Elder Law

More Good Reasons to Add a Trust to Your Estate Plan

Published on: August 5, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Trusts are an excellent way to pass and preserve wealth privately. Two of the main benefits of using a trust to pass your assets – timeliness and cost – were explored in our previous post. Unlike the probate process that accompanies the settlement of an estate by will, a trust provides your heirs with immediate access to the trust benefits. The settlement of an estate passed by will can also gobble over 4% of an estate’s value, regardless of size. A third reason people use trusts to pass wealth is that they also enable the settlor, or donor, to minimize estate taxes, making more of your wealth available to your beneficiaries.

Married couples

The death of a spouse is devastating. Whether the death was sudden or after a long illness, one day you are married and the other day you are not. The deceased spouse wants to be able to provide for the living spouse, especially if the living spouse is battling a chronic health condition. Paying for your spouse’s living expenses and medical care and expenses, including long-term medical care is of paramount importance to the deceased spouse. Married couples can benefit from the establishment of a revocable trust.

Adding a Trust to Your Estate Plan

Published on: August 1, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Trusts are an excellent method for individuals with substantial assets to pass their wishes and wealth to others or a charitable organization when they pass. The key to an effective trust begins and ends with documentation. The proper documents, when drafted carefully by a qualified attorney, ensures your beneficiaries will reap the benefits of the trust and its property. A trust will fail, if the documentation is improper, negating the settlor’s wishes.

What is a trust?

A trust is a legal document that contains the settlor’s final instructions about to whom his or her assets will pass when they die. There are three separate people involved in a trust creation, administration, and distribution: a settlor, trustee, and beneficiary. Their roles are as follows:

Drug Prices Continue to Soar

Published on: July 28, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

By all accounts drug prices continue to soar. According to a RX Savings Solutions Study, a heavily prescribed antidepressant, fluoxetine marketed as Prozac, has increased in price 879%. More than 3,400 drugs have increased their price in the first six months of 2019, representing a 17% increase from the year before. The Trump administration is trying to rein in the prescription drug prices, but at every turn prescriptions cost continues to rise.

In addition to fluoxetine, other commonly used drugs with big price increases so far in 2019 include:

Mometasone 0.1% Topical Cream. This topical steroid has increased 381% this year, Rx Savings Solutions found. Mometasone treats skin conditions like eczema, hay fever, and asthma.

Report Finds Almost All Americans Take Social Security at the Wrong Time

Published on: July 24, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

One of the most important decisions when contemplating retirement is deciding when to start claiming Social Security benefits. A major study found that almost all Americans take Social Security at the wrong time. This timing problem has cost retirees about $111,000 per household. Retirees typically claim Social Security benefits at 63, the earliest age a person may claim Social Security benefits is 62. Every year they wait to start drawing benefits means a larger Social Security payout. Their recommendation: start drawing Social Security benefits later in your retirement.

Among the Report’s main findings are:

Only 4% of retirees claim Social Security at the most financially optimal time.

Who Pays and When Does a Reverse Mortgage Become Due and Payable?

Published on: July 15, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In our last post we reviewed reverse mortgages as a way to cash out of the equity in your home while allowing you to remain in your home. As long as you are 62 and older, own your home, and plan to live in it, it is possible to convert the equity in your home into a monthly income, a line of credit, or a lump sum, with some restrictions on the latter with respect to timing of the lump sum distribution. At some point, however, the loan becomes due and payable, which begs the questions of when and who pays?

Triggering events

A insured home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) reverse mortgage loan becomes due and payable when a triggering event occurs. This means that the borrower owes the lender the total amount of money the lender has disbursed to the borrower, plus interest and fees accrued during the life of the loan. Triggering events include:

Reverse Mortgages

Published on: July 12, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The adage, home is where the heart is, is a truism. Human beings have a need for shelter. Housing is a basic need. Much time, effort, and money are expended in our lifetime to obtain and keep a home. For many individuals entering retirement, their home is their most valuable asset. A sad truth of aging, however, is that you may not be able to care for yourself in your home as you age.

