Author: Laura Pennington

The end of the year will quickly be here upon us. Many people have already started their holiday planning, but you can’t afford to neglect the opportunities that come with the burst of momentum to knock things off your to-do list and plan ahead for a successful 2020.

Yearend financial planning sets you up for success throughout the entire next year. Now is an excellent opportunity to review all of your key beneficiary designation forms and other documents in line with your estate plan. But don’t neglect the opportunity to establish a better and deeper understanding of what’s going on with your retirement contributions.

Now is a great time to evaluate whether or not you’re on track to max out your retirement contributions for the year. Whether you have an SEP IRA, a 401(k) or a 403(b), you might need to change how much you contribute if your plan allows for it. Think about any holiday bonuses that you might receive and these might be put into the plan as well. The contribution limit for your IRA for 2019 is $6000, but this jumps to $7000 if you are aged 50 or older.

This could be a good time to sit down with your financial professional to discuss setting up a Roth IRA by transferring your traditional IRA funds. All qualified withdrawals and future gains would be tax free even though you would pay taxes on the amount that you do convert.

For more information about getting ahead of your planning and tackling your financial goals before the end of the year, don’t neglect the opportunity to sit down with your estate planning attorney.      

There’s a good chance that if you’ve been active with philanthropy and charitable giving, that it’s been a part of your life for as long as you can remember. But it might be time to adjust that strategy before and after retirement after speaking with a knowledgeable and experienced estate planning attorney.

An estate planning attorney can help you to navigate this process and ensure that you have the information you need to leave a lasting impact on the charities of your choice.

Making the most of charitable gifting and giving can require some advanced strategy and the best way to give to charity in a tax intelligent way might depend on your age.

Effective tax planning can also give you peace of mind that a bigger portion of your donation has gone towards supporting the philanthropic goals and priorities that are most important to your family.

Many more families today are taking the standard deduction than ever before as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This means that fewer families are eligible to qualify for tax benefits from cash donations to charity. These strategies will depend on whether or not you’re required to take distributions from an employer sponsored 401(k) or an individual retirement account.

For those donors younger than age 70 and a half, appreciated securities can be a powerful way to support the charities you care about. Once you have reached age 70 and a half, under the new standard deduction, one of the best strategies is to gift a portion of your RMD or all of it to a charitable organization as a qualified charitable distribution. QCDs cannot be greater than $100,000 but can still be very powerful strategies for gifting to a charity you care about. Schedule a consultation with an experienced estate planning attorney today to learn more.       

Most of your organization today is probably digitized. There’s a good chance you own a scanner and have taken every effort to store what you can online.

But even though electronic wills might be a wave of the future in estate planning, they’re not here in full yet since most states don’t have a method for electronic will filing.

A true electronic will is one that can be drafted, reviewed, and validated all in electronic form. As of right now, e-wills don’t eliminate the current need for a traditional will. Over time, however, state legislatures might review the requirements for electronic wills to provide insight about how this might work.

It’s very likely that future versions of an electronic will still require the formal creation of the document as well as signatures by witnesses. Some state courts have already begun to analyze and recognition electronic wills, but those circumstances are limited up to this point.

Recently, the Uniform Law Commission has accepted an e-wills act known as the Uniform Electronic Wills Act. This organization is a group of legal professors and practitioners who are often the first voice of change in various practice areas. Many states tend to adopt similar laws after the ULC releases information about laws they’ve accepted.  

If you’d like to talk about how to create a will that works for your life circumstances now and in the future, set up a time to speak with an experienced and dedicated estate planning lawyer. A lawyer can guide you through how to incorporate the most appropriate estate planning strategies for your needs and your family.

As a corporate executive you have plenty of things on your plate and you probably don’t want to think about adding anymore, but there are several critical financial tasks that you can’t afford to neglect.

Even though corporate executives put in a lot of equity to get their money, they tend to devote very little time to managing it. Getting a head start on your financial and estate plan, however, can give you the peace of mind that you have planned for the future and assist you with managing this money in the most effective way.

