Read more about the article Can I Keep Stepchildren Out of Estate Plan? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Can I Keep Stepchildren Out of Estate Plan? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Parents in second marriages may want to leave assets to their children and try to make sure that their stepchildren don’t inherit. However, if stepchildren inherit, it can create resentment leading to legal disputes that can cost the estate significantly in delay and attorney fees.

AOL’s recent article, “How to Protect Assets From Stepchildren,” says that taking specific estate planning steps will let you effectively protect your assets from stepchildren.

If a stepchild inherits some of your assets, your children may feel cheated out of their rightful inheritance. Therefore, they may contest any awards to stepchildren to protect their interests.

Your children will be recognized as heirs to your estate even without a will naming them as beneficiaries. Stepchildren don’t have the same rights.

In most cases, they won’t inherit from a deceased stepparent’s estate unless specifically listed as beneficiaries in the will. However, stepchildren still may receive assets from your estate if your spouse dies after you and leaves assets to their children. Preventing stepchildren from ever getting assets from your estate can be done. However, it requires definite action to exclude them as beneficiaries.

If your spouse from a second or later marriage dies first, you usually don’t have to do anything to prevent stepchildren from receiving assets you control.

Even after an intestate death that happens without a valid will, stepchildren typically aren’t recognized as having any right to assets in the estate. However, some states grant stepchildren some rights of inheritance. Ask an experienced estate planning attorney about this.

In addition, a will can name specific people, including stepchildren, and exclude them from receiving benefits from the estate.

Using a trust, you can ALSO prevent stepchildren from getting assets from your estate after you die.

This can help avoid conflicts and potential litigation from children upset because stepchildren received assets from the estate.

Remember that if you fail to act, stepchildren can still benefit even at the expense of your children if, for example, you die before your spouse, who then names their children as beneficiaries of the estate.

Contact us to review your estate plan with one of our experienced estate planning attorneys.

Reference: AOL (April 26, 2023) “How to Protect Assets From Stepchildren”

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

Read more about the article Estate Planning for Blended Families – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Estate Planning for Blended Families – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Blended families are now nearly as common as traditional families. However, they still face unique estate planning decisions, says a recent article, “Considerations For Financial And Estate Planning Professionals Who Work With Blended Families” from Forbes.

Estate planning starts with a will. Naming an impartial executor may require more consideration than in traditional families where the eldest child is the likely candidate. The will also needs to nominate a guardian for minor children and appoint a power of attorney and healthcare proxy in case of incapacity. Traditional wills used to provide instructions for asset distribution may have limitations regarding blended families. Trusts may provide more control for asset distribution.

Wills don’t dictate beneficiaries for life insurance policies, retirement plans, or jointly owned property. However, wills are also subject to probate, which can become a long and costly process that opens the door for wills to be challenged in court.

Wills also become public documents once they are entered into probate. Any interested party may request access to the will, which may contain information the family would prefer to have private.

Trusts allow greater control over how assets are managed and distributed. Their contents remain private. There are many different types of trusts used to accomplish specific goals. For instance, a Qualified Terminal Interest Property Trust (QTIP) can provide income for a surviving spouse, while passing the rest of the assets to a client’s children or grandchildren.

Another type of trust is designed to skip a generation and distribute trust assets to grandchildren or those at least 37.5 years younger than the grantor. Some may choose to use this Generation-Skipping Trust (GST) to keep wealth in the family, by bypassing children who have married.

An IRA legacy trust can be the beneficiary of an IRA instead of family members. This option lets owners maintain creditor protection only sometimes afforded to one who inherits an IRA. The account owner may also want to use an IRA’s required minimum distributions (RMDs) to benefit a second spouse during their lifetime and leave the remainder to their children.

Couples entering a second or third marriage need to be transparent about their expectations of what each spouse will receive upon their death or in the event of divorce and whether or not they agree to waive their right to contest these commitments. A prenuptial agreement is a legal contract spelling out the terms before marriage. For example, in some instances, the prenup requires each spouse to maintain life insurance on the other to ensure liquidity, either from the policy’s death benefit or its cash value.

A final consideration is ensuring that all documentation created is easy to understand, clear and concise. Make sure to spell out the full names of beneficiaries for wills, trusts and life insurance, and include their birthdates, so it is easy to identify them and they cannot be confused with someone else. Estate planning is an ongoing process requiring review regularly to keep the estate plan consistent with the family’s evolving needs and goals.

