ESTATE PLANNING FOR THE BLENDED FAMILY
Balancing the needs of a multi-generational blended family with your own wishes can be a complicated task, especially when it comes to estate planning. With a majority of Americans not only marrying once, but twice, three or even four times during their lives, it is a challenge that will come to many.
Even when blended family members get along, estate planning can be complicated. The potential for acrimony among family members can be so great that some people choose to avoid addressing the issue of who will inherit what altogether. However, as any estate planning attorney will tell you, having no plan is not a good plan.
Overall, an effective estate plan for a blended family will ensure that:
Any ex-spouses do not inherit;
Your own children are protected;
Your current spouse is provided for;
Any estate taxes are minimized
Estate plans are as individualistic as the families they cover, so it is always advisable to consult with an expert before finalizing your plan. Although there are a plethora of online resources and books on the subject, estate planning for the blended family does not make a good do-it-yourself project.
A Personal Family Lawyer can provide you with the individual attention you need to create an estate plan for your blended family. If you’d like to learn more about estate planning for blended families, call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk.
This article is a service of Sahmra A Stevenson, Esq., Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.
- Published in In the News
How Will A Recession Affect Your Family?
As you’ve surely heard by now, we’re in the midst of great economic shifts. The collapse of the crypto market, the roller coaster that is the stock market, rising interest rates, dropping home values, and inflation through the roof—it’s enough to make you sick. And it can make you sick, unless you take the actions we are sharing here.
During every economic shift, whether it’s the Great Depression, the last Great Recession, or even during the pandemic, some people get rich, while others lose everything. Whether your family got rich, lost it all, or just hung on by their toes, you can learn from what happened and create the exact future reality you want for yourself and the people you love.
But to do that, you need to get into action now. In service to that, here are 3 steps you can take right away to change your family’s future and ensure you have the stability you need to sail through the economic shifts in the best way possible.
On that note, whether you’ll be passing on wealth or inheriting it, it’s crucial to have a plan in place to reduce the massive loss that will occur if you wait to start the estate planning conversation. Whether you have a little or a lot, not getting clear on what you do have (or will receive) can cause major upsets that can cost you far more than just money.
01 – Get into conversation and connection
The first step to ensure your family benefits from the current and coming economic shifts, regardless of what happens, is to get into conversation and connection with the people you depend on, the people who depend on you, or who you will depend on, if something happens to you or your assets.
With the economic realities that are upon us, we can no longer go it alone, expecting everything to just work out because the stock market is on the rise and there’s plenty of savings cushion in the bank. Instead, this is the time to bring your family together and talk about what there is, where it is, and how it’s being managed (and will be managed) in the event there is a black swan event, such as the pandemic or a major stock-market crash.
If you are afraid to have these conversations because you think your family might not do well with knowing what you have, because you think they can’t handle knowing what you have (or don’t have), or because there has been upset in the past when talking about family financial resources, that’s a sign that it’s more important than ever to get into conversation and connection as soon as possible.
If you’ve attempted to have these conversations with your loved ones in the past and it hasn’t gone well, reach out and ask for our help. We’ve got processes and systems in place to support you to have these delicate conversations with your parents, kids, or siblings, with far more ease than you trying to do everything all on your own.
And if you don’t have living parents, kids, siblings, or a spouse, it’s even more important that you start these conversations. You can begin by identifying who you need to have these conversations with. We work with many single people and unmarried couples to help them navigate and talk about what can be a confusing and uncertain future, and we can help you, too.
If talking about assets and the allocation of family resources is easy for your family, that’s great—it’s time to take it to the next level by following the rest of the steps outlined here. Once you get into conversation with the right people based on your family dynamics, the next step is to get comfortable enough to “open the kimono.” This involves creating an inventory that lists all of the assets you own, where they are located, and how the people you love can find them in the event you become unable to share those details yourself.
02 – Open the kimono: Create your “Family Wealth Inventory”
Whether you’ve created a formal set of estate planning documents already or not, it’s time to create (or update) an inventory of your assets. In our experience, most estate plans don’t do a very good job of keeping assets organized. When a loved one becomes incapacitated or dies, this is actually one of the biggest sources of expense, heartache, and pain—no one knows what there is, where it is, or how to find it.
One of the greatest gifts you can give the people you love is what we call a “Family Wealth Inventory,” and it’s something we create for all of our clients as part of their estate plan. We will not only create this inventory for you, but we have systems to keep it consistently updated year in and year out, as your life, assets, and the law change over time.
During a major economic shift, creating, updating and revising your Family Wealth Inventory is critical, and doing that with the people you love is your number-one mission. As we see it, family wealth isn’t just about your financial wealth, it’s about your whole family wealth, including your intellectual, spiritual, and human assets. In fact, these non-financial, intangible assets are usually what we all care about most, and yet they are so often overlooked in estate planning.
One of the best ways to maximize your family’s intellectual, spiritual, and human assets is for your loved ones to get into relationship around your family’s financial resources. Begin by creating (or updating) your Family Wealth Inventory, and share it with your loved ones, so you can discuss how to best allocate (or re-allocate) those resources. Having this conversation can help ensure your family’s intellectual, spiritual, and human wealth continues to grow, even as we move through these uncertain economic times.
If you don’t have a Family Wealth Inventory yet, contact us and ask about our Personal Resource Map. This free, online resource-mapping tool will help you start creating your asset inventory right now, without the need for a lawyer. From there, meet with us for a Family Wealth Planning Session. During this meeting, we’ll look at what you have, where it is, and who will take care of it if you can’t, so we can create a plan that’s right for you and your family, whether we have a recession, depression, inflation, or whatever else may come our way.
03 – Consider reallocating your resources
Once you’ve created your Family Wealth Inventory, which allows you to see all of your assets in one place and consider the needs of your family, regardless of the economic climate, you may decide to reallocate your resources. For example, now might be the time to invest in multigenerational housing that will allow you and your kids to live together for many years or allow you to care for aging parents, while still maintaining privacy. Or you may decide that it’s time to create that homestead you’ve been talking about building, or launch that business you’ve been wanting to start. And it could be that now is the time to do all of that with the people you love.
When we meet with you for a Family Wealth Planning Session, we’ll help you look at whether your resources are being held in ways that will support you to reach your short and long-term goals. Then, we can either help you reallocate your resources to achieve those goals, or refer you to professionals we trust to help you reallocate. The worst thing you can do right now is not look at your family resources because you are afraid to see what’s there or you want to keep your head buried in the sand.
Times are changing, and the best time to look at what you have, so you can consider the future you want to create and intentionally allocate (or re-allocate) your resources is right now. Those who do so will thrive. Those who don’t will fall behind and wish they had done something different once it’s too late.
04 – Update your plan
Once you look at what you have, where it is, and how you want it allocated, the next issue to decide on is who would take care of it all if you cannot. Leaving the management of your affairs to chance or to out-of-date estate planning documents is the worst thing you can do for yourself and those you love.
In an upcoming article, we’ll cover the Great Wealth Transfer that’s happening, detailing how between $30 and $80 trillion of wealth will be transferred between the generations over the next few decades, and how you can best prepare for that transfer.