After all you’re working hard for it and you should be able to plan for it to pay off dividends for you. Some of the most important steps you can take include:

• Contributing the maximum amount available to your 401(k) plan, especially if your company match is significant.
• Make sure that your wealth isn’t reliant entirely on an employer. Whether you get restricted stock grants, stock options or a 401(k) match, you want to make sure that you net worth doesn’t drop if the company stock price takes a dive or if you are no longer working there.
• Update an estate plan. Far too many people who are corporate executives don’t have a will at all, and for those who do, it’s usually so old that it’s no longer beneficial to them or their loved ones.

Make sure that you evaluate your will and other estate planning documents on an annual basis, and if you have put off creating a will up until now, it’s a great opportunity to schedule an appointment before the end of the year to cross this important task off your to-do list.      

If you’re looking for a plan to save money, elder law planning on your own might seem like an appealing option, even though the advantage could be potentially saving money now.

There are costly mistakes that you can make in the DIY elder law planning process, such as omissions, neglecting opportunities for protection, and errors that end up affecting you or your loved ones.

When it comes to protecting assets from the cost of nursing homes, and naming those people who will make financial, legal, and medical decisions in the event of a disability, it’s important to think about how an attorney can help you draft a legally valid healthcare proxy and power of attorney. There can be significant consequences if you simply find a form online print it out and fill it in.

The power of attorney form in different states could require different considerations, and since you want your elder law plans to be as accurate as possible for your individual state, you need to verify with your attorney that your document is indeed legally valid.

Healthcare proxies and powers of attorney, for example, should also have language that gives the named agent the authority to obtain all documents and medical information under HIPAA, the U. S. federal privacy law.

There’s too much left to chance when you engage in the process of DIY estate planning, and you could remove many of these barriers and hesitations by hiring an experienced and dedicated elder law planning attorney.      

The charges for home care are now rising faster than those associated with nursing home care, according to Genworth’s most recent cost of care survey. The median annual cost for home health aides rose 4.55% in 2019, whereas the median cost for a private nursing home room only increased by 1.82% to $102,000.

Getting support, whether it’s in a nursing home or in your own home, can be extremely costly, particularly if it decimates you and your spouse’s retirement savings. This study shows that long-term care is becoming increasingly expensive.

Consulting with an elder law attorney might be the only way for you to protect some of your personal assets from being used to support a spouse in a nursing home. A consultation with an elder law attorney can help you understand the benefits of attempting to qualify for Medicaid using advanced planning opportunities.

The sooner that you can plan ahead to qualify for Medicaid, the easier it will be to have options available to you when you move forward with getting a loved one in a nursing home as soon as possible. An elder law attorney can help you become more aware of your potential blind spots and help you navigate the difficulties of preparing for home care or nursing home care.       

Your first meeting with a knowledgeable estate planning lawyer lays the groundwork for all of the things you will work together towards in the future. It is important to identify an experienced estate planning lawyer who puts you at ease during this initial interview.

Many attorneys will offer a consultation to discuss some of your concerns and some of the strategies related to your estate planning. During this interview, you should not only be asking questions about your individual situation but screening the attorney to make sure that you are comfortable with working with him or her.

Complete and accurate information is vital to putting together a comprehensive estate plan so you should always be honest and upfront with your estate planning lawyer to ensure that your attorney has all the relevant information. An estate planning attorney will craft unique strategies aligned with your individual needs and therefore, it is important to verify that you have a comprehensive listing of all of your assets prior to attending this meeting.

Make sure that you have the opportunity to address your current family structure and any other unique concerns, such as your desire to pass things on to charity or to exclude certain parties from your estate planning. These steps can be instrumental in helping you to outline a full plan for protecting all of your interests and knowing what to expect down the road.

