Your Questions… Our Answers. Brutal, Honest Answers!
Tag Archive for: estate planning
GOING POSTAL! Like Seriously, This Really Happened, Not Making It Up!
Let’s Learn From The Misfortunes Of Others! Short, Snappy Answers
Springtime For Letters! Still Not Correcting Spelling Or Grammatical Errors
Ronald Reagan Wisdom Never Gets Old. The Gipper Fixed Airline Travel, Why Not Legal Services?
Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor Heat Nor Gloom Of Night Will Make Us Correct Spelling Or Grammatical Errors
(Sprightly Commentary That Is Not Legal Advice!)
I have been living in a family home, caring for a parent and grandparent for 19 years. Can I get compensated monetarily?
In 2003, I received a phone call from my mother in distress, stating she would have to put my grandmother in the nursing home because it was too much for her to take care of. I liquidated my assets, relocated, and moved into my grandmother’s home till she passed. A few years passed, my mother’s husband died, and I was asked to move into her home to help take care of the property. She was diagnosed with cancer, so it was assumed my responsibility to carry on caregiving. I have never been paid for service or compensated. I have not paid rent. By law can I get financially compensated?
Virtue Had Better Be Its Own Reward
Are all good-hearted people puddin’ heads? Surely not! But what person with common sense would abandon their own path in life to serve family members? A kind and generous person, of course. Kindness and generosity are wonderful traits. But so are practicality, prudence, and planning.
An individual sacrificing their own life choices can be truly noble. At least at the beginning. Our letter writer is now learning a bitter 20-year lesson. Caring for grandma and mom does not contribute to the Individual Retirement Account. Nor does it help you with Social Security. Last I checked, the Mom & Grandma Pension Fund was also out of business.
“I have never been paid for service or compensated.” What?! Do you wonder what our writer has been doing for “spending money” these last 20 years? Me too.
Will this story have a happy ending? Do not count on it.
“By Law Can I Get Financially Compensated?”
No. Not a brass farthing. Not a penny. You care for a loved one. Why? Because you love them. Did you do it for money? No. You did it for love. And the Law will hold you to it. You cannot convert a love relationship into a commercial relationship. When you care for a loved one, the law presumes that you are doing so because you love that person. End. Of. Story.
And if Mom or Grandma does pay you? Medicaid will whack them with a PENALTY when they need help with long-term care. Unless you meet the stringent Medicaid requirements for a personal care contract. Which you will not meet because you did not even know that there were such things as Medicaid Personal Care Contracts.
When you care for your parent or grandparent, be sure to have a contract. Your friendly, neighborhood elder law attorney can help. Maybe you can avoid Medicaid penalties. At least you’ll get paid. Eventually. The contract must be in writing. The contract must state the terms of the agreement. The contract must be signed, sealed, and delivered before the services are provided. The contract cannot be signed via Power of Attorney when the caregiver is also the Agent under the Power of Attorney.
But you didn’t do that this time. Better luck next time! Would it be a bad idea to talk with an elder law attorney?
What’s Next?
Maybe your siblings will let you stay in the house. They often do. Maybe your siblings will evict you and sell the old homestead. They often do. You will get your piddling share. Good luck living on those crumbs. Occasionally, brothers and sisters may give you more than an equal share. And that’s nice. But can you count on the generosity of your overworked, underpaid, and extremely busy siblings? Siblings who have bills of their own? You decide, but I doubt it.
But I Want To Take Care Of My Loved Ones!
If you really want to take care of your ailing loved ones, you are in a shrinking minority. Fewer and fewer people are motivated by pure love or guilty obligation anymore. Not so long ago there was a “sandwich generation”. Trapped between caring for parents and caring for little kids, the sandwich generation did double duty. Such family service was expected. Caring for older relatives was assumed. Having kids was no excuse. And spouses offered at least lukewarm support.
Those days (in my experience) are gone. COVID accelerated the process, but it was already happening. Paid care is the way we do it today. Can you get compensated? Yes if you follow the 3 P’s: Practicality, Prudence, Planning. Your elder law attorney can help!
I have a question about Medicaid requirements for my mother who is likely going to assisted living in the near future?