In the meantime, start by updating the estate planning you already have in place to handle your assets in the event of your incapacity or death. If you don’t have any plan at all, the state has one for you, and it almost certainly isn’t what you would want to have happen. And if you do have an estate plan in place, it’s likely out of date, or possibly wasn’t even created properly to begin with.
No matter what you have—or don’t have—we can help.
Secure your wealth, your legacy, and your family’s future
Regardless of how much, or how little, wealth you own, now is the time to look at what you have, talk to your parents about what they have, and talk to your kids about what they’ll need to take care of you. And if you don’t have living parents or kids, talk to your siblings or close friends. As your Personal Family Lawyer®, our Life & Legacy Planning Process is designed to guide you to look at all of these things with ease and talk to the right people based on your family dynamics and assets, as affordably and effectively as possible.
Every plan we create has built-in support for your life and legacy, which can greatly facilitate your ability to make wise legal and financial decisions throughout your lifetime and beyond. That’s why we call our services Life and Legacy Planning, not just estate planning.
By working with us, as your Personal Family Lawyer®, you can rest assured that no matter what happens with the ongoing and future economic shifts, your family wealth will offer the maximum benefit for your loved ones. Schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session today to start having these critical conversations to ensure you and your family will thrive through the recession and any other calamity that may occur.
This article is a service of Sahmra A Stevenson, Esq. Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.
- Published in In the News
7 Issues to consider when purchasing disability insurance
If you earn a good living now, but you worry about not having enough money for a future time when you cannot work due to illness or injury, disability insurance is your answer. However, you need to make sure you are getting an insurance policy that will meet your needs and not waste your money. This article covers 7 issues to consider when purchasing disability insurance.
Disability Insurance: Issues to consider
The answers to these 7 questions can give you the best chance of finding a policy that is well-suited for your particular situation.
01 – What is disability insurance?
Disability insurance pays benefits when you are unable to work because you are sick or injured. Most policies pay a benefit that replaces a percentage of your income. But disability insurance is not the same as health insurance—it will not cover your medical bills.
Instead, disability benefits replace a percentage of the income you lose due to your inability to work, so you can cover your basic financial needs, such as paying bills, covering daily living expenses, and providing for your family, until you can return to work. To begin your search for disability insurance, first you need to get clear about your minimum financial needs, or what we call your “minimum to thrive” number, should you become unable to work.
If you don’t currently know what your “minimum to thrive” number is, contact us for help calculating this number, and we can refer you to tools or an advisor who can support you.
02 – Should I get disability coverage?
If you are the breadwinner in your family and your income would stop if you become ill or injured and could not work, you should look into disability insurance. According to U.S. government’s statistics, one in four 20-year-olds become disabled before reaching retirement age. Statistics like this make it all the more important that you consider protecting yourself and your family with disability coverage.
03 – What’s the difference between short and long-term disability insurance?
There are two primary types of disability insurance: short-term and long-term. Short-term disability insurance typically lasts between 3 to 6 months, and sometimes up to a year or more. These policies generally cover about 60% to 80% of your monthly gross income, and the premiums you pay generally range from 1% to 3% of your annual income. One major upside to short-term policies is that payouts usually happen within two weeks, which can be a lifesaver in an emergency.
Long-term disability insurance can pay benefits for a few years or until your disability ends, even if that’s when you retire. Most long-term policies cover 40% to 60% of your monthly gross income, but policies that pay up to 70% do exist. Long-term disability policies also cost 1% to 3% of your yearly income, but based on the benefits, they tend to be more cost-effective in the long run.
That said, it can take up to 6 months to see a payout from a long-term policy, which may not be a realistic option if you need money immediately to cover your living expenses. Therefore, we recommend covering your short-term financial needs with emergency savings of 6 months, and then getting a long-term policy to cover your longer term needs.
04 – What does ‘portability’ mean?
If you purchase your disability insurance through your workplace, ask if you can keep that insurance if you leave the company. If your insurance is non-portable, your coverage will end when you leave the job. Having a portable policy means that you will be covered no matter where you work.
Although many disability policies purchased through an employer are not portable, it’s definitely something you should look into. If portability is important to you, consider purchasing disability insurance on your own, rather than through your employer.
05 – What are the renewal options for disability policies?
A “guaranteed renewal” policy allows you to renew, without making any changes to your coverage, but your premium can fluctuate. A “non-cancelable” policy means your coverage and your premiums cannot be changed, assuming you pay your premiums on time. Also, be sure to find out if premiums are waived during a qualified disability.
Given these considerations, the best policies will be non-cancelable and guaranteed renewable. Obviously, such policies will cost more, so consider what’s best for you, and if you need help making your decision, we’re happy to recommend a trusted insurance agent and then talk through the options with you.
06 – How do cost of living benefits work?
Cost of living benefits are not included in most policies, but adding this rider is definitely something to consider. Cost of living benefits are designed to provide financial stability by offering an increasing benefit to keep pace with an increased cost of living, which is especially important right now, when we are experiencing unprecedented levels of inflation.
When choosing cost of living benefits, consider choosing policies that increase on a compounding basis. Compound interest is earned on the principal and the interest. This additional rider can help your benefits keep pace through inflation, even after your disability ends.
07 – Do I need a ‘future increase’ rider?
A future increase rider is another option to consider adding to your disability coverage. It’s worth looking into particularly if you think your income may increase significantly over time. With this rider, you are able to increase the monthly benefit of your policy, regardless of your health status.
Without it, your policy will not change to protect your future income, and your benefits will pay out according to your income when you first obtained coverage. That said, many insurance companies will limit the total supplementary coverage that can be implemented each year with a future increase rider, so even if you have this option in place, the benefits might not fully reflect your future salary.
Get help choosing your coverage
When shopping for a policy, it’s best to work with an insurance agent who can survey many different companies to help you choose the right policy for your budget, age, health, and other factors. And remember, you must have the policy in place before something happens—if you’re already sick or injured, you can’t buy disability insurance to make up for lost income.
One of the ways we support our clients is by discussing matters like this with you during your Family Wealth Planning Session, or at your annual or 3-year review meetings after you’ve completed your Life & Legacy Plan with us. If you do not have an insurance agent you are already working with, we can connect you with an agent we trust, and then provide objective counsel to help you decide on the best coverage for you and the people you love.
If you are not already a client, contact us today to schedule your Family Wealth Planning Session. If you are, and you are ready for a review of your legal and financial choices, contact us for a plan review. We look forward to supporting your next step in Life & Legacy Planning.
This article is a service of Sahmra A Stevenson Esq., Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.
- Published in In the News
How To Manage Your Digital Accounts After Your Death—Part 3
How To Manage Your Digital Accounts After Your Death—Part 3
If you have preferences about what happens to your digital footprint after your death, you need to take action. Otherwise, your online legacy will be determined for you—and not by you. If you have any online accounts, such as Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Apple, or Amazon, you have a digital legacy, and that legacy is yours to preserve or lose.
Following your death, unless you’ve planned ahead, some of your online accounts will survive indefinitely, while others automatically expire after a period of inactivity, and still others have specific processes that let you give family and friends the ability to access and posthumously manage your accounts.
In part one and two of this series, we covered the processes that Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter, and Apple offer to manage your digital accounts following your death. Here in part three, we’ll conclude this series by covering the most effective methods for including digital assets in your estate plan.
