Will Your Estate Plan Work When Your Family Needs It?

Posted on February 13, 2023October 18, 2023 by LegacyLawGroup

Like most people, you likely think estate planning is just one more task to check off your life’s endless “to-do” list.

You can shop around and find a lawyer to create planning documents for you or create your own DIY plan using online documents. Then, you’ll put those documents into a drawer, mentally check estate planning off your to-do list, and forget about them.

The problem is, estate planning is more than just a one-and-done type of deal.

It will be worthless if your plan is not regularly updated when your assets, family situation, and laws change. Failing to update your plan can create problems that can leave your family worse off than if you’ve never created a plan.

The following story illustrates the consequences of not updating your plan, which happened to the founder and CEO of New Law Business Model, Ali Katz. Indeed, this experience was one of the leading catalysts for her to create the new, family-centered model of estate planning we use with all of our clients.

A Game Changing Realization

When Ali was in law school, her father-in-law died. He’d done his estate planning—or at least thought he had. He paid a Florida law firm roughly $3,000 to prepare an estate plan for him, so his family wouldn’t be stuck with the hassles and expense of probate court or drawn into needless conflict with his ex-wife.

And yet, after his death, that’s exactly what did happen. His family was forced to go to court to claim assets that were supposed to pass directly to them. And on top of that, they had to deal with his ex-wife and her attorneys.

Ali couldn’t understand it. If her father-in-law paid $3,000 for an estate plan, why were his loved ones dealing with the court and his ex-wife? His planning documents were not updated, and his assets were not even correctly titled.

Ali’s father-in-law created a Trust so that his assets would pass directly to his family when he died, and they wouldn’t have to endure probate. But some of his assets had never been transferred into the name of his Trust from the beginning. And since there was no updated inventory of his assets, there was no way for his family to even confirm everything he had when he died. To this day, one of his accounts is still stuck in the Florida Department of Unclaimed Property.

Ali thought for sure this must be malpractice. But after working for one of the best law firms in the country and interviewing other top estate-planning lawyers across the country, she confirmed what happened to her father-in-law wasn’t malpractice at all. It was common practice.

This inspired Ali to take action. When she started her own law firm, she did so with the intention and commitment that she would ensure her clients’ plans would work when their families needed it and create a service model built around that mission.

Will Your Plan Work When Your Family Needs It?

We hear similar stories from our clients all the time. In fact, outside of not creating any plan, one of the most common planning mistakes we encounter is when we get called by the loved ones of someone who has become incapacitated or died with a plan that no longer works. Yet by that point, it’s too late, and the loved ones left behind are forced to deal with the aftermath.

We recommend you review your plan annually to ensure it’s up to date and immediately amend it following events like divorce, deaths, births, and inheritances. This is so important we’ve created proprietary systems designed to ensure these updates are made for all of our clients. You don’t need to worry about whether you’ve overlooked anything as your family, the law, and your assets change over time.

Furthermore, because your plan is designed to protect and provide for your loved ones in the event of your death or incapacity, we aren’t just here to serve you—we’re here to serve your entire family. We 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 your latest planning strategies and why you made the choices you did.

Unfortunately, many estate planning firms only engage with a part of the family when creating estate plans, leaving the spouse and other loved ones primarily out of the loop. The planning process works best when your loved ones are educated and engaged. We can even facilitate regular family meetings to keep everyone up-to-date.

Built-In Systems To Keep Your Plan Current

Our legal services are designed to make estate planning as streamlined and worry-free as possible for you and your family. Unlike the lawyers who worked with Ali’s father-in-law, we don’t just create legal documents and put the onus on you to ensure they stay updated and function as intended—we take care of that on our end.

For example, our built-in systems and processes would’ve prevented two of the biggest mistakes made by the lawyers who created her father-in-law’s plan. These mistakes include: 1) not keeping his assets properly inventoried and 2) not correctly titling assets held by his Trust.

