LA Elder Law Posts

Getting Started With Your Estate Planning

 in Estate Plan  tagged assets / estate planning

You’re either visiting our site because you know estate planning is the right thing to do or you’ll see why it’s important as you read our pages. But it’s one thing to know you need this and it’s another to actually get your Estate Plan in order. Estate Planning can feel overwhelming.

This is understandable, but we’re here to help. Meeting with us and speaking with us will take the edge off. It will help you to know what is best for you to do and will help you get started. If you choose to work with us, we’ll be with you every step of the way to determine your needs and work them out the best way for your situation. You don’t need to plan anything at all to come meet us. You certainly don’t need to stress.

But… for those of you who feel more comfortable planning ahead, here are some steps you can take to get started.

Write down your goals.

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Trusts to protect and pass on artwork, antiques, and other valuable assets

 in Trusts  tagged antiques / artwork / inheritance

Some assets — such as real property, stocks and savings — are fairly straightforward when it comes to bequeathal to heirs. Other assets — such as valuable artwork or antiques — are not so easy.

How do you will an asset to a loved one when there is no deed of ownership? And just as importantly, how do these paperless assets figure into the size and administration of your “taxable estate”?

According to this article by Bonnie Kraham — Protecting Your Future: Knowing the value of artwork is a must — how you dispose of these assets can be extremely important to the administration and taxation of your Estate. One particularly dangerous method is referred to as “the empty hook” method, wherein “When the collector dies, the beneficiaries simply remove the artwork (from the hooks) in accordance with name tags on the items for the intended recipients. Thus, the Estate is left with “empty hooks” of what may be part of a sizable taxable estate for estate tax purposes.”

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Prepare For the Day When Your Parent Can No Longer Manage Money

 in Caregiver / Incapacity Planning  tagged aging / Baby Boomers

One of the most difficult aspects of caring for an elderly parent (or helping an aging parent who lives far away) is keeping one step ahead when that parent begins to lose the ability to manage his or her own finances. Many seniors can be very resistant to discussing what they feel is an extremely private and sensitive topic. Furthermore, according to this article in AgingCare.com, “for many elders, being able to take care of their own finances is an important symbol of independence and self-worth,” and one that they are not likely to relinquish easily.

Unfortunately, an elderly parent’s ability to manage their own money may cease before they are willing to ask for help. In these cases, it may be up to their children and loved ones to step in and help as best they can. What follows is a list of some non-invasive, non-offensive steps adult children and caregivers can take to help aging parents manage their finances.

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To Tell or Not to Tell About Inheritance; Sharing Your Estate Plan with Your Heirs

 in Estate Plan / Special Needs  tagged inheritance

The subject of inheritance is one that most people studiously avoid for a number of different reasons: superstition, fear, lack of knowledge, or a desire for secrecy.

Many adults were raised to believe that money was a private affair, and that talking about it was inappropriate; but beyond that, many people simply fear that if they talk about their estate plan with their heirs they will meet with resistance, disagreement, or in a worst-case scenario—their heirs will try to counter the estate plan with legal action of their own.

While in some families and circumstances these fears are justified, in most circumstances being silent about your estate plan can have disastrous consequences.

A refusal to talk about money or your estate plans with you children means that they will have a difficult time following your wishes in regards to your medical treatment or protection of your assets should disaster strike. Most adult children are actually eager to fulfill their parents’ last wishes, regardless of how it may or may not impact their own inheritance.

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6 things you might like to have on your first Estate Planning visit — but don’t have to have

 in Estate Plan

You don’t need to have anything prepared before your first visit with us

Our first meeting with you will be to get to know you and your needs. We’ll discuss the things and issues that are most important to you and will be at the heart of your estate plan: your family, your assets, and your goals. You know your life. There’s no need to prepare for this meeting.

However…

if you are a person who feels more comfortable preparing for a task on your own, you can consider these preparation steps.

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Who Owns Credit Card Debt After the Death of a Parent?

 in Estate Plan / Wills  tagged Baby Boomers / Credit Card / debt / Heirs / inheritance

Administering the Estate of a deceased loved one can be complicated and emotional under the best of circumstances, but Executors who take on this overwhelming task may find themselves facing more than just the demands of relatives and heirs.

They may also find themselves facing the illegitimate demands of creditors. This article on The New Old Age New York Times Blog — Credit Card Debt That Outlives Mom — warns readers to “Be wary of collection agencies that try to convince you that you are responsible for payment on a card owned solely by a deceased parent.”

After the death of a parent, children and heirs often receive calls from debt collectors looking for someone — anyone! — to pay off the debts of the deceased, even if the heirs have no obligation to do so.

In most situations relatives are not required to pay the debts of the deceased from their own assets.

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