Part I https://www.saslawoffices.com/2022/10/31/how-to-manage-your-digital-accounts-after-your-death-part-1/
Part II https://www.saslawoffices.com/2022/11/06/how-to-manage-your-digital-accounts-after-your-death-part-2/
5 Steps For Including Digital Assets In Your Estate Plan
If you’re like most people, you likely own numerous digital assets, some of which may have significant monetary value, and others which have purely sentimental value. You may even have some digital assets that you’d prefer your family not access at all when you pass away.
To ensure these assets are managed in exactly the way you want, take the following five steps to include this digital property in your estate plan. While many of these tasks you can do yourself, you’ll definitely want to consult with us, your local Personal Family Lawyer® to ensure your estate plan is properly prepared and works exactly as you intend.
01 – Create A Detailed Asset Inventory, With Access Instructions
Start by creating a list of all digital assets you currently own. Then, for each asset, provide detailed information about where the asset is stored and how it can be accessed, including all of the relevant login information and passwords. If you have numerous different accounts, password manager programs, such as LastPass, can simplify this effort.
If you own cryptocurrency, it’s essential that you prepare detailed instructions about how to access it, and ensure that one or more people you trust are aware that you own crypto and know how to find your instructions. Additionally, accessing cryptocurrency often requires complex user identification data and private keys.
Moreover, to effectively manage these assets.the person you choose to control your crypto after your death will need to know how to use a variety of digital tools, such as online wallets, digital exchanges, and other programs. Given this, leaving a detailed “How To” guide can be an ideal way to ensure your loved ones can access your digital currency with minimal hassle.
After you’ve created your inventory and access instructions, store these documents in a secure location, with your other estate planning documents, and ensure your fiduciary (executor or trustee) and lawyer know how to access these documents should something happen to you. Finally, back up any digital assets stored in the cloud to a computer, flash drive, or other physical device to make them easier to manage. And remember to update your digital asset inventory regularly to account for any new digital property you acquire or accounts you close.
02 – Add Your Digital Assets To Your Estate Plan
The next step is adding your digital assets to your estate plan. As with other assets, you’ll typically pass your digital property to your loved ones through either a will or a revocable living trust. Meet with us, your Personal Family Lawyer®, to determine which estate planning vehicles are best suited for your particular assets and situation.
From there, specify in your will or trust the person, or persons, you want to inherit each asset, and include detailed instructions for how you’d like each asset managed after your death, if that’s something you’re interested in. On the other hand, some assets might have no value to your family or be something you don’t want them to inherit or even access, so you should specify that those accounts be closed or deleted by your fiduciary.
One thing you should NEVER do is provide the account information, logins, or passwords in your planning documents, where others might read them. This is especially true for wills, which become part of the public record upon your death.
For maximum security, keep this sensitive information in a secure place, and let your fiduciary know how to find and use it. To make securing and managing your digital assets easier, consider using a digital management service, such as Directive Communication Systems, instead of trying to do everything yourself.
It’s also a good idea to include terms in your estate plan allowing your fiduciary to hire an IT consultant if necessary, especially if your fiduciary doesn’t have much technical experience, or if you have particularly valuable digital property. Having a consultant available can enhance your fiduciary’s ability to manage and troubleshoot any challenges that come up.
Alternatively, you can designate a separate co-fiduciary just to manage your digital assets. Known as a digital executor, this individual is specifically tasked with managing your digital assets upon your death. If you have a lot of digital property or you own highly encrypted digital assets, like cryptocurrency, this option can be an optimal solution for safeguarding your online property.
03 – Limit Access
Your estate plan also needs to include instructions for your fiduciary about the specific level of access you want him or her to have. For example, do you want your executor or trustee to be able to read all your emails, texts, and social media posts before deleting them or passing them to your heirs?
If there are any assets you want to limit and/or restrict access to, we can help you add the necessary terms to your estate plan to ensure your wishes will be honored and your privacy protected.
04 – Include Relevant Hardware
Your estate plan should also include provisions for passing on any physical devices—smartphones, computers, tablets, flash drives—on which your digital assets are stored. Having this equipment will make it easier for your fiduciary to manage your online assets. And since the data contained on such hardware can be wiped clean, you can even leave this gear to someone other than the person who inherits the data stored on the devices.
05 – Check Service Providers’ Access Authorization Tools
Review the terms and conditions for each of your online accounts and web-based service providers for how they handle your data after death. As discussed in the first two parts of this series, some platforms have features allowing you to give your family and friends the ability to access, manage, and delete your accounts after your death.
If such functions are offered, use them to document the individual(s) you want to access and manage these accounts. Just make certain those you named to inherit your digital assets using the providers’ tools match the beneficiaries named in your estate plan. If not, the provider will probably give priority access to the person named with its tool, not your estate plan.
Adapt Your Estate Plan To The Evolving Digital Universe
As technology continues to evolve, it’s essential to adapt your estate plan to keep pace with these changes. As your Personal Family Lawyer®, we have the knowledge and experience to not only properly include your traditional assets in your estate plan, but all of your digital assets as well.
Indeed, we are keenly aware of just how valuable your digital property can be, and our Life & Legacy Planning Process is designed to ensure all of your assets—digital or otherwise—are protected, preserved, and passed on seamlessly to your loved ones in the event of your death or incapacity. Furthermore, we can ensure you have the maximum level of privacy, and you stay in full compliance with the latest laws governing the ever-changing digital universe. Contact us today to get started.
This article is a service of Sahmra A. Stevenson, Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.
- Published in In the News
HOW TO MANAGE YOUR DIGITAL ACCOUNTS AFTER YOUR DEATH PART—2
2022.11.06
If you have preferences about what happens to your digital footprint after your death, you need to take action. Otherwise, your online legacy will be determined for you—and not by you. If you have any online accounts, such as Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Apple, or Amazon, you have a digital legacy, and that legacy is yours to preserve or lose.
Following your death, unless you’ve planned ahead, some of your online accounts will survive indefinitely, while others automatically expire after a period of inactivity, and still others have specific processes that let you give family and friends the ability to access and posthumously manage your accounts.
Last week, in part one of this series, we covered the processes that Facebook and Google have in place to manage your digital accounts following your death. Here in part two, we’ll continue our discussion, covering how Instagram, Twitter, and Apple’s collection of online platforms handle your accounts once you log off for the final time.
Given that Instagram is owned by Facebook, the photo and video-sharing social media platform’s processes for handling your account after your death are similar—but not entirely the same—as Facebook’s. As a reminder, Facebook allows you to name a legacy contact to handle your death, and Instagram gives you two options for managing your account after death: You can either have your account memorialized, or you can have it deleted.
However, it’s your family—not you—that has the final say. This makes it all the more important that your loved ones are well-aware of your wishes for how you’d like this digital asset managed when you die.
In order to have your account memorialized, Instagram requires a family member or friend to submit a special request form, along with proof of your death, such as your obituary or death certificate. Once your account is memorialized, the word “Remembering” appears next to your profile name, and your account will basically be frozen, appearing exactly as you left it before your death.
All posts shared on your memorialized Instagram account will be preserved and shared with the same audience they were before your death. No one can log into your memorialized account, make changes to your posts, profile information, or settings. Additionally, your memorialized account will no longer appear in public Instagram forums, such as its Explore page.