Maintaining a regularly updated inventory of all your assets is one of the most vital parts of keeping your plan current. We’ll not only help you create a comprehensive asset inventory, we’ll make sure the list stays consistently updated throughout your lifetime.

Start creating an inventory of everything you own to ensure your loved ones know what you have, where it is, and how to access it if something happens to you. From there, meet with us to incorporate your inventory into a comprehensive set of planning strategies that we’ll keep updated throughout your lifetime.

To properly title assets held by a Trust, it’s not enough to list the assets you want to cover when you create a Trust. You have to transfer the legal title of certain assets—real estate, bank accounts, securities, brokerage accounts—to the Trust, known as “funding” the Trust, for them to be appropriately disbursed.

While most lawyers will create a Trust for you, only some will ensure your assets are properly funded. We’ll not only make sure your assets are properly titled when you initially create your Trust, we’ll also ensure that any new assets you acquire throughout your life are inventoried and properly funded to your Trust. This will keep your assets from being lost and prevent your family from being inadvertently forced into court because your plan was never fully completed.

For The Love Of Your Family

With us as your Personal Family Lawyer®, our planning services go far beyond simply creating documents and then never seeing you again. We’ll develop a relationship with your family that lasts not only for your lifetime but for the lifetime of your children and their children if that’s your wish.

We’ll support you in not only creating a plan that keeps your family out of court and out of conflict in the event of your death or incapacity, but we’ll also ensure your plan is regularly updated to make sure that it works and is there for your family when you cannot be. Contact us today to get started.

Why Every Adult Needs A Living Will?

Posted on January 16, 2023October 18, 2023 by LegacyLawGroup

When it comes to estate planning and wills, you have a variety of options for legal documents. The most common of these options is a “last will and testament,” which is also known simply as a “will.” But you may have also heard people talk about a “living will” and wonder what that is, and whether you need a living will in addition to a regular last will and testament.

Both terms describe important legal documents used in estate planning, but their purpose and function differ significantly. In this article, we will review some of the most critical things you need to know about living wills and why having a living will is essential to every adult’s estate plan. And it may be that a living will is even more important than a last will and testament.

What Is A Living Will?

A living will, also called an advance healthcare directive, is a legal document that tells your loved ones and doctors how you would want your medical care handled if you become incapacitated and cannot make such decisions yourself, particularly at the end of life. Specifically, a living will outlines the procedures, medications, and treatments you would want and would not want to prolong your life if you cannot make such decisions yourself.

For example, within the terms of your living will, you can articulate certain decisions, such as if and when you would want life support removed should you ever require it and whether you would want hydration and nutrition supplied to prolong your life.

Beyond instructions about your medical care, a living will can even describe what type of food you want and who can visit you in the hospital. These are critical considerations for your well-being at a time of greatest need for you. And if you haven’t provided any specific instructions, decisions will be made on your behalf that you likely will not want.

Living Will vs. Last Will And Testament

Upon death, a last will and testament ensure your assets are distributed as you choose. Note that your last will only deals with your assets and only operates upon your death. In contrast, a living will is about you, not your assets. And it operates in the event of your incapacity, not your death.

In other words, a last will tells others what you want to happen to your wealth and property after you die, while a living will tells others how you want your medical treatment managed while you are still alive. And that’s really important for you and your care!

Living Will vs. Medical Power of Attorney

Medical power of attorney is the part of an advance healthcare directive that allows you to name a person, known as your “agent,” to make healthcare decisions for you if you are incapacitated and unable to make those decisions yourself.

Simply put, medical power of attorney names those who can make medical decisions in the event of your incapacity, while a living will explains how you would want your medical care handled during your incapacity.

Why Having A Living Will Is So Important

A living will is a vital part of every adult’s estate plan, as it can ensure your medical treatment is handled exactly the way you want if you cannot communicate your needs and wishes. Additionally, a living will can prevent your family from undergoing needless trauma and conflict during an already trying time.