Questions? Contact us to schedule a complimentary initial call with one of our experienced estate planning attorneys.

Reference: Forbes (April 19, 2023) “Considerations For Financial And Estate Planning Professionals Who Work With Blended Families”

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

Are You Ready for 2026? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

You may not be thinking about Jan. 1, 2026. Any New Year’s Eve celebrations being planned now are more likely to concern Jan. 1, 2023. However, if your estate is worth $5 million or more when the first day of 2026 arrives, your estate planning should begin now. According to a recent article from Forbes, “Is 2026 An Important Year For Your Wealth?,” the reduction in the estate tax exemption will revert to the 2010 level of $5 million adjusted for inflation. It could go even lower. With federal tax rates on estates over the exemption level set at 40%, plus any state estate or inheritance taxes, planning needs to be done in advance.

Considering the record levels of national debt and government spending, it’s unlikely these exemptions will remain the same. Now is the time to maximize today’s high estate tax exemption levels to minimize federal estate taxes and maximize what will be left to heirs.

Your estate planning attorney will have many different strategies and tools to achieve these goals. One is the Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT). This is an irrevocable trust created by each spouse, known as the grantors, for the benefit of the other spouse. Important note: to avoid scrutiny, the trusts must not be identical.

Each trust is funded by the grantor in an amount up to the current available tax exemption. Today, this is $12.06 million each (or a total of $24.12 million) without incurring a gift tax.

This serves several purposes. One is removing the gifted assets from the grantor’s estate. The assets and their future growth are protected from estate taxes.

The spousal beneficiary has access to the trust income and/or principal, depending upon how the trust is created, if they need to tap the trust.

The trust income may be taxed back to the grantor instead of the trust. This allows the assets in the trust to grow tax-free.

Remainder beneficiaries, who are typically the grantor’s children, receive the assets at the termination of the SLAT, usually when the beneficiary spouse passes away.

The SLAT can be used as a generation-skipping trust, if this is the goal.

The SLAT is a useful tool for blended families to avoid accidentally disinheriting children from first (or subsequent) marriage. Remainder assets can be distributed to named beneficiaries upon the death of the spouse.

The SLAT is an irrevocable trust, so some control needs to be given up when the SLATs are created. Couples using this strategy need to have enough assets to live comfortably after funding the SLATS.

Why do this now, when 2026 is so far away? The SLAT strategy takes time to implement, and it also takes time for people to get comfortable with the idea of taking a significant amount of wealth out of their control to place in an irrevocable trust. For a large SLAT, estate planning attorneys, CPAs and financial advisors generally need to work together to create the proper structure. Executing this estate planning strategy takes time and should not be left for the year before this large change in federal estate taxes occurs.

Contact us to begin planning your SLAT strategy with one of our experienced estate planning attorneys today.

Reference: Forbes (Oct. 4, 2022) “Is 2026 An Important Year For Your Wealth?”

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

Ask Mom if She has a Will – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

The family was baffled. Not only was the will out of date, but it was also unsigned, and the person named as executor had died a decade before their mother died. Grandchildren born after the will was created were not mentioned and personal possessions left to some people in the will had been given away years ago.

This scenario, as described in the article “Mom, Do You Have a Will?” from Next Avenue, is not unusual because many older adults and their children are equally reticent to discuss death. It’s a hard topic to address, but without these conversations, how can you make sure the transition after they pass is smooth?

Who needs a will? Pretty much everyone does. If your parents don’t have a will, here are some talking points to remind them of why it matters:

  • If you are part of a blended family, estate planning avoids either a full or partial disinheritance of a surviving spouse or their children.
  • If there are minor children or adult children with special needs, a will is used to appoint guardians. With no will, the court makes decisions about who raises children or cares for a special needs individual.
  • If yours is a fighting family (you know who you are), and if you want certain things to go to certain people, there needs to be an updated will.

Single people need a plan for their assets, especially if they are in a committed relationship but not married. Many state inheritance laws make no provision for a domestic partner. If a relationship is recognized before a loved one dies the remaining partner can access their right to property or benefits.

When someone dies without a will or a living trust, known as intestate succession, assets may be distributed according to rules set out in state law, which vary state to state and may not be what they would have wanted.

