New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

When Heirs Fight Over Sentimental Assets

Published on: March 6, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Robin Williams’ widow and his children from previous marriages were in court more than eight months after his death arguing over what personal items should go to whom. His wife, Susan Schneider, conceded that the children should get the suspenders that he wore on the television show, “Mork and Mindy,” but wanted to keep the tuxedo that he wore at their wedding. These were two items in a list of assets that have more sentimental value than monetary value, but it is often an overlooked part of the estate planning process.

Robin Williams’ Estate

Robin Williams was very careful about his estate plan. He left money and property in trust to his children, set up a trust for his wife, and masterfully protected his publicity rights through the creation of a nonprofit 501(c)(3). However, the terms in his estate plan regarding his personal, more sentimental assets were left unfortunately vague. He left clothing, jewelry, and personal items accumulated before his last marriage to his children.

Court Rules on Proper Interpretation of Will

Published on: March 5, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Georgia Supreme Court recently ruled on what was the proper interpretation of a will that appeared to leave an interest in real property to his wife, in fee simple, but also let the same property to his son and his son’s children. The issue was between the executors of the estate and the grandchildren as to whether they inherited an interest in the land or if the wife’s estate held the title to the land in fee simple.

Facts of the Case

Hodge King and his wife, Hattie, jointly owned four separate tracts of land together as tenants in common during his lifetime. When Mr. King died in 1999, he stated in his will that “I give, devise, and bequeath to my wife, Hattie F. King, all of my property, both real and personal, wherever located and whenever acquired, either before or after the making of this my Will, hers in Fee Simple.”

Money Moves to Help You Leave a Legacy

Published on: March 2, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Most people do not believe that they can leave a legacy for their heirs because the word is usually tied to large, multi-million dollar estates. However, there are ways to leave a legacy that does not involve complicated estate planning tools or extreme amounts of wealth. Two simple moves can be made with the money that you have now that can help you leave a legacy for your family, friends, or charitable organizations.

Moving Money to a Roth IRA

If you have assets in a traditional IRA that you do not think that you will deplete in your lifetime, consider converting those funds to a Roth IRA. High income earners are often prevented from contributing to a Roth IRA, but anyone can convert a traditional IRA to a Roth. After the conversion of the traditional to the Roth, when the Roth IRA is held for five and a half years and you have reached the age of 59 ½ years old all of the distributions are tax-free.

Managing Health Care Costs with Crowdfunding

Published on: March 2, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

While some say that it takes a village to raise a child, others are now saying that it takes a crowd to pay for rising medical costs. As more caregivers are expected to pay for their loved one’s medical costs out of pocket, they are turning to the internet and crowdfunding websites for help. Certain crowdfunding websites are now dedicated portions of their sites specifically for health care expenses or specific diseases that need treatment.

Crowdfunding Websites

Crowdfunding, also known as crowdsourcing, uses a page on the internet to talk about the issue at hand and raise money for costs. It relies on friends, family, and strangers alike to donate money to the particular cause. Websites like YouCaring.com, GiveForward.com, GoFundMe.com, and Fundly.com are all examples of websites where people can go online and ask for help.

Court Applies Disentitlement Doctrine in Estate Lawsuit

Published on: February 26, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

This case centered on a dispute over the administration of a family trust as well as the interpretation of trust documents. Despite appealing the ruling, the defendant in the case violated court orders and, and the plaintiff moved to dismiss the appeal based on the rules within the disentitlement doctrine.

Facts of the Case

In the case of Adam J. Blumberg v. Gloria M. Minthorne, Gloria and Ralph Minthorne created the Minthorne Family Living Trust in 2008, with Gloria named as the sole trustee. Both parties had children and assets from previous marriages. In regards to the division and distribution of the trust property, one clause stated that the trustee was allowed to transfer the entire estate to a survivor’s trust after the death of one spouse. Another clause left “all the rest, residue, and remainder of the trust estate, including the remainder one-half interest” in an apartment building to Ralph’s children and grandchildren.

