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Everyone knows that March and April are tax season, when everybody scrambles to get their taxes done, mailed off, and out of mind for the rest of the year; but according to this article from Reuters the taxes you pay in April can be significantly lower if you take the time to think about them now.

Author Linda Stern recommends mid-year as the best time to start thinking about your taxes because it gives you plenty of time to take advantage of various planning strategies and tax breaks, many of which she outlines in her article. Stern also points out that scheduling an appointment with your accountant in July—when accountants are not nearly as busy as March or April—means you’ll have more one-on-one time to strategize and discuss your financial situation.

Stern’s article is full of good advice and suggestions for saving on your taxes this year, but she forgets one important strategy: Creating your estate plan. Talking to a lawyer about your estate plan not only helps in understanding and organizing your finances, and protecting your assets for the future; but the money you spend in creating an estate plan can be tax deductable. Talk to your lawyer and accountant now about how you can protect—and save—your money in the future.

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The recent unveiling of Michael Jackson’s will has brought up a lot of questions about wills, trusts, and estate planning: Why is his will so short? Does this mean it doesn’t work? Where is all his money going? 

And then there’s the statement that makes any estate planning attorney shudder in protest:

I guess trusts and estate plans are just for the rich.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Trusts and estate plans are for everybody. First of all, an estate plan describes the documents that dispose of your assets after you are gone. This may include nothing but a will and a healthcare directive, or it may include those documents plus a living trust, powers of attorney, property memorandum, and many more. The size and intricacy of your estate plan can be as small or as large as you wish, it all depends on you and your attorney.

Secondly, revocable living trusts are useful to everybody from the asset-poor young parents just starting out to the wealthy grandmother with enough property to give a house to every grandchild. This is because revocable living trusts are private and versatile documents that can be created to accommodate your unique situation, whatever it may be.

Those asset-poor young parents like the privacy of a trust–the fact that they can nominate guardians and financial conservators for their children without everybody knowing who it is. They can also use a trust to set money aside for their children’s college fund, if that is important to them; or keep the family money in a singe trust for the benefit of all their children until each one has reached a certain age, when the inheritance can be divided up equally. And they can do this even if their only asset is the small house they just bought.

The wealthy grandmother likes a trust because she can leave an inheritance to her daughter, but keep it out of the hands of her daughter’s untrustworthy husband; or she can set aside a sum of money for each grandchild, to be used specifically for education, not fast cars. And the trust can encompass as many bank accounts, investments, or pieces of real estate as she likes.

Trusts and estate plans are essential and useful tools not just for the rich and famous, but for everybody. Call our office to find out what kind of estate plan can benefit your family.

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Every good will or trust will say something about paying the executor’s “final expenses,” otherwise known as funeral and/or memorial costs. As a small portion of what can sometimes be a very large and intricate document, this “final expense” clause can seem unimportant—but our firm knows better. We know just how important this pre-planning can be, and so does Sarah Arnquist, author of the article The Caregiver’s Last Expense in the New Old Age Blog.

A funeral comes at a time when the death of a loved one is recent and close, and many people are still in shock and in some cases struggling with the reality of loss. Funerals help grieving loved ones come to terms with death and say their final goodbyes… but for the person planning the funeral the experience can sometimes be a frustrating, painful, and expensive experience. Planning ahead for your own funeral—discussing it with your loved ones and even including your wishes in your estate plan—can remove this burden from their shoulders when the time comes.

Although pre-planning a funeral is essential, Arnquist writes that pre-paying for a funeral can actually be detrimental. According to Josh Slocum of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, there are just too many things that can go wrong, he says, and “only a few states have adequate legal protections for prepaid funeral customers.” Pre-paying may be a no-no, but setting aside funds—in an account, CDs, or a specially designated insurance policy—is always a good idea.

And when considering the final expenses of yourself or your loved one, “Judy in Oakland” (who is not quoted in the article itself, but who left an eloquent comment in the comments section) reminds us that funeral and burial are not the only expenses that need to be considered. “Disposing of the deceased’s property is an extremely daunting, labor-intensive, and complicated matter, even without real estate… disposal of furniture and goods is becoming a bigger and bigger problem — so for other caregivers out there — brace yourselves.”

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Anyone who has been around long enough knows that accidents happen, Murphy’s Law does exist, and things have a tendency to go wrong occasionally; computers crash, fires happen, pipes break and flood the first floor of your home. And sometimes things just get lost during the passage of time. This can even happen to something as important as your estate planning documents. This is why it’s important to know where and how to store your estate planning documents once you’ve executed them.

1. Have copies. No matter where you decide to keep your signed originals, photocopies should be made and kept somewhere they can be found easily by your agents should something happen to you. A library bookshelf, or office closet is an unobtrusive but accessible place to store copies.
2. Keep your original documents someplace safe from thievery and natural disasters. Originals can be kept in a fire-safe in your home if you have one, or in a safe deposit box at the venue of your choice. If you do decide to keep the documents in a safe deposit box, be sure to put the box in the name of the trust rather than your own name. This allows your trustee to access the box (and the documents inside) when you pass away.
3. Make sure your agents and fiduciaries have the documents they will need to do their job should anything happen to you. Your will or trust should stay in your possession, along with your Healthcare Directive and various other documents, but your healthcare agent will need a copy of your HIPAA authorization, your nominated guardians should have the original document giving them permission to make health care decisions for your minor child if you are unavailable.

Every estate plan will vary slightly, so ask your attorney which documents to keep and which to send to your fiduciaries after you’ve signed. And if you can, get you documents in .pdf format on a disk or flash drive. The electronic copies are just that—copies—and won’t hold up in court; but it’s one more level of protection should disaster strike.

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The past week has been filled with media speculation about Michael Jackson and his will: Did he have one and what might be in it? Well the waiting is finally over… kind of. It turns out Michael Jackson did create a will, which was submitted to the California probate courts earlier this week. The will (which can be viewed here) is five pages long, and because it pours “my entire estate” into the Michael Jackson Family Trust, the will itself reveals very little about the specifics Jackson’s estate or his instructions regarding the administration of it.

A will, although it can remain private during your life, becomes a matter of public record once it is submitted to the probate courts after your death. In fact, the last wills and testaments of many public figures can be found online if you’re curious. But a trust is a private document, and remains private even after your death.

Jackson’s will does reveal a few details, though, namely who he chose as guardian for his children. In paragraph 8 of his will, on page 4, just above his signature, Jackson states:

“If any of my children are minors at the time of my death, I nominate my mother, KATHERINE JACKSON as guardian of the persons and estates of such minor children. If KATHERINE JACKSON fails to survive me, or is unable or unwilling to act as guardian, I nominate DIANA ROSS as guardian of the persons and estates of such minor children.”

Whether Jackson’s wishes for guardianship will be followed remains to be seen. As Jackson’s ex-wife and mother of his two oldest children, Deborah Rowe would normally automatically be awarded custody. However, there are still too many unanswered questions about the status of Rowe’s parental rights—and her desire to assert those rights—to make any claims for certain.

The one thing that is certain, however, is that whatever odd and inexplicable things Jackson may have done during his life; he seems to have done what he should to provide for his family’s financial needs and their privacy after his death.

Have you done the same?

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