Planning for the Unexpected – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

A woman was not notified when her elderly mother had fallen and hurt herself.  Sadly, this is not an unusual situation.

The daughter spoke with her mother once or twice a week, and the fall happened just after their last conversation. She dropped what she was doing and drove to the hospital, according to the article “Parents” in BusinessWest.com. At the hospital, she was worried that her mother was suffering from more than fractures, as her mother was disoriented because of the pain medications.

The conversation with her brother and mother about why she wasn’t notified immediately was frustrating. They “didn’t want to worry her.” She was worried, and not just about her mother’s well-being, but about her finances, and whether any plans were in place for this situation.

Her brother was a retired comptroller, and she thought that as a former financial professional, he would have taken care of everything. That was not the case.

Despite his professional career, the brother had never had “the talk” with his mother about money. No one knew if she had an estate plan, and if she did, where the documents were located.

All too often, families discover that no planning has taken place during an emergency.

The conversation took place in the hospital, when the siblings learned that documents had never been updated after their father had passed—more than 20 years earlier! The attorney who prepared the documents had retired long ago. The originals? Mom had no idea. The names of her banks and financial institutions had changed so many times over the years, that she wasn’t even sure where her money was.

For this family, the story had a happy ending. Once the mother got out of the hospital, the family made an appointment to meet with an estate planning attorney to get all of her estate planning and elder law planning completed. In addition, the family updated beneficiaries on life insurance and retirement accounts, which are now set to avoid probate.

Both siblings have a list of their mother’s assets, account numbers, credit card information and what’s more, they are tracking the accounts to ensure that any sort of questionable transactions are reviewed quickly. They finally have a clear picture of their mother’s expenses, assets and income.

If your family’s situation is closer to the start of the story than the end, it’s time to contact a qualified estate planning attorney who is licensed to practice in your state and have all the necessary preparation done. Don’t wait until you’re uncovering family mysteries in the hospital.

Reference: BusinessWest.com (Aug. 1, 2019) “Parents”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Why Would I Need to Revise My Will? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

OK, great!! You’ve created your will! Now you can it stow away and check off a very important item on your to-do list. Well, not entirely.

Thrive Global’s recent article, “7 Reasons Why You Need to Review your Will Right Now,” says it’s extremely important that you regularly update your will to avoid any potential confusion and extra stress for your family at a very emotional time. As circumstances change, you need to have your will reflect changes in your life. As time passes and your situation changes, your will may become invalid, obsolete or even create added confusion when the time comes for your will to be administered.

New people in your life. If you do have more children after you’ve created your will, review your estate plan to make certain that the wording is still correct. You may also marry or re-marry, and grandchildren may be born that you want to include. Make a formal update to your estate plan to include the new people who play an important part in your life and to remove those with whom you lose touch.

A beneficiary or other person dies. If a person you had designated as a beneficiary or executor of your will has died, you must make a change or it could result in confusion when the time comes for your estate to be distributed. You need to update your will if an individual named in your estate passes away before you.

Divorce. If your will was created prior to a divorce and you want to remove your ex from your estate plan, talk to an estate planning attorney about the changes you need to make.

Your spouse dies. Wills should be written in such a way as to always have a backup plan in place. For example, if your husband or wife dies before you, their portion of your estate might go to another family member or another named individual. If this happens, you may want to redistribute your assets to other people.

A child becomes an adult. When a child turns 18 and comes of age, she is no longer a dependent.  Therefore, you may need to update your will in any areas that provided additional funds for any dependents.

You experience a change in your financial situation. This is a great opportunity to update your will to protect your new financial situation.

You change your mind. It’s your will and you can change your mind whenever you like.

Reference: Thrive Global (June 17, 2019) “7 Reasons Why You Need to Review your Will Right Now”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

What Should I Look for in a Trustee? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Selecting a trustee to manage your estate after you pass away is an important decision. Depending on the type of trust you’re creating, the trustee will be in charge of overseeing your assets and the assets of your family. It’s common for people to choose either a friend or family member, a professional trustee or a trust company or corporate trustee for this critical role.