Your estate planning attorney should be well informed about relevant state and federal laws and be able to guide you through the process of selecting the tactics and strategies that are most relevant for you. It is important, however, that you have a personal connection and confidence in your estate planning lawyer’s abilities, since he or she will be playing an important role in defining your future.        

If you pass away without a will in New Jersey, your assets will be passed on to your closest relatives under laws established by New Jersey for intestate succession. Only assets that would have passed through your will are impacted by New Jersey’s intestate succession laws.

Typically, this includes only assets that you own in your own name alone. It’s important to remember that many different valuable assets do not go through your will and are, therefore, not affected by intestate succession laws.

Common examples include life insurance proceeds, property that was transferred to a living trust, payable on death bank accounts, funds in an IRA, securities held in a transfer on death account, and property on hold in tenancy by the entirety or in joint tenancy.

If you pass away with children but no spouse, your children will inherit everything. If you pass away with a spouse but no descendants or parents, the spouse inherits everything. If you pass away with a spouse and descendants from you and that spouse but that spouse also has descendants from another relationship, your spouse is entitled to inherit 25% of your intestate property.

If you pass away with a spouse and parents, the spouse is entitled to the first 25% of your intestate property so long as this is not less than $50,000 and more than $200,000, plus three-quarters of the balance. The parents would inherit any of the remaining intestate property.

It can be overwhelming to try to figure out this process of deciding who gets what on your own. It’s important to schedule a consultation with a New Jersey intestate succession lawyer to put together an appropriate plan for passing on your assets.       

The IRS has authority on the estate tax and gift tax amounts that affect individuals and families and recently announced changes to the estate tax amount for 2020.

If your estate plan requires an update or if you’d like to adjust your giving strategy in 2020, now is the right time to speak with an estate planning lawyer about those options.

The official estate tax exemption has been increased to $11.58 million per person, an increase from the 2019 number of $11.4 million. This means that as a single person, you can leave up to $11.58 million in assets behind for your loved ones without triggering an estate or gift tax.

Couples, as usual, are able to take advantage of each person’s individual amount for a combined total os $23.16 million. The annual gift amount remains the same at $15,000.

When discussing your options with your estate planning lawyer, you might decide that you can use a combination of giving over your life to maximize the gift tax and giving at death with the raised estate tax amount.

With an upcoming presidential election, possible changes to the gift tax amount are front and center for many people. Depending on the outcome to that election and changes made to the program, if they occur, you’ll want to be prepared by having a dedicated estate planning lawyer who can help you figure out how to make it all work together.

No entrepreneur wants to think about a future in which they are not involved in their business without that being their own choice. It’s smart to hope for the best and prepare for the worst but recent studies have shown that far too many entrepreneurs and business owners are hoping and preparing for the best instead.

Research from the National Association of Corporate Directors showed that two thirds of private and public companies had no formal succession plan in place for their CEOs. As a business owner you know that proper plans and structure have a key impact on your ability to thrive.

Since the future is unpredictable, the consequences of failing to institute a formal succession plan could end up harming your loved ones and your business. Three tips to make business succession planning easy include:

• Don’t procrastinate and instead think carefully about other options if it falls on you to leave the company, such as disability or divorce.
• Identify a successor for who can step in to provide continuity if you are no longer involved in the business.
• Identify the current value of your business, preferably with an objective third party so that you know where you’re working from and the different stakeholders who might be involved if you were to step away from the company.          

Sitting down with the right attorney can make a big difference in how you approach and accomplish business succession planning.

If you already created your own will without the help of an attorney, it’s still a good idea to have a lawyer review your document to ensure it’s in line with state laws. While a DIY will might seem like the easier route to go, the costs associated with making a mistake on a DIY will can follow your loved ones for many years.

Having the peace of mind of speaking with an attorney gives you the chance to correct anything inside the will that could potentially render it invalid. Furthermore, you can discuss safe places to store your will document after it’s been fully executed.