Alternatively, Instagram allows your account to be permanently deleted after your death. According to Instagram’s policy, only family members can have your account deleted, and this requires a bit more effort than memorialization.
To have your Instagram account permanently erased from cyberspace, your loved ones must not only submit a special form, but they must also supply your birth certificate, proof of death, as well as proof that they are your lawful representative under local law, the latter of which can take the form of a power of attorney document, a will, or an estate letter.
Twitter’s policies regarding the management of your account after death are fairly simple. In fact, the company only gives you one option: the deactivation of your account. Llike Instagram, Twitter leaves the decision as to what happens to your account after your death up to your family. Twitter’s Help Center offers a page with the specific details about deactivating a deceased person’s account.
If your family has your login and password information when you die, it’s fairly easy. Whoever has your login and password (plus 2fa access, if you have 2fa turned on) can login to your account on their own, and select the “deactivate my account” option. From there, the account will be deleted after 30 days of inactivity. That said, the account can be reactivated, simply by someone logging back into your account before 30 days expires.
If your family doesn’t have your login information, Twitter offers an alternate option for your account’s deactivation. However, Twitter notes that this option is only available to verified family members and estate executors.
The process starts by having a family member or your executor fill out a special form requesting the removal of your account. Following the request, Twitter will email instructions asking the person for additional details, including information about your death, a copy of their ID, and a copy of your death certificate. [ PFL: Insert hyperlink behind underlined text to https://help.twitter.com/en/forms/account-access/deactivate-or-close-account/deactivate-account-for-deceased ]
From there, Twitter will review each request individually, but as long as the proper information is provided, Twitter notes that the vast majority of these requests are granted. Keep in mind that such requests will result in the account’s permanent deletion, so make sure your loved ones carefully consider their decision, since once deleted, the process cannot be reversed.
APPLE DEVICES & SERVICES
As you likely know well, all Apple devices and services require an Apple ID. This ID is used for everything from logging on to your iCloud files and making App Store purchases to tracking and finding your lost iPhone with the FindMy app.
Like Facebook, Apple lets you select a “Legacy Contact” to manage the data and devices connected to your Apple ID after your death. Your Legacy Contact can be anyone you choose, and you can even designate more than one Legacy Contact.
The data your Legacy Contact(s) can access and manage includes items, such as photos, videos, messages, notes, files, contacts, calendar entries, downloaded apps, and backups of any devices stored in iCloud. Your Legacy Contact(s) will also be able to remove the Activation Lock from your devices, so they can personally use them, give them away, or sell them.
However, your Legacy Contact(s) will NOT have access to your login or password information, your payment information, your iCloud email accounts, or any of your licensed media. This means that you can’t pass on your collection of music, movies, or apps, unless that media already exists on one of the devices you own.
Before providing access, Apple reviews all requests made by your Legacy Contact(s). To gain access, your Legacy Contact(s) will need the access key provided when they were first nominated, as well as a copy of your death certificate and your date of birth. This makes it vital for your Legacy Contact(s) to print out a physical copy of their access key and safely store it, rather than relying on it being saved in your messages app or password manager.
Once access is approved, your Legacy Contact(s) receives a special Apple ID to access your account. From then on, your old Apple ID and password will no longer work, and Activation Lock is removed from all devices using your Apple ID. From the time the first legacy account request is approved, your Legacy Contact(s) has three years to access your data and devices, after which your account is permanently deleted.
WE’RE HERE TO HELP
Although you can manage many of the processes described here on your own, when it comes to preparing your estate plan, you should always work with us, your Personal Family Lawyer®. Using our Life & Legacy Planning Process, we’ll ensure that all of your digital assets, along with your more traditional forms of property and wealth, are preserved and passed on seamlessly to your loved ones in the event of your death or incapacity. And we will accomplish all of this while ensuring you have the maximum level of privacy possible.
With this in mind, check back next week for part three, where we’ll conclude this series by offering an easy, five-step process for including digital assets in your estate plan.
This article is a service of Sahmra Stevenson, Esq. Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.
- Published in In the News
HOW TO MANAGE YOUR DIGITAL ACCOUNTS AFTER YOUR DEATH — PART 1
If you have preferences about what happens to your digital footprint after your death, you need to take action. Otherwise, your online legacy will be determined for you—and not by you. If you have any online accounts, such as Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Apple, or Amazon, you have a digital legacy, and that legacy is yours to preserve or lose.
Following your death, unless you’ve planned ahead, some of your online accounts will survive indefinitely, while others automatically expire after a period of inactivity, and still, others have specific processes that let you give family and friends the ability to access and posthumously manage your accounts.
Because social media and other digital platforms are such a ubiquitous part of our daily routine, and they can offer intimate snapshots of your life, these digital assets can serve as a key part of your legacy—one you may want to protect after your death. Alternatively, you may prefer to keep your online history private and have it permanently deleted once you’re gone.
Whether you want to preserve your digital footprint or erase it entirely, you need to plan ahead to ensure your wishes are properly carried out. With this in mind, here we’ll discuss how some of the most popular digital platforms handle your account once you log off for the final time. From there, we’ll cover how to include these digital assets in your estate plan to ensure they are properly accounted for, managed, and passed on in the event of your incapacity or death.
Unless you choose to have your account deleted, Facebook offers what’s known as a “Legacy Contact” for managing your profile after death. Using a Legacy Contact, you can choose someone to control your account’s operation and functionality after you pass away. https://www.facebook.com/help/991335594313139 ]
Following your death, Facebook first memorializes your account. Once memorialized, the word “Remembering” is added to your profile name, and only confirmed friends can view your profile or find it in a search. Depending on your privacy settings, friends and family members can post content and share memories on your memorialized timeline.
However, memorialized accounts are locked, so your original content cannot be altered or deleted, even if someone has your password. Your Facebook account can be memorialized regardless of whether or not you select a legacy contact. To have your account memorialized, Facebook simply requires your family or friends to provide proof of your death using a special request form and evidence of death, such as an obituary.
If you’ve chosen a Legacy Contact, that individual can manage your memorialized account based on the permissions you’ve granted him or her. Some of the actions your legacy contact can perform include writing pinned posts, choosing who can view and post tributes on your profile, responding to new friend requests, updating your cover and profile images, and requesting your account’s closure.
However, there are certain actions your Legacy Contact will not be able to perform. This includes logging into your account as you, viewing your direct messages, removing your friends, or making new friend requests. For more in-depth coverage of Facebook’s legacy contact service and how it fits in with your estate planning, read our previous article, Managing Your Digital Afterlife: A Guide To Facebook’s Legacy Contact.
GMAIL, GOOGLE, & YOUTUBE
The Internet titan Google owns several of the most popular web services, including Gmail, YouTube, Google Drive, Google Photos, and Google Play. In order to request how you want these accounts managed after your death, Google offers a function called Inactive Account Manager.
Using this function, you must first choose the amount of time—3, 6, 12, or 18 months—that must pass without any activity before the Inactive Account Manager service is triggered. The service lets you select up to 10 different people, who can access your account once Inactive Account Manager goes into effect. You can specify the data those individuals will be allowed to access, including things like photos, contacts, emails, documents, and other content.
With Inactive Account Manager, you can also opt to have your account deleted. If so, you can have Google simply delete all of your content, or you can share your content with your designated contacts before deletion. If you share your content, your contacts will be able to access and download data from your account for 3 months before it’s deleted.