Without a living will, your family would have to guess what treatments you might want, and your loved ones are likely to experience stress and guilt over the decisions they make on your behalf. In worst cases, your family members could even end up battling one another in court over who should manage your medical care and how.

Should You Rely On A Living Will Created Online?

While there is a wide selection of living wills, medical power of attorney, and other advance directive documents online, you likely want more guidance and peace of mind than is available through an online service to support you to address such critical decisions adequately. Regarding your medical treatment and end-of-life care, you have unique needs and wishes that cannot be anticipated or adequately addressed by generic documents or without the counseling and guidance we can provide through your decision-making process.

To ensure your directives are tailored to suit your unique situation, work with experienced estate planning professionals like us, Legacy Law Group to support you to create and/or review your living will.

How We Can Help

Even if you have a professionally prepared and well-thought-out living will, it won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on if nobody knows about it. A living will comes into effect the second you sign it, so you should immediately deliver copies to your agent, alternate agents, primary care physician, and other medical specialists.

Additionally, don’t forget to give those folks new versions whenever you update those documents and have them destroy the old documents. At Legacy Law Group, delivering the latest copies of your living will and other estate planning documents is a standard part of our Life & Legacy Planning Process. We ensure that everyone who needs your documents always has the latest version.

And since unforeseen illness or injury could strike at any time. Don’t wait to plan your will. Contact us to get this critical document in place. Call us today to schedule an appointment.

3 Essential Questions To Ask Before Creating Your Will Online

Posted on January 3, 2023November 4, 2023 by LegacyLawGroup

If you are looking to create your last will and testament, or will, online, you’ll find dozens of websites that let you prepare a variety of estate planning documents for very little money, and even for free. With so many do-it-yourself online document services out there, you might believe you can create your will online, all on your own, without paying a lawyer to help.

And in some cases, you can create your will online.

But if you do, you need to understand how these services can backfire on you and your family. Online estate planning can be a catastrophe for those who aren’t aware of the risks. And as you’ll see, creating your will online without a lawyer’s guidance can even be worse for your family than if you’d done nothing at all.

Know what’s possible—and what’s not

If you are looking to create your own will online, first ask yourself the following 3 questions. After considering these 3 questions, if you determine you can create your own will online, you should seriously consider having us review it for you once you complete the document to be certain you’ve properly covered everything and everyone you care about.

01 – Will your online will keep your family out of court?

When considering creating your own will online, the first question you need to ask yourself is: “Should I become incapacitated or when I die, do I want to keep my family out of court?” If your answer is “Yes, I 100% want to keep my family out of court,” then creating your own will online may not be the best idea.

While a will is a necessary element of most estate plans, it’s typically just one small part of an integrated plan. And a will by itself won’t keep your family out of court. In order for assets covered by your will to be transferred to your beneficiaries, your will must first pass through the court process known as probate.

During probate, the court oversees the administration of your estate and assets, ensuring your assets are distributed according to your wishes, while ensuring any creditors of your estate are paid, and managing any disputes that arise. Probate is lengthy, expensive, and open to the public, so you’ll want to have more than a will in place if you have any assets that would go through court in the event of your incapacity or death.

To avoid probate and keep your assets out of court, your will needs to be combined with other planning documents and important conversations as well. These documents include a properly drafted and funded trust, up-to-date and effective beneficiary designations, and you’ll also need to have conversations with family to ensure they won’t end up in conflict due to your lack of preparation.

Beneficiary designations and trust planning can be complex, and if you have assets that would otherwise pass through the court process, it may be difficult to ensure you are making all the right choices for your loved ones and your assets using an online document service. This is why we recommend that you begin your estate planning with a Family Wealth Planning Session, during which we can help you look at your family dynamics and your assets, and then we can assess what would happen to everything you have and everyone you love, when something happens to you. During this planning session, we can then determine the right plan for you and the people you love to help keep them out of court when something happens to you.

02 – Is your online will’s execution legally valid?