When asked if there is a will, some may say they are prepared. However, as in the example, this may or may not be true. Their will may be old, no longer relevant to their situation or may not have been signed.

Clarifying the status of an older adult’s will is important to a smoother transition of assets and needs to be addressed when they are of sound mind and able to make their own decision about their estate.

When preparing to have a discussion with someone who is active and healthy, the conversation is easier. Ask if they have a will and what their wishes are after they have passed. You can explain how these steps are essential to creating their legacy and protect their family from estate taxes and expensive court oversight.

When a person is seriously ill, this is admittedly a harder conversation. Acknowledge the difficulty and let them know they can stop the discussion if necessary. It may take more than a few conversations to get to everything. Discuss these issues with respect and empathy. Offer ideas and options and steer clear of any ultimatums.

Contact us to talk with one of our experienced estate planning attorneys who will explain what you need for your specific family.

Reference: Next Avenue (Sep. 14, 2022) “Mom, Do You Have a Will?”

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

Read more about the article Estate Planning for Blended Families – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Estate Planning for Blended Families – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Today, a blended family is more common than ever, with stepfamily members, half-siblings, former spouses, new spouses and every combination of parents, children and partners imaginable. Traditional estate planning, including wills and non-probate tools like transfer on death (TOD) documents, as valuable as they are, may not be enough for the blended family, advises a recent article titled “Legal-Ease: Hers, his and ours—blended family estate planning” from limaohio.com.

Not too long ago, when most people didn’t take advantage of the power of trusts, couples often went for estate plans with “mirror” wills, even those with children from prior marriages. Their wills basically said each spouse would leave the other spouse everything. This will would be accompanied by a contract stating neither would change their will for the rest of their lives. If there was a subsequent marriage after one spouse passed, this led to problems for the new couple, since the surviving spouse was legally bound not to change their will.

As an illustration, Bob has three children from his first marriage and Sue has two kids from her first marriage. They marry and have two children of their own. Their wills stipulate they’ll leave each other everything when the first one dies. There may have been some specific language about what would happen to the children from the first marriages, but just as likely this would not have been addressed.

It sounds practical enough, but in this situation, the children from the first spouse to die were at risk of being disinherited, unless plans were made for them to inherit from their biological parent.

Todays’ blended family benefits from the use of trusts, which are designed to protect each spouse, their children and any child or children they have together. There are a number of different kinds of trusts for use by spouses only to protect children and surviving spouses.

Trust law requires the trustee—the person who is in charge of administering the trust—to give a copy of the trust to each beneficiary. The trustee is also required to provide updates to beneficiaries about the assets in the trust.

A surviving spouse will most likely serve as the trustee when the first spouse passes and will have a legal responsibility to honor the shared wishes of the first spouse to pass.

If you would like to learn more about the many different types of spousal trusts, and which is best for your situation, contact us and schedule a time to speak with one of our experienced estate planning attorneys.

Reference: limaohio.com (Aug. 20, 2022) “Legal-Ease: Hers, his and ours—blended family estate planning”

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

What Does a Blended Family Need to Know about Finances? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Family finances can be a big issue in any circumstances. It is even more significant with blended families, where two sets of often well-established financial histories and philosophies try to merge into one.

Kiplinger’s recent article entitled “Yours, Mine and Ours: A Checklist for Blended Family Finances” says that a blended family is one where people have remarried, either after a divorce or the death of a spouse. Sometimes it is older couples already in retirement. In other cases, it is a younger couple still trying to raise children.

However, regardless of the specifics of any individual situation, when families blend, so do their finances. That is when things can get problematic, if careful planning and communication do not occur.

Here are a few things to consider:

Money habits. People are raised with different ideas about money. They are influenced by their parents or by the circumstances of their formative years. Some people are exceptionally frugal and save every penny and seldom, if ever, splurge on something just for fun. Others spend with reckless abandon, unconcerned about the unexpected expenses that life can throw at them at any moment.

Many people are somewhere in between these extremes. If you are entering a serious relationship, you should speak to your new partner about how each of you approaches spending money.

Financial accounts and bills. Once you learn each other’s financial philosophy, you will have decisions to make. These include whether to blend your financial accounts or keep them separate. If the two of you are closely aligned with your finances and how you approach spending, you may want to simply combine everything. If you are older, have adult children from prior relationships and are more financially established, you may decide to keep things separate.

