Cryptocurrency and Estate Planning: What You Need to Know

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law August 17, 2018 Estate Planning

One of the biggest appeals of cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, is that it is decentralized, unregulated, and anonymous. There are no financial institutions controlling it, and unless you tell someone you own digital currency, it remains a secret.

When it comes to estate planning, however, that kind of secrecy can be disastrous. In fact, without the appropriate planning protections in place, all of your crypto wealth will disappear the moment you die or become incapacitated, leaving your family with absolutely no way to recover it. READ MORE

The Ins and Outs of Collecting Life Insurance Policy Proceeds

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law August 4, 2018 Estate Planning, Personal Representative, Trustee, Trusts

Unlike many estate assets, if you’re looking to collect the proceeds of a life insurance policy, the process is fairly simple provided you’re named as the beneficiary. That said, following a loved one’s death, the whole world can feel like it’s falling apart, and it’s helpful to know exactly what steps need to be taken to access the insurance funds as quickly and easily as possible during this trying time. READ MORE

Passing Along a Benefit, Not a Burden

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law August 3, 2018 Business Law, Estate Planning

Most business owners have their estate planning prepared because they are worried about what will happen to their business after they are dead. However, proper estate planning has the added benefit of allowing you to make plans for what will happen if you are incapacitated or needing to be away from your business for an extended period of time. READ MORE

Before Agreeing to Serve as Trustee, Carefully Consider the Duties and Obligations Involved—Part 2

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law July 27, 2018 Estate Planning, Personal Representative, Tax, Trustee, Trusts, Wills

Being asked to serve as trustee can be a huge honor—but it’s also a major responsibility. Indeed, the job entails a wide array of complex duties, and trustees are both ethically and legally required to effectively execute those functions or face significant liability.

To this end, you should thoroughly understand exactly what your role as trustee requires before agreeing to accept the position. Last week, I highlighted three of a trustee’s primary functions, and here I continue with that list, starting with one of the most labor-intensive of all duties—managing and accounting for a trust’s assets. READ MORE

Before Agreeing to Serve as Trustee, Carefully Consider the Duties and Obligations Involved—Part 1

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law July 20, 2018 Estate Planning, Personal Representative, Trustee, Trusts

If a friend or family member has asked you to serve as trustee for their trust upon their death, you should feel honored—this means they consider you among the most honest, reliable, and responsible people they know.

However, being a trustee is not only a great honor, it’s also a major responsibility. The job can entail a wide array of complex duties, and you’re both ethically and legally required to effectively execute those functions or face significant liability. Given this, agreeing to serve as trustee is a decision that shouldn’t be made lightly, and you should thoroughly understand exactly what the role requires before giving your answer. READ MORE

Retirement Planning for Business Owners

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law July 13, 2018 Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Retirement Planning, Trusts

When you are the owner of a business, planning for retirement requires proactivity and strategy. It’s not just the dizzying array of choices for retirement accounts, there’s also planning for the business itself. Who will run the business after your retirement? Additionally, your estate plan must integrate into your retirement and business transition strategy. READ MORE

Declare your Independence from Court Interference!

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law July 5, 2018 Estate Planning, Guardians for Minor Children, Power of Attorney, Trust Administration & Probate, Trusts, Wills

While our great nation celebrated its independence yesterday on July 4th, you can rest assured that you too can declare independence for your family — from court interference. Life can be unpredictable. Whether it is a financial issue, the birth or adoption of a child, sickness or incapacity, it is important to be prepared with proper estate planning. In fact, failure to put together a comprehensive estate plan can leave you and your loved ones at the mercy of the court when it comes to distributing assets or caring for a minor or sick family member. READ MORE

Create a Special Needs Trust to Protect the Financial Future of Your Child with Special Needs

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law June 29, 2018 Estate Planning, Guardians for Minor Children, Special Needs Trust, Trusts

It always surprises me to hear parents who have a child with special needs tell me that they were not aware of what they needed to do to ensure the future well-being and care of their child is properly handled. Or sometimes, they tell me they didn’t know they needed to do anything at all.

If that’s you, and you have a child with special needs at home, this article is for you. And if you have friends or family who have a child with special needs, please share this article with them.

Every parent who has a child with special needs must understand what’s needed to provide for the emotional, physical, and financial needs of their child, if and when something happens to them. READ MORE

I Don’t Have Kids, So Why Do I Need Estate Planning? Part 2

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law June 19, 2018 Estate Planning, Healthcare, Power of Attorney, Tax, Trusts, Wills

Estate planning isn’t just about passing on your assets when you die. In fact, some of the most critical parts of planning have nothing to do with your money at all, but are aimed at protecting you while you’re still very much alive.

Even if, or maybe especially if, you don’t have kids, you need to do estate planning in order to name health care decisions-makers for yourself and provide instructions on how you want decisions made.