My mother is 81 and psychiatric. She recently became ill… The evaluation of her so far indicates that she’s going to need 24 hour care. She is a widow… Her income level is and always has been under the threshold to qualify for Medicaid (currently $2392.81) and the only other asset she has is her house. I am joint on her checking and savings account as I have been handling all of her bills for the last five years or so. At least half the 115 thousand miles that I have on my vehicle, have come from caring for her, including picking up and administering medication’s, doctors appointments, groceries, meals and so forth. I have paid for expenses in those cases from her account as required. Given that her income level is under the Medicaid threshold regardless , is Medicaid still going to potentially penalize and disqualify her from assisted living?
Who Says Kids Don’t Care? Oh, That Was Me…
Two letters from loving, caring, self-sacrificing kids. Gives you hope. Restores your faith in human nature. And looks like this child caregiver steered clear of the hazards.
2023 Medicaid Income Limit: $2742/Month
There is no Michigan income limit for skilled nursing home Medicaid. Does not matter how much income you have, you can qualify for skilled nursing home care, so long as the care costs more than your income.
There is a Michigan income limit for at-home care and for assisted living care. In 2023, that limit is $2742 per month. Before deductions for Medicare or taxes or insurance.
So. If your gross monthly income is greater than $2742, Medicaid will only pay for skilled nursing care in a skilled nursing facility, i.e. a nursing home. That means Medicaid will not pay for assisted living or at-home care such as the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Our writer’s mom qualifies for assisted living Medicaid, on the income test, for Medicaid. That is because $2392.81 is less than $2742.00. If mom’s gross income was more that $2742, there is no way for mom to qualify for assisted living or at-home care Medicaid. In Michigan. NOTE: In almost all other states in the USA, folks can create a “Miller Trust” or “Qualified Income Trust” to reduce their income. This allows them to qualify for Medicaid benefits and stay home. Or go to assisted living. But not in Michigan. Too bad. So sad.
Income Looking Good… What Else Could Go Wrong?
If mom has given you money, that is a problem. If you have used mom’s money to pay mom’s expenses, that is NO problem. What has me worried (or at least curious) is your statement:
At least half the 115 thousand miles that I have on my vehicle, have come from caring for her, including picking up and administering medication’s, doctors appointments, groceries, meals and so forth. I have paid for expenses in those cases from her account as required.
Many times children caregivers will spend their own money on mom’s groceries, meals, and so forth, then get reimbursed by mom. It does not matter than you took notes or saved receipts. That method creates divestment penalties. That is bad. The better way is to use mom’s debit card or check book to buy her stuff. It is very clear that when mom’s money is used to buy mom’s stuff, there is no problem. But.
What if mom’s money is used to buy stuff for the child caregiver? That is bad. That is a divestment. That creates a penalty period. How many meals were for mom? Were the caregiver’s groceries purchased with mom’s debit card? Mom paid for gasoline. Was all the gasoline used in pursuit of mom’s errands? These are the sort of awkward questions that the Medicaid caseworker may raise. What if the answers are unsatisfactory? Mom will be penalized. Always a good idea for your super expert elder law attorney to take a sharp-eyed look at mom’s Medicaid application before you submit it. And the best bet is to get assistance every step of the way.
Avoid Nursing Home Poverty
You can get long-term care benefits without going broke. Medicaid wants you broke. But you do not have to accept what Medicaid wants. You can protect what you have earned. Here’s how:
How Medicaid Works
What If You Give Away Your Stuff?
What if you give away your stuff and then apply for Medicaid benefits? Medicaid will say, “We will not help you. You had stuff and gave it away. And so we will not pay.” This is called the “Penalty Period.” Medicaid will excuse itself for a period of time. The more you gave away, the longer Medicaid will not pay. Right now, for every $10,000 you give away, Medicaid will not pay for a month. Give away $120,000, Medicaid will not pay for an entire year! But then Medicaid will pay.
In the meantime, while Medicaid is not paying, the nursing home is suing you. And your kids. And your friends, And your first-grade teacher. And anyone else you gave stuff to. You thought you could keep the house? Ha-ha. You thought you could keep an automobile. Yuk-yuk. Whoops! Funny thing, though. What if you gave away your stuff more than five (5) years ago? What if sixty-one (61) months ago you gave all that stuff away? Then you applied for Medicaid? Things are different. Now Medicaid does not care that you ever had that stuff at all. Does not matter. So perhaps you should give all your stuff away. Right now. To the kids. Your neighbors. Your first-grade teacher. Then wait for five (5) years. And if you ever need long- term care after that, no problem! Medicaid does not care that you had that stuff and gave it away. Great Plan!