Your original will should be stored in a safe and fireproof location. Most people assume that a safety deposit box is the best place to store critical documents, including your will and even funeral or memorial instructions. The problem with this approach is if none of your loved ones know where to find this information or if they can’t get to it in time for it to be useful.

More immediate documents like your desires concerning a funeral or instructions from the plans you’ve made in advance could be stored with your estate planning lawyer or a close family member or friend. Someone else should know where to locate this information should it become necessary.

Your original will should be stored in a safe location as mentioned above, but you can keep copies elsewhere. Signed copies of the will are important in the event that the original is destroyed. It’s your job to make sure that you’ve taken as many proactive steps as possible to make it easier for your loved ones if you suddenly pass away.

While it’s a difficult subject to approach, your foresight and planning can help your loved ones in a challenging time.

Are you concerned about your assets being exposed to risks? Worried that your personal assets could be tapped through a lawsuit or through a creditor looking to close on a debt?

The best time to begin asset protection planning is long before any of these threats is on the immediate horizon. Every state has laws that protect a judgment creditor making legal efforts to collect if the debtor tries to transfer assets out of their own names in an effort to delay or block a collection attempt.

Courts, therefore, can see right through these moves and would likely classify them as “fraudulent transfers.” With asset protection planning, you must be thinking about options to shield your assets well in advance of any filed suits.

Even waiting until you think that a lawsuit might be filed is too late in most cases. While there might be a few limited steps you can take at that stage, you’re much better off by making an effort to talk with your estate planning lawyer about asset protection planning now.

The purpose of taking these steps when there’s no immediate exposure to a suit is twofold: it helps discourage people who think that you might be an easy target for a lawsuit away from doing so because they recognize that your asset protection efforts will make it harder for them to succeed and it also increases your chances of success in the event a suit is filed.

Most people who put together an asset protection plan hope that they never need to exercise its powers in court. But the peace of mind that this provides can give you confidence going forward that if a potential threat emerges that you have options available to you.

If you’re ready to talk asset protection plan specifics, our office is here to help you craft a customized plan based on your needs. Don’t wait until it’s too late- create your plan today.

Many financial advisors are soon to be aging out of their companies. The average age of today’s financial advisors in the United States is in the mid-50s and plenty of these professionals are moving into their 50s and 60s.

The future fates of these thousands of practices, however, hangs in the balance for those that have not completed succession planning. Studies show that the vast majority of small advisors, particularly those who are handling their firm on a solo basis have no successor or business succession plan set up.

According to recent research studies, solo practitioners who bring in around $250,000 per year in revenue often have no succession plan and the alarming fact that these represent up to 70% of the financial planning industry.

While bigger practices are more likely to have a business succession plan or even a strategy for training future leaders in the company, it is important to sit down with a dedicated business succession planning lawyer and estate planning lawyer to discuss how the future of your business and the future of your personal assets can be reflected together in a comprehensive estate plan.       

Your business succession plan is the roadmap for those still in the company to be able to continue operating even after you’re no longer there. Having a backup plan in case this happens can have a big impact on your company’s success.

You’ve purchased car insurance to give you peace of mind if you’re ever in an accident. Based on the same potential exposure risk, you also probably have homeowner’s or renter’s insurance to step in and protect you if an unexpected incident happens.

But over the course of your life, you can’t afford to let those be the only ways that you’re shielded from problems. Asset protection planning refers to the legal steps you can take to protect your wealth from outside attacks. Here are some of the ways that you could be exposed to personal liability issues worth considering as you create your asset protection plan:

• Divorce: Your former spouse has insider knowledge about your finances, could be owed alimony or child support, or might even be entitled to part of your retirement plans under a Qualified Domestic Relations Order
• Car accidents: If you cause an accident in an at-fault state with significant injuries associated with another person, it could be difficult for you to pay out an injury award.
• Vicarious liability: If your employee or business partner is involved in a legal battle or accident, you could also be sued.
• Perceived wealth: Certain professions, like physicians, tend to be the focus of litigation because of the perception that there’s plenty of wealth behind the person accused to pay out a lawsuit.

