Posts Categorized: Wills

Make Sure Your Kids Are Prepared with This Summer Camp Checklist

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law May 6, 2022 Estate Planning, Guardians for Minor Children, Healthcare, Trusts, Wills

This year, summer camps are expected to be back in full swing after two pandemic summers forced them to close or operate at limited capacity. Camp is an excellent opportunity for kids to make new friends, try new activities, and gain self-confidence and resilience. But as parents and counselors know, a lot of preparation goes into making lasting summer camp memories.

Camp is a unique experience because it may be the only time during the year that kids are away from home – and parental supervision – for an extended period. Although the time spent apart can be positive for the parent-child relationship, there are several contingencies that families should plan for ahead of time. After your child is off at camp, it may be too late to update contact information, medication lists, and temporary guardianship permissions. READ MORE

How Creating A Life & Legacy Plan With Us Creates And Preserves Your Family’s Legacy

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law May 3, 2022 Estate Planning, Trust Administration & Probate, Trusts, Wills

Best of all, the Family Wealth Legacy Process is offered at no additional cost to you, since it is part of each plan we create for our clients. And the process of documenting this recording is as easy and convenient as possible: We use a series of helpful questions and prompts, which makes the process both easy and enjoyable. From start to finish, the entire process takes less than an hour. 
My favorite part about this process is that most of our clients tell us that going through it helps them rekindle life moments and memories they would otherwise not share with their loved ones. Indeed, this unique process can enrich your family with something far more valuable than any tangible asset you might leave, and instead leave behind a lasting legacy of love.  READ MORE

3 Reasons Why Transferring Ownership Of Your Home To Your Child Is A Bad Idea

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law April 26, 2022 Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills

Another drawback to transferring ownership of your home in this way is the potential tax liability for your child. If you’re elderly, you’ve probably owned your house for a long time, and its value has dramatically increased, leading you to believe that by transferring your home to your child, they can make a windfall by selling it. And by transferring the property before you die, you may think that you can save your child both time and money by avoiding the need for probate.

Probate is the court process used to distribute your assets according to the wishes outlined in your will or according to our state’s intestate succession laws if you don’t have a will. Depending on the complexity of your estate, probate can be a long and expensive process for your loved ones; however, that expense is likely to be relatively minor compared to the tax bill your heirs could face. READ MORE

If I Give My Home to My Child in My Will, Can They Take My Home While I Am Still Alive?

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law April 22, 2022 Estate Planning, Guardians for Minor Children, Wills

A will is a legal document that specifies what happens to your property upon your death. The key phrase here is “upon your death.” A will has no real legal significance until the time of your death. A will does not change title (ownership) to the property during your life, so naming your child in your will as the recipient of your home means that they have no ownership rights to your home until after your death. Also, you can rewrite or change a will at any time during your life while you are still mentally able to do so. Your child cannot take you home while you are still alive for these reasons.

You are using a will to give your house to your child at your death guarantees that they will have to go through the probate process to complete the title transfer. To avoid probate, some people will put their child’s name on the deed to their home while they are living, with the intent of continuing to own the house while they are alive and passing the home to their child at the time of their death. As discussed above, title to property is received through a deed. READ MORE

How Naming Guardians For Your Kids In Your Will Can Leave Them At Risk

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law April 19, 2022 Estate Planning, Guardians for Minor Children, Wills

One of the most disturbing aspects of this situation is that you probably have no idea just how vulnerable your kids are since this is a blind spot inherent to the estate plan of countless parents worldwide. Even many lawyers aren’t fully aware of this issue – and that’s because most lawyers don’t understand what’s necessary for planning and ensuring the well-being and care of minor children.

Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place, whether you’ve named guardians for your kids in your will or have yet to take any action at all. As your Personal Family Lawyer®, we specialize in legal planning for the unique needs of families with minor children. We can ensure that you have all of the proper legal safeguards to ensure that your kids will always be cared for by the people you would want, in precisely the way you would wish to, should anything ever happen to you. READ MORE

Does a Domestic Partner Have the Same Rights as a Spouse When It Comes to Estate Planning?

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law April 15, 2022 Estate Planning, Trustee, Trusts, Wills

Everyone knows what a marriage is, but not everyone knows what a domestic partnership is. To answer whether domestic partners have the same estate planning rights as married spouses, it is helpful to define what a domestic partnership is.

A domestic partnership is an alternative to marriage created for same-sex couples who could not legally marry. However, when the US Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodges, marriage became an option for same-sex couples. A domestic partnership is not just for same-sex couples; any couple can choose this status when marriage is not something they desire, for whatever reason. READ MORE

Three Steps to Take When the Deceased Has Controlled Substances

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law April 8, 2022 Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills

If your loved one was living in an assisted living facility or was in hospice before their death, check with the healthcare staff to determine whether they will dispose of the unwanted or expired medications. If you learn that you are responsible for their disposal and there are no specific disposal instructions in the medication package insert, or you have not received detailed disposal instructions from a healthcare provider, follow the steps below.

The first step for properly disposing of a deceased person’s controlled substances is to determine whether there is a drug take-back site or program nearby. This is the best way to dispose of unwanted or expired medications. You can check the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) website or ask about possible options at your local pharmacy or police station. READ MORE

7 Last-Minute Moves To Save On Your Taxes For 2021

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law March 29, 2022 Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Tax, Trusts, Wills

The American Rescue Plan’s expanded child tax credit was made fully refundable in 2021, and it was increased up to $3,600 per child through age five and up to $3,000 per child aged 6 to 17. Dependents who are 18 can qualify for $500 each. Dependents aged 19 to 24 may also be eligible, but they must be enrolled in college full-time. 