By now, the sharpest knives in the drawer have spotted the problem with this brilliant approach, right? If you give your stuff away, then you have no stuff. And you like your stuff. What to do?
What If You Give Away Your Stuff Without Giving Away Your Stuff?
How can you give away your stuff without giving away your stuff? By using a particular kind of trust, that’s how. For Medicaid purposes, you gave your stuff away. For federal tax purposes, state tax purposes, common sense purposes, you did not give your stuff away.
The IRS doesn’t think you did anything when you put your assets in this type of trust. Medicaid says you “divested” those assets. Medicaid says you gave those assets away. Medicaid starts the Five-Year Clock. Five (5) years after putting those assets into that trust, Medicaid will not count those assets as yours. And you will qualify for the Medicaid benefits you have paid for. Without sacrificing your lifesavings, cottage, other stuff.
Why Should You Want To Qualify For Medicaid Benefits And Keep Your Stuff? Why? Do you like paying for the same thing twice?
Are you opposed to getting any return on your tax dollars? Does the government know what to do with your money better than you do? Would it be dreadful to receive the government benefits you’ve paid for? And to have additional lifesavings to purchase additional goods and services? Is it awful to get the same deal from the government that irresponsible folks get? Would you prefer to be flat, busted broke and forced to go to a nursing home than to supplement at-home Medicaid with lifesavings to remain at home? Are your kids and grandchildren so undeserving and ungrateful that you’d rather give your money to the government?
This Is Too Good To Be True! Tricksy Stuff Like This Never Works For Regular Folks!
Plus, It Must Be Wrong Or Immoral Or Something Else That’s Bad Or My Planners Would Have Told Me All About It! And What If I Move Out Of State? And Give Me A Minute And I’ll Think Of Something Else…
On February 8, 2006, Congress overhauled the Medicaid system. Congress replaced 50 states going in 50 different directions with some general principles that apply to everybody. Seventeen years ago, I was shocked when this happened. The Medicaid landscape was rewritten, much to the distress of our long-term care clients. Tools and techniques that had been proven reliable were wiped out. But there was a silver lining to this dark cloud of Medicaid reform.
No longer did it make sense to wait-and-see. The environment was different. Now we had some assurance that a Michigan plan could work in Florida. Or Texas. Or South Carolina. But not California, nothing works in California.
Not only did we have a legal structure that worked from coast to coast, but we could also rely on that structure to be stable. And so, it has proved. Over the last 17 years, thousands of these LifePlanning™ trusts have been implemented by regular folks. And they have worked. Every time. Saving millions of dollars. For regular folks. To maintain dignity. To preserve families. To keep the promise that hard work, saving, planning, and doing the right things will have good consequences for you, your spouse, your family.
For every Medicaid application involving these trusts, we submit a full copy of the trust and all the supporting documents. Total disclosure. Candid honesty. Written evidence. Full documentation. This stuff works because we scrupulously, thoroughly, exhaustively comply with every law, rule, precept, and policy.
Going broke is a choice. Your choice. It is not chance, bad luck, or misfortune.
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 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
Because Selling Nana’s Cottage Seemed Like A Good Idea, At The Time… Idiots!
A Little Bit Of Smarts, A Future Of Golden Memories
Birds Do It, Bees Do It, Even Educated Fleas Do It
Let’s Do It! Let’s Go To The Lake!
Sincere Apologies to Cole Porter
In uncivilized countries, such as those in Europe and Asia, new workers start out with 6 weeks of mandatory vacation (which they confusingly call “holiday”). Not including public holidays (which they call “festivals” or something). What do these folks do with such excessive periods of sloth and inactivity? Who knows? Who cares?