Chinese Elite Fighting for Palliative Care

Published on: February 26, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Families of China’s political elite and senior Communist Party leaders are now fighting for a more unusual cause: the right for their seniors to die with dignity. Failure to take every measure possible to keep these people alive is considered shameful and is often confused with euthanasia in China. As a result, the elite are given every possible treatment to prolong their lives, despite it not being their final wishes.

New Group Efforts

Children and grandchildren of some of China’s highest ranking officials have come together to discuss the issue of dying with dignity. Many recall family members that spent their final days strapped to machines and tubes instead of living out that time peacefully at home. The group’s goal is to help patients in China say no to certain types of medical interventions and instead seek palliative care.

Social Media Estate Planning: Adding a Facebook Legacy Contact

Published on: February 23, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In a time where social media accounts are part of your estate plan, figuring out what should happen to your accounts when you die is something that must be considered. The developers at Facebook have been dealing with this issue for years. Previously, they allowed for a basic memorialized account that people could view but not manage. Now, Facebook has launched a new feature that allows you to choose a legacy contact, a trusted person who can manage the account after you die.

Purpose of a Legacy Contact

The purpose of a legacy contact is to allow someone to manage your social media account after you pass away. While technically you can just give your password to another person, it is a violation of Facebook’s terms of service. In addition, there is no guarantee that the something might happen with your password that would lock your account manager out of your page.

Government to Change How It Rates Nursing Homes

Published on: February 23, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The federal government announced on Thursday that it was changing the way that it rates nursing homes, adjusting the curve that it uses to measure the quality of the communities to make it more difficult to earn four and five star ratings. Using the new guidelines, officials said that many nursing homes’ ratings will likely fall, but the information will not be made public until February 20.

Current Ratings System

Currently, nursing homes are rated on a one to five star scale on the website, Nursing Home Compare a widely used federal website that evaluates more than 15,000 facilities across the country. Unfortunately, the system relies heavily upon unverified information that resulted in notoriously poor nursing homes receiving top marks. Two of the three major criteria used in the current ratings system, staffing levels and quality measure statistics, were self-reported by the nursing homes and not audited by the federal government.

Tax Issues to Consider When Closing an Estate

Published on: February 20, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

When a person dies, someone else must step up and close the estate. If that responsibility falls to you, as an executor you must identify all of the estate’s assets, pay off creditors, and distribute what is left to the heirs. However, an added responsibility as the executor is that you must also file all of the tax paperwork for the estate, as well. There are four major tax considerations that you must complete as the executor of an estate.

Filing the Final 1040

The first thing that you must do as an executor is file the deceased’s personal tax return for the year that the person died. The standard 1040 form covers from January 1 of that year until the date of death. If there is a surviving spouse, you can fill out the 1040 as a joint return and is filed as though the deceased lived until the year’s end. A final joint 1040 includes the decedent’s income and deductions up until the time of death in addition to the surviving spouse’s income and deductions for the entire year.

Elderly Man Charged with Killing Nursing Home Roommate Dies

Published on: February 19, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

An 89 year old man who was charged in the killing of his 86 year old roommate at a Buffalo, New York nursing home facility has died. Chester Rusek, 89, passed away in the Erie County Medical Center, where he was being treated for multiple medical issues. He was charged with manslaughter in the November 2012 killing of his roommate in the assisted care facility, Salvatore Trusello, 86.

The authorities stated that Mr. Rusek used a two pound magnet to beat Mr. Trusello to death as he laid in his bed at the senior living community in Tonawanda. Mr. Trusello survived the initial attack but died one month later due to his injuries. Mr. Rusek told police at the time of the attack that he believed that Mr. Trusello was stealing from him. Mr. Rusek’s attorney has stated that once a death certificate is filed, the prosecutors plan to dismiss the charges.

Violence in Nursing Homes