A big old house is harder to keep because it requires maintenance and repairs to maintain. Routine maintenance like mowing the lawn is impossible to perform if for example, you have a bad hip. Paying someone to do it also gets harder, because at the retirement stage in life, your income is fixed with little wiggle room to go off budget. Even more difficult is surviving a natural disaster and finding help to rebuild or repair your home. Paying for major repairs and obtaining qualified help without being ripped off is even more challenging. It’s not surprising that seniors turn to reverse mortgages to remain in their home as long as possible.

A brief overview on reverse mortgages

A Note on Afternoon Doctor Visits

Published on: July 8, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

When bodies age they need regular check-ups to ensure systems are functioning properly. Particularly if you suffer from a chronic condition, such as high blood pressure or kidney failure, regular doctor appointments followed up by lab work are extremely important. Through preventative care, your quality of life is better. Managing the day-to-day aches and pains is simpler and when flare-ups occur you are able to bounce back to form faster.

Every month, there are a group of doctors that I must see to ensure that I can manage my own health. My general doctor, he’s my quarterback. He calls the plays and sends me to the appropriate specialist to treat my chronic conditions. While I have a great relationship with my quarterback and his staff, whenever he sends me to another doctor my immediate reaction is anxiety. It makes me anxious to call a specialist because, like your third-grade teacher, they are full of rules. How to call them, when to call them, how to leave a message with the doctor, etc. etc.

Calling a new doctor to schedule an appointment is the most unpleasant thing I do on a monthly basis. Some doctors’ offices want patients to use an online portal for example. Other doctors send a call to a voicemail box with the promise to respond within 48 hours. Recently, a doctor asked that I compete 20 pages of form, can and email at lease a dozen lab reports, and then wait one week for a call back to schedule an appointment. He did call me directly three times to tell me he can’t help me. As time goes on it seems it’s harder and harder to make an appointment.

Handling Digital Assets in Estate Administration

Published on: July 4, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

This is the last post on gifting digital assets. So far, we have examined digital assets generally and digital asset planning in the estate planning process and the business succession planning process. Today’s post will review how to handle digital assets in the estate administration process.

Traditional estate administration process v. Estate administration process with digital assets

Let’s say I’m an executor in an estate and I’ve identified digital assets that decedent made in his or her lifetime. How is the estate administration process with digital assets different from the traditional estate administration process without digital assets?

Importance of digital asset planning in estate planning

Published on: June 26, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In this post we will discuss why digital assets should be incorporated in the estate planning process just as you incorporate all of your physical assets. We will also explore what are some of the initial steps to take when formulating an estate plan with digital assets.

Step One: Understand what a digital asset is

A digital asset is an electronic record in which an individual has a right or an interest. The definition is broad and includes financial accounts, music files, electronic communications, cryptocurrencies, videos, and photographs, among many others. In order to dispose of these items, like the physical items in your home or that you have accumulated during your life you will need to know which of your assets are digital or electronic in nature.

Help! My Father Gifted Me Bitcoin But No One Can Find the Private Key

Published on: June 23, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Estates lawyers are increasingly asked to help surviving family’s members locate cryptocurrencies because their loved one collected them during their lifetime, didn’t include it in their will or updated will, and now no one can find it. Planning for cryptocurrency is more complex than digital asset planning. For starters, cryptocurrency has no physical equivalent. Cryptocurrency were created online, are exchanged online, and are stored online.

Blockchain Technology

The first step to understanding cryptocurrency is to examine blockchain technology. Bitcoin and many other digital currencies or cryptocurrencies utilize blockchain technology to record transactions between parties efficiently, in a transparent and verifiable manner. Blockchain technology is a digital database containing information (no records, financial statements, or other types of data) that can be simultaneously used and shared within a large decentralized and publicly accessible network without any central authority. The entire enterprise is decentralized meaning no government or financial bank or company can revoke an account on a blockchain network, shut down the network, or prevent someone from using it.