In America, on the other hand, we have weekends. And summer! And a week or two of “vacation”. And being Americans, we do not wish to waste this time. If Americans were as sedentary and unambitious as our global neighbors, we could spend this time in sidewalk cafés, art museums and reading. Improving our minds. Getting culture. Ghastly stuff. “Deliver us O Lord, we pray…”
Unlike our fellow travelers on Spaceship Earth, all true Americans find home improvement projects irresistible. Paint the walls. Build a deck. Plant a garden. Cut the grass. Replace, polish, fix or improve whatever has not been recently replaced, polished, fixed or improved. Pitiful, benighted foreigners have foreign places with palaces, temples, pagodas, and castles. Blessed, muscular Americans have Lowe’s, Harbor Freight, and Home Depot. Seems like an easy choice.
Sooner or later, though, all true Americans feel the restless urge to get out of Dodge, at least on the weekends. In the summertime. Or hunting season. We ran out of things to improve around the house. The deer ate all the tomato plants. It’s too hot. We were bored. So we got another house. In God’s country!
In the American Tradition, the second home could be a house. Or single wide. Perhaps a shack with no indoor plumbing or insulation. On a 40 foot lot. At the lake, at the shore, in the woods, somewhere other than here. From Idlewild in Lake County to Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, American middle class workers by the thousands filled the developments which sprang up around every lake, pond, and ditch within driving distance. And because the lake wasn’t big enough, we dug canals, dammed creeks, and otherwise expanded our Water Wonderland. Magnificent! And not only lakes, but the woods filled with weekend escapes too! Glorious!
At grandmother’s cottage many of us learned to swim and fish. Caught tadpoles and watched them grow to frogs. Searched for salamanders under logs and rocks. Got mosquito bites and poison ivy. Fell in the mud Played in the sand. Went ice-fishing in the winter.
Campfires on the shore. Remember?
Whatever happened to that place? How much would it cost to buy something similar today? Why did we get rid of it? Too bad our kids and grandkids won’t have the experiences we did. Or the memories. At least they have iPads.
The Family Cottage LifeCycle
To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born, And a time to die; 6 A time to gain, And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2,6
Is it a ridiculous idea that there is a lifecycle to family cottages and recreation properties? There is a routine evolution in the relationship between family and property. Is it a bad idea to recognize the lifecycle and work with it? Are you against preserving unique opportunities for your family?
The Family Cottage Lifecycle:
1. Young Child: Best. Place. Ever!
2. Teenager: So stupid. Boring. Smells funny.
3. Young Adult: My life is busy. I have no time for that place. If I inherit a share, I’m selling it… I need money for tuition/new car/down payment/taxes…
4. Parent of Young Child: Why did we ever sell the cottage? We can’t even afford to rent at the lake today.
5. Older and Wiser: If I ever get the opportunity, I won’t make that mistake again.
We all pass through seasons in our lives. As we gain experience, some important-seeming situations will fade to nothing. Other events will become more meaningful as time goes by. Wisdom and perspective cannot be taught, only learned. Growing up is the tuition that must be paid for insight.
Are long-term decisions best left to the youngest, least- experienced folks? Is it wrong for those with proven perception and prudence to plan for the long-term? Do you sacrifice long term gain for short term pleasure?
Estate Planning Done Wrong
Two Estate Planning Blunders That Guarantee Failure
Traditional estate planning, if it has any purpose at all, dumps your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Don’t much care what happens to you while you are alive.
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?
LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for.
LifePlanning™ means you do not have to sell the cottage and “spend down” the proceeds. Now what to do with the recreational property?
Traditional estate planning offers two options:
1. Circular Firing Squad or Last Man Standing
2. The Corporate Model or Last One Out is a Rotten Egg
Circular Firing Squad is easy, cheap and disastrous. The Corporate Model is not easy, not cheap, and not as disastrous.
Circular Firing Squad
Putting all the kids “on the deed” is the circular firing squad. It is the easiest, cheapest, most popular, and worst possible way to leave recreation property to kids.
“Last Man Standing” is the most common Circular Firing Squad method. This involves naming all of the children or other beneficiaries as Joint Tenants with full Rights of Survivorship (JTWROS) on the deed. As joint tenants with rights of survivorship, the last living person owns the entire property. Did you plan to disinherit most of the family?
JTWROS deeds also deny Medicaid benefits to your kids and their spouses. Medicaid treats their share as if it was cash in the bank. But it is NOT cash in the bank, it is a fractional interest that is totally locked up in the property. And now your kids are disqualified from Medicaid. Whoops!
