New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

Part of proper estate planning means safeguarding not only your physical, tangible assets but your digital assets, as well. Many people do not protect these assets for a variety of reasons: a few do not think that it is important, some do not know how, and others simply do not want to think of the prospect of estate planning. However, protecting your digital assets can be easy and doing so will not only give you some peace of mind but will do so for your loved ones, too.

Why You Should Protect Digital Assets

You can do and buy just about anything online nowadays, and most of it you can accomplish with the phone in your pocket. Digital assets are more plentiful than ever, and you might not be aware of how much you have actually amassed in this form. One study by McAfee, a computer protection company, found that the average person has over $35,000 worth of digital assets on various devices that they own.

With the end of the year approaching, it is good time to review your estate plan and take care of any last minute financial chores before any new tax and estate planning laws take effect for the following year. Here are eight basic items to check off of your to-do list as the end of the year approaches:

Review your Current Retirement Accounts

With the stock market rebounding this year and other market indexes at all-time highs, it is important to revisit your current retirement accounts and consider reallocating your asset distribution within your retirement accounts. It is also a good chance to see if you are on track with your contributions for the year, especially if your employer matches your contribution to the account. Even if you can’t make the maximum this year, consider bumping up your contributions until the end of the year.

The federal estate tax is no longer the biggest concern for many people going through the estate planning process. However, this was not always the case. In 2004, any estate worth more than $1.5 million, or whose estate owner made gifts above that limit while alive, were subject to federal tax at top rates of almost 50%. There was extreme uncertainty as the federal tax levels bounced around from year to year and even disappeared entirely in 2010, which made effective planning exceedingly difficult.

Finally, last year Congress set up a new estate and gift tax rate, topped at 40%, and raised the exemption level to $5.34 million per person. Each year that number is adjusted for inflation and the level is expected to be set at $5.43 million per person next year.

New Tax Saving Opportunities

Despite the strong standards that