Should you choose to have your account deleted, your Gmail messages will be permanently deleted, and all data and content in all of your other Google-based accounts like YouTube, Google Drive, and Google Photos will also be deleted. If you die without setting up Inactive Account Manager, Google will automatically delete your account following two years of inactivity.
Finally, because Google owns YouTube, and YouTube videos have the potential to earn revenue indefinitely, it’s vital that you use the Inactive Account Manager to protect this potentially lucrative asset following your death. Additionally, you’ll also want to include these intangible assets in your estate plan, so they can be protected and passed on to your loved ones in the most beneficial way possible.
On that note, be sure to check back next week, to read part two of this series. In that article, we’ll continue our discussion about how the most popular internet platforms deal with your account after your death. From there, we’ll conclude the series by covering the most effective methods for including these accounts—and other types of digital assets—in your estate plan.[ PFL: Insert hyperlink behind underlined text to next week’s blog article when ready ]
Until then, if you need support or advice on the best ways to protect and pass on your assets—digital or otherwise—reach out to your Personal Family Lawyer® to discuss your options. Our Life & Legacy Planning Process is designed to ensure that all of your tangible and intangible assets, including your family legacy, are preserved and passed on seamlessly in the event of your death or incapacity. Contact us today to learn more.
This article is a service of Sahmra A Stevenson Esq., Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $450 session at no charge.
- Published in In the News
HOW AN ESTATE PLAN CAN PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS & FAMILY
You’ve most likely dedicated significant time and energy to creating a vision for your business, executing that vision, and even writing up a detailed business plan for the growth of your business. Yet far fewer business owners put the same effort into planning for their company’s continued success following their retirement, incapacity, or death.
However, not planning for the future of your business once you are no longer around to run the company could have disastrous consequences for you, your team, your clients/customers, and your family. And of all the potential risks facing your business, the two that are impossible for you to avoid are your incapacity and death—indeed, no one is immune to old age, illness, or death
Given this liability, creating an estate plan for the continued success of your business should you become incapacitated or when you die is just as critical as any other planning you do for your business, if not more so. The best part is that when you create an estate plan for your business, or a succession plan, it makes your company more resilient, less dependent on you overall, and can greatly improve your ability to take vacations, and have the freedom from your business you probably desire.
WHAT IS A BUSINESS SUCCESSION PLAN?
A business succession plan is an estate plan for your business. And that plan will include several strategies, such as life insurance for liquidity, a buy-sell agreement (covering the buyout of partners or other shareholders), and it should also include a trust to spell out the future management of your business. Without a trust in place, your business will likely be stuck in a totally unnecessary court process called probate (described more below), which could interrupt your company’s continued operation and even cause the loss of everything you’ve worked so hard to build.
A WILL ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH
When it comes to creating an estate plan, most people typically think of a will. While it’s possible to leave your company to someone in your will, it’s far from the ideal option. That’s because, upon your death, all assets passed through a will must first go through the court process known as probate. And the cost, time, and complexity involved when the court makes decisions about your business assets is completely unnecessary.
During probate, the court oversees your will’s administration to ensure your assets (including your business) are distributed according to your wishes. But probate can take months, or even years, to complete, and it can be quite expensive, which can seriously disrupt your cash flow and your company’s operation. What’s more, probate is a public process, potentially leaving your business affairs open to your competitors.
Furthermore, a will only goes into effect upon your death, so it would do nothing to protect your business should you become incapacitated by illness or injury before your eventual death. In fact, if you only have a will in place (or have no estate plan at all), in the event of your incapacity, your family would have to petition the court for guardianship in order to manage your business as well as your other personal and financial affairs.
Like probate, the court process associated with guardianship in the event of your incapacity can be long and costly. And in the end, whether it’s a family member or professional guardian agency, there’s no guarantee the individual the court ultimately names as guardian would be the best person to run your company.
TRUSTS PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS & FAMILY
Given the drawbacks associated with a will, a much better way to ensure your business’ continued success is by placing your company in a revocable living trust. A living trust is not required to go through probate, and all assets placed within the trust are immediately transferred to the person, or persons, of your choice in the event of your death or incapacity, without the need for any court intervention.
Upon your death or incapacity, having your business held in trust would allow for the smooth transition of control of your company, without the time, expense, and hassle associated with probate or guardianship. And using a trust, you can choose the individual(s) you think will be best suited to run your company in your absence, whether that absence is permanent (your death) or temporary (your incapacity). And within the trust, you can create a business succession plan, which would not only name your successor, but also provide him or her with detailed—and legally binding—instructions for how you want the business run when you are gone.
Finally, trusts are not open to the public, so your company’s internal affairs would remain private, and the transfer of ownership would take place in your lawyer’s office, not a courtroom, and on your family’s time.
Although the majority of business owners will get suitable protection for their business using a living trust, for the most airtight asset protection, you may want to consider setting up a specialized irrevocable trust. Such irrevocable trusts are quite complex, and they are not the right choice for everyone, so ask us, as your Family Business Lawyer™ to find out if an irrevocable trust would be suitable for your particular company.
A COMPREHENSIVE SUCCESSION PLAN
While placing your business in a trust is an effective way to protect your company upon your death or incapacity, it’s merely one part of a comprehensive business succession plan, which as mentioned earlier typically includes other estate planning strategies, such as business insurance, life insurance, and a buy-sell agreement. For the maximum level of protection, meet with us, your Family Business Lawyer™ to ensure your business has all of the necessary legal protections in place.
Even if you have an existing estate plan, you should have us review it to make sure you’ve covered all of your bases, and your plan has been properly updated. As your Family Business Lawyer™, we use a 50-point assessment to analyze your estate plan, which needs to be consistently updated to account for changes in your life, assets, and the law.
In our assessment, we will review your business and its assets, and discuss all of the different tools available to ensure the company and wealth you’ve worked so hard to build will survive—and thrive—no matter what happens to you. Taking these actions will not only help shield your company and family from unforeseen tragedy, but it will give you the peace of mind needed to take your business to the next level. Schedule your appointment today to get your plan handled.
This article is a service of Sahmra Stevenson Esq., Family Business Lawyer™. We offer a complete spectrum of legal services for businesses and can help you make the wisest choices on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the event of your death. We also offer a LIFT Start-Up Session™ or a LIFT Audit for an ongoing business, which includes a review of all the legal, financial, and tax systems you need for your business. Call us today to schedule.
- Published in In the News
2022 Estate Planning Checkup: Is Your Estate Plan Up-To-Date?
2022 ESTATE PLANNING CHECKUP: IS YOUR ESTATE PLAN UP-TO-DATE?
This year, Estate Planning Awareness Week runs from October 17th to 23rd, and one of our primary goals is to educate you on the vital importance of not only preparing an estate plan, but also keeping your plan up-to-date. While you almost surely understand the importance of creating an estate plan, you may not know that keeping your plan current is every bit as important as creating a plan to begin with.
In fact, outside of not creating any estate plan at all, outdated estate plans are one of the most common estate planning mistakes we encounter. We’ll get called by the loved ones of someone who has become incapacitated or died with a plan that no longer works because it was not properly updated. Unfortunately, once something happens, it’s too late to adjust your plan, and the loved ones you leave behind will be stuck with the mess you’ve left, or they could end up in a costly and traumatic court process that can drag out for months or even years.
