New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

Making Your Estate Plan Your Own

Published on: November 16, 2016 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Your estate plan is a way for you to make very important decisions regarding the future of your personal property, financial holdings and legacy. A proper estate plan is truly a gift. It provides peace of mind to the owner of the estate and grants family, friends, and other heirs a little piece to remember them by.

A Personal Touch

While the bulk of estate planning is comprised of official legal documents, these formalities may not be enough to convey your thoughts and wishes. Many people wish to include a letter of instruction along with their legal documents. This letter has your wishes in your own words.

Inheriting Partial Ownership

Published on: November 14, 2016 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Inheriting physical real estate, such as a home or vacation cabin, can be tricky to navigate. You have to consider your desire for the property, potential expenses involved in ownership, and the process of transitioning ownership of the property to your name. These situations become more complicated when you add joint ownerships and partial interests.

People have been known to leave homes or vacation properties to their children to have in equal shares. This is common in cases where the property has been in the family for generations. Property left to multiple people is considered equally owned as “tenants-in-common” or “co-tenants”. All co-tenants have the right to use all of the property and share in any profits or liabilities from it.

“I don’t want a cabin in the woods if my brother’s there too.”

Inheriting IRAs: A Legacy Full of Potential Pitfalls

Published on: November 11, 2016 | by Ettinger Law Firm

If you inherit an individual retirement account, or IRA, there are a few key rules you should be aware of in order to avoid potential legal, financial, and tax issues. Failure to do so could result in a smaller legacy left behind and a headache for your beneficiaries.

Never Commingle Inherited IRAs with Non-Inherited IRAs

Inherited IRAs are separate financial accounts than IRAs or retirement accounts you may own and contribute to for yourself. You cannot commingle the funds from your IRAs and inherited IRAs. If you inherit multiple accounts from the same person such as your father, you can combine those accounts into a single IRA. Assets inherited from different individuals, such as your mother and father, you cannot combine those accounts. It is also important to note that you cannot combine inherited accounts of different types, such as your father’s traditional IRA and his Roth IRA.

What’s In a Name: Choosing a Name for Your Trust

Published on: November 9, 2016 | by Ettinger Law Firm

A Living Trust is an estate planning vehicle that helps you avoid probate by transferring property to the people and charities of your choice. The assets are held in the trust’s name and not in the name of the individual. For this reason, it is important to appropriately name the trust.

The Importance of a Name

Trust names are important to consider because in order for a trust to legally hold the assets or property, the trust has to be identifiable by its formal name. This name must be distinct and separate from your name.

Back to Basics: Estate Planning Vocabulary

Published on: November 7, 2016 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Estate planning can be a tricky matter. If it wasn’t difficult enough to make decisions regarding the end of your life and your estate beyond your lifetime, you are also expected to learn and understand a slew of new words and phrases. What are the main phrases you must know to be able to plan and understand your estate? Here’s our breakdown:

Beneficiary: A beneficiary is someone who receives an inheritance through a will. Beneficiaries can be designated on certain financial assets, such as retirement accounts and life insurance policies. These designated beneficiaries will supercede the will.

Bequest: A bequest is a provision in a will that leaves property or assets to someone specific.

How to Properly Choose a Caregiver For your Loved One

Published on: November 5, 2016 | by Ettinger Law Firm

There comes a time when difficult conversations must be had with an elderly loved one in your life that requires a caregiver, but is not receptive to the idea. These conversations can initially be overwhelming for both the loved one and the elderly person, as they start to make a plan about how their lives will change, but as so many Americans continue to live longer with a number of chronic health problems, enlisting the help of a caregiver is a very realistic and responsible choice in order to ensure an elderly person is well taken care of. This also tends to be the best option for those families who are not geographically close enough to care for their loved one full time but see the need for change in the current situation.

In determining the needs of your loved one, continue the dialogue to assess what is most important to both of the parties, such as, full time versus part time care, what daily activities the individual partakes in and what kind of assistance is needed with those, if any, as well as whether overnight care or meal assistance is needed, among many other factors.

Once needs have been determined, it is important to build a pool of applicants to interview. Caregivers build a very personal and intimate relationship with those they care for, thus, it is critical that the individual not only approves of the caregiver, but shares something in common and can trust that person.

Female Focused Estate Planning: Long-Term Care

Published on: November 4, 2016 | by Ettinger Law Firm

While everyone needs an estate plan, demographics show that women in particular should take steps to address the matter.

Living Longer & Needing Care

On average, women live five years longer than men. This means women have to face a few realities: (1) they are more likely to require long-term care, and (2) will require care for a longer period of time than their male counterparts.

Trust Settlement & Disbursement after Beneficiary Death

Published on: November 2, 2016 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Upon the happening of an event described in a trust, whether it is a term being met, a beneficiary reaching a certain age, or the death of a certain party, the trustee must settle the trust, terminating it and distributing the assets out. While sometimes these terminating events can be easily foreseen and planned for accordingly, such as a beneficiary reaching age attainment, other events may be more sudden. These sudden events, such as an unforeseen death, can cause particular difficulty for those administering the trust as well as those seeking the trust continue to pay for certain expenses, including funeral costs.

When the event occurs, the trustee, in most states, must either file paperwork with the court or notify all the of the beneficiaries of the event, the trust’s consequential termination, and next steps for distribution. This release is required in order for the trust to distribute out and for the trustee’s duties to terminate. The trustee’s acknowledgement of the event insulates the trustee in the event that the estate or any of its beneficiaries attempt to bring legal action against the trustee.

What many beneficiaries of a trust do not realize is that upon the happening of the event, as of that day, the trust going forward can no longer allocate any assets to pay costs that may have formerly been taken care of by the trust, such as real estate taxes or various bills. The trust must act as if it is then frozen in time in order to preserve what will eventually be distributed out. While it can be inconvenient in terms of timing as well as financially, the trustee can no longer pay out or make distributions on behalf of the trust because it fails to exist and the will of the grantor is no longer known.

Estate Planning for the Single & Childless

Published on: November 2, 2016 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Estate planning for families is important. It allows a person to plan for the care and wellbeing of their family members and loved ones long after they have passed. What about people who do not have families to consider? More and more people are staying unmarried; according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 45% of adults were unmarried in 2012. Many adults are also childless, either voluntarily or involuntarily. These lifestyle choices do not, however, mean that estate planning is any less necessary.

Planning for Your Self

Estate planning isn’t just about planning for the distribution of your assets after your passing. It is also the only way to ensure that your wishes are carried out when it comes to medical care, end of life procedures, and funeral plans.

Estate Planning & Financially Dependent Adult Children

Published on: October 31, 2016 | by Ettinger Law Firm

According to the Pew Research Center, more Americans age 18-34 are living with their parents than in any other living situation. Over 32% of people in that age group live in their parents’ house which leads to an interesting estate planning dilemma for the parents.

While some adults who live with their parents are financially independent providing for their own daily living expenses and even paying rent, many living at home are in some way, shape or form financially dependent on their parents. This dependence can make estate planning even more important.

Discuss Your Plan