Although no one wants to think about the possibility of being sued in the future, it’s up to you to put a plan in place. Even the mere presence of an asset protection plan using trusts can show would-be creditors and litigants that it’s not worth the effort to pursue their claim in court. Your asset protection plan should be created with the help of an experienced lawyer who can create a custom roadmap based on your needs.

Long term care costs could decimate your retirement planning if you don’t work out a plan to qualify for Medicaid in advance. Talking to an estate planning lawyer can help put you on the right path so that you or your spouse can tap into Medicaid sooner rather than later.

Many people don’t realize the true cost of long term care until it’s too late. When a loved one enters a nursing home and you hear the quote for a semi-private room, this can be a shock. It’s especially a problem for couples when one partner enters a nursing home and uses up the majority of the couple’s savings.

What happens if the other spouse needs care, too?

What happens when family members and friends are not able to provide the level of care your loved one needs?

A recent study found that the cost for homemaker services, such as tasks like running errands, cooking, or cleaning, increased by over 7% since 2018. And those are services you might hire directly rather than receive in a nursing home. Many families consider relying on these at-home services or assisted living to drop the cost, but not every person who needs long-term care will get enough out of those options if their condition is severe.

Many people want to stay in their own home as they get older, but they’ll need a plan and savings to do so if family is not around. The most expensive states for long term care in 2019 included Alaska, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Hawaii, Vermont, New Jersey, and New York.

If you live in these states or are thinking about moving there in retirement, now is the perfect time to speak to an elder law attorney about your options and how to best set yourself up for success.

The topic of completing your will might give you some nerves because you don’t want to think about when you’re no longer around or because the process overwhelms you and you don’t know where to start.

Too many people make this costly mistake of assuming that things will be figured out by their relatives or the state after they pass away. While it’s true that the state’s laws on passing on assets without a will do indeed kick in, this can leave behind a real mess for your family.

Those verbal promises you made to one family member about taking an heirloom could explode into a fight between siblings or relatives who want to claim ownership. Without a written document, it falls to the courts.

Handing over control to the courts can cause numerous problems in your estate. So, too can appointing a representative who isn’t clear about your intentions and has to spend months and numerous dollars from your estate to try to piece things together. One of the best things you can do for your family is to provide them with a roadmap.

Your loved ones have plenty to think about after you pass away. Don’t add to the confusion and grief by making it hard to find:

• Important documents like your will
• Contact information for your lawyer and other professionals
• Passwords or digital account close-out details

Store these items in a fireproof box in a place where at least once family member knows to look. Are you ready to work through your options and leave behind a legacy that impacts your family for generations to come? If so, now is the time to schedule a meeting with an estate planning team that can help you to accomplish your goals and plans your way rather than leaving it up to the courts.

From asset protection planning to Medicaid planning to business succession planning and more, our firm works with you to create an individualized plan that serves your needs.

Even though receiving inheritance might seem like a welcome windfall for people in your family, there are some setbacks associated with receiving a substantial inheritance.

Every year it’s estimated that over 1.7 million American households receive some form of an inheritance. However, within just a couple of years following that windfall, nearly three-quarters of beneficiaries have lost that inheritance, and more than one-third of all inheritors who recently responded to a study stated that there has been a decline in their wealth or no change at all in their wealth after inheriting assets or money.

Inheritances can come with strings attached, especially depending on the type of asset. Some of the setbacks faced by beneficiaries when inheriting property, investments and cash can include:

• Family conflicts
• Unexpected tax consequences
• Unplanned impact on government benefits

Considering all of these issues is an important step for anyone engaged in the process of putting together their own estate planning. Schedule a consultation today with an experienced estate planning lawyer to discuss which, if any, of the above listed challenges could potentially impact your family, and the planning strategies and tools you can use to address that.       

Having the best financial practices in place is important for new and experienced physicians. Doctors are unique due to the significant amount of time they spend in undergraduate college and medical school, and residency.