Estate planning is an ongoing process, not a one-and-done type of deal. To ensure your plan works properly, it should continuously evolve along with your life circumstances and other changing conditions. Regardless of who you are, your life will inevitably change: families change, assets change, laws change, and goals change.
In the absence of any major life events, we recommend reviewing your estate plan annually. However, there are several common life events that require you to immediately update your plan—that is, if you want it to actually work and keep your family out of court and out of conflict. To this end, if any of the following events occur in your life, contact us, your Personal Family Lawyer® right away to amend your estate plan.
LIFE EVENTS THAT NECESSITATE AN IMMEDIATE REVIEW OF YOUR ESTATE PLAN
01 | YOU GET MARRIED:
Marriage not only changes your relationship status; it changes your legal status. Regardless of whether it’s your first marriage or fourth, you must take the proper steps to ensure your estate plan properly reflects your current wishes and needs.
After tying the knot, some of your most pressing concerns include naming your new spouse as a beneficiary on your insurance policies and retirement accounts, granting him or her Medical Power Of Attorney and/or Durable Financial Power Of Attorney (if that’s your wish), and adding him or her to your will and/or trust
02 | YOU GET DIVORCED:
Because divorce is such a stressful process, estate planning often gets overshadowed by the other dramatic changes happening. But failing to update your plan for divorce can have terrible consequences.
Once divorce proceedings start, you’ll need to ensure your future ex is no longer eligible to receive any of your assets or make financial and medical decisions on your behalf—unless that’s your wish. Once the divorce is finalized and your property is divided, you’ll need to adjust your estate plan to match your new asset profile and living situation.
03 | YOU GIVE BIRTH OR ADOPT:
Welcoming a new addition to your family can be a joyous occasion, but it also demands entirely new levels of planning and responsibility. At the top of your to-do list should be legally naming both long and short-term guardians for your child. Our Kids Protection Plan offers everything you need to complete this process for free right now.
Once you’ve named guardians, consider putting other estate planning vehicles, such as a Revocable Living Trust, in place for your kids. These planning tools can make certain the assets you want your child to inherit will be passed on in the most effective and beneficial way possible for everyone involved. Consult with us, your Personal Family Lawyer® to determine which planning strategies are best suited for your family situation.
04 | YOU HAVE A MINOR CHILD REACH THE AGE OF MAJORITY:
Once your kids become legal adults—which is age 18 or 21, depending on your state—many areas of their life that were once under your control will become entirely their responsibility. And if your kids don’t have the proper legal documents in place, you could face a costly and traumatic ordeal should something happen to them.
For instance, if your child were to get into a serious car accident and require hospitalization, you would no longer have the automatic authority to make decisions about his or her medical treatment or the ability to manage their financial affairs. Without legal documentation, you wouldn’t even be able to access your child’s medical records or bank accounts without a court order.
To prevent your family from going through an expensive and unnecessary court process, speak with your kids about the importance of estate planning, and meet with us to ensure they have the proper legal documents in place as they start their journey into adulthood.
05 | A LOVED ONE DIES:
The death of a family member, partner, or close friend can have serious consequences for both your life and estate plan. If the deceased person was included in your plan, you need to update it accordingly to fill any gaps his or her death may create. From naming new beneficiaries, executors, and guardians to identifying new heirs to receive assets allocated to the deceased, make sure your plan addresses all voids created by a death in the family as soon as possible.
06 | YOU GET SERIOUSLY ILL OR INJURED:
As with death, illness and injury are an unavoidable part of life. If you’ve been diagnosed with a serious illness or are involved in a life-changing accident, you may want to review the people you’ve chosen to handle your medical decisions as well as how those decisions should be made. The person you want to serve as your healthcare proxy can change with time, so be sure your plan reflects your current wishes.
07 | YOU MOVE TO A NEW STATE:
Estate planning laws can vary widely from state to state, so if you move to a different state, you’ll need to review and/or revise your plan to ensure it complies with your new home’s legal requirements. And because some estate planning laws are complex, you’ll want to meet with us to make certain your plan will still work exactly as you desire in your new location.
08 | YOUR ASSETS OR LIABILITIES CHANGE SIGNIFICANTLY:
Whenever the value of your estate changes dramatically—whether an increase or decrease, or even just the acquisition or sale of assets— you should revisit and update your plan. Whether you inherit a fortune, take out a new loan, retire, sell a home or business, buy a home or business, or change your investment portfolio, your plan should be adjusted accordingly.
09 | YOU BUY OR SELL A BUSINESS:
If you plan to sell a business, you can implement estate planning strategies to avoid almost all of your taxes—as long as you contact us ahead of time. And, of course, if you are buying a business, you’ll want to ensure your plan is updated to take into account your succession plans for the new venture.
For every business you own, you should consider creating a buy-sell agreement and a business succession plan to protect both your business and your family in case something happens to you. In your plan, you can not only decide who will take over your role as the company’s owner should something happen to you, but you can also provide him or her with a detailed road map for how the business should be run in your absence with a comprehensive business succession plan.
10 | THE FEDERAL ESTATE-TAX EXEMPTION OR YOUR STATE’S ESTATE-TAX EXEMPTION CHANGES SIGNIFICANTLY:
Anytime the federal estate-tax exemption or your state’s estate-tax exemption changes dramatically, we recommend you review your financial assets and your estate plan. Tax laws are constantly changing, so you should consult with us to ensure you are achieving the maximum tax savings possible and your investments are still aligned with your strategic goals in light of the latest changes to the tax code.
OUR SYSTEMS KEEP YOUR PLAN UPDATED—FOR LIFE
Keeping your estate plan updated is so important that we’ve created proprietary systems designed to ensure your plan is revisited consistently, so you don’t need to worry about overlooking anything, as your family, the law, and your assets change over time. Be sure to ask us about these systems during your visit.
Furthermore, because your plan is designed to protect and provide for your loved ones in the event of your death or incapacity, us, your local Personal Family Lawyer® isn’t just here to serve you—we’re here to serve your entire family. Over the years, we’ll take the time to get to know your family members and include them in the planning process, so everyone affected by your plan is well-aware of what your latest planning strategies are and why you made the choices you did, along with knowing exactly what they need to do if something happens to you. And if you are the parent of minor children, we will put safeguards in place to ensure that your kids are never placed into the care of strangers, even temporarily.
LIFE & LEGACY PLANNING
As a Personal Family Lawyer® firm, our estate planning services go far beyond simply creating documents and then never seeing you again. In fact, we will develop a relationship with you and your family that lasts not only for your lifetime, but for the lifetime of your children and their children, if that’s your wish.
Unlike traditional estate plans, a Life & Legacy Plan is designed to grow and change with you. Us, your local Personal Family Lawyer® makes that possible. We aren’t just a one-time document creator; we are your trusted, lifelong counsel and guide, who works with you to ensure your family stays out of court and out of conflict and grows even closer as a result of the legacy you’re creating.
Ultimately, we’ve discovered that estate planning is about far more than planning for your death and passing on your “estate” to your loved ones—it’s about planning for a life you love and a legacy worth leaving by the choices you make today. And this is why we call our services Life & Legacy Planning. Call us, your Personal Family Lawyer® to get your plan started today.