But that is not the worst. JTWROS deeds have no rules. Other than each person can fully use the property without the others’ permission.
Congratulations! Your child is the new president of the Pagan Assassins Mud Wrestling Team – Australian Rules. Your child invites the entire 32 member, mixed gender team to the cottage. On the 4th of July. Your child has never paid their share of the taxes, utilities or maintenance. When the Pagan Assassins leave, the place is a bloody shambles. And there is nothing the other kids can do about it. In fact, since you signed a standard, immediately effective, JTWROS deed, there is nothing YOU can do about it. Not even dead yet and already you have lost control of your property. Did you know that when you signed on for this quick and easy solution?
Ladybird to the Rescue? You may have used a ladybird or transfer on death deed to create this living hell. Good News! At least the suffering will not begin until after you have passed on to your reward. Then the JTWROS takes effect and we are off to the races.
You may also create a Circular Firing Squad using a “Tenants in Common” deed. The TIC deed gives individual shares to each child while you retain a share. Unlike JTWROS, each child owns a piece that they can give to the grandkids. Or sell to the Pagan Assassins. Just as with JTWROS, there are no rules.
Did I mention that each Circular Firing Squad method leaves the other kids open to liability claims from the unsanctioned “activities”? And it does no good for them to abandon the property, now they can be prosecuted for housing code violations. And please! Do not get me started on that methamphetamine lab in the basement. Or the fentanyl stockpile in the shed. Oh my!
If you are going to create a Circular Firing Squad, use the TIC method. If they all hate each other enough, they can go to probate court, sue one another, and force a sale. Thanks Mom! Thanks Dad! Great planning!
The Corporate Model: Last One Out Is A Rotten Egg
Do you really want to leave stuff to the kids without any rules? Is blunt force trauma the best way to make sure your grandkids will learn how to swim at the lake? Do you want to empower one of your kids to hold the others hostage?
There are many permutations of the Corporate Model. Most use a limited liability company to hold the real estate and give shares to the kids.
And there are rules. And governing provisions. And limited liability for the kids. Still have that pesky Medicaid problem with disqualification, but I guess you cannot have everything.
A general rule in a corporate structure is that minority members can sell their shares and get out. The usual Cottage LLC requires the other members to buy out the one who wants to sell. And if they do not… say hello to the Pagan Assassins.
Doesn’t seem like such a big deal. One kid wants to move to the Himalayas and commune with the mountain spirits. That kid is not planning to come back. Or perhaps another kid wants his money to buy a car. The cottage does not seem so important right now. The problem is not one of law. The buyout provisions are clear and enforceable.
The problem is that as soon as one kid wants out, so do the rest. The other kids don’t want to pay, frequently they are not able to pay. It was a blessing to have had the cottage so long, but now it must go. Over and over again, if one kid wants out, they all do. Last one out is a rotten egg!
The Corporate Model fails because it depends on the continued unanimous support of all the family members. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
What if there were no links? What if no individual could torpedo the entire family’s legacy?
The National Park Model: Recipe For Success
There is nothing so American as our national parks. The scenery and the wildlife are native. The fundamental idea behind the parks is native. It is, in brief, that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us. The parks stand as the outward symbol of the great human principle.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
You will never go to Yosemite National Park. You have Yosemite-phobia. And a doctor’s note to prove it. Since you will never go to Yosemite, you write to the National Park Service. You demand your share of the value of Yosemite. Cash me out! Do you expect a response?
Roosevelt’s “fundamental idea” is that the national parks belong to everyone, down through the generations. The big idea is simple: Preserve it now or lose it forever.
Isn’t that the idea behind leaving the family cottage to the family? Could you afford, right now, to purchase your cottage, cabin, hunting land? Of course not! Lake Michigan properties that sold in the $20-30,000 range in the 60’s and 70’s are in the millions now. If you can find one. And the same is true of smaller lakes. The wild price inflation is less for hunting land, but still forbidding.
At the turn of the last century, a few visionaries like Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir saw that without national preservation efforts, irreplaceable natural treasures would be lost. In other countries, the rich and the royal preserved land for their own benefit. In America, we did it for all of us. And our descendants.