If you do not have assets that would go through the court process, and you want to create an online will simply to name someone as your executor in the event of your death, you’ll want to make sure your online will is legally valid.

Each state has specific laws stipulating how a will must be documented and signed to be legally binding. If you fail to execute your will in accordance with these laws, the court can deem your will legally invalid.

If the court deems your will invalid, it’s as if the document never existed. In that case, a judge would name the person it considers is best to handle your estate, and your assets would be distributed according to state intestacy laws, which typically give priority to your closest living blood relatives.

If you want to ensure your online will is legally valid, you can look up your state’s laws governing the valid execution of a will. From there, make certain you sign it properly, with the right number and type of witnesses.

03 – Does your online will properly name an executor?

If you are going to create your own online will, the last question to consider is whether the will properly names an executor, along with back-up executors, and it ensures that those you name will be appointed by the court in the event of your death.

An executor, also called a “personal representative,” is the person responsible for carrying out the instructions in your will. Your executor is typically named in your will and appointed by the court to locate and manage your assets, pay any outstanding debts and taxes you owe, and distribute your remaining assets to your beneficiaries.

If you don’t name an executor in your will, or the person you choose is determined to be unfit, the court will appoint an executor for you. As an example of how things can go wrong here, one common situation in which a named executor can be determined to be unfit is if your will does not waive the requirement for the executor to obtain a bond, and your named executor cannot qualify for a bond. This is a frequent mistake made by those who create their own will online.

If you’re unaware of these requirements when creating your online will, your chosen executor could be deemed unfit, leaving the choice up to the court. We can make certain your choice for executor is properly qualified, so you can rest easy knowing someone you know and trust will handle your final affairs and support your loved ones when you no longer can.

The Professional Support You Deserve

As you can see, creating your will online without a lawyer’s help is a huge gamble, and if you get it wrong, it can cost your family a lot more than money. Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all document service, meet with us, Legacy Law Group to create your will and other estate planning documents.

Our Life & Legacy Planning Process is specifically designed to put in place the right combination of planning solutions to fit with your unique asset profile, family dynamics, budget, as well as your overall goals and desires. Until then, if you need to get your plan started or need us to review your existing documents, contact us today.

What Your Last Will & Testament Will (And Will Not) Do – Part 2

Posted on October 17, 2022November 7, 2023 by LegacyLawGroup

While having a will is important—and all adults over age 18 should have this document in place—for all but a few people, creating a will is just one small part of an effective estate plan that works to keep your loved ones out of court and out of conflict. With this in mind, this series discusses exactly what having a will in place will—and will not—do for you and your loved ones in terms of estate planning.

Last week, in part one, we looked at the different things having a will in place allows you to do. Here, in part two, we detail all of the things that your will does not do, along with identifying the specific estate planning tools and strategies that you should have in place to make up for the potential blind spots that exist in an estate plan that consists of only a will.

If you have yet to create your will, or you haven’t reviewed your existing will recently, contact us, your Legacy Law Group to get this vital first step in your estate planning handled right away.

What A Will Won’t Do
While a will is a necessary part of most estate plans, your will is typically a very small part of a comprehensive estate plan. To demonstrate, here are the things you should not expect your will to accomplish:

Keep your family out of court: Following your death, in order for assets in your will to be transferred to your beneficiaries, the will must pass through the court process known as probate. During probate, the court oversees the will’s administration, ensuring your assets are distributed according to your wishes, with automatic supervision to handle any disputes.

Like most court proceedings, probate can be time-consuming, costly, and open to the public. Moreover, during probate, there’s also the chance that one of your family members might contest your will, especially if you have disinherited someone or plan to leave significantly more money to one relative than the others. Even if those contests don’t succeed, such court fights will only increase the time, expense, and strife your family has to endure.