This article is a service of Sahmra Stevenson, Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $450 session at no charge.
- Published in In the News
5 SMART WAYS TO PAY FOR YOUR FUNERAL THAT WON’T LEAVE YOUR FAMILY TO FOOT THE BILL
With the cost of a funeral averaging between $7,000 and $12,000 and steadily increasing each year, at the very least your estate plan should include enough money to cover this final expense. And if you are thinking of simply setting aside money in your will to cover your funeral expenses, you should seriously reconsider, as paying for your funeral through your will can create unnecessary burdens for your loved ones.
Although you can leave money in your will to pay for your funeral expenses, your family won’t be able to access those funds until your estate goes through the court process of probate, which can last months or even years. And since most funeral providers require full payment upfront, your family will likely have to cover your funeral costs out of pocket. Moreover, your loved ones will have to deal with all of this while grieving your death.
If you want to avoid burdening your family with such a hefty bill and the stress that comes with it, you need to use estate planning strategies that do not require probate. While you should meet with us, your Personal Family Lawyer® to find the solution best suited for your unique situation, the following 5 options are among the most commonly used methods for covering funeral expenses without the necessity for probate.
01 | TRADITIONAL INSURANCE
You can purchase a new life insurance policy or add extra coverage to your existing policy to cover funeral expenses. Unlike money left in your will, an insurance policy does not go through probate, and it will pay the death benefit to the named beneficiary as soon as your death certificate is filed with the insurance company.
02 | BURIAL INSURANCE
In addition to traditional insurance, you can also purchase burial insurance, which is specifically designed to cover funeral expenses. Also known as “final expense”, “memorial” and “preneed” insurance, such policies do not require a medical exam. However, you’ll often pay far more in premiums than what the policy actually pays out.
In fact, due to the hefty premiums and the fact such policies are sold mostly to the poor and uneducated, consumer advocate groups like the Consumer Federation of America consider burial insurance a bad idea and even predatory in some cases due to the fact that these policies are often sold to lower income populations.
One final point about using insurance to pay for your funeral: If you have any type of insurance to cover your funeral, it’s crucial that your family knows about it. Far too often, insurance policies are never cashed in because the family didn’t know they existed. Don’t let this happen to you—make sure your family knows about any insurance policies you have as well as how to locate the necessary paperwork.
03 | PREPAID FUNERAL PLANS
Many funeral homes let you pay for your funeral services in advance, either in a single lump sum or through installments. Also known as pre-need plans, the funeral provider typically puts your money in a trust that pays out upon your death, or buys a burial insurance policy, with itself as the beneficiary.
While prepaid plans may seem like a convenient way to cover your funeral expenses, these plans can have serious drawbacks. As mentioned earlier, if the funeral provider buys burial insurance, you’re likely to see massive premiums compared to what the plan actually pays out. And if they use a trust, the plan might not actually cover the full cost of the funeral, leaving your family on the hook for the difference. Plus, most states have inadequate laws protecting funds in such plans, putting your money at risk if the funeral provider closes or is bought out by another company.
In fact, these plans are considered so risky, the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA), a nonprofit industry watchdog group, advises against purchasing such plans. The only instance where prepaid plans are a good idea, according to the FCA, is if you are facing a Medicaid spend down before going into a nursing home. This is because prepaid funeral plans funded through irrevocable trusts are not considered a countable asset for Medicaid eligibility purposes.
That said, if you’re looking to buy a prepaid funeral plan in order to qualify for Medicaid, be sure to consult with us first, as not all pre-paid funeral plans are actually Medicaid compliant, even if the funeral home says they are. Moreover, if the irrevocable trust is not set up correctly, it may violate Medicaid’s look-back period, which can delay your eligibility for benefits.
04 | PAYABLE-ON-DEATH ACCOUNTS
Many banks offer payable-on-death (POD) accounts, sometimes called Totten Trusts, that you can set up to fund your funeral expenses. The account’s named beneficiary can only access the money upon your death, but you can deposit or withdraw money at any time.
A POD account does not go through probate, so the beneficiary can access the money once your death certificate is issued. POD accounts are FDIC-insured, but such accounts are treated as countable assets by Medicaid, and the interest is subject to income tax.
Another option is to simply open a joint savings account with the person handling your funeral expenses and give them rights of survivorship. However, this gives the person access to your money while you’re alive too, which puts your money at risk if the person goes into debt or gets sued and their creditors come after your account to pay the other person’s debt.
Given this risk, we recommend you consider other options that will allow you to pay your funeral expenses, without leaving your finances vulnerable to another person’s mistakes or poor money management.
05 | LIVING TRUSTS
When you work with us, as your Personal Family Lawyer®, you don’t need to buy a pre-built trust from a funeral provider. Instead, we can create a customized living trust that allows you to control the funds until your death and name a successor trustee, who is legally bound to use the trust funds to pay for your funeral expenses exactly as the trust terms stipulate.
Furthermore, you can change the terms of your living trust at any time, and you can even dissolve the trust if you need the money for other purposes. Alternatively, if you need an irrevocable trust to help qualify for Medicaid, we can create that type of trust as well, while ensuring the trust stays totally compliant with all of Medicaid’s requirements, so you don’t run afoul of the program’s many complex requirements.
If you are interested in creating a trust to cover your funeral expenses, meet with us, your Personal Family Lawyer® to discuss the options that are best suited for your intended purpose, budget, and family situation.
USE ESTATE PLANNING TO AVOID BURDENING YOUR FAMILY
Although thinking about your eventual death is never easy, with the proper planning, you can make dealing with the aftermath of your death significantly easier for the loved ones you leave behind. To avoid needlessly burdening your family with the expense and stress of planning and paying for your funeral, make sure your estate plan includes the necessary funds to cover this expense, and be sure to use an estate planning strategy that will allow your family to access these funds as quickly and easily as possible—ideally by using an option that avoids probate.
With so many different options to choose from, consult with us, your Personal Family Lawyer® to find an estate planning vehicle that is best suited for your particular situation. With our guidance and support, we will develop a planning strategy that includes adequate funding to ensure your funeral services are handled in the exact manner you desire—and your family won’t be forced to foot the bill. Contact us today to learn more.
This article is a service of Sahmra A Stevenson, Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $450 session at no charge.
- Published in In the News
ANNE HECHE DIES WITH CONFLICT AROUND HER WILL, LEAVING HER SONS & ESTATE IN LEGAL LIMBO—PART 1
Actress Anne Heche died this August following a tragic car accident in which she plowed her vehicle into a West Los Angeles home, where it burst into flames. After being pulled from the wreckage, the Emmy Award-winning actress was hospitalized in critical condition, suffering from severe burns and smoke inhalation.
The fiery accident left Heche brain dead and comatose, but she was kept on life support for seven days in order to identify a suitable recipient for her organs, which was in line with the actress’ wishes, according to a statement from her publicist. After a successful match with organ donors, Heche was removed from life support on August 14th, and she died shortly thereafter. She was 53 years old. https://pagesix.com/2022/08/12/anne-heche-not-expected-to-survive-car-crash/?_ga=2.199837805.272709222.1663801684-802000813.1662580652]
Heche is survived by two young sons. Her eldest, Homer Heche Laffoon, is 20 years old, and is from her marriage with ex-husband Coleman Laffoon. Her youngest son, Atlas Heche Tupper, is 13, and his father is Canadian actor James Tupper, with whom Heche had a 10-year relationship following her divorce from Laffoon. Heche is also survived by her mother, Nancy Heche.
