Lamar Odom and the Importance of a Living Will

The incident and attendant health crisis of Lamar Odom are a sobering teaching point. Life changes and disability or death can be sudden and they should be planned for. In the California legal system, this meant that legally, a marriage was intact. shutterstock_305675126

The absence of a healthcare proxy, living will or power of attorney placed the responsibility for medical decisions in the hands of the still current wife, a situation that most individuals in divorce would not wish. The Odom case demonstrates that the intersection of divorce and estate planning can be complicated and something you should contemplate ahead of time.

While divorce severs the majority of relationship responsibilities, an estate plan requires updating and careful consideration at the time so that caregiving wishes may be separated from divorcing parties. To learn more about how to structure your estate planning in line with your current needs, contact an estate planning attorney today.

Key Protection Tools for Guarding your Assets

One of the most basic steps to take in asset protection is using insurance. Insurance can help to protect your assets and an umbrella policy brings with an active defense of your assets through the insuring company.shutterstock_237576088

Your retirement accounts, however, are protected through ERISA and bankruptcy law and because these often have matching contributions from employer, maxing out on your own contributions is a great tool.

For the home and real property, the state of New Jersey allows persons to choose between New Jersey & Federal exemptions in the event of bankruptcy. Joint ownership through tenancy by the entirety can protect the home against creditor for closure.

An LLC may be another opportunity that is better than gifting assets as you retain control over those assets. The overall key of protection however, is consultation and planning that ultimately builds a wall around your assets, matching the height of that wall in terms of complexity in cost to the anticipated threats.

Business Succession: Twilight of the Boomers

As baby boomers age into their 60s and 70s, more of them are preparing to leave their businesses behind. In order to do this, baby boomers have to recognize that a lead time of at least 3-5 years is actually their best friend in the planning process. This allows you time to carefully consider all of your options and to put the steps in place to achieve success with passing on the business to someone else. Ownership succession in terms of selling outright frees the owner from future risk and locks in financial obligation of the buyer, providing cash to pursue future goals for the baby boomer.shutterstock_82215202

Management succession, which allows the individual to retain some level of ownership and risk, allows for transition into and through management a family and employees seeking the best positions moving forward. The key is that a long range planning option can help to maintain business value, improve employee confidence and cement a family legacy by providing financial opportunity for philanthropy.