The National Park Model is a new way of looking at your cottage or recreational property. You are making a promise to your future family that short-term considerations will not outweigh long term goals.
The basic principles are straightforward and are familiar to anyone who has ever traveled or camped in a national, state or local park:
1. Rules for Use. Family members are stewards of a gift. Rules for use and care will be clear and must be observed. There will be an evenhanded system for allocating the available space among various family members.
2. Financial Responsibility. Budgets will be prepared, including all taxes, utilities, insurance and sinking funds for all capital improvements, including the roof, plumbing, fixtures and utilities. Present and future expenses will be identified and incorporated.
3. Nobody Rides for Free. You can’t get in a Park without a sticker to pay for the road. You can’t stay overnight without paying for your campsite.
You can’t stay at the Cottage without paying the necessary charge to cover your share of the budget. In advance.
There are other provisions that allow for limited liability and definition of membership. These can all be tailored to the specific needs of individual families.
On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant created Yellowstone as the first national park in the United States and the world. For over 150 years, Yellowstone has been preserved and available to all Americans.
Is it ridiculous to think that the same concepts that worked for Yellowstone for the last 150 years could preserve your family’s heritage too? Are you against providing that sort of experience to your children, grandchildren, and generations yet unborn?
If not you, who? If not now, when?
Is Now A Bad Time For Real Solutions?
Does anyone on this earth have all the answers? Does that mean we should give up seeking the best answers we can find? Perhaps you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. Why not find out? Is now a bad time to find out how to obtain security for yourself? And your family?
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
“There Are No Easy Answers, But There Are Simple Answers.”
“We Must Have The Courage To Do What We Know Is Morally Right.”
The Truth:
Why Your Trust Will Fail, Almost Always
1. Wrong Goals. You want to avoid probate, save taxes, make it easy for the kids. Everyone accepts the sales job. Everyone thinks these are the correct, popular, attractive goals. That’s why probate is never going away. The tax situation you leave is a mess. And the kids will be at each other’s throat.
2. Wrong Tools. Beneficiary designations, living trusts, pour-over wills, ladybird deeds. All intended to accomplish the Wrong Goals. No use when reality strikes.
3. Wrong Process. If you are using the Wrong Tools to achieve the Wrong Goals, is it any surprise that the Process is wrong too? Almost universally, so- called estate planners take the easy way out. They avoid the hard work, the follow-through that leads to success. The job is left half-done. You take the fall. And the blame.
4. Simple, But Not Easy. Ronald Reagan said, “There Are No Easy Answers, But There Are Simple Answers.” Effective planning, LifePlanning™ is not easy. But LifePlanning™ is simple.
5. Correct Goals + Correct Tools + Correct Process = Success. Is it wrong to focus on the real threats to your security and well-being? Is it foolish to use legal tools that have been proven thousands of times over the last thirty-three years? Is it worth spending a little more time and money now for lasting, lifetime success? Or do you wish to join the Probate Parade? Deceive yourself and your family? Invite Nursing Home Poverty? It is your choice, isn’t it?
Job #1: Avoid Nursing Home Poverty
People get old. Keep breathing in and out and you’ll see. It just happens. You are not as young as you used to be. Sixty is the new fifty. Yeah, but 80 is still 80. At least 90 is the new 80, right?
You cared for your parents. Folks in the neighborhood, the lady from church, nieces and nephews, other younger people could be hired to help. But today?
America is aging. We are, on average, getting older. We did not have as many kids as our parents. There are fewer young people. Fewer people to provide long- term care.
More old people. More demand for services. Fewer young people. Less supply of services.
What happens when there is increasing demand and decreasing supply?
What happened to the price of infant formula when the biggest factory shut down?
What happened to the price of oil when oil exploration leases were cancelled?
What happened to the price of gas when pipelines were shut down?
What happened to the price of eggs when avian flu hit the chicken coops?
What happened to the price of imported goods when the ports and harbors were clogged?
What happened to the price of electricity when somebody discovered that solar panels don’t work without the sun and there’s this thing called “night” that follows “day”? Or when the same somebody discovered that wind does not always blow?
What happens when supplies have already been taken by somebody else?