Forbes’s recent article, “How To Choose A Trustee,” helps you identify what you should look for in a trustee.

If you go with a family member or friend, she should be financially savvy and good with money. You want someone who is knows something about investing, and preferably someone who has assets of their own that they are investing with an investment advisor.

A good thing about selecting a friend or family member as trustee, is that they’re going to be most familiar with you and your family. They will also understand your family’s dynamics.  Family members also usually don’t charge a trustee fee (although they are entitled to do so).

However, your family may be better off with a professional trustee or trust company that has expertise with trust administration. This may eliminate some potentially hard feelings in the family. Another negative is that your family member may be too close to the family and may get caught up in the drama.  They may also have a power trip and like having total control of your beneficiary’s finances.

The advantage of an attorney serving as a trustee is that they have familiarity with your family if you’ve worked together for some time. There will, however, be a charge for their time spent serving as trustee.

Trust companies will have more structure and oversight to the trust administration, including a trust department that oversees the administration. This will be more expensive, but it may be money well spent. A trust company can make the tough decisions and tell beneficiaries “no” when needed. It’s common to use a trust company, when the beneficiaries don’t get along, when there is a problem beneficiary or when it’s a large sum of money. A drawback is that a trust company may be difficult to remove or become inflexible. They also may be stingy about distributions, if it will reduce the assets under management that they’re investing. You can solve this by giving a neutral third party, like a trusted family member, the ability to remove and replace the trustee.

Talk to your estate planning attorney and go through your concerns to find a solution that works for you and your family.

Reference: Forbes (May 31, 2019) “How To Choose A Trustee”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys 

Here’s Why a Basic Form Doesn’t Work for Estate Planning – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

It’s true that an effective estate plan should be simple and straightforward, if your life is simple and straightforward. However, few of us have those kinds of lives. For many families, the discovery that a will that was created using a basic form is invalid leads to all kinds of expenses and problems, says The Daily Sentinel in an article that asks “What is wrong with using a form for my will or trust?”

If the cost of an estate plan is measured only by the cost of a document, a basic form will, of course, be the least expensive option — on the front end. On the surface, it seems simple enough. What would be wrong with using a form?

Actually, a lot is wrong. The same things that make a do-it-yourself, basic form seem to be attractive, are also the things that make it very dangerous for your family. A form does not take into account the special circumstances of your life. If your estate is worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars, that form could end up putting your estate in the wrong hands. That’s not what you had intended.

Another issue: any form that is valid in all 50 states is probably not going to serve your purposes. If it works in all 50 states (and that’s highly unlikely), then it is extremely general, so much so that it won’t reflect your personal situation. It’s a great sales strategy, but it’s not good for an estate plan.

If you take into consideration the amount of money to be spent on the back end after you’ve passed, that $100 will becomes a lot more expensive than what you would have invested in having a proper estate plan created by an estate planning attorney.

What you can’t put into dollars and cents, is the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your estate plan, including a will, power of attorney, and health care power of attorney, has been properly prepared, that your assets will go to the individuals or charities that you want them to go to, and that your family is protected from the stress, cost and struggle that can result when wills are deemed invalid.

Here’s one of many examples of how the basic, inexpensive form created chaos for one family. After the father died, the will was unclear, because it was not prepared by a professional. The father had properly filled in the blanks but used language that one of his sons felt left him the right to significant assets. The family became embroiled in expensive litigation and became divided. The litigation has ended, but the family is still fractured. This was not what their father had intended.

Other issues that are created when forms are used: naming the proper executor, guardians and conservators, caring for companion animals, dealing with blended families, addressing Payable-on-Death (POD) accounts and end-of-life instructions, to name just a few.

Avoid the “repair” costs and meet with an experienced estate planning attorney in your state to create an estate plan that will suit your needs.

Reference: The Daily Sentinel (May 25, 2019) “What is wrong with using a form for my will or trust?”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys 

Are Inheritances Taxable? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Inheritances come in all sizes and shapes. People inherit financial accounts, real estate, jewelry and personal items. However, whatever kind of inheritance you have, you’ll want to understand exactly what, if any, taxes might be due, advises the article “Will I Pay Taxes on My Inheritance” from Orange Town News. An inheritance might have an impact on Medicare premiums, or financial aid eligibility for a college age child. Let’s look at the different assets and how they may impact a family’s tax liability.