Bottom line: If your estate plan consists of a will alone, you are guaranteeing your family will have to go to court if you become incapacitated or when you die. Fortunately, it’s easy to ensure your loved ones can avoid probate using different types of trusts, so meet with us, your Personal Family Lawyer® to spare your family this unnecessary ordeal.

2. Pass on certain types of assets: Since a will only covers assets solely owned in your name, there are several types of assets that your will has no effect on, including the following:

Assets with a right of survivorship: Property held in joint tenancy, tenancy by the entirety, and community property with the right of survivorship, bypass your will. These types of assets automatically pass to the surviving co-owner(s) when you die.
Assets with a designated beneficiary: When you die, assets with a designated beneficiary pass directly to the individual, organization, or institution you designated as beneficiary, without the need for any additional planning. Common assets with beneficiary designations include retirement accounts, IRAs, 401(k)s, and pensions; life insurance or annuity proceeds; payable-on-death bank accounts; and transfer-on-death property, such as bonds, stocks, vehicles, and real estate.

Assets held in a trust: Assets held by a trust automatically pass to the named beneficiary upon your death or incapacity, so these assets cannot be passed in your will. This includes assets held by both revocable living trusts and irrevocable trusts.

3. Pass ownership of a pet and money for its care: Because animals are considered personal property under the law, you cannot name a pet as a beneficiary in your will. If you do, whatever money you leave it would go to your residuary beneficiary, who would have no obligation to care for your pet.

It’s also not a good idea to use your will to leave your pet and money for its care to a future caregiver. That’s because the person you name as beneficiary would have no legal obligation to use the funds to care for your pet. In fact, this person could legally keep all of the money and drop off your pet at a shelter.

The best way to ensure your pet gets the care it deserves following your death is by creating a pet trust. Here at Legacy Law Group, we will help you set up, fund, and maintain such a trust, so your furry family member will be properly cared for when you’re gone.

4. Leave funds for the care of a person with special needs: There are a number of unique considerations that must be taken into account when planning for the care of an individual with special needs. In fact, you can easily disqualify someone with special needs for much-needed government benefits if you don’t use the proper planning strategies. For this reason, a will should never be used to pass on money for the care of a person with special needs.

If you want to provide for the care of your child or another loved one with special needs, you must create a special needs trust. However, such trusts are complicated, and the laws governing them can vary greatly between states.

Given such complexities, you should always work with an experienced estate planning lawyer like us to create a special needs trust. At Legacy Law Group, we can make certain that upon your death, the individual would have the financial means they need to live a full life, without jeopardizing their access to government benefits.

5. Reduce estate taxes: If your family has significant wealth, you may wish to use estate planning to reduce your estate tax liability. However a will is useless for this purpose. To reduce or postpone your estate taxes, you will need to set up special types of trusts. If you are looking to reduce your estate tax liability, consult with us, at Legacy Law Group to discuss your options.

6. Protect you from incapacity: Because a will only goes into effect when you die, it offers no protection if you become incapacitated and are no longer able to make decisions about your financial, legal, and healthcare needs. If you do become incapacitated, your family will have to petition the court to appoint a guardian to handle your affairs, which can be costly, time-consuming, and traumatic for your loved ones.

And there’s always the possibility that the court could appoint a relative as a guardian that you’d never want making such critical decisions on your behalf. Or the court might select a professional guardian, putting a total stranger in control of your life, which leaves you open to potential fraud and abuse by crooked guardians.

However, using a trust, you can include provisions that appoint someone of your choosing—not the court’s—to handle your assets if you are unable to do so. When combined with a well-prepared medical power of attorney and living will, a trust can keep your family out of court and out of conflict in the event of your incapacity, while ensuring your wishes regarding your medical treatment and end-of-life care are carried out exactly as you intended.

Get Professional Support With Your Estate Planning
Although creating a will may seem fairly simple, you should always consult with an experienced estate planning lawyer like us to ensure the document is properly created, executed, and maintained. And as we’ve seen here, there are many scenarios in which a will won’t be the right estate planning solution, nor would a will keep your family and assets out of court.