What if there were an unnamed virus of unknown origin that made people sick? And what if people believed that a certain type of respiratory mask would help avoid sickness? What if there were not enough “masks” to go around? What if someone looked ahead and got a supply of “masks”? If someone had planned ahead, what would the consequences be?
Every time you get behind the wheel of your automobile, you have a chance of dying in a car crash. Every single time. Americans do die in car crashes. One American dies for every 70,000,000 vehicle miles (that’s SEVENTY MILLION miles!) traveled. The average car trip is about 10 miles. So, you have a one in 7 million chance of dying each and every time you get into your car. (“Thank you” to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics for these numbers – your tax dollars at work!) Americans drive a lot. We drive so much that over the course of our lives, we have an almost 1% chance of dying in that crash. Thank goodness for air bags, crumple zones, and seat belts!
Another branch of our beloved federal government (Department of Health and Human Services) says that at age 65, you have a 70% chance of needing an average of 3 years of skilled care. A big chunk of us, 20%, will need more than five (5!) years of care. Skilled care can come from family members, friends, paid help, long-term care facilities.
Let us recap. Less than 1% chance of flaming car crash death like in the movies. Greater than 70% chance of long-term care. Which one do you care about? Which bad result do you strive mightily to avoid? Which unhappy ending do you simply accept?
Motor vehicle mayhem is bad! Somebody ought to do something! And you do. Drive safely. Buckle up. Hands on the wheel. You know the drill.
Nursing Home Poverty is bad! So let’s ignore it? Let’s pretend it happens to somebody else. Anybody else. Even though the reality is that Americans hardly ever die in car crashes and almost all need long-term care. Care that is harder to get and more expensive by the day. If you can get it at all.
How To Avoid Nursing Home Poverty
Hang Onto Your Money and Stuff While Qualifying for Benefits. You are a taxpaying, conscientious, charitable, forward-thinking, God-fearing American. You pay into the system. You expect some payback from the system. Safe roads. Clean water. Food that is not poisonous. Protection from bad countries that want to make war on us. Not so long ago, we also expected the police to stop shoplifters and vagrants. That was back when we also expected that our national borders counted for something. Remember? Good times, good times.
Social Security. Regular folks who go to work each day also expect that they will have a minimum sort of income when they can no longer work. We call this: “Social Security.” Payroll taxes go in, monthly payments come out. You, the American taxpayer, pay for Social Security. You get payback for your pay in. You don’t have to be broke to get the Social Security you have earned and paid for.
Medicare. Regular folks who go to work each day also expect that they will have a minimum sort of health care when they can no longer work. We call this: “Medicare.” Payroll taxes go in, Medicare taxes/ premiums go in, medical payments come out. You, the American taxpayer, pay for Medicare. You get some payback for your pay in. You don’t have to be broke to get the Medicare you have earned and paid for.
Medicaid. Regular folks expect that there will be no provisions whatsoever for long-term care. We call this the triumph of hope over experience. You pay until you are flat broke. You can keep your house, but have no money for upkeep, taxes, insurance, or utilities. When you are flat broke, you must pay almost all your income to the nursing home or residential care facility. After you are flat broke (except for $2K).
How is long-term health care different than short-term health care? Or income? Or basic income support? It all comes from your tax dollars. You paid for all of it. Why should you go broke? Why shouldn’t you have choices? How is any of this fair? And it gets worse…
What if you were not the penny-saving, bill-paying, overtime-taking, money-for-a-rainy-day-type person that you are? What if payday meant casino-day? What if you were a consistent over-spender? What if your bankruptcy lawyer was on your Christmas card list? Well, then that long-term care is free, free, free. You are in debt to your eyebrows? Come on down!
It is only the responsible people who suffer from the current long-term care situation. People who planned ahead for themselves and their families. People who believed that they had “saved enough” to take care of it. People who believed their so-called “estate planners.” Whoops!
How Do You Protect Yourself And Your Loved Ones By Protecting Your Stuff?