Bank Savings Accounts or CDs. As long as the cash inherited is not from a retirement account, there are no federal taxes due. The IRS does not impose a federal inheritance tax. However, there are some states, including Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, that do have an inheritance tax. Speak with an estate planning attorney about this tax.

Primary Residence or Other Real Estate. Inheriting a home is not a taxable event. However, once you take ownership and sell the home or other property, there will be taxes due on any gains. The value of the home or property is established on the day of death. If you inherit a home valued at death at $250,000 and you sell it a year later for $275,000, you’ll have to declare a long-term capital gain and pay taxes on the $25,000 gain. The cost-basis is determined when you take ownership.

Life Insurance Proceeds. Life insurance proceeds are not taxable, nor are they reported as income by the beneficiaries. There are exceptions: if interest is earned, which can happen when receipt of the proceeds is delayed, that is reportable. The beneficiary will receive a Form 1099-INT and that interest is taxable by the state and federal tax agencies. If the proceeds from the life insurance policy are transferred to an individual as part of an arrangement before the insured’s death, they are also fully taxable.

Retirement Accounts: 401(k) and IRA. Distributions from an inherited traditional IRA are taxable, just as they are for non-inherited IRAs. Distributions from an inherited Roth IRA are not taxable, unless the Roth was established within the past five years.

There are some changes coming to retirement accounts because of pending legislation, so it will be important to check on this with your estate planning attorney. Inherited 401(k) plans are or eventually will be taxable, but the tax rate depends upon the rules of the 401(k) plan. Many 401(k) plans require a lump-sum distribution upon the death of the owner. The surviving spouse is permitted to roll the 401(k) into an IRA, but if the beneficiary is not a spouse, they may have to take the lump-sum payment and pay the resulting taxes.

Stocks. Generally, when stocks or funds are sold, capital gains taxes are paid on any gains that occurred during the period of ownership. When stock is inherited, the cost basis is based on the fair market value of the stock or fund at the date of death.

Artwork and Jewelry. Collectibles, artwork, or jewelry that is inherited and sold will incur a tax on the net gain of the sale. There is a 28% capital gains tax rate, compared to a 15% to 20% capital gains tax rate that applies to most capital assets. The value is based on the value at the date of death or the alternate valuation date. This asset class includes anything that is considered an item worth collecting: rare stamps, books, fine art, antiques and coin collections fall into this category.

Speak with an estate planning attorney before signing and accepting an inheritance, so you’ll know what kind of tax liability comes with the inheritance. Take your time. Most people are advised to wait about a year before making any big financial decisions after a loss.

Reference: Orange Town News (May 29, 2019) “Will I Pay Taxes on My Inheritance”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys 

Are Your Company Benefit Plan Designations Up-to-Date? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

On the first day of your new job, you probably talked to the Human Resources Director, who had you complete a huge stack of forms. You needed to sign off that you understood all the corporate policies and received the company handbook. You probably took a stab at how many exemptions to claim for payroll tax withholding and also completed Form I-9 affirming your eligibility to work. In the stack was most likely a form to choose a medical plan, as well as a form to designate your beneficiaries for employee benefit plans. This might include life insurance, stock purchase plans and your company’s 401(k) plan.

Forbes’s recent article, “Company Benefit Plan Designations Can Lead To A Huge Estate Planning Blunder,” says that now, you should fast-forward to when you met with your estate planning attorney to sign your estate documents. After a few meetings, you probably felt good that this was checked off your to do list.

However, assets that have a form of joint or survivor ownership, or have named beneficiaries, pass on to heirs by law and aren’t part of your probated estate. This usually applies to homes, bank and investment accounts, life insurance, retirement plans and corporate asset accumulation plans. In other words, these are all the plans and accounts where you originally named beneficiaries, but probably haven’t changed those beneficiaries since your first day of work.