Eligible families automatically received half of the payments in advance monthly between July and December 2021 unless they opted out. When eligible parents file their taxes in 2022, they’ll get the remainder of the benefit they didn’t receive through advance monthly payments. If you did not receive the advance payments because you opted out or didn’t receive them for some other reason, you could claim the full credit when you file in April. READ MORE

When a Gift May Not Be a Gift

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law March 25, 2022 Estate Planning, Tax, Trusts, Wills

The federal tax code has particular rules about how much you are allowed to transfer to others each year – and throughout your lifetime – in the form of a gift. Any gifts above that amount may be subject to gift tax, paid by the giver. However, not every gift is subject to the gift tax. Annual exclusion amounts, a lifetime exemption amount, and other exclusions, such as education or medical exclusions, relieve a giver of paying federal gift taxes.

Because the lifetime exemption amount is very generous at this time, many people will not owe taxes on their gifts. However, high net worth individuals should be mindful of how gifting can affect the estate tax that may be due upon their death. READ MORE

Probate: What It Is & How To Avoid It – Part 2

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law March 22, 2022 Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Probate, Trusts, Wills

Unless you’ve created an estate plan that works to keep your family out of court when you die (or become incapacitated), many of your assets must go through probate before those assets can be distributed to your heirs. Like most court proceedings, probate can be time-consuming, costly, and open to the public, and because of this, avoiding probate – and keeping your family out of court – is often a central goal of estate planning. 

To spare your loved one’s the time, cost, and stress inherent to probate, last week in part one of this series, we explained how the probate process works and what it would entail for your loved ones. In part two, we’ll discuss the significant drawbacks of probate for your family and outline how you can help them avoid probate with wise planning. READ MORE

Electronic Wills

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law March 18, 2022 Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Wills

Not very long ago, all legal documents were printed on paper and signed with a pen. But in today’s world, where we sign commercial contracts, form and run businesses, and buy everything from groceries to cars online, it seems almost prehistoric for state laws to require that someone appear in person in front of witnesses to sign a will printed on paper.

Under established law, a will is generally invalid unless it is in writing, signed by the willmaker, and witnessed by two other people. There is a good reason for these rules: courts need to determine whether a will is authentic after the person who made the will has died. By requiring that a willmaker follow these rules, a court can ensure that the willmaker had mental capacity when they signed the will, that they signed it voluntarily (and not under duress or threat), and that the will reflects the willmaker’s wishes. READ MORE

Probate: What It Is & How To Avoid It – Part 1

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law March 15, 2022 Estate Planning, Incapacity, Power of Attorney, Probate, Trusts, Wills

Unless you’ve created a proper estate plan when you die, many of your assets must first pass through the court process known as probate before those assets can be distributed to your heirs. Like most court proceedings, probate can be time-consuming, costly, and open to the public, and because of this, avoiding probate – and keeping your family out of court – is a central goal of most estate plans. 

It’s important to point out that even if you have a will in place, your loved ones will still be required to go through probate upon your death. Therefore, if you want to keep your family out of court and out of conflict when you die, you cannot rely solely on a will, and you’ll need to put in place other estate planning vehicles, which we will cover in further detail later.  READ MORE

How to Protect Yourself from Claims of Self-Dealing When Serving as a Trustee

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law March 11, 2022 Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Trust Administration & Probate, Trustee, Trusts, Wills

A trustee usually has quite a bit of discretion in managing a trust’s accounts, money, and property (known as assets). At the same time, as a fiduciary, a trustee also owes the trust’s beneficiaries a duty of loyalty, which prohibits the trustee from self-dealing. In the simplest terms, self-dealing happens when a trustee uses the trust’s assets for their benefit instead of for the beneficiaries’ benefit.

Despite this simple definition, self-dealing can be much harder to identify in practice and is often done in ignorance, particularly when complicating factors such as the trustee being a trust beneficiary. READ MORE

Estate Planning Considerations for Couples with an Age Gap

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law March 8, 2022 Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Wills

With couples of similar ages, planning for the future is naturally a joint effort. However, if you are married to someone significantly older or younger than you, the future can look different and mean different things to each of you. To protect yourself, your spouse, and other loved ones, you need comprehensive financial and estate plans. For these plans to work as intended, you must have an open and honest conversation with your spouse about the following financial and estate planning topics.

Because you may rely on a job to provide you and your spouse with health insurance and income, and a job can take up a large amount of your time, it is essential to discuss these questions about the future of your employment. READ MORE

Using Beneficiary/Transfer-on-Death Deeds

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law March 4, 2022 Estate Planning, Incapacity, Personal Representative, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Wills

A TOD deed (also known as a beneficiary deed) does what it sounds like it does – it transfers your real property to your selected beneficiaries upon your death, similar to a payable-on-death designation for a bank account or a transfer-on-death registration for an investment account. You continue to own and control the real property during your lifetime, so you can sell it, lease it, refinance it, give it away, or do anything else with it you choose.

You also continue to pay the mortgage and taxes and maintain the property. If you still own the property at your death, the TOD deed works to automatically transfer the property to your named beneficiaries without having to go through probate. And if you change your mind during your lifetime about whom you have named as beneficiaries in the TOD deed, you can amend or revoke it at any time. READ MORE