For many, a hybrid approach may be best — keep some things separate, but have common savings, investments and household accounts to reach your blended goals.

Family. When there are children from a prior marriage — especially young children — additional financial situations will need to be addressed. Issues of child support and how it fits into the overall budget is one concern, as is the status of college funding for the children.

Talk to an experienced estate planning attorney to make sure you have the plans for your blended family set up the way you wish.

Reference: Kiplinger (June 27, 2022) “Yours, Mine and Ours: A Checklist for Blended Family Finances”

 

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Aging Parents and Blended Families Create Estate Planning Challenges – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Law school teaches about estate planning and inheritance, but experience teaches about family dynamics, especially when it comes to blended families with aging parents and step-siblings. Not recognizing the realities of step-sibling relationships can put an estate plan at risk, advises the article “Could Your Aging Parents’ Estate Plan Create A Nightmare For Step-Siblings?” from Forbes. The estate plan has to be designed with realistic family dynamics in mind.

Trouble often begins when one parent loses the ability to make decisions. That is when trusts are reviewed for language addressing what should happen, if one of the trustees becomes incapacitated. This also occurs in powers of attorney, health care directives and wills. If the elderly person has been married more than once and there are step-siblings, it is important to have candid discussions. Putting all of the adult children into the mix because the parents want them to have equal involvement could be a recipe for disaster.

Here is an example: a father develops dementia at age 86 and can no longer care for himself. His younger wife has become abusive and neglectful, so much so that she has to be removed from the home. The father has two children from a prior marriage and the wife has one from a first marriage. The step-siblings have only met a few times, and do not know each other. The father’s trust listed all three children as successors, and the same for the healthcare directive. When the wife is removed from the home, the battle begins.

The same thing can occur with a nuclear family but is more likely to occur with blended families. Here are some steps adult children can take to protect the whole family:

While parents are still competent, ask who they would want to take over, if they became disabled and cannot manage their finances. If it is multiple children and they do not get along, address the issue and create the necessary documents with an estate planning attorney.

Plan for the possibility that one or both parents may lose the ability to make decisions about money and health in the future.

If possible, review all the legal documents, so you have a complete understanding of what is going to happen in the case of incapacity or death. What are the directions in the trust, and who are the successor trustees? Who will have to take on these tasks, and how will they be accomplished?

If there are any questions, a family meeting with the estate planning attorney is in order. Most experienced estate planning attorneys have seen just about every situation you can imagine and many that you cannot. They should be able to give your family guidance, even connecting you with a social worker who has experience in blended families, if the problems seem unresolvable.

Reference: Forbes (June 28, 2021) “Could Your Aging Parents’ Estate Plan Create A Nightmare For Step-Siblings?”

 

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How Can Blended Families Use Estate Planning to Protect All of the Siblings? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

If two adult children in a blended family receive a lot more financial help from their parent and stepparents than other children, there may be expectations that the parent’s estate plan will be structured to address any unequal distributions. This unique circumstance requires a unique solution, as explained in the article “Estate Planning: A Trust Can Be Used to Protect Blended Families” from The Daily Sentinel. Blended families in which adult children and stepchildren have grandchildren also require unique estate planning.

Blended families face the question of what happens if one parent dies and the surviving step parent remarries. If the deceased spouse’s estate was given to the surviving step parent, will those assets be used to benefit the deceased spouse’s children, or will the new spouse and their children be the sole beneficiaries?

In a perfect world, all children would be treated equally, and assets would flow to the right heirs.  However, that does not always happen. There are many cases where the best of intentions is clear to all, but the death of the first spouse in a blended marriage change everything.

Other events occur that change how the deceased’s estate is distributed. If the surviving step-spouse suffers from Alzheimer’s or experiences another serious disease, their judgement may become impaired.

All of these are risks that can be avoided, if proper estate planning is done by both parents while they are still well and living. Chief among these is a trust,  a simple will does not provide the level of control of assets needed in this situation. Do not leave this to chance—there is no way to know how things will work out.

A trust can be created, so the spouse will have access to assets while they are living. When they pass, the remainder of the trust can be distributed to the children.