Simple Answer. Get long-term care benefits without going broke. Medicaid wants you broke. But you do not have to accept what Medicaid wants. You can protect what you have earned. Here’s how:
How Medicaid Works
1. What If You Give Away Your Stuff?
What if you give away your stuff and then apply for Medicaid benefits? Medicaid will say, “We will not help you. You had stuff and gave it away. And so we will not pay.” This is called the “Penalty Period.” Medicaid will excuse itself for a period of time. The more you gave away, the longer Medicaid will not pay. Right now, for every $10,000 you give away, Medicaid will not pay for a month. Give away $120,000, Medicaid will not pay for an entire year! But then Medicaid will pay.
In the meantime, while Medicaid is not paying, the nursing home is suing you. And your kids. And your friends, And your first-grade teacher. And anyone else you gave stuff to. You thought you could keep the house? Ha-ha. You thought you could keep an automobile. Yuk-yuk. Whoops!
Funny thing, though. What if you gave away your stuff more than five (5) years ago? What if sixty-one (61) months ago you gave all that stuff away? Then you applied for Medicaid? Things are different. Now Medicaid does not care that you ever had that stuff at all. Does not matter.
So perhaps you should give all your stuff away. Right now. To the kids. Your neighbors. Your first-grade teacher. Then wait for five (5) years. And if you ever need long-term care after that, no problem! Medicaid does not care that you had that stuff and gave it away. Great Plan!
By now, the sharpest knives in the drawer have spotted the problem with this brilliant approach, right? If you give your stuff away, then you have no stuff. And you like your stuff. What to do?
2. What If You Give Away Your Stuff Without Giving Away Your Stuff?
How can you give away your stuff without giving away your stuff? By using a particular kind of trust, that’s how. For Medicaid purposes, you gave your stuff away. For federal tax purposes, state tax purposes, common sense purposes, you did not give your stuff away.
The IRS doesn’t think you did anything when you put your assets in this type of trust. Medicaid says you “divested” those assets. Medicaid says you gave those assets away. Medicaid starts the Five-Year Clock. Five (5) years after putting those assets into that trust, Medicaid will not count those assets as yours. And you will qualify for the Medicaid benefits you have paid for. Without sacrificing your lifesavings, cottage, other stuff.
3. Why Should You Want To Qualify For Medicaid Benefits And Keep Your Stuff?
Why? Do you like paying for the same thing twice? Are you opposed to getting any return on your tax dollars? Does the government know what to do with your money better than you do? Would it be a bad thing to get the government benefits you’ve paid for and have additional lifesavings to purchase additional goods and services? Is it wrong to get the same deal from the government that irresponsible folks get? Would it be better to be flat, busted broke and forced to go to a nursing home than to supplement at-home Medicaid with lifesavings to remain at home? Are your kids and grandchildren so undeserving and ungrateful that you’d rather give your money to the government?
4. This Is Too Good To Be True! Tricksy Stuff Like This Never Works For Regular Folks! Plus It Must Be Wrong Or Immoral Or Something Else That’s Bad Or My Planners Would Have Told Me All About It! And What If I Move Out Of State? And Give Me A Minute And I’ll Think Of Something Else…
On February 8, 2006, Congress overhauled the Medicaid system. Congress replaced 50 states going in 50 different directions with some general principles that apply to everybody. Seventeen years ago, I was shocked when this happened. The Medicaid landscape was rewritten, much to the distress of our long-term care clients. Tools and techniques that had been proven reliable were wiped out. But there was a silver lining to this dark cloud of Medicaid reform.
No longer did it make sense to wait-and-see. The environment was different. Now we had some assurance that a Michigan plan could work in Florida. Or Texas. Or South Carolina. But not California, nothing works in California.
Not only did we have a legal structure that worked from coast to coast, we could rely on that structure to be stable. And so it has proved. Over the last 17 years, thousands of these LifePlanning™ trusts have been implemented by regular folks. And they have worked. Every time. Saving millions of dollars. For regular folks. To maintain dignity. To preserve families. To keep the promise that hard work, saving, planning, and doing the right things will have good consequences for you, your spouse, your family.
For every Medicaid application involving these trusts, we submit a full copy of the trust and all the supporting documents. Total disclosure. Candid honesty. Written evidence. Full documentation. This stuff works because we scrupulously, thoroughly, exhaustively comply with every law, rule, precept, and policy.
Going broke is a choice. Your choice. It is not chance, bad luck, or misfortune.
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 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
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
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.
“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?