Archive for Finance
Who Cares For Ya, Baby? (Client Care Program Information)
Posted by: | CommentsIf you are too young to remember Kojak’s (Telly Savalas’ tv series) famous line, “Who loves ya, Baby?” then, you may not get my question, but no matter.. . It’s a quote just too fitting for me to let you know about our improved Client Care Membership Program. (It’s goooood stuff!)
Read on to learn about how changes in your life can cause havoc if you don’t keep up your planning to match your current lifestyle…
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Changes in our lives can bring a wealth of opportunity or surprising disappointment.
We can anticipate some changes, like getting married or the birth of a child, and other times, change just struts in and makes itself at home without warning.
It’s easy to evaluate and plan for those big or significant changes that we know are going to happen: what they entail, when they will happen, how they will affect our lives, and how we can be better prepared when change does occur. 
Fortunately, most changes in our lives don’t require the assistance of outsiders to help us get through it; but there are those that require an auto mechanic, a plumber, a doctor, or… a lawyer.
If you plan for those times when you need to rely on a professional, you can save a lot of money, time, aggravation, and heartache.
A true story is told by Alexis Martin Neely, Personal Planing Lawyer and Founder of the Personal Planing Lawyer program, of her grandfather’s estate. Years before his passing, he’d done what he thought was all the right things to plan for the day when his family had to live without him. He did an estate plan, put it away, and marked that off his list of what he needed to do to prepare.
When he passed away, the family learned that he’d not titled anything to the trust – and his attorney had not ensured that he did, plus the fact that their assets and their family had changed over the years, led to the estate plan’s complete failure. It was a nightmare for the family and took its toll financially and emotionally.
If you have done your estate planning, that’s wonderful. But if you have not had it reviewed in the last three years, you are in danger of its failure, too. Estate plans are not something that you can do one time and put on a shelf. It must be changed as your life changes.
Here are some examples of when your estate plan needs to be updated:
- You get married or divorced
- You have a child
- You buy or sell a house
- You inherit property, receive a settlement other “windfall” asset
- Your beneficiary dies
- You invest in or sell your stocks or bonds
- You buy or sell a business or there are changes in your share of a business
- Your life insurance changes
These are only a few examples of what needs to be updated about your estate plan. And, if you think about it, paying a lawyer to make these changes can be very expensive. Even if you “save” them all up for a one time amendment every few years, you can pay a lot of money for it and you run the risk that something may happen to you before you get to your target date of having all of the changes incorporated into your plan.
If you are very wealthy – and even if you are not wealthy but still worry about how your kids will handle their inheritance when you’re gone – you certainly would like to know that your children are prepared to receive the wealth they are due so that it’s not squandered or lost.
How do you go about doing all of these things and still not lose your mind or your “shirt” taking care of them?
Our Client Care Program is one of the benefits of working with our firm and makes us unique. This is one sure fire way of getting your plan updated at the time there are changes in your life, your family or your business at no additional cost. If you are in Client Care, you can call us with confidence that you can take care of your plan updates at the time they happen without a loss of integrity. If you have not contacted us for changes, we will contact you after 12 months to remind you to come in for a update to your plan at no additional cost.
All of our clients receive a free review of their estate plan every three years. We do that because it’s our mission to make sure that families are not left at the mercy of a failed estate plan. You can have confidence in your plan and its integrity. While we will offer the review free, we do charge for the changes necessary to update your plan.
That’s why we encourage our clients to join the Client Care Membership program. It’s easier to pay a little each month than to be faced with a large updating fee later. And it’s much less expensive. One change in your plan could conceivably pay for the entire year’s membership investment or more. And the most important thing is that you have it as a benefit, so you have no excuse for making sure your plan stays up to date for when your family needs it most.
To also give you incentives for making sure you take advantage of keeping your plan absolutely up to date, we also offer over $4,000 in enrollment bonuses to our clients. If you’d like to see everything that you can get by joining our Client Care Program, please click here.