If a family that has helped out two children more than others, as mentioned above, the relationships between the siblings that took time to establish need to be addressed, while the parents are still living. This can be done with a gifting strategy, where children who felt their needs were being overlooked may receive gifts of any size that might be appropriate, to stem any feelings of resentment.

That is not to say that parents need to use their estate to satisfy their children’s expectations. However, in the case of the family above, it is a reasonable solution for that particular family and their dynamics.

A good estate plan addresses the parent’s needs and takes the children’s needs into consideration. Every parent needs to address their children’s unique needs and be able to distinguish their needs from wants. A gifting strategy, trusts and other estate planning tools can be explored in a consultation with an experienced estate planning attorney, who creates estate plans specific to the unique needs of each family.

Reference: The Daily Sentinel (Dec. 16, 2020) “Estate Planning: A Trust Can Be Used to Protect Blended Families”

 

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How Do I Reduce My Blended Family Fighting Concerning My Estate Plan? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

The IRS recently announced that in 2020, the first $11.58 million of a taxable estate is free from federal estate taxes. Therefore, a vast majority of estates won’t have to pay federal estate taxes. However, a TD Wealth survey at the 53rd Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning found that family conflict was identified as the leading threat to estate planning.

Investment News’ recent article, “Reducing potential family conflicts,” explains that a blended family can result from multiple marriages, children from a current or former marriage, or children involved in multiple marriages. There are more “blended families” in the U.S. than ever before. More fighting over estate planning occurs in blended families.

The key element in any conflict resolution is open and honest communication. It’s especially the case, when it involves a blended family. In many instances, it’s best to explain a proposed estate plan to the family in advance.

If anyone objects, listen to their point of view and try to be empathetic to their position. You may wind up with a compromise, or, if no changes are made, at least the family member had an opportunity to air their grievances.

One potential solution to minimize conflicts within a blended family may be a prenuptial agreement. The agreement is signed prior to the marriage and outlines the financial rights of each spouse, in the event of a divorce or death. Prenups are particularly useful in second marriages, especially when there is a disparity in age and wealth between the parties.

However, not every married couple in a blended family has a prenuptial agreement. Even if they do, blended families can still have family conflicts in estate planning.

It is important to remember communication, reducing the chances of a will contest with a “no-contest” clause, asking your attorney about a revocable living trust and compromise.

Estate planning can be particularly difficult for blended families. Talk with an experienced estate planning attorney about the techniques that can help reduce potential family conflicts.

Reference: Investment News (December 9, 2019) “Reducing potential family conflicts”

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

Simple Mistakes to Avoid in Estate Planning – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

There’s so much information available today, good and bad, that it is not always easy to know which is which. Just as we should not perform surgery on ourselves, we are asking for problems if we try to manage our estate planning without professional help. That’s the good advice from the article “Examining three common mistakes of estate planning” from The News-Enterprise.

For one thing, the roles of power of attorney agent and executor are often confused. The power of attorney agent acts in accordance with a document that is used when a person is living. The power of attorney appointment is made by you for someone to act on your behalf, when you cannot do so. The power of attorney expires upon your death.

The executor is a person who you name to handle matters for your estate after your death, as instructed in your last will and testament. The executor is nominated by you but is not in effect, until that person is appointed through a court order. Therefore, the executor cannot act on your behalf, until you have died and a court has reviewed your will and appointed them to handle your estate.

Too many people opt for the easy way out, when it comes to estate planning. We hear that someone wants a “simple will.” This is planning based on a document, rather than planning for someone’s goals. Every estate plan needs to be prepared with the consideration of a person’s health, family relationships, and finances.

Many problems that arise in the probate process could have been prevented, had good estate planning been done.

Another mistake is not addressing change. This can lead to big problems while you are living and after you die. If you are healthy, that’s great—but you may not always enjoy good health. Your health and the health of your loved ones may change.

Family dynamics also change over time. If you only plan for your current circumstances, without planning for change, then you may need to make many updates to your will.

The other thing that will occur, is that your estate plan may fail. Be realistic, and work with your estate planning attorney to plan for the many changes that life brings. Plan for incapacity and for long-term care. Make sure that your documents include secondary beneficiaries, disability provisions, and successor fiduciaries.

Create an estate plan that works with today’s circumstances, but also anticipates what the future may bring.

Reference: The News-Enterprise (Nov. 18, 2019) “Examining three common mistakes of estate planning”

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