According to a court petition filed by her eldest son Homer on August 31st, Heche died without a will, and Homer requested that he be named executor of his late mother’s estate. However, on September 15th, Heche’s ex-boyfriend James Tupper filed a probate petition objecting to Homer’s bid, claiming that Heche e-mailed him a copy of her will in 2011, leaving him (Tupper) in charge of her estate. https://pagesix.com/2022/09/01/anne-heche-died-without-will-son-homer-seeks-control-of-estate/]
In a report by Rolling Stone, Tupper says Heche nominated him to handle her affairs, allegedly stating in her e-mail, “My wishes are that all of my assets go to the control of Mr. James Tupper to be used to raise my children and then given to the children. https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/anne-heche-estate-war-1234594195/]
Tupper requested that the court honor Heche’s final wishes and deny Homer’s petition, which he alleges incorrectly claimed she died intestate, the legal term for when someone dies without a will. In Tupper’s petition, he questioned both Homer’s ability to carry out the executor role and his motives, noting that “Homer is only 20 years of age and is unemployed, and was estranged from [Heche] at the time of her death.”
While we can’t know for certain whether or not Anne Heche had a will or if the will Tupper describes is valid, given that there is so much confusion surrounding her will, the late actress most likely didn’t have any trusts set up either. Her failure to plan is likely to create a number of major problems for her two sons and other surviving loved ones.
With this in mind, in this series of articles we’ll discuss Heche’s estate planning mistakes and how those errors will likely impact her family and assets. From there, we’ll outline what you can learn from this tragic situation and the steps you can take to make certain that your loved ones never need to endure a similar situation.
PROBATE: A NEEDLESS ORDEAL & EXPENSE
If you die without a will, or with uncertainty around your will, as Heche did—and even if your estate plan includes a will alone—you are guaranteeing your family will have to deal with the court process of probate upon your death or incapacity. Like all court proceedings, probate can be long, costly, and traumatic for your surviving loved ones.
Until Heche’s estate completes the probate process, her assets will be mostly inaccessible to her heirs. As a result, her sons, Homer and Atlas, could be left without any financial support from their late mother for quite a significant amount of time.
It will likely take many months just to locate all of Heche’s assets, and it’s likely some of those assets will get overlooked—and some may never be found. All told, there is approximately $58 billion in unclaimed property across the United States, and this is exactly how a great deal of it ends up lost.
To ensure all of her assets are located and accounted for, Heche could have had a relationship with a lawyer who, ideally, would have created (and maintained) an inventory of her assets. Such an inventory not only makes creating your estate plan much easier, but most importantly, it allows your loved ones to know what you have, where it is, and how to access it if something happens to you.
As your Personal Family Lawyer®, we will not only help you create a comprehensive asset inventory, we’ll make sure it stays regularly updated throughout your lifetime. To help you get this process started, we’ve created a free tool called a Personal Resource Map, where you can start creating your inventory right now.
To get started, visit the Personal Family Lawyer® website to watch a webinar by Ali Katz, founder of Personal Family Lawyer®, and get your asset inventory started for free. That way, no matter what, if something happens to you, your family will know what you have, where it is, and how to find it.
From there, schedule a meeting with us, your Personal Family Lawyer® to review what you have, and what will happen to what you have, if and when something happens to you, so you can choose an estate planning structure that keeps your family out of court and conflict.
A LONG, EXPENSIVE, & PUBLIC PROCESS
What we know so far is that Heche didn’t seem to have a lawyer who created an inventory of her assets, or to make sure her surviving family would stay out of court, or even out of conflict. As a result, her estate is likely to be stuck in probate for at least a year or more. And that assumes everything goes smoothly and there are no serious conflicts or disputes among Heche’s potential heirs or creditors, which is common following celebrity death—and as we are already seeing between Homer and Tupper.
In fact, with his surviving heirs and creditors fighting over the rights to his vast fortune, it took more than six years for Prince’s estate to be settled. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/prince-estate-value-1285413]
The unnecessarily lengthy time frame is just one of the drawbacks to probate—the unnecessary expense of a probate is a whole other issue. Before Homer and Atlas can inherit a dime, a veritable army of other people and entities—attorneys, a personal representative, accountants, various advisors, creditors, and possibly, the IRS—must all be paid, and this is likely to seriously deplete Heche’s estate.
Probate costs in California average 5% of the total value of the estate, leaving an estimated cost to her family of approximately $200,000 or more. Most of these fees could have been avoided with a properly established estate plan—and with a lawyer to guide her and her family throughout her life and beyond.
Last, and perhaps worst, probate is open to the public, so all of Heche’s dirty laundry will be fodder for the tabloids, as it already has been for so much of her life. Given the actress’ past history with mental illness and her contentious relationships with her mother, ex-husband, and Ellen DeGeneres, the tabloids are likely to dig up plenty of dirt.
Fortunately, there’s a simple solution to ensuring your surviving loved ones will avoid the cost, time delay, and public nature of probate upon your eventual death or potential incapacity, and this solution is available not only to rich celebrities, but to regular folks, as well.
With a well-counseled and drafted estate plan, likely including a living trust in addition to a will (and a trusted advisor to support it all), Homer and Atlas would have been able to access their late mother’s assets without the need for any court intervention whatsoever, if that’s what Heche would have wanted.
Alternatively, Heche could have made it clear that she wanted Tupper controlling her affairs, and her lawyer could have confirmed that without dispute. Finally, as long as a trust is properly created and maintained, it will remain private, and the transfer of assets to your heirs can happen within the privacy of our office, not a courtroom, and on your family’s time.
This would have prevented the tabloids and other potential bad actors from getting access to the details of Heche’s assets, her beneficiaries, and family conflicts, all of which will now be readily available for public consumption.
Don’t let your loved one’s be left with a mess like Anne Heche’s family is dealing with now. Using our Life & Legacy Planning process, we’ll work with you to put in place the right combination of estate planning solutions to fit with your asset profile, family dynamics, budget, as well as your overall goals and desires.
Next week, in part two of this series, we’ll discuss the type of trust Heche could have used to pass on her assets to her two young sons. [PFL/FBL: INSERT HYPERLINK TO NEXT ARTICLE IN YOUR BLOG WHEN READY]
PLANNING FOR INCAPACITY & END-OF-LIFE CARE
Furthermore, Heche’s untimely death is a vivid reminder that estate planning isn’t just about planning for the distribution of one’s assets after death, but also planning for incapacity and end-of-life care. With this in mind, in part two, we’ll also address the estate planning tools the late actress should have had in place to deal with the time period following her terrible accident when she was in a coma.
Until then, if you need to create your estate plan, or you need to review an existing plan, reach out to us, your Personal Family Lawyer® to schedule your visit. With our guidance and support, we can help keep your family out of court and conflict, and ensure your loved ones won’t have to endure the same tragic consequences as Heche’s.
This article is a service of , Sahmra A Stevenson Esq. , Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $450 session at no charge.
- Published in In the News