When you started your job, you probably named your spouse as your primary beneficiary. If you named a contingency beneficiary, it was probably your children. The secondary designation is probably not something to which you gave a lot of thought. However, if your spouse predeceases you and if your plans designated your children as contingent beneficiaries, they would inherit all your company benefit plans at once, or upon reaching majority of age 18 or 21.

If that’s not what you want to happen, you need to review your work beneficiary designations. Chances are, you’d prefer to pass assets to your children in stages at, say, ages 25, 30, and 35. If you don’t make any changes, one of your largest bequests derived from employee stock plans and life insurance may not pass the way you want.

Talk to a qualified estate planning attorney for help concerning how your company’s benefits should be titled. The process of revising your beneficiary designations only takes a few minutes.

Reference: Forbes (April 22, 2019) “Company Benefit Plan Designations Can Lead To A Huge Estate Planning Blunder”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Make the Most of Beneficiary Designations – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

There’s an easy way for select assets to be passed to heirs, with no need for probate. It’s called the beneficiary designation.

Your will is a document that is used to pass property and assets to your heirs, but it’s not the only way.

Certain accounts or assets have beneficiary designations, where you provide instructions on who is to receive assets when you die. Most people don’t realize that the beneficiary designation is more powerful than the will, and directions in a will are overruled by the beneficiary designation.

Kiplinger’s recent article, “Beneficiary Designations: 5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid,” explains that assets including life insurance, annuities, and retirement accounts (think 401(k)s, IRAs, 403bs and similar accounts) all pass by beneficiary designation. Many financial companies also let you name beneficiaries on non-retirement accounts, known as TOD (transfer on death) or POD (pay on death) accounts.

Naming a beneficiary can be a good way to make certain your family will get assets directly. However, these beneficiary designations can also cause a host of problems. Make sure that your beneficiary designations are properly completed and given to the financial company, because mistakes can be costly. The article looks at five critical mistakes to avoid when dealing with your beneficiary designations:

  1. Failing to name a beneficiary. Many people never name a beneficiary for retirement accounts or life insurance. If you don’t name a beneficiary for life insurance or retirement accounts, the financial company has it owns rules about where the assets will go after you die. For life insurance, the proceeds will usually be paid to your estate. For retirement benefits, if you’re married, your spouse will most likely get the assets. If you’re single, the retirement account will likely be paid to your estate, which has negative tax ramifications. When an estate is the beneficiary of a retirement account, the assets must be paid out of the retirement account within five years of death. This means an acceleration of the deferred income tax—which must be paid earlier, than would have otherwise been necessary.
  2. Failing to consider special circumstances. Not every person should receive an asset directly. These are people like minors, those with specials needs, or people who can’t manage assets or who have creditor issues. Minor children aren’t legally competent, so they can’t claim the assets. A court-appointed conservator will claim and manage the money, until the minor turns 18. Those with special needs who get assets directly, will lose government benefits because once they receive the inheritance directly, they’ll own too many assets to qualify. People with financial issues or creditor problems can lose the asset through mismanagement or debts. Ask your attorney about creating a trust to be named as the beneficiary.
  3. Designating the wrong beneficiary. Sometimes a person will complete beneficiary designation forms incorrectly. For example, there can be multiple people in a family with similar names, and the beneficiary designation form may not be specific. People also change their names in marriage or divorce. Assets owners can also assume a person’s legal name that can later be incorrect. These mistakes can result in delays in payouts, and in a worst-case scenario of two people with similar names, can mean litigation.
  4. Failing to update your beneficiaries. Since there are life changes, make sure your beneficiary designations are updated on a regular basis.
  5. Failing to review beneficiary designations with your attorney. Beneficiary designations are part of your overall financial and estate plan. Speak with your estate planning attorney to determine the best approach for your specific situation.

Consider the beneficiary designation as part of your estate plan, and you’ll get the full picture of the power of a beneficiary designation. Just as you need to review and update your will to keep up with changes in your life and the law, you also need to update your beneficiary designations.

Reference: Kiplinger (April 5, 2019) “Beneficiary Designations: 5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys