Read the Print Version
Warning: The Story You Are About To See Is True. The Names Have Been Changed
To Protect The Innocent. Viewer Discretion Is Advised.
Reality. By and large, Estate Planning is a dumpster fire. A hellacious mess. Most of what you have done so far is probably wasted and likely counterproductive. Frequently you hear, “Well, it is better to do something than nothing at all!” Yeah. Guess so. Go with that.
Your Choice. Isn’t it great to hear happy talk? Everybody knows that there is nothing simpler or easier than planning for your future! Don’t we all like to hear that things are easy? Wouldn’t it be nice to be told that you haven’t wasted time and money in half-baked schemes? Schemes that deny reality. That will wreak havoc in the years to come. Do you prefer calm, soothing, pleasant misinformation, disinformation, mendacity, prevarication, half-truths, outright lies, and deception? Why not? Most folks do.
Do people want to hear that reality is complex? Is it fun to learn that you have been taken in? Are you surprised to learn that the “after-death” and “planning” industries are not run to achieve your goals, your family’s goals, but for the primary benefit of those running the show? Does it come as a shock that they all know your estate plan will fail? Your financial advisor, accountant, tax preparer, insurance agent, lawyer, and banker. Everyone with the slightest experience in or knowledge of the death industry knows this. Some practitioners soothe their conscience by steadily ignoring the facts. Others blame you, the client, for not following their advice. So. Your estate plan will fail. And that is OK! For them. Nobody wants to hear that, do you? Of course not. Perhaps you should go read the funnies now. Or the sports page.
The best part of the estate planning scam is that you have been set up to take the fall. Failure is all your fault. Your fault. They got it in writing. You can look it up. I’ll explain how they make you foot the bill. How you are at fault. Do you want the truth? Can you handle the truth? It is upsetting. Much more pleasant to look away. The sports page is calling… You don’t really want to know. If you knew, you would have to do something. Can’t have that.
Still here? Without upsetting the vast majority of folks who have done some planning, there is no way to accurately talk about the Estate Planning industry. Also angry and unhappy are the people who profit from the way things are. At your expense. At your family’s expense. Your estate plan can be a success. For you. Your Spouse. Your Family. But you won’t like hearing about it. It is not easy. I don’t promise easy. I only promise the truth. Accuracy.
Avoid Probate Save Taxes
Make It Easy For The Kids
Pit of Despair. Everybody wants to avoid probate, save taxes, and make it easy for their kids. Probate means high costs, long delays, and mysterious confusion. Your loved ones are abandoned to the tender mercies of those rapacious, ice-hearted villains: probate lawyers and judges. Oh, the humanity! Death Taxes are the final insult. You pay and pay. Income tax. Real estate tax. Sales tax. Use tax (whatever that is). Work for someone else: employment taxes. Work for yourself: self-employment taxes. And when you finally hand in your lunch bucket: Death taxes. And your poor kids. Waiting years for the pitiful, parsimonious pittance that might be left over. Wallowing in frustrating legalese. Condemned to a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American Way. A battle that only ends with exhaustion, back-biting, and family strife. The very angels in Heaven weep for your heirs.
Promises, Promises. Estate planners, including Internet gurus, attorneys, financial advisors, other professionals, and your brother-in-law solemnly promise that there is an easy way out of this Benighted Forest of Broken Dreams. Everybody is an Expert! At a recent LifePlan™ Workshop, an attendee described how the lake front cottage owners surrounding his parents’ cottage “avoided probate and taxes” by adopting a “strategy” that one of them had heard about. These were reasonable people. Owned lake front cottages. Plus their regular home. And like lemmings into the North Sea, they drew up disastrous deeds. One after the other. Follow-the-Leader. Off the cliff. And yet they were no worse off than many who took the professionals’ advice.
Wrong Goals, Wrong Strategy. Avoiding probate, saving taxes, and making it easy for the kids are important goals. But what if these were not the most important? What if fixation on these ideas distracted folks from the fundamental, critical goals? What if regular folks routinely went broke chasing these things while disregarding their real interests?
Airplane Story. Every passenger on an airliner has endured the safety briefing. Where the exits are. Your seat cushion is a floatation device. Insert the tab into the buckle of the seat belt. And of course, the oxygen mask.
Your flight attendant instructs you that, “If the windows pop out, oxygen masks will descend from the ceiling. If you are traveling with small children, put your own mask on first, then take care of the kiddies.” Seems kind of harsh, doesn’t it? Selfish, almost. Taking care of Number One! But the practical reality is that if you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of anyone else. Good luck getting the kids’ masks on if you’ve turned blue.
First Things First. Estate Planning fails because the goals are wrong. Avoiding probate, saving taxes, making it easy for the kids. These all happen after you have died. And there is nothing wrong with any of them. But you are not dead. Yet. Maybe it would be a good idea to figure out how to hang on to your lifesavings while you are, you know, living.
But first, why your trust will (almost certainly) fail on its own terms.
Why Your Trust Will Fail
Simple Answer. You wanted to avoid probate, save taxes, make it easy for the kids. Will your revocable living trust achieve these most goals? No. Not usually. Hardly ever.
Probate Basics. If you have assets in your name, you are the boss of those assets. Use them. Sell them. Buy more. Give them away. It is your stuff to do with as you please. You are in control. And nobody else.
But what if you die? Now who’s the boss? You had complete control. Now you don’t. And neither does anyone else. Who gets the stuff? Who maintains it? Who sells it? Who gets the money? Who knows?
These questions are why we have the probate court. When stuff is no longer attached to a person because that person has died, the probate court figures out who should get it. If a person becomes disabled and can no longer manage their stuff, the probate court figures out who should manage it for the disabled person.
Your Last Will and Testament are simply instructions to the Probate Court stating: 1. Who should be in charge of your leftover stuff; and 2. Who should get your stuff. The leftovers. After you have died. Without the Probate Court and “probating the will,” your Last Will and Testament is meaningless. Useless. Does nothing. The only way a Will works is through Probate. The next time you hear that a Will means No Probate, you know better.
Revocable Trust Basics. Your revocable living trust is different. Your trust holds your property. Your trust property is managed by the trustee. While happy and healthy, you are the trustee. You also name the person to manage the stuff for you if/when you cannot, due to death or disability. The backup trustee is the Successor Trustee. You can have a whole string of successor trustees, one after the other, so you don’t have to worry about running out. Your revocable living trust contains your instructions. Who gets what. When. How.
Your revocable living trust works only on the stuff that is in the trust. Stuff with the trust name on it. Bank accounts, real estate, stocks, and bonds. All these things can be handled by your Successor Trustee if they are in your trust. With the proper trust name on the various accounts, your Successor Trustee can care for you, pay your bills, maintain your property. After death, the Successor Trustee can divvy up the leftovers, per your instructions, and distribute to your beneficiaries. All according to your plan. Super!
Why Almost All Trusts, Including Yours, Fail. Trusts fail because people do not put their stuff into the trust. [Vocabulary Word to the Wise: Putting stuff into a trust is called “funding” the trust.] Simple as that. Trusts only work on the stuff in the trust. If your stuff is still in your name, it goes through probate.
Harder Than It Seems. Various folks will tell you how easy it is to put your stuff into your trust. Not true. Decades of experience tell us that fully “funding” a trust takes 2-6 months. With the eager assistance of cheerful, diligent specialist paralegals. It is no wonder that the few folks who try to get their assets into their trusts give up.
The Exception to the Rule. There is a small minority of folks who actually transfer their assets into their trusts. Almost all the time. Who are these wonder-planners? Engineers! Civil, mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineers. How do they avoid the kryptonite? Most engineers accept that unless they do things that are required, they do not achieve the desired results. That’s not really a good answer, because doctors, nurses, surgeons, accountants, airline pilots, McDonald’s workers, and all the rest of us have the same experience. But for some reason, engineers are willing to do the hard work. And the rest of us are not.
How Do They Get Away Selling Trusts That Fail?
They Make It Your Fault
Simple Answer. You wanted to avoid probate, save taxes, make it easy for the kids. The lawyer gave you a binder full of papers. Including your trust. And your will. The trust is empty. Like a lawyer’s promise, there is nothing there. Void. Except, maybe, sometimes your house. [Until you refinance, sell, get a home equity line of credit.]
But there is something else in the binder. Usually right on top. A letter. Or a memo. Or instructions.
Your Fault. The Letter, Memo, or Instructions tell you that it is YOUR responsibility to put your assets into the trust. Usually there are handy hints on how to do so. Often the lawyer will offer to “help” with the transfers. For an additional fee.
According to one survey, these Letters, Memos, Instructions fail 96% of the time. Your stuff is not in the trust. Your stuff does not avoid probate. And it is all your fault.
Why Do They Sell Trusts That Fail?
Follow The Money
How It Works. In Real Life. You die. Your kids take that binder full of papers back to the lawyer. Your kids want your stuff. You were promised avoiding probate. And now it is time to deliver.
The kids present the lawyer with that binder crafted so many years ago.
The lawyer looks through the binder.
Sadly, sorrowfully, the lawyer informs the kids that the estate will have to go through probate.
The kids are dismayed. But Mom and Dad did not want to go through probate! That’s why they did the trust…
Sadly, sorrowfully, the lawyer takes the Letter, Memo, Instructions out of the binder. The lawyer reads to the kids that it was Mom and Dad’s responsibility to put their stuff into their trust. But Mom and Dad failed to do so. It is Mom and Dad’s fault that the assets must now go through probate. Thank Goodness the lawyer was keenly farsighted enough to prepare Wills that put the stuff into the trust.
So now the Will must be probated. The family is going through the probate process. Which is not cheap. With the same lawyer who failed to get the stuff into the trust in the first place. Who does that serve? Who do you think?
Training For Failure. A well-respected institute offers “Estate Planning” certificates to attorneys who take a certain number of their educational courses. Several attorneys from the firm have taken these courses and earned the Certificate. When the question of getting assets into trusts was raised, instructors stated “That’s what the will is for!” In other words, lawyers are being trained that to make the trust “work” they must rely on probating the will that comes as part of the package. And didn’t you want to avoid probate? Wasn’t that the point of the trust?
Pay Me Now OR Pay Me Later. Why do clients pay extra for trusts? Isn’t it because trusts avoid probate and probate is expensive? Don’t the lawyers say “Pay me a little more now for the trust or a lot more later for probate?” Isn’t that the sales pitch?
Pay Me Now AND Pay Me Later. What if reality was: Pay me extra now for the trust (on the promise of avoiding probate) and pay me later for probate too? Trusts fail because they do not hold all of your assets. And your kids must go through probate to get your assets into the trust. And it is your fault.
Next Week: What Is The Answer? What Is The Real Question?
Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel. Tune in next week for another thrilling visit to the frontier of estate planning.
What can be done? What is the true goal of estate planning? Is it really about the kids? How can you and statutory wills? Is there a method that has been used for many years by thousands of families to avoid nursing home poverty, avoid probate, save taxes, AND make it easy for the kids?
Why Don’t You Deserve A Little Payback For All The Taxes You Paid In?
Why Do You Want To Spend Your Last Nickel On Long-Term Care?
Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long- term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all.
It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
New Year’s Revelation!
BlogRead the Print Version
Warning: The Story You Are About To See Is True. The Names Have Been Changed
To Protect The Innocent. Viewer Discretion Is Advised.
Reality. By and large, Estate Planning is a dumpster fire. A hellacious mess. Most of what you have done so far is probably wasted and likely counterproductive. Frequently you hear, “Well, it is better to do something than nothing at all!” Yeah. Guess so. Go with that.
Your Choice. Isn’t it great to hear happy talk? Everybody knows that there is nothing simpler or easier than planning for your future! Don’t we all like to hear that things are easy? Wouldn’t it be nice to be told that you haven’t wasted time and money in half-baked schemes? Schemes that deny reality. That will wreak havoc in the years to come. Do you prefer calm, soothing, pleasant misinformation, disinformation, mendacity, prevarication, half-truths, outright lies, and deception? Why not? Most folks do.
Do people want to hear that reality is complex? Is it fun to learn that you have been taken in? Are you surprised to learn that the “after-death” and “planning” industries are not run to achieve your goals, your family’s goals, but for the primary benefit of those running the show? Does it come as a shock that they all know your estate plan will fail? Your financial advisor, accountant, tax preparer, insurance agent, lawyer, and banker. Everyone with the slightest experience in or knowledge of the death industry knows this. Some practitioners soothe their conscience by steadily ignoring the facts. Others blame you, the client, for not following their advice. So. Your estate plan will fail. And that is OK! For them. Nobody wants to hear that, do you? Of course not. Perhaps you should go read the funnies now. Or the sports page.
The best part of the estate planning scam is that you have been set up to take the fall. Failure is all your fault. Your fault. They got it in writing. You can look it up. I’ll explain how they make you foot the bill. How you are at fault. Do you want the truth? Can you handle the truth? It is upsetting. Much more pleasant to look away. The sports page is calling… You don’t really want to know. If you knew, you would have to do something. Can’t have that.
Still here? Without upsetting the vast majority of folks who have done some planning, there is no way to accurately talk about the Estate Planning industry. Also angry and unhappy are the people who profit from the way things are. At your expense. At your family’s expense. Your estate plan can be a success. For you. Your Spouse. Your Family. But you won’t like hearing about it. It is not easy. I don’t promise easy. I only promise the truth. Accuracy.
Avoid Probate Save Taxes
Make It Easy For The Kids
Pit of Despair. Everybody wants to avoid probate, save taxes, and make it easy for their kids. Probate means high costs, long delays, and mysterious confusion. Your loved ones are abandoned to the tender mercies of those rapacious, ice-hearted villains: probate lawyers and judges. Oh, the humanity! Death Taxes are the final insult. You pay and pay. Income tax. Real estate tax. Sales tax. Use tax (whatever that is). Work for someone else: employment taxes. Work for yourself: self-employment taxes. And when you finally hand in your lunch bucket: Death taxes. And your poor kids. Waiting years for the pitiful, parsimonious pittance that might be left over. Wallowing in frustrating legalese. Condemned to a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American Way. A battle that only ends with exhaustion, back-biting, and family strife. The very angels in Heaven weep for your heirs.
Promises, Promises. Estate planners, including Internet gurus, attorneys, financial advisors, other professionals, and your brother-in-law solemnly promise that there is an easy way out of this Benighted Forest of Broken Dreams. Everybody is an Expert! At a recent LifePlan™ Workshop, an attendee described how the lake front cottage owners surrounding his parents’ cottage “avoided probate and taxes” by adopting a “strategy” that one of them had heard about. These were reasonable people. Owned lake front cottages. Plus their regular home. And like lemmings into the North Sea, they drew up disastrous deeds. One after the other. Follow-the-Leader. Off the cliff. And yet they were no worse off than many who took the professionals’ advice.
Wrong Goals, Wrong Strategy. Avoiding probate, saving taxes, and making it easy for the kids are important goals. But what if these were not the most important? What if fixation on these ideas distracted folks from the fundamental, critical goals? What if regular folks routinely went broke chasing these things while disregarding their real interests?
Airplane Story. Every passenger on an airliner has endured the safety briefing. Where the exits are. Your seat cushion is a floatation device. Insert the tab into the buckle of the seat belt. And of course, the oxygen mask.
Your flight attendant instructs you that, “If the windows pop out, oxygen masks will descend from the ceiling. If you are traveling with small children, put your own mask on first, then take care of the kiddies.” Seems kind of harsh, doesn’t it? Selfish, almost. Taking care of Number One! But the practical reality is that if you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of anyone else. Good luck getting the kids’ masks on if you’ve turned blue.
First Things First. Estate Planning fails because the goals are wrong. Avoiding probate, saving taxes, making it easy for the kids. These all happen after you have died. And there is nothing wrong with any of them. But you are not dead. Yet. Maybe it would be a good idea to figure out how to hang on to your lifesavings while you are, you know, living.
But first, why your trust will (almost certainly) fail on its own terms.
Why Your Trust Will Fail
Simple Answer. You wanted to avoid probate, save taxes, make it easy for the kids. Will your revocable living trust achieve these most goals? No. Not usually. Hardly ever.
Probate Basics. If you have assets in your name, you are the boss of those assets. Use them. Sell them. Buy more. Give them away. It is your stuff to do with as you please. You are in control. And nobody else.
But what if you die? Now who’s the boss? You had complete control. Now you don’t. And neither does anyone else. Who gets the stuff? Who maintains it? Who sells it? Who gets the money? Who knows?
These questions are why we have the probate court. When stuff is no longer attached to a person because that person has died, the probate court figures out who should get it. If a person becomes disabled and can no longer manage their stuff, the probate court figures out who should manage it for the disabled person.
Your Last Will and Testament are simply instructions to the Probate Court stating: 1. Who should be in charge of your leftover stuff; and 2. Who should get your stuff. The leftovers. After you have died. Without the Probate Court and “probating the will,” your Last Will and Testament is meaningless. Useless. Does nothing. The only way a Will works is through Probate. The next time you hear that a Will means No Probate, you know better.
Revocable Trust Basics. Your revocable living trust is different. Your trust holds your property. Your trust property is managed by the trustee. While happy and healthy, you are the trustee. You also name the person to manage the stuff for you if/when you cannot, due to death or disability. The backup trustee is the Successor Trustee. You can have a whole string of successor trustees, one after the other, so you don’t have to worry about running out. Your revocable living trust contains your instructions. Who gets what. When. How.
Your revocable living trust works only on the stuff that is in the trust. Stuff with the trust name on it. Bank accounts, real estate, stocks, and bonds. All these things can be handled by your Successor Trustee if they are in your trust. With the proper trust name on the various accounts, your Successor Trustee can care for you, pay your bills, maintain your property. After death, the Successor Trustee can divvy up the leftovers, per your instructions, and distribute to your beneficiaries. All according to your plan. Super!
Why Almost All Trusts, Including Yours, Fail. Trusts fail because people do not put their stuff into the trust. [Vocabulary Word to the Wise: Putting stuff into a trust is called “funding” the trust.] Simple as that. Trusts only work on the stuff in the trust. If your stuff is still in your name, it goes through probate.
Harder Than It Seems. Various folks will tell you how easy it is to put your stuff into your trust. Not true. Decades of experience tell us that fully “funding” a trust takes 2-6 months. With the eager assistance of cheerful, diligent specialist paralegals. It is no wonder that the few folks who try to get their assets into their trusts give up.
The Exception to the Rule. There is a small minority of folks who actually transfer their assets into their trusts. Almost all the time. Who are these wonder-planners? Engineers! Civil, mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineers. How do they avoid the kryptonite? Most engineers accept that unless they do things that are required, they do not achieve the desired results. That’s not really a good answer, because doctors, nurses, surgeons, accountants, airline pilots, McDonald’s workers, and all the rest of us have the same experience. But for some reason, engineers are willing to do the hard work. And the rest of us are not.
How Do They Get Away Selling Trusts That Fail?
They Make It Your Fault
Simple Answer. You wanted to avoid probate, save taxes, make it easy for the kids. The lawyer gave you a binder full of papers. Including your trust. And your will. The trust is empty. Like a lawyer’s promise, there is nothing there. Void. Except, maybe, sometimes your house. [Until you refinance, sell, get a home equity line of credit.]
But there is something else in the binder. Usually right on top. A letter. Or a memo. Or instructions.
Your Fault. The Letter, Memo, or Instructions tell you that it is YOUR responsibility to put your assets into the trust. Usually there are handy hints on how to do so. Often the lawyer will offer to “help” with the transfers. For an additional fee.
According to one survey, these Letters, Memos, Instructions fail 96% of the time. Your stuff is not in the trust. Your stuff does not avoid probate. And it is all your fault.
Why Do They Sell Trusts That Fail?
Follow The Money
How It Works. In Real Life. You die. Your kids take that binder full of papers back to the lawyer. Your kids want your stuff. You were promised avoiding probate. And now it is time to deliver.
The kids present the lawyer with that binder crafted so many years ago.
The lawyer looks through the binder.
Sadly, sorrowfully, the lawyer informs the kids that the estate will have to go through probate.
The kids are dismayed. But Mom and Dad did not want to go through probate! That’s why they did the trust…
Sadly, sorrowfully, the lawyer takes the Letter, Memo, Instructions out of the binder. The lawyer reads to the kids that it was Mom and Dad’s responsibility to put their stuff into their trust. But Mom and Dad failed to do so. It is Mom and Dad’s fault that the assets must now go through probate. Thank Goodness the lawyer was keenly farsighted enough to prepare Wills that put the stuff into the trust.
So now the Will must be probated. The family is going through the probate process. Which is not cheap. With the same lawyer who failed to get the stuff into the trust in the first place. Who does that serve? Who do you think?
Training For Failure. A well-respected institute offers “Estate Planning” certificates to attorneys who take a certain number of their educational courses. Several attorneys from the firm have taken these courses and earned the Certificate. When the question of getting assets into trusts was raised, instructors stated “That’s what the will is for!” In other words, lawyers are being trained that to make the trust “work” they must rely on probating the will that comes as part of the package. And didn’t you want to avoid probate? Wasn’t that the point of the trust?
Pay Me Now OR Pay Me Later. Why do clients pay extra for trusts? Isn’t it because trusts avoid probate and probate is expensive? Don’t the lawyers say “Pay me a little more now for the trust or a lot more later for probate?” Isn’t that the sales pitch?
Pay Me Now AND Pay Me Later. What if reality was: Pay me extra now for the trust (on the promise of avoiding probate) and pay me later for probate too? Trusts fail because they do not hold all of your assets. And your kids must go through probate to get your assets into the trust. And it is your fault.
Next Week: What Is The Answer? What Is The Real Question?
Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel. Tune in next week for another thrilling visit to the frontier of estate planning.
What can be done? What is the true goal of estate planning? Is it really about the kids? How can you and statutory wills? Is there a method that has been used for many years by thousands of families to avoid nursing home poverty, avoid probate, save taxes, AND make it easy for the kids?
Why Don’t You Deserve A Little Payback For All The Taxes You Paid In?
Why Do You Want To Spend Your Last Nickel On Long-Term Care?
Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long- term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all.
It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
7 Questions To Answer Between Now And New Year’s Day
BlogRead the Print Version
All Of A Sudden, Another Game Of Monopoly Looks Really Good!
Basic Planning concepts
Here are a few basic principles of planning. I learned them in the Army. They are universal. Ignore these basic principles and you’ll wind up like Russians in Ukraine. Pitiful. Don’t be pitiful.
Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
Any plan is better than no plan. Start with the goal in mind. For example, “I do not want my daughter to become a stripper.” Or “When I get old, I don’t want my children passing me around like a hot potato.” Or “I would like to live my life in dignity and modest comfort until the Lord says “Welcome home, good and faithful servant.” At which point I pass over the Great Divide, surrounded by the love of my family.”
Goals are Important!
Plans are how Goals become Reality.
When you are up to your ass in alligators, it is tough to remember that you came to Drain the swamp
Standard issue in every Army engineering unit is a poster with this slogan. Whenever you attempt to achieve any goal, gremlins will appear, troubles will multiply. Troubles that will distract you from your goal. Do not be distracted by the alligators. Remember your goal. And your plan to reach that goal. Focus. Allowing the inevitable snafus, difficulties, hassles, and annoyances to deviate you from your plan is failure. Keep your eyes on the prize. Nobody said this was easy.
ain’t no use in lookin’ Down ain’t no Discharge on the ground
ain’t no use in lookin’ Back Jody’s got your Cadillac
One of the first marching cadences new recruits learn is that “There ain’t no discharge on the ground.” You are not quitting. You must persevere. There is no easy way out. And besides, “Ain’t no use in looking back.” That way is closed. Keep your chin up and a smile on your face. It’s not that hard. And you chose the goal.
The Best laid Plans of mice and men gang aft agley
Scottish poet Robert Burns gets credit for this one. General George S. Patton (among others) said that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. And so it will be for your plans. Facts and circumstances impose reality on what you wish to accomplish. No surprise there. Not everything works out as you expect. Your plans will “gang aft agley” which I think means will often go astray. So what? There’s no alternative except failure.
And Now, On With Our Super Seven List Of Questions You Must Consider
Question 1: What About Your Little Kids?
You have minor children. Or grandchildren. You still like them. They’re not teenagers yet. Those little kids depend on you for everything. You know this. But what if you are no longer available? What if you cannot be there? Because you are dead. Also the other parent is dead. What about the kids? Who gets ‘em? Who manages the life insurance money?
Who pays for braces, ballet lessons, and the hockey travel team?
Who will handle the money? Who will care for the kids?
You need to answer these questions. They are the most important and fundamental. And lead to the most disastrous consequences when ignored. And don’t tell me your plan is to not die. That’s everyone’s plan. And usually that is what happens. But if the low probability scenario comes to pass, then it is 100%.
By the way. Do not let the “kid people” also be the “money people”. That’s how you get Olympic size swimming pools in your brother-in-law’s backyard.
Question 2: What About Mom? Or Dad?
You have parents. They are not as young as they used to be. 70% of Americans will need, on average, 3 years of skilled care. 20% will need 5 years or more. Most of this care has traditionally been provided within the family. But families are smaller. And busier. And paid-for care is more expensive than ever. If you can find it.
Barely trained home care workers cost $30+ per hour. Registered nurses, a vanishing breed, are twice that much. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are overcrowded, understaffed, and exorbitantly expensive.
Why does it cost so much? Why are the costs never going down? Simple: Supply and Demand. There are more older Americans than ever. There are fewer younger Americans to care for the older Americans. Big Demand for Care. Low Supply of Caregivers. Plus the work is hard, the hours are long, the rewards are few.
Question 3: What About My Spouse? Or Me?
Look in the mirror. You’ve come a long way baby. And it shows. It ain’t just the years, it’s the mileage. And your odometer is clicking up there. So what is your plan? Impose on the kids? Good luck with that one. They are busy. They have kids. And if they don’t have kids, they’re still busy. Your parents raised you with a heaping helping of familial responsibility and guilt. You raised your kids on Doctor Benjamin Spock’s “Baby and Child Care”. How’s that working out for you?
The care you will need is scarce and expensive. And it is getting worse. And your care will continue to get scarcer and more expensive. Perhaps a little planning might be in order?
And by the way, you might just have a spouse who will need the same care as you. What’s the plan there? Nursing home poverty? Your choice.
Question 4: Who’s The Boss?
If you cannot make decisions for yourself, who’s going to make them? Who will manage your finances? Who will talk to the doctors when you cannot? Who has the strength of character to carry through your intentions?
And please do not “solve” this problem by naming co-trustees, co-patient advocates, co-agents, or co-anything else. Pick one person to shoulder the responsibility. Give that person the full authority and moral backing necessary. And then pray to God that they will step up in your moment of need.
Pick your first choice. Then your second choice. Then your third. Etcetera.
You say you don’t have anyone? If you do not choose the probate court will choose for you. Would that be better? Seems unlikely.
Question 5: Any Special Deals?
Does one of the kids get a special bargain price for the house? Or the cottage? Or the hunting property? Did someone step up and help out beyond any expectation? Beyond anyone else’s contribution? Did you tell anyone that they could have [FILL IN THE BLANK] at a low price or on favorable terms?
You may not have the guts to tell the other kids about these special deals. That’s OK! It’s none of their business what you decide to do with your stuff. Give it to the church, the mission, the animal shelter, your favorite charity. That’s fine. It’s your stuff to do with as you please. But do not MUMBLE! Do not create expectations that conflict with each other. Write it down. Have your lawyer write it down.
It is common, and uncommonly destructive, for kids to believe that whoever talks to Mom or Dad last is the one who gets their way. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No” be no. All else comes from the evil one. Your kids can deal with a lot. They can deal with your decisions and wishes. What they cannot be expected to deal with is lack of clarity. Ambiguity. You want to divide your family. Tell each one a different story. Agree with each. Do not write anything down. That’s how you make sure that your descendants will hate each other. Cousin vs Cousin.
And it may not have been that bad at the start. The problem is that no one repeats a story without making the story “better.” More dramatic. More black and white. Nobody likes a namby-pamby story. We want evil villains and noble heroes. And when you have left things in a mess, the story will be told and retold making it more dramatic each time.
When you say what you mean and mean what you say… Peace and Harmony.
Question 6: Who Gets The Stuff?
We always knew that my oldest sister, the oldest child, would get the silver flatware. It was a given. She staked her claim before half of the other kids were born. No one begrudged her. Everyone accepted. No problem.
But the “stuff” frequently is a problem. Here’s why. Stuff becomes a symbolic substitute for the loved one. (By the way, I’m making all this up, based on 33 years of observation and not a whit of psychological training.) Sometimes it’s the ashtray (not kidding) that becomes the symbolic substitute for Mom.
True Story: Kids could not agree who got the ashtray. Name-calling. Fighting. Back-biting. Then comes the auction. Not one of the kids bid on the ashtray. What’s going on? My Theory: When the ashtray was in the house, part of the furnishings, the connection to Mom was strong. Undeniable. The children could not ignore that connection. They could no more give up the ashtray than give up Mom. But. When the ashtray was on the auction block, it became an ashtray once again. It no longer had that symbolic significance. And none of the kids smoked.
Moral of the Story: If you want particular things to go to specific people, write your list. Then take pictures of the stuff and cross-reference the pictures to the list. Do not simply write a description. No one will agree with one another about what you meant. To coin a phrase: A Picture is worth a Thousand Words.
Question 7: So Tell Me What You Want What You Really Really Want.
On the health care front. Many people, while planning, will claim that they do not wish for extraordinary efforts. But when it comes right down to it, the question becomes: “Is that all you’ve got, doc?”
This can be the most difficult question of all. When in planning mode, you are calm, cool, and collected. When your life is on the line, right now… things look different. Sometimes, people have thought the thing through, made their choices, and stick with them. Frequently the change in perspective results in a change in decision-making.
My own father took the steadfast approach. On more than one occasion he was at death’s door. And intended to walk through. He resolutely rejected any further therapy. His body didn’t get the message, I guess, and so he survived a few incidents that astonished the doctors. They couldn’t figure out how he kept ticking. That seems to me to be a good way.
Think it through yourself. Take it seriously. That’s the best any of us can do.
Let The Journey Begin
We are all getting older. We can all expect to suffer the infirmities of age. We will all die.
How we progress is not up to us alone. But we have a vote. We can decide how to face the future. We can make it easier for our loved ones. We can throw obstacles in their path.
Is it foolish to plan ahead? If you cannot be in total control, should you give up the control that you have? Are you opposed to having as much say as possible? Would you rather be powerless?
Not all these questions apply to everyone. But maybe they can spark some conversation within your own thoughts. And with your loved ones.
Why Do You Want To Spend Your Last Nickel On Long-Term Care?
Why Shouldn’t The Government Spend Your Money For You?
Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
God Bless Us, Every One!
BlogRead the Print Version
He Was A Tight-Fisted Hand At The Grindstone…
(Warning: Typos Intact, Not Legal Advice)
(Copyright Notice: All Headlines Are Quoted From Dickens’ A Christmas Carol)
There Never Was Such A Goose.
Can my sister refuse to show me rent, bill receipts, and bank statements?
Both me and sister were appointed co-administrators of our deceased parents estate. My sister is collecting and holding the rent. She refuses to give any receipts or show me bank statements.
Simple Answer. No. Sister got bad advice somewhere. Why is she withholding information from her co-administrator? Plus, brother is probably co-beneficiary. Brother needs the information to carry out his responsibility as administrator of the estate. Brother is NOT free to let sister get away with this. Brother is duty-bound to challenge sister, in court if need be. Brother literally owes it to mom and dad to find out what is going on and to carry out their intention.
Interesting Note: Sister embezzles, and brother does not find out. He does not want to find out. He does not want to fight sister. He does not want to know. Brother lets it slide. Isn’t brother an accessory to elder financial abuse? Isn’t brother in big trouble?
Bottom Line: When you agree to act as trustee, agent, personal representative, patient advocate, or other fiduciary, you are taking on a big job. You must fully perform that big job. Sorry if you don’t like it, you agreed. If you did not want the job, you should not have taken it. You should have said “No.” or “NO!” Or no way, no how, not in a thousand million years.
Observation: It is no big deal to get a person to act as Trustee or Executor. The First Time. But it is damn near impossible to get that same person to do it a second time. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
*************
Should I sign a post-nuptual?
My husband and I bought a house almost 3 years ago. My husband put the down payment, a portion of which his parents gave him.
I am equally responsible for the loan and my name is on the deed. I contribute to the household expenses every paycheck. We renovated the basement, to which we both contributed, my husband much more than I. He is insisting that I sign a post nup saying that he would get back every penny of the money he has put into the house
should we get divorced. He wanted to renovate the entire second level, but wants all that money back if we divorce. I have refused, stating that we are married and therefore equal owners. He has subsequently taken all of his parents assets (his father passed early this year) and placed it in a trust controlled by him and only for his family, including our children. I am excluded because I am not a blood relative. He has made it a point to tell me he owns nothing except our house, because he has put everything in this trust. He believes our house is more his than ours, and wants to split the equity only after he gets back all his money. Is this reasonable??
Should You Sign A Post-Nuptial? No. No you should not.
Is This Reasonable? No, No, it does not seem reasonable to me. His actions are not illegal. In fact, the law excludes inheritances from marital property.. So maintaining his family inheritance for his family is well grounded. But is that how you wish to live?
On the Other Hand: Do you recognize your dearly beloved in Dickens’ description of Scrooge?
Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas.
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee! Is this how you wish to live your life? The Law does not have all the Answers. Some you have to figure out on your own. This is one of those questions. Wasn’t that easy?
*************
Must a Successor Trustee make a Distribution-in-Kind of gold coins left in a trust?
My wife’s parents Trust left every thing to their two daughters to be divided equally. Her sister does not want half of the coins, my wife does.
My concern is if the coins which are all identical are are taken in kind that the tax liability may be different than a direct inheritance of the coins. The coins are documented as in the Trust. The cost of valuing the coins is a concern as well. This is in the hands of a 3rd party fiduciary as the daughters don’t get along.
Death and Taxes. Inherited property, like these gold coins, get a special tax benefit. When the property is sold by the trust or transferred to the beneficiary, there is no tax. And property is treated, for tax purposes, as though the beneficiary owner paid fair market value for it on the date of Dad’s death.
Dad Sells His Coins: Dad paid $5 for each gold coin. While alive, Dad sells a gold coin for $10. Now Dad has $5 of profit. Therefore, Dad must pay tax on the profit. Also known as capital gains.
Daughters’ Doubloons. When the trust sells the coins, the trust also has no profit, no capital gain. No tax. Because the trust is treated as if it had paid full fair market value for the coins. The coins were then sold for fair market value. There is no profit. There is no tax. And the tax-free money goes to the daughter who did not want the coins.
Your wife, the other daughter, wants to keep the coins. That’s just fine. No problem and no tax problem. While valuing coins is difficult, it must be done. Write down the value. Get a written appraisal. At some point, your wife will decide that rather than the gold, she would rather have green, folding money.
When she sells, she is treated as if she paid fair market value, back when the last parent died. Even if the value has continued to increase, your wife still pays much less tax.
Dad paid $5 for each coin. Dad dies.
At his death, the coins are worth $10. Daughter (your wife) sells a coin. For $20.
Daughter’s profit is not $15. Daughter is treated as if she had paid $10 for each coin (the value on Dad’s date of death).
Yes, it is complicated. But did you think the government would make it easy for you to keep any part of your stuff? Of course not…
Bah,” Said Scrooge, “Humbug.” Why Don’t You Deserve A Little Payback For All The Taxes You Paid In?
Why Do You Want To Spend Your Last Nickel On Long-Term Care?
Why Shouldn’t The Government Spend Your Money For You?
Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
Stuff That Never Happens, Never Happens To Folks Like You
BlogRead the Print Version
(Warning: Typos Intact, Not Legal Advice)
Greedy Grasping Stepmother?
Conniving Stepsisters?
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before…
Can my step-mother, who has rights to live in the house till she dies, pay lawyers and take money out of my Dads Estate? NO WILL
When sibling took my dad & stepmother to draw up a will, years back. Stepmother said she didn’t want it-she wanted Everything my Dad had. She told him that day she could divorce him & take half of everything. She moved out for a wk when I got POA & he put bene on his Bank accts & investments, leaving her enough to live on & added her to the deed, to live there till she dies -then reverts back to his 3 prev children. I moved in with them, to try to help with his care– she said she was living in Hell & hoped to die in her sleep.. She called him ugly names and smacked him (on his legs) when he was talking late at night and bothering her..
I slept on the sofa beside him – he had his days & nights mixed up.. & trouble sleeping at night.. she would rather him be a nursing home. Now she’s upset that he didn’t leave her ALL and has hired an elder lawyer .. her daughter asked if my Dad’s estate would be paying the bills he paid in life and I’m afraid they are figuring a way to take money away from the house. we aren’t allowed to see or talk to her & they want us to come get our dads belongings that they are putting in his garage. he died Nov 2nd at 85- they were married 26 years. She is 83
Chapter One: 26 Years Of Wedded Bliss
Chapter Two: The Aftermath
Why These Things Happen: When people live longer, they tend to find fault with the other people they’ve been living with. Sometimes those other people die. Frequently they move on. To make other mistakes. With other people. Bringing their baggage along with them. Baggage that frequently includes other human beings, known as “children.” Children who never, at any time, saw in that other person what you saw in the other person. Hope springs eternal. Keeps life interesting.
Just the Facts, Just the Facts: Here’s a story of a lovely lady. Who was bringing up a very lovely girl. It’s the story, of a man named [Fill in the Blank], who was busy with three kids of his own. ‘til the one day when that lady met this fella and they knew that it was much more than a hunch…
But now she refuses to engage in estate planning. He wants his leftovers to go to his kids. After he dies. After she dies. After she has used the marital assets. Then passed over where those assets are no longer needed. But. She wants his leftovers. Now. And when he dies. Nothing for his kids. What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine too.
What Might Have Been: This is not an unusual situation. How do we make sure that the surviving spouse continues to enjoy the life that they have built over the last 20 years? How do we also honor the love each parent has for their kids? How do we honor the commitment that these married folks have made to one another? How do we avoid nursing home poverty that wrecks everything for everyone?
First Things First: An easy way to prevent fights over stuff is to make sure there is no stuff. Not surprisingly, there is a popular way to make sure there is no stuff over which to fight. Simply liquidate lifesavings and pay for a long-term care facility, nursing home, assisted living, or at-home care provider. Care services are extremely expensive now. Care services are getting more expensive by the day. Going broke does seem to be a popular strategy. Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Planning to avoid nursing home poverty is well- established. The legal foundations are sound. The beneficial consequences are undeniable. And the psychological effects are much greater than most folks realize. The stepmother in this letter is greedy, grasping, uncooperative, and mean. Maybe that is just who she is. Always has been, always will be. But I wonder. How well do you yourself function when fear and anxiety set in? Imagine yourself threatened. Weak. Unable to control your destiny. Physical and mental decline undeniable. Will you be your best self? Maybe. Maybe not. Would it make any difference if your future were secure? If you knew that there was nothing to worry about. Does security bring generosity?
Gratitude? Sometimes, I guess.
Chances Missed: By rejecting Dad’s efforts to plan, Stepmom put him in a bind. Cooperative, joint, mutual planning that is agreed upon by the couple works best. Dad could write off his kids. Or he could plan for both wife and kids, without Stepmom’s contributions.
Stepmom threatened Dad with divorce. He did not want that. Stepmom insisted Dad disinherit his kids. He did not want that either. So Dad put Sonny-boy’s name on some accounts. It seems that Dad also put Stepmom’s name on other accounts. Dad “put bene on his Bank accts & investments, leaving her enough to live on”.
Plus Stepmom gets (at least) so much of his Social Security Retirement that is more than her own. Maybe pension, too.
I would also guess, from our correspondent, that Dad gave Stepmom a “life estate” in the homestead. After the estate planning fiasco, Dad “added her to the deed, to live there till she dies -then reverts back to his 3 prev children”. That’s a pretty good description of how a life estate works. Dad, who owns the real estate, gives Stepmom the right to live there. For as long as she lives. And after death, the real estate goes to whomever Dad set forth on the deed.
Practical Pointer: What if Stepmom challenges all this and tries to set it aside? Michigan’s Estate and Protected Individual Code has the answers. Stepmom and Dad have no kids together. Stepmom and Dad each have descendants of their own. In this case, surviving Stepmom gets the first $100,000 and splits the remainder with Dad’s kids. Adjusted for inflation since the year 2000, Stepmom would actually get the first $161,000 and divide the remainder equally. One-half for the surviving spouse. One-half divided among the decedent’s children.
Interesting Note: What if Stepmom and Dad had at least one child together? Then Stepmom would get the first $242,000. And divide the rest as usual.
Bottom Line: Dad and Stepmom missed an opportunity to provide for one another and perhaps build a happier life together. Stepmom would probably lose more at this time by contesting rather than accepting Dad’s solution. Can Stepmom leave the homestead in debt by charging expenses against it? Nope. Can Stepmom draw money from the estate that Dad did not leave to her? No. Does it make sense for Stepmom to try and set it all aside? Probably not, but it all comes down to the numbers.
***********************
Does Any Good Deed Go Unpunished?
Or Unrecorded?
What do i do as a successor trustee if the real property deeds were prepared, signed and notarized but never recorded?
it appears that when the trust ws prepared so were the deeds, but the original deeds are still in the binder with the will and trust, etc. and there is no record of them ever being recorded. Can I simply record them now? it has been about 2 years since everything was signed and notarized.
Short Answer: No. Problem. At. All.
Longer Answer: In each county, the Register of Deeds provides a permanent record of transfers, encumbrances, liens, easements, and all the other items that affect the ownership or use of real estate. Provided that the document meets certain minimum requirements, the Register MUST record the document. To prove that the document existed. But there is no legal effect to recording. A recorded deed or other document does not become more “legal” because it is recorded.
Deeds in Michigan are effective when delivered with donative intent. Was the deed written? Was the deed delivered? Did the person writing the deed intend to transfer the property? Recording with the Register of Deeds is, of course, pretty good evidence that you meant to transfer the property, of donative intent. On the other hand, Michigan courts have held that recording a deed with the Register of Deeds is not, all by itself, the answer. Deeds that were recorded without “donative intent” have been thrown out.
Bottom Line: When buying a home, recording the deed is of utmost, paramount, super-duper importance. You need to pay the property taxes. You need to live in the thing. You need to get the mortgage. Git R Done!
Estate planning requirements are different. You already own the darn place. No one is going to evict you. You are doing the planning for purposes other than you need a place to lay your weary head. That’s why it is not unusual for deeds in the estate planning context to be recorded later. Sometimes much later. Sometimes as a privacy strategy. Sometimes just because.
Warning! In Michigan, a recorded deed wins! Unless the person recording the deed knows about a prior unrecorded deed.
Here’s How It Works: Let’s say the person who set up this trust (the “Grantor”) made you the Trustee. Then the Grantor names someone else as Agent under a Financial Power of Attorney. [Yes. This is a really stupid way to do things, but it happens.]
Let’s say that the Trustee sells the home to Person A. Trustee gives Person A the deed putting the house into the Trust. Trustee also gives Person A a deed transferring the house from the Trust to Person A.
Person A sets off for the Register of Deeds, but stops for lunch.
In the meantime, the Agent under the Financial Power of Attorney, sells the house to Person B. Agent gives Person B a deed transferring the house to Person B. Person B had a big breakfast so heads straight to the Register of Deeds and records his deed.
Person B wins the race to the Register of Deeds and records first. Person B has no idea about the trust or Person A. Who owns the house? Person B.
But what if Person B knew about the deed to the Trust? What if Person B was on notice? If Person B knows that Trustee already deeded the house to Person A, Person B loses.
And that’s why Michigan’s recording statute is called “Race/Notice”. Whoever wins the RACE to the Register, without NOTICE of another deed, wins. Ain’t the law fascinatin’?
***********************
It’s Nice To Be Nice. Or Is It?
Is it a liability for me to be on my elderly father’s checking account?
My father is 92 and his only income is the $800 per month that he gets from Social Security and SSI. He’s also on Medicaid. His mind is slipping away quickly and he is having trouble writing checks to pay bills. I’m already on his account as a beneficiary, but he is concerned that he will become incapacitated and he wants to add me to his account as an authorized signer. I am concerned that other, less involved family members, could accuse me of mishandling this money. Is that something that could turn into a liability for me? Are there any other issues I should be looking out for?
Short Answer #1: No, it is not a liability for you to be authorized signer on Dad’s checking account. So long as you do not steal the money. Then you’ve got troubles.
Short Answer #2: Yes, you will become a target for the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that your nearest and dearest will launch in your direction. Nothing you do will be right or fair or just. You will have to sit at the kids’ table at Thanksgiving. Lump of coal in your Christmas stocking.
Longer Answer: You need Dad to give you a Power of Attorney. Then you can do all the things he wants you to do. Be aware: the Social Security Administration does not care about Powers of Attorney. Or probate court guardianship/conservatorship. To satisfy the SSA, you have to become Dad’s “Representative Payee” down at the Social Security office. The Veterans Administration has a similar program.
Ancillary Advice: Get a Health Care Power of Attorney while you are thinking about it.
Free Advice and Worth What You Paid for It: The ultimate legal test here is “Were you stealing?” If not, you are fine. If yes, big BIG penalties. So don’t steal. Do the old man a solid. Get a good Financial Power of Attorney. That means don’t download it from the Interwebs. Spend a few minutes with a real lawyer about the in’s and out’s.
And every time you sign your name to anything for Dad, add a comma, and POA: “John Jones, POA”! You’ll be fine. Probably. Buena suerte.
Why Don’t You Deserve A Little Payback For All The Taxes You Paid In?
Why Do You Want To Spend Your Last Nickel On Long-Term Care?
Why Shouldn’t The Government Spend Your Money For You?
Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long- term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all.
It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
Tis the season to be jolly…
BlogRead the Print Version
(Warning: typos intact, not legal advice)
Fish Gotta Swim, Bird Gotta Fly, Whiner Gotta Whine?
My mother is 81, has previously made her will, now my brother has, mentally abused her and make make changed to the will?
How can we fix this matter, he has scared her by telling her he will hurt anyone that she has placed on the will for her home, that she’s now saying she will give it to him because she didn’t want anything to happen to him when she dies. The will was previously done. And isn’t changed yet ? What can we do? She has told her he suffered lots and blames her for not taking care of him…. He would always do it, but she never fell for it. She alway said the home is for all her children. Now that she is 81 years old he has broke her and she now feels she needs to help him.
Newsflash From Gehenna: 9th Circle Of Hell Reserved For Those Who Betray Their Family
Fast Facts: Brother lives with mother. Beggar Brother has appealed to, begged, pleaded, implored, beseeched, entreated, demanded, mooched, insisted, besieged, and otherwise importuned mom to give him her house when she dies. Mom has been steadfastly rejecting his guilt-ridden claims. Mom has always wanted the house to be for all her progeny. But at her advanced age of 81, the kids are concerned. Just as the Grand Canyon was carved out of a never-ending stream of water, perhaps Mom’s common sense is being eroded by a never-ending stream of guilt and abuse.
Quick Questions: Has Beggar Brother broken mom’s will to resist? Will a new will appear? Will Mom’s wishes wither away? Will Beggar Brother get the house? And what can we do now?
Lightning Law: What we have here is a possible case of undue influence. Mom’s mental capacity does not seem to be at issue. The question is whether Beggar Brother has overwhelmed Mom to the extent that the law will intervene. Sadly, on the Highway of Life, the Guilt Trip is among the most popular routes. There’s no law against guilt tripping. Or begging. Or tear-filled entreaties. Psychological abuse is a different story. But it is a difficult story when the main character has left the stage.
Practical Pointer: It all depends on who must go forward to prove their case. Whoever has to prove, loses. You do not want to be the one with the “burden of proof” in an undue influence case. Here’s why:
Family Fails: Beggar Brother has no special position of trust or confidence with Mom. He just shows up every now and again to whine and blame her for his own misfortunes. Mom eventually goes along with Beggar Brother’s piggish pleading. Now it is up to the other family members to prove that Beggar Brother unduly influenced Mom. And gosh is that tough!
Beggar Brother Bumbles: On the other hand, if Beggar Brother is Mom’s fiduciary. Mom’s trustee, personal representative, agent, patient advocate, or otherwise occupies a special position of trust and confidence, the game changes. Now it is up to Beggar Brother to prove that he did NOT unduly influence
Mom to change her Will. Good luck with that!
Avid Action: Get Mom to a real attorney. Leave her alone with the real attorney. Let her tell the real attorney what she really wants. At the same time, give a call to Adult Protective Services (they’re in the phone book if you still have one of those. Otherwise, GOOGLE™ it.) APS is there to prevent financial and psychological abuse and neglect of our seasoned citizens. If Beggar Brother persists, you have already started to make the record.
And if Beggar Brother continues to badger, bebother, and bewilder Mom, remember that the 9th Circle of Hell is reserved for those treacherous souls who betray their loved ones, friends, and country. Not pleasant. True! You can look it up.
Put All Your Eggs In One Basket, Then Keep An Eye On That Basket
Is it a legal requirement that the POA is the same person as the trustee?
My wife is the trustee on her mother’s trust and also her medical POA. Her mother is in declining health and needs a durable POA. Can one of my wife’s sisters fill that role and leave my wife in her current roles?
Persistent Puzzles: As you live your life, there are always at least two (2) critical questions that you cannot avoid and must deal with:
1. Do I have enough money and stuff?
2. Do I feel OK today?
When you are basically healthy and relatively sane, it is up to you to figure out the answers to these questions. Then, depending on your answers, you make decisions. You take action. You get stuff done. Because you’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like you! Go get ‘em tiger!
What if you are incapable of making these basic decisions? What if you cannot take action? Then someone else must decide and do for you. Who ya gonna call? That’s what estate and elder law planning are all about.
Probate Problem: What if you shirk this basic responsibility to yourself and your family? What if you don’t choose to give someone the authority to make these basic decisions?
Too awful to contemplate? So irresponsible as to be unthinkable? Deserving of a lump of coal in one’s stocking? Yes, of course, but as unlikely as it may seem, some folks seem intent on proving that Cleopatra was not the only Queen of de Nile (de Nile = denial, get it? That’s funny, right there!). And so they wind up in Probate Court. Overworked, overwhelmed, expensive, sluggish Probate Court. Thanks a lot, mom & dad!
Sensible Solution: Probate Problems don’t happen to those who plan ahead. Yet in planning you must confront the two (2) critical questions: Do I have enough money and stuff? Do I feel OK today? These are the Money Question and the Health Question.
When dealing with the Money Question, you have a wide range of legal documents which you prudently use to cover all possibilities. These documents include, wills, trusts, financial powers of attorney. Each requires a living human person to make them work. Will = Personal Representative. Trust = Trustee. Financial Power of Attorney = Agent. These Money People manage your money until there is no money left to manage or you depart the stage. Whichever comes first.
When dealing with the Health Question, again there are many documents. Including: Health Care power of attorney, Advance Directive, Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act Release. Again, you need that living human being to be your champion. Your Health Person. Your Patient Advocate.
So far, so good, eh?
Duplication of Effort, Multiplication of Trouble: By now you’re thinking I forgot the original question.
But I didn’t, here it comes!
It is a very good idea to have a single Money Person with authority under all the Money Documents to answer all the Money Questions.
It is a very good idea to have a single Health Person with authority under all the Health Documents to answer all the Health Questions.
It is not illegal to have more than one Money Person acting at the same time. It is not illegal to have more than one Health Person acting at the same time. Not illegal. You can drive a car with your feet if you want to. Or tug on Superman’s cape. Or spit into the wind. Or pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger.
If something is NOT ILLEGAL, does that make it GOOD? You have 2 guesses and the first one doesn’t count.
It is not illegal to have co-Trustees or co-Patient Advocates. But gosh is it dumb. Bad. Not a good idea. Stoopid.
Then why do so many folks have co-Everything? Good Question! Could it be because their attorneys do not recognize the problem? Or don’t want to get into with client? Or don’t care? Who knows? But 32 years and thousands of family situations later, it seems obvious that the road to hell is paved with co-trustees and co-patient advocates.
With co-fiduciaries, you double the work and multiply the trouble. Because you are setting your trusted advisors up for failure. How do you fix things if they disagree? And if they never disagree, why bother both? Where’s the added value?
Experience teaches that it is easy to get someone to act as Trustee or Patient Advocate. The first time. It is almost impossible to get any ordinary person serve as Trustee or Patient Advocate a second time. (Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.)
Blended Family Exception: Big exception for blended families. In the “Yours, Mine & Ours” situation, co- Money People can be a good thing. The work is still doubled, because now you have 2 people doing the work of 1. But stepsiblings tend (not always, but usually) to be more polite to one another than blood relations. They don’t have the long-buried sibling rivalries and antagonisms of blood relations. So it’s not as bad. “Not as bad” is not an endorsement.
The advantage of Blended Family co-Money People is that now both sides have a “seat at the table.” The Big People’s table. As a practical matter, there is very little difference. The point is that everyone feels heard. Information is probably not disseminated or distributed more efficiently. But that feeling that your own sibling has an eye on matters more than makes up for the hassle.
You Idiot! You Misread the Question: On the other hand, if the question is: Can one sister be the Money Person and the other sister be the Health Person? Uh. Well. Yes! Of course. No conflict there. Wasn’t that easy?
Why Do You Want To Spend Your Last Nickel On Long-Term Care?
Why Don’t You Deserve A Little Payback For All The Taxes You Paid In? Why Shouldn’t The Government Spend Your Money For You?
Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long- term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society,
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
IS NOW A BAD TIME FOR A REAL SOLUTION?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all.
It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
Mailbag Of Madness
BlogRead the Print Version
“If Voting Changed Anything, They’d Make It Illegal”
Democracy Is The Theory That The Common People Know What They Want, And Deserve To Get It Good And Hard
H. L. Mencken
Good Judgment Comes From Experience, And A Lot Of That Comes From Bad Judgment
Will Rogers
A Man Who Carries A Cat By The Tail Learns Something He Can Learn In No Other Way
Mark Twain
“A Week Is A Long Time In Politics”
Toxic Typo’s – Sinful Syntax – Poisonous Punctuation. And Still Not Legal Advice!
“Our House Is A Very Very Very Fine House” – Graham Nash
What legally binding forms are required/recommended to ensure a persons desire to leave a house to someone else after they pass?
We live with my mother in law and have for the last 18 years, she is getting up in age and has promised us her house when she passes. Her other children are not aware of this at this time. To avoid drama and conflict later her and I both agree something legally binding should be created now to avoid conflicts later. What exactly needs to be created or stated to ensure that the house is left to us per her wishes? Also if the forms are not created is there a natural procedure for who the house would be offered to (eldest child etc)? Thanks
What You Should Do: Fight. Fight. Fight. Mom expressed her desire that you take care of her business. Where the hell does brother get off challenging Mom’s wishes? At the next stop, that’s where! Going to probate court, seeking guardian/conservator when Mom already handled matters is bogus. And you can quote me on that. (Unless you are neglecting Mom and stealing her money).
Accurate Answer: Lawyer up. Call the lawyer who is filing these papers in Probate Court. Express your willingness to “go to the mattresses” until Kingdom Come. And be ready to endure a contested matter in probate court. It will suck. It will be expensive. It will be worth it.
“It Is A Wise Father That Knows His Own Child”- Shakespeare
Can parent in nurse care transfer asset to a disable child without penalty? does it need to be in a trust or can it be a gift?
Dad is in a nursing home and is currently spending down however one of his adult child is on SSDI can he transfer assets to his child on SSDI without penalty Thank you
General Answer: Most Medicaid programs for older folks, including the one that pays your Dad’s skilled nursing, will allow Dad to transfer assets to a disabled child. Usually such a transfer would be “divestment” and Dad would be heavily penalized. But since brother is on Social Security Disability, transfers to him will not be divestment.
Next Step: Do not make the transfer directly to brother. You know about his Social Security Disability Income. Is it crazy to think that brother may be on other government programs? Isn’t it likely? So, let’s not give him the money directly, but create a trust “solely for the benefit” of brother. No Direct Transfer. Transfer to Supplemental Needs Trust. Works Great and No Probate! Try It, You’ll Like It! You are welcome, sir!
“Out Damned Spot!” – Shakespeare
When the person dies I am taking care of in her daughter another house can I stay there ?
I do not have a lease from the person I am caring for. The person has a life estate in her house she gave to her daughter decades ago. When she dies I feel I should be able to stay in the house for 30 days at least till I find another place to live in. The daughter and myself are not on friendly terms and she refused to give a lease years ago. I have been a caretaker for the Mother 12 years?
Sad But True Answer: You can stay in the house only so long as it takes Daughter to evict you through the usual process. Expect to get a Notice to Quit – Termination of Tenancy as soon as your client dies. That document will give you 30 days to pack up and vamoose!
Hopeless, Helpless Situation: There is nothing that can be done about this now. The person you are caring for does not own the entire house. All she has (according to you) is a “life estate” in the house. That life estate dies when your client dies. And then daughter owns all. And you are looking for an apartment.
Hindsight is 20/20 Advice: Like most people, you do not like pushiness. You don’t push other folks around. And you don’t like to complain. That’s why you do not have future housing security. You are first in line to get the Bum’s Rush as soon as your client dies. You coulda, shoulda, woulda taken care of this a long time ago. Now you are dependent on daughter who does not like you.
Do you like anxiety? Does insecurity make you happy? Otherwise, when (if) mom needs long-term care, Medicaid will say she has been giving her money away. And Medicaid will hit mom with a penalty period. Not good.
Why Estate Planning Fails
If Trusts Avoid Probate…
And Special Real Estate Deeds Avoid Probate… And Beneficiary Designations Avoid Probate… Why Do We Need More Probate Judges?
And How To Make Yours Succeed
Seems like estate planning is all about avoiding probate. Financial advisors, lawyers, your brother- in-law… everybody full of good advice about how to avoid probate. And those poor dear probate judges! Nothing to do… out of work… unemployed… thing of the past…?
But then look at your Kent County ballot come Election Day. Lo and behold, they are creating a new probate judge. A desperately needed probate judge. To meet the rising demand for probate. Who’s getting rid of any probate judges? Nobody. Busier than ever. Need more. Adding them. Not kidding.
How can this be? Isn’t everybody’s avoiding probate? And still the probate courts are overworked and overwhelmed? Gee, do you think that maybe all that “avoid probate” stuff doesn’t really work? Why not?
Your estate plan will fail. Your estate planner claims to be avoiding probate, saving taxes, and delivering the leftovers to painlessly to your beneficiaries. And this fails. Fails so badly we need more probate judges.
Traditional estate planning fails for many reasons. A big one: 70% of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Are you surprised that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Then probate feasts on the measly leftovers. Why is your estate plan so bad? Evil intent? Stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society. Stay out of probate.
Should stroke, disability, dementia always lead to financial ruin? And the probate court? Are you happy to see your lifesavings evaporate? Thousands of LifePlan™ families know a better way.
If your loved one suffers from dementia that leads to death, should they die impoverished? Should the survivors live impoverished?
LifePlanning™ means your last years will be years of security and peace of mind.
Is A Real Solution A Bad Idea?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
It all begins with the LifePlan™ Workshop. An hour or two that changes your family history. The first step on the path to security and peace. Why not your family? Why not you?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
Letters | If Shakespeare Had Written Legal Advice…
BlogRead the Print Version
Better To Light One Candle Than Curse The Darkness
Like A Presidential Press Conference: Typographical Errors Ignored – Punctuational Poltroonery Preserved And Not Legal Advice!
“Neither A Borrower Nor A Lender Be” – Shakespeare
Am I responsible for my husbands credit card debt if the cards are only in his name?
My husband is in a Medicare skilled nursing facility and is receiving SSI disability and is expected not to recover. Am I responsible for his credit cards that he took out in his name only?
Accurate Answer: You are not responsible for your husband’s debts. That is because the credit card company loaned money to your husband, not to you. One hopes you do not feel any twinge of responsibility for his debt.
Problematic Puzzle: Why do credit card companies issue credit cards to older folks who have no reasonable ability to pay them back? Fact: Most older folks are basically honorable. And don’t go bellyaching and begging for debt “forgiveness.” Does the immediate 3-4% credit card fee on everything folks buy on the credit card have anything to do with it? Hmmmm.
Obnoxious Observation: Our correspondent states that her husband in in a “Medicare skilled nursing facility” and “receiving SSI disability.” Probably not. Medicare only pays for a short (20 days) period of rehabilitation. Then you have a $200/day co-pay for the next 80 days.
But Medicare will boot you off rehab before you get the 20 days, so don’t worry about the next 80. Appeal all you want. You will lose. So, husband is probably on Medicaid. And when Social Security figures that out, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will vanish. And if anyone tells you that you’ll get 100 days of nursing home on Medicare, feel free to roll your eyes.
“Venus Smiles Not In A House Of Tears” – Shakespeare
Can the next door neighbor sell my friends house , I have a will, he is in nursing home?? My friend is in a nursing home with a brain tumor I am in his will, his next door neighbor wants to sell his house, can he?
Educated Guess: Next Door Neighbor is the guardian/conservator for your friend. OR Your friend has given Next Door Neighbor a financial power of attorney with real estate provisions.
Accurate Answer: Next Door Neighbor has the authority to sell your friend’s house, whether that authority was granted by the Probate Court or by your friend directly. It is common for folks to sell all their stuff when the $10-15,000/ month nursing home bill arrives. It is not usually a good idea, but it is popular. And there you have it.
In Case You Were Wondering: The will has nothing to do with any of this. A will is simply instructions to the Probate Court after the testator (person who made the will) has died. After the person has died. Not before. After death. Postmortem. Will don’t mean a thing.
Until you have died. Period.
“The World Is Not Thy Friend, Nor The World’s Law” – Shakespeare
Can I keep getting my medicaid insurance if I inherent money from a lost parent
My mother recently passed away and left me some inheritance. Medicaid insurance is stating that if i have over 2,015 dollars in my bank account i will lose my insurance. I am
almost disabled and have to have my insurance. This does not make sense to me.
Could you please help me understand if this is right. Thank you
Accurate Answer: Most Medicaid programs for older folks, including the one that pays your Medicare premiums, have an asset limit. The limit on “countable assets” is usually $2000. Countable assets include cash, real estate that is not your homestead, a second car, gold bars, and other items of value. So, if you have $2015 in the bank, you are over. And with Medicaid, over is over. If you are over by one dollar, you are over. If you are over by one million dollars, you are over. And then you lose your benefits.
Shopping Suggestion: Go to the grocery store. Buy a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, 2 dozen eggs, a stick of butter, 2 pounds of hamburger, a couple of apples. Or one bottle of wine. There. Now your bank account is below $2000! You are welcome, sir!
“Love Is Like A Child, That Longs For Everything It Can Come By” – Shakespeare
What is the best way for me to legally get paid for caring for my bedridden mother 24/7 who draws SS? She lives with me now, and I provide 24/7 care for her, changing her diapers, providing her meals, setting her up for her meals, brush her hair, clip her nails, wash and fold her clothes, pay her bills, etc. My power bill is taking a hit due to the TV and oxygen condenser constantly running.
Would charging rent be the best way? She does have a separate POA person.
So, mother doesn’t mind paying me. Is there a limit to what I can charge? I know the nursing homes take the entire check less $30, then they take that if you want to watch TV in the room to pay the cable bill. So, all my mother needs is to be taken care of, and whatever she needs, I can buy her.
Accurate Answer: In Michigan, the Bridges Eligibility Manual was rewritten years ago to make it virtually impossible to pay a family member caregiver. There is a procedure, but it is so convoluted that regular folks living regular lives will not be able to qualify.
Parent paying rent is a different story. But. Involve a rental property management company or real estate agent (get two of ‘em!). Get a written opinion. What is the market rental for the square footage mom will occupy in your home. Get it in writing.
Do not pay for mom’s stuff. Do not pay her cable bill. Or for her groceries. Or anything else that mom would have to pay for herself. Mom’s expenses have to come from mom’s pocket. This is a trap for generous kids. Over and over. You go to the grocery store. You buy the stuff on mom’s list. You pay for it all. You circle mom’s stuff on the receipt. Mom reimburses you. But because mom has no legal obligation to reimburse you, it will be treated as a gift. And mom will be penalized. So. Use mom’s debit card at the grocery store. Have mom pay her own cable bill. Otherwise, when (if) mom needs long-term care, Medicaid will say she has been giving her money away. And Medicaid will hit mom with a penalty period. Not good.
Will Your Kids Unite In Thanksgiving?
You Worked Hard, You Played By The Rules
Is It Bad For Your Family To Get A Bit To Be Thankful For?
Did You Leave Your Loved Ones A Belly Ache Of Stale Candy?
Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long- term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all.
It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
Abandon Hope All Ye Who Send Letters Here
BlogRead the Print Version
Truth Stranger Than Fiction
Terrifying Typos – Slaughtered Syntax – Painful Punctuation – Obviously Original
And Still Not Legal Advice!!
Do Not Spoil Your Golden Anniversary Or Opportunity
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A MARRIED WOMAN TO HAVE A TRUST IN ONLY HER NAME OR MUST HER HUSBAND BE ON IT TOO?
I had an inheritance trust in my name only but when we moved to Mi and wanted to change to the new assets, I was told my husband and I had to both be on it. This has been no problem, we’ve been married almost 50 yrs and all is well except he is showing the very first stages of dementia and I would like to keep him from damaging our retirement fund. Can I have the trust in my name and my son’s name. He will take care of the trust when we die.
Short Answer: Possible for a married woman to have her own trust? Yes. Of course. This isn’t Russia. (Is this Russia? No!) So yes of course you can have your own trust. And eat it too!
Longer Answer: Your deceased relative was uncommonly on the ball! Almost all estate planners overlook the charming opportunities presented by death. Sorrowfully, most simply dump assets on beneficiaries. Such laziness would be malpractice, except everybody’s doing it. Because monkey see/ monkey do is a pretty good defense against malpractice.
Also know as the “generally accepted standard of care”. Poor standard of care, poor results… but not malpractice. Why isn’t the standard: “best practices”? Don’t know.
Shouldn’t the test be, did you do the best thing? Hmmm. Let’s dig up that corpse next Halloween.
She: You Only Love Me For My Trust!
He: Yeah So?
The Good: Your relative left you assets in trust. Hurrah! Of course, we do not know the terms of the “inheritance trust,” but let us (charitably) assume the best. Let’s guess that your “inheritance trust” was structured as a third-party supplemental needs/discretionary trust. Done properly, the inherited assets are protected from lawsuits and long-term care. And protected immediately!
Your aged relative, R.I.P. was aware (we hope) that even 50-year golden anniversary marriages occasionally hit the skids. State law says inheritances don’t count in divorce. As a practical matter, everyone knows inheritances do “count.” When assets are dumped from an estate, the first inclination is to put the money in a joint account.
You know it’s true! Then, like a dervish demon from the fiery furnace, the inheritance dollars flee, fly, flit away to get divvied up… But put those assets in a well-constructed trust and you have driven a stake through the heart of the nefarious vampire divorce lawyer seeking plunder!
Perhaps aged relative was also familiar with the “very first stages of dementia beginning to show.” Wise old bird! Relative knew that you would soon be face-to- face with the original Punisher:
Medicaid. Done properly however, your inheritance trust assets are secure from Medicaid’s ghastly, ghoulish, grim, gruesome, grisly, grasping grip. [See what you can do with a thesaurus?] Bottom Line: you are not going broke when hubby needs help because your inheritance trust assets are protected.
The Bad: “When [you] moved to Mi… [you] wanted to change to the new assets…” Probably you just changed financial advisors or re- arranged your investment portfolio.
Dealing with assets already in the inheritance trust does not affect the validity of the trust. If by “new assets” you simply mean replacement investments for stuff that is already in the trust, it is hard to see how your husband could be involved. At all.
On the other hand… What if you and your husband got the awful, terrible, no-good, very bad advice to add your own assets to the trust? That would be ill-advised. It would expose the trust to potential claims. By your husband. By your creditors. By Medicaid. Risky! Unnecessary! Foolish! Typical. Sad. Do not do that thing!
Leave inheritance trust assets alone in the inheritance trust. Manage them, change ‘em out, develop new portfolio strategies. That is all good. But. Do not commingle inheritance trust assets with your household, marital assets. Do not ruin a good thing.
By the way: With LifePlanning™, you will always protect your beneficiaries with an inheritance trust. Because why wouldn’t you?
The Ugly: This guy is ugly. Thank you, Universal Studios.
Show Me The Money!
Whaddaya Mean None For Me?!
My grandmother passed away almost a year ago and I need to know if she left money for me? Want to see if my grandmother left me money from her will
Simple Answer: Go to the probate court in the county where grandmother died. Ask if there has been a will filed for her. Ask if there has been a probate estate opened for her. If yes or yes, get a copy of the Will. Read it. Now you know.
Not-So-Simple Answer: If there was a will or trust and the will or trust is being administered and if you were a named beneficiary, then you should already have received notice. But you have not. That suggests a few possibilities:
1. Grandmother was dead broke when she died.
2. Grandmother had all beneficiary designations on her accounts.
3. Grandmother had leftovers and a will, but no one has probated the will and the stuff is just sitting there.
4. Grandmother had a trust. And you are not a beneficiary.
5. Grandmother had a will. Probate is humming along. And you are not a beneficiary.
There are more possibilities, but these are the most likely. Why not ask your mom or dad? Aunt or uncle? If you cannot get straight answers, you may wish to hire an attorney to help you out. Beware, these things get expensive quickly. And ruin family relationships.
Both are bad.
Home Mortgage Interest Rates Break The 7% Barrier
A few choice quotes from Freddie Mac:
Mortgage rates “have more than doubled in the past year. Mortgage rates have never doubled in a year before.”
“Kong Save Down Payment! Now Interest Rate Triple! Cannot Afford Bungalow! How Break News To Wife?!”
Trick Or Treat!
Did You Want Your Estate Plan To Be A Nasty Trick?
Is It Wrong To Leave Your Family A Treat?
Why Should The Government Get All Your Halloween Candy?
Why Estate Planning Fails And How To Be A Winner
Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
Less Of Everything And All More Expensive
BlogRead the Print Version
Happy Halloween Horror Show!
Mummy Mortgage Rates Rising Like A Bat Out Of Hell
Ever actually see a Bat Out of Hell? Me neither. But these week-to-week increases in home mortgage interest rates would give that fella a run for his money. And how!
How much higher can rates go? Much much higher. So here’s your weekly dose of reality. Read ‘em and weep:
“Repulsive Revolting Rates Mean We’ll Never Afford Our Bloody Bungalow!”
Creepy Consumer Prices Popping
“I Vill Haft To Stay Home…”
So expensive to eat out! Let’s stay home and read the newspaper. How about some buttered toast? And a steaming cup of coffee? Sounds great… economical too! Not so fast… The cost of bakery products is up over 16%. Same goes for your Cheerios… And the butter? That’s up 16% too… like the milk for your Cheerios… or is it Special K for you? Look on the bright side… those eggs are only up 8%. Yay. Unfortunately, alcoholic beverages are up an unlucky 13%. Well, you wanted to go on a diet anyhow…
And Now A Sneak Peek At 2023: Looks Like More Of The Same…
“The Rent Is Too Damn High!”
Kong Is Korrect! Rent Is Up 7.2%!
Looks like he found a roommate to share the increased rental expense. Good strategy! But with Transportation services up by almost 15%, perhaps the happy couple should invest in a bicycle built for two? Just a suggestion.
“Please… No More Charts! Too Horrifying!”
Trick Or Treat!
Did You Want Your Estate Plan To Be A Nasty Trick?
Is It Wrong To Leave Your Family A Treat?
Why Should The Government Get All Your Halloween Candy?
Why Estate Planning Fails And How To Be A Winner
Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812
Ignore These Graphs, They Are Meaningless
BlogRead the Print Version
Happy Talky Talky Happy Talk! Don’t Worry, Be Happy
HOW ARE MORTGAGE RATES LIKE MURDER RATES?
Ever wonder how mortgage rates are like murder rates? Me too! And we are in luck. You have paid so much in taxes; Washington bureaucrats track this stuff. Not joking.
Freddie Mac (not the guy with the hamburgers or cheesy macaroni) says home mortgage interest rates have almost tripled. USA, USA, USA!
The American Stasi, Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, Praetorian Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer, reports that murder rates are surging. How did that happen?
Don’t believe me… believe your own lying eyes:
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
What’s The Difference Between Oil And Murder Plus Mortgage Rates?
Why would the Leader of the Free World™ grovel to Petroleum Potentates? Why would Petroleum Potentates wipe the Leader of the Free World™’s nose in his stinky economic and geopolitical mess? Why would PPs listen to the L of the FW’s humiliating pleas, then do exactly the opposite? Because they can. But why? How?
Your tireless tax-paid government bureaucrats at the U.S. Energy Information Administration have the answer. In a single chart.
Follow the lines. “Ending Stocks of Crude Oil” in our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) are at a 30-year low. Thirty. Year. Low. From historic highs to historic lows. In 2 years. Did somebody try to buy political favors with your energy security? Nah! Crazy talk. Conspiracy theory. I am sure there is a very good explanation. Very. Good.
What else is at historic lows? America’s regular stocks of crude oil. Lowest in 30 years for “Ending Stocks of Crude Oil”. Blame COVID. Or Russia. Or China. Or Ukraine. Or Evil Oil Companies. Or Garden Gnomes. Right? Could not possibly have anything to do with doddering grifters wrapping themselves in the flag and buying votes. Nah! So much crazy talk.
And thank goodness for global warming! Our planet is so toasty, we don’t need petroleum products to heat our homes. Nowadays, winter is a thing of the past. A few old greybeards remember snow as a distant memory, but you’ve never seen any. And windmills juice up all our electric rent- a-cars. No problem. Don’t worry. Be happy. Now.
Murder Up! Mortgage Up! Oil Supply Down!
What are you going to do about it?
Lightning Letters Redux…
Like Sands Through The Hourglass… So Are The Letters Of Our Lives
(Not Edited For Spelling Or Punctuation Or Anything Else) (Warning: Not Legal Advice!)
Bad Ideas Come From Bad Information
How do I put my name on my mom’s property?
We are living with my mom to take care of her. She has dementia and may need to go into a home. Her will already states that I get everything as my sister and father passed away. I know if I try to put her into a home to help her, we will have to sell the house and we don’t want to lose it and be homeless.
The Short Answer Is: You don’t. Bad idea. Putting your name on mom’s property now would be a “divestment” for Medicaid purposes. If mom needs a Skilled Nursing Facility, she won’t get help, she’ll get a penalty period. And then she’ll get sued. And then they’ll sue you. And then you’ll lose the homestead. And that would be bad.
The Longer Answer Is: Plan to avoid probate. Mom can keep her homestead. You can live in and maintain it. Mom still gets her Skilled Nursing Facility benefits. Although Medicaid takes all her income except for $60/ month.
The Problem Will Be: House in mom’s name must go through probate at death. That’s bad: 1 – Mom gets Medicaid. 2 – Mom dies. 3 – Mom’s estate, including the house, gets probated. 4 – State of Michigan wants its Medicaid money back. State shows up in probate court. State gets the dough. 5 – You lose the house. 6 – You are homeless. Bad.
The Good Answer Is: Avoid probate with a Transfer- On-Death Deed, also known as the Ladybird Deed, Enhanced Life Estate Deed, or Deed pursuant to Michigan Land Title Standards Act 9.3.
A Potential Pitfall: Many folks use the TOD Deed to transfer the house to themselves directly. Now you go bankrupt or get sued or divorced or need long-term care and pfffft goes the house. Waste of Golden Opportunity for long-term security. You are getting the house for free. Mom’s care is also free (except she paid for it through years of income tax). Do Not Cheap Out Now. Spend a couple bucks and secure the house forever. And ever. Amen. (Yes, this strategy uses a trust. Get over it.)
Is Blood Thicker Than Water? And How Could You Tell?
Trust vs Heirs?
Dear attorney, there is an elder lady, who wants to put her niece to Trust and wants this niece to be an owner of this house when she dies. At the same time this lady has 2 sons, who might want to claim to get this property after their mother passes away. In that situation, in case her sons claim this property as blood heirs, what would prevail: trust or rights of her sons as blood relatives? What if they launch a court process, are there any theoretical chances to get the property in possession of her sons? Thank you in advance!
The Short Answer Is: Elder Lady Auntie gets to do with her stuff what she wants. Suggest using a trust to keep it out of probate. Quicker, faster, better. Less opportunity for uncles to complain. Trust wins over Blood! But.
The Longer Answer Is: Why is Elder Lady Auntie sweet on Nice Niece to the point of disinheriting her flesh-and-blood? Millions of reasons. But. Do you want uncles (father?) claiming that Nice Niece “unduly influenced” Elder Lady Auntie? I betcha NN is helping care for ELA. I betcha they are very close. I betcha ELA’s powers of attorney/will/trust/patient advocate name NN as ELA’s fiduciary. Danger is real, not a “theoretical chance.”
The Problem: NN’s close relationship with ELA means NN automatically unduly influenced ELA to give House to NN. (This is known as shifting the burden of proof.) Now NN must prove NN did NOT unduly influence ELA. Which is impossible now that ELA has died. NN loses house. Uncles win. Angels weep.
The Good Answer Is: Employ experienced counsel. Do it correctly. Wise, foresighted counsel will anticipate the undue influence claim. And defend against any such challenge. And a bunch of other stuff that can go haywire.
Why Don’t You Deserve A Little Payback For All The Taxes You Paid In?
Why Do You Want To Spend Your Last Nickel On Long-Term Care?
Why Shouldn’t The Government Spend Your Money For You?
Why Does Traditional Estate Planning Fail? All the time
Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.
Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.
Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society,
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.
Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?
Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.
Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?
Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?
Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.
The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?
NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812