Benefits include annual family meetings to prepare your children to receive their inheritance and to create your Priceless Conversation when you will document your most valuable wealth: Who you are and what’s important to you. Also, you can add to your Priceless Conversations so that you have a complete Legacy Library that you can pass down for future generations. (Wouldn’t you just love to, right now, be able to hear in your great grandmother’s own words her dreams, ideals, and take on life? You can do that for your family.)
As your Personal Planning Lawyer, I encourage you to take advantage of our Client Care Membership programs. We want to help you and your family make the best decisions possible and, then, leave the world a better place.
Call us today to learn more at 818-905-6088.
Then, when life throws a curve ball your way, you have peace of mind knowing that you’ve provided for it in your plan and it will work when it needs to and will not have it lost or diminished through improper handling by a broken down court system who doesn’t know you or your family.
When Tragedy Hits Close To Home…
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On May 2, I was presented the sad news that one of my assistant’s mother, a widow for many years, has passed away. B. is grief stricken, of course, but there are a few circumstances surrounding her mother’s death that are especially hard on her and her siblings.
On that day, B. took her mom to the doctor and, after nice lunch, B. tried to get her mom to stay a while, but Mom insisted on driving home immediately afterward because she had her garden to tend. Within a few miles of B.’s home, the mother had a single car accident and didn’t survive. As of this writing, B.’s family still do not know what happened to cause the accident.
Regardless of the reason, B.’s mother is gone, and the way that it happened was an unexpected shock. B. knew they would face losing their mom some day, but not now… not like THIS.
As my assistant, B. knew to have “The Conversation” with her mom to make sure that the family wouldn’t be left in a lurch after her mom’s death and would know where things were with regard to her estate and other business matters. But, unfortunately, B. and her siblings had very little to go on as they still are trying to deal with the Estate matters. They are certain from the short discussions they did have, that their mother had sufficient insurance, for example. But the question of where to find all the information so far has not been answered.
I know exactly why they were not able to have that discussion with their mom about her affairs. Not only has B. shared these reasons with me, but I hear them every week. From folks just like you. And my guess is that one or more of these reasons is why YOU have not taken the necessary steps for your children or for your parents.
Why B. and her siblings couldn’t bring themselves to talk to their mother about her estate and her business affairs:
1. If they did, because Mom was facing a health battle, it could confirm that she was dying, and it was not something they could face. (And for Mom, my guess is that she herself may have had an unconscious “superstition,” if you will, that to handle these things would mean an invitation to disaster. I hear this also frequently from would-be clients who say, “I know I should, but I have an unnatural feat that to do this… well, would mean that it’s going to happen soon.”)
2. If they did, they were afraid it would scare their mother and make her think they knew something about her condition that she didn’t. They couldn’t bear for her to have that unspoken fear or idea in the back of her mind when all they wanted was for her to muster all her faith and confidence to help fight her illness.
3. If they did, they were afraid it would appear as greedy behavior and being inordinately concerned about insurance, property, stocks and bonds, etc.
4. If they did, they would have to do it soon. They talked about it with each other several times and made promises that they would have the conversation with Mom …soon. Unfortunately, as almost always happens, they never found the “right” time or one that would have felt more appropriate to have that talk with their mom. And now… it’s too late.
5. If they did, it might be redundant and unnecessary. B. assumed on some level that Mom had shared all of this with her older sister. The older sister assumed that Mom had shared this information with B. knowing that B. works with me and is passionate about my mission of preventing these type plan failure. The older brother didn’t feel that it was any of their business, so he never considered that Mom should HAVE to share these things.
And the list goes on and on… all “valid” excuses but none worth the heartache that can be avoided so easily. Again, my guess is that one or more or all of these also apply to… YOU..
B.’s story is particularly sad to me because Karen and I care about her and don’t like knowing she and her family are having to deal with these unpleasant things when they should be able to take the proper time to grieve instead of struggling with trying to locate information and put together a picture of their mother’s final estate.