Meet with us for a Family Wealth Planning Session, which is the first step in our Life & Legacy Planning process. During this process, we’ll walk you through an analysis of your assets, what’s most important to you, and what will happen to your loved ones when you die or if you become incapacitated. From there, we’ll work together 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.

At Legacy Law Group, we see estate planning as far more than simply planning for your death and passing on your “estate” and assets 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. Contact us today to schedule your visit to ensure that your loved ones will be protected and provided for no matter what happens to you.

What Your Last Will & Testament Will (And Will Not) Do – Part 1

Posted on October 10, 2022October 18, 2023 by LegacyLawGroup

If you have already prepared your will, congratulations—too few Americans have taken this key first step in the estate planning process. In fact, only 33% of Americans have created their will, according to Caring.com’s 2022 Wills and Estate Planning Study.

Yet, while having a will is important—and all adults over age 18 should have this document in place—for all but a few people, creating a will is just one small part of an effective estate plan that works to keep your loved ones out of court and out of conflict. With this in mind, here we look at exactly what having a will in place will—and will not—do for you and your loved ones in terms of estate planning.

If you have yet to create your will, or you haven’t reviewed your existing will recently, contact us, your Legacy Law Group to get this vital first step in your estate planning handled right away.

What A Will Does

A will is a legal document that outlines your final wishes in regards to how your assets are distributed to your surviving family members. Here are some of the things having a will in place allows you to do:

1. Choose how assets are divided upon your death: A will’s primary purpose is to allow you to designate how you want your assets divided among your surviving loved ones upon your death. If you die without a will, state law governs how your assets are distributed, which may or may not be in line with your wishes.

However, as we’ll discuss more below, a will only allows you to provide for the distribution of certain types of assets—namely, a will only covers assets owned solely in your name. Other types of assets, such as those with a beneficiary designation and assets co-owned by you with others, are not affected by your will.

2. Name an executor: In your will, you can name the person, or persons, you want to serve as your executor, sometimes called a “personal representative.” Following your death, your executor is responsible for wrapping up your final affairs. This includes numerous responsibilities, including filing your will with the local probate court, locating and managing all of your assets, paying off any debts you have outstanding, filing and paying your final income taxes, and finally, distributing your remaining assets to your named beneficiaries.

3. Name guardians for your minor children: If you are the parent of minor children, it is possible to name legal guardians for them in your will. However, naming guardians for your children in your will alone is seriously risky, and doing so may even leave your kids vulnerable to being taken into the care of strangers if something happens to you. And this is true even if you’ve worked with another lawyer to create your will, because most lawyers haven’t studied and been trained on what’s necessary for ensuring the well-being and care of minor children.

4. Serve as a backup for a living trust: Because it can be difficult to transfer the legal title to every single one of your assets into a revocable living trust before your death, most trusts are combined with what’s known as a “pour-over” will. This type of will serves as a backup to a living trust, so all assets not held by the trust upon your death are transferred, or “poured,” into your trust through the probate process.

A Small—But Important—First Step
As you can see here, having a will in place only gives you a limited amount of power over the distribution of certain assets, but that doesn’t mean you should go without one. Without a will, you would have no say in who inherits your assets when you die, and everything you own could even go to the state.

But worse than that, your surviving loved ones will be the ones who have to clean up the mess you’ve left behind. And they will have to handle all of this while grieving your death. Instead, you should see your will as an important first step in the estate planning process—one that works best when integrated with a variety of other legal vehicles, such as trusts, powers of attorney, and advance healthcare directives.
Next week, in part two, we’ll detail all of the things that your will does not do, and then we’ll outline the different estate planning tools that you should have in place to make up for these potential blind spots in your estate plan. Until then, if you need to get your estate planning started or you would like us to review your existing estate plan (even one created by another lawyer) to see if you are missing anything, contact us, your Trusted Advisors at Legacy Law Group.

Category: WILLS