As with health-care decisions, if you become incapacitated and haven’t legally named someone to handle your finances while you’re unable to do so, the court will pick someone for you. The way to avoid this is by naming someone you trust to hold power of attorney for you in the event of your incapacity. READ MORE

I Don’t Have Kids, So Why Do I Need Estate Planning? Part 1

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law June 14, 2018 Estate Planning, Healthcare, Trust Administration & Probate, Trusts, Wills

It’s a common misconception to think that if you don’t have children, you don’t need to worry about estate planning. But the fact is, it can be even MORE important to do estate planning if you have no children.

Thinking that you do not need estate planning ignores several basic facts about both estate planning and life in general. Regardless of your marital status, if you don’t have children, you face potential estate-planning complications which those with children do not. And this is true whether you’re wealthy or have very limited assets.

Without proper estate planning, you’re not only jeopardizing your personal property, but you’re putting your life at risk, too. And that’s not even mentioning the potential conflict and expense you’re leaving for your surviving family and friends to deal with. READ MORE

Joint Tenancy Pitfalls: The ‘Simple’ Fix that Can Leave Your Family Broke

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law June 5, 2018 Estate Planning, Trust Administration & Probate, Trusts, Wills

There are many ways to own your assets. When you die, it is only natural that you want your family to share in the bounty of your hard work. As a way to simplify the transfer process and avoid probate, you may be tempted to add a child or other relative to the deed or bank account utilizing the ownership type of joint tenancy with right of survivorship (JTwROS). However, while this type of ownership delivers a lot of potential benefits, it may also be masking some dangerous pitfalls.

Under JTwROS, when one owner dies, the other owner(s) inherit the deceased owner’s share of the property proportionately.Take note that the words “with right of survivorship” do not need to be explicitly spelled out because the survivorship right is automatic with joint tenancy, unlike other forms of ownership types, such as tenants in common.  With JTwROS, its benefits are specific: ownership is transferred automatically without entering probate.  Because the property is transferred outside of probate, it is possible to keep this inheritance out of the clutches of creditors of your estate.   On the surface, this seems like a smart way to streamline the inheritance process, sidestep creditor baggage, and bureaucratic charges. But the risks may outweigh the benefits. READ MORE

6 Steps to Select and Name the Right Guardians for Your Children—Part 2

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law May 29, 2018 Estate Planning, Guardians for Minor Children, Trusts

Selecting and naming the right guardians for minor children in the event that something happens to you is a critical component of your estate plan. Last week I’ve outlined some basic steps to select and name a legal guardian in Part One of this two part series. Regardless of whether you own any other assets or wealth, it’s vital to complete this process immediately, so you know that who you care about most—your kids—will be cared for the way you want, no matter what. While it’s rare for something to happen to both parents of a minor child, it does occur, and the consequences are simply too severe to not take a few simple steps to select and legally name guardians the right way. Even if you don’t have any minor children at home, please consider sharing this article with any friends or family who do—it’s that important! READ MORE

6 Steps to Select and Name the Right Guardians for Your Children—Part 1

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law May 24, 2018 Estate Planning, Guardians for Minor Children, Trusts, Wills

One of your most important responsibilities as a parent is to select and legally document guardians for your children. This doesn’t mean just naming godparents or trusting the grandparents will step in if necessary. It means consciously deciding who would raise your children if you cannot. And then it means legally documenting your choices and making sure the people you’ve chosen know what to do if they’re ever called upon.

However, most people have no idea how to even start this process, much less create a legally binding plan. Because of this, many parents simply never get around to doing it. And those who do often make one of several common mistakes—even if they’ve worked with an Attorney. Why? Because most lawyers haven’t been trained properly to help parents with this vital issue.

As a result, unless you’ve worked with me or another trained Personal Family Lawyer®, it’s likely your children are extremely vulnerable to being taken out of your home and placed in the care of strangers. This might be temporary, while the authorities figure out what to do, or they could end up being raised to adulthood by someone you’d never choose. READ MORE

Protecting Your Children’s Inheritance When You are Divorced

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law May 17, 2018 Estate Planning, Guardians for Minor Children, Personal Representative, Retirement Planning, Trust Administration & Probate, Trusts, Wills

Consider this story. Beth’s divorce from her husband was recently finalized. Her most valuable assets are her retirement plan at work and her life insurance policy. She updated the beneficiary designations on both to be her two minor children. She did not want her ex-husband to receive the money.

Beth passes away one year after her divorce. Her children are still minors, so the retirement plan and insurance company require an adult to be appointed to receive the inheritance Beth left behind. Who does the court presumptively look to serve as the caretaker of this money? Beth’s ex-husband who is now the only living parent of the children. (In some states, this caretaker of the money is called a guardian, whereas in others it is the conservator. The title does not matter as much as the role, which is to manage the funds on behalf of a minor, since the minor is not legally able to handle significant assets or money.)

Sadly, stories like Beth’s are all too familiar for the loved ones of divorced people who do not make effective use of the estate planning tools. Naming a beneficiary for retirement benefits or life insurance, or having a Will can be a good start. However, the complexities of relationships, post-divorce, often render these basic tools inadequate. Luckily, there is a way to protect and control your children’s inheritance fully. READ MORE