I share this story with you because I care about you and your family, too. If you think that’s not possible because I don’t know you, well: I know that any family who has to deal with the unnecessary and sometimes devastating loose ends in the event of tragedy is something I would not want for you … even if we’ve never met. There is a reason I chose this profession. I want to help.
Make an appointment with me today. Please. It costs you nothing if you will do it now. And it will give you the peace of mind that you know what to do for your kids AND for your parents.
Will you let me? Call us today or click here for a free Planning Session (normally $750.00)..
Just say you want to avoid B.’s situation. We’ll know exactly what you mean, and we’ll take you by the hand and walk you through it so that it’s as painless as possible. You’ll be glad you did. And if it inspires you to take matters into your own hands and further heartbreak avoided, then, you will never know what a good thing you have done. Let us help you take peace of mind for granted.
Three Reasons for Having a Living Trust
Posted by: | CommentsThere are a multitude of reasons to have a living trust. We can’t begin to cover them all, but we will touch on three reasons very briefly here.
Reason #1: Protecting Property for Certain Beneficiaries
When most of us think about estate planning, we think about passing our property to our family and other loved ones after we die. However, sometimes our intended beneficiaries are unable to handle an inheritance. Minor children are the most common example of this. Minor children aren’t even allowed to own property in many states. In most states, a guardian is appointed to hold the property on behalf of inheriting children until they are legally old enough to own property. Even then, if you speak to parents of an 18 year old, they might cringe at the idea of their teenager receiving any large sum of money. An 18 year old with outright legal ownership of money might very well quit school, buy a sports car, and head to Hawaii. Having a living trust alleviates this problem.
Reason #2: Managing Property upon Incapacity.
If you can believe it, one major concern today is the idea of living too long! Many people worry about whether or not their parents can live in their own homes. Many worry about how their parents’ bills are being covered and about the safety of their money from other people. Unfortunately, in the case of parents who have not done adequate estate planning, the only option is to file an application with the probate court for a guardian. That’s a jaw-grinding experience, because it exposes personal and financial information to total strangers. Besides, it’s a humiliating indignity to be declared legally incompetent.
Don’t put your own children through that painful experience.
A revocable living trust solves this problem. A revocable living trust allows your successor trustee to take control whenever you resign or are incapable of handling your affairs. There is typically no interruption in the management of assets, and there is no court supervision. Revocable living trusts also enjoy a greater level of acceptance throughout the legal and financial community, and almost all states provide a broad range of statutory powers regarding the management of trust property. While it is true that a living trust isn’t effective unless your property is in the trust, a durable power of attorney will enable your attorney-in-fact to transfer property into your trust if you can’t do it on your own. Of course, we can help you with all of the details.
Reason #3: Avoiding Probate.
When you die, property in your revocable living trust will not go through probate. That’s because the living trust itself spells out who gets to take ownership of the property. It’s very similar to 401(k) plans, life insurance, annuities, IRAs, and company retirement plans. Since those properties each have a designated beneficiary, those properties do not go through probate but, rather, pass directly to the beneficiaries (often with some tax advantages).
Jointly owned property with a right of survivorship does not go through probate either. It passes automatically to the surviving joint owner. Unfortunately, relying completely on joint tenancy laws is not advisable. It’s entirely possible that both joint tenants die at the same time or that the surviving tenant passes away without having specified who should inherit the property. A revocable living trust spells that out in advance.
Estate Planning can be Daunting
The process of planning your estate can be a daunting task. The good news is that you don’t have to do it alone, because we are a law firm dedicated to helping you develop and monitor a complete plan that achieves your desired results and minimizes the obligations of your loved ones.
If you’d like to learn more about what that means, call our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session. We normally charge $750 for a Family Wealth Planning Session, but to give you an opportunity to consult with us and understand the estate planning process, I’ve made space for the next two people who mention this article to have a complete planning session at no charge. Call today and mention this article.