It can be difficult to keep up with all of the various aspects of running a business as a doctor and taking care of patients. It is very important for physicians, in particular, to consider how their assets will be distributed at their death, as well as who is given authority to make financial and medical decisions on their behalf in the event of incapacity.

Doctors are unfortunately exposed to a higher than usual rate lawsuit risk, meaning that it is imperative to take into account opportunities with asset protection planning, tax planning, lifestyle planning, planning for long-term care, retirement planning, investment planning, and insurance planning should also be incorporated into the bigger picture for a physician looking to accomplish estate planning and similar goals.

It can be difficult to figure out the first steps to take if you find yourself in this position. A team of experienced and dedicated estate planners can help you to sort what is most appropriate for you and how to proceed with obtaining the necessary documents and putting these strategies into place.       

It’s that time of year to celebrate the season and enjoy opportunities with your family. This is also a good time, however, to sit down with your estate planning lawyer to discuss your powers of attorney, trusts, wills, and other estate planning documents.

Bigger Than Basics- Estate Tips for Those Who Served

These foundational documents are the cornerstone of your estate planning, and veterans might have unique estate planning considerations depending on their individual situation.

Some other aspects of foundational estate planning to keep in mind include beneficiary designations that are used to manage former and current employment retirement plans, IRAs and annuities.

The designations on these beneficiary forms will supersede any other estate planning tools, which is why they should be an important component of your plan. Now is also a good time to closely examine the way that your property is currently titled.

Understand the Possible Tax Issues of Your Decisions

There are possible income tax implications that could make a child a joint owner of property leading to capital gains taxes upon the sale of that property.

Make sure that your legal and tax advisors are consulted regarding these possibilities. Make sure that you have liability insurance and a personal property plan in place as well. None of these aspects of your estate planning should be an afterthought.

For military service members or veterans, one of life’s challenges in the military is frequently changing. Developing a continuity book can bleed over into your personal affairs. Your continuity book could include an inventory of all your property, liabilities and insurance policies, as well as details about your key contacts, social media accounts, funeral wishes, and a list of the location of your key estate planning documents.       

Talk to a lawyer about your options for estate planning.

The intervention of a probate court might be necessary in your estate if you don’t discuss your options with an estate planning lawyer beforehand. Certain assets, such as real estate and vehicles, require particular documents in order for the title to pass. If the owner has passed away, the only way for someone to pass on that title is through a formal court proceeding and resulting order.

If you pass away with no will, all the assets inside your estate outside of those placed in trusts or managed through beneficiary transfer will go through probate administration. Each state has their own laws about how decisions regarding beneficiaries are made. The typical process for intestate administration includes:

• Starting the case in probate court
• The court confirming that no will exists and then appointing an administrator
• The administrator starts their administrative tasks like gathering all the assets inside the estate and notifying creditors
• The administrator pays out debts and taxes after liquidating the assets
• The proceeds left over from the debt and tax payment process are then distributed to heirs of the estate in accordance with a schedule outlined in statutes

One of the biggest challenges with the process of intestate administration is that once you have passed away, you have little to no influence over what happens to your belongings. Talking to a lawyer, on the other hand, gives you the option to articulate what you’d like to see happen to your belongings.

With no estate plan in place, the administrator of the estate has no obligation to follow through on any of the requests you might have had in relation to your estate management. Even if you verbally expressed these to the person officially appointed as administrator, he or she does not have to ensure your estate meets these terms.

This is especially important if you wanted to include non-family members in your estate. An estate administrator might not know or be willing to honor that promise you made to an old friend about a certain piece of property; more than likely, the administrator will face pressure to liquidate that asset and distribute the proceeds to your family members at outlined under statutes.

To ensure that your estate is managed in line with your expectations and wishes, talk to a dedicated estate planning lawyer today about the tools you can use, such as trusts and wills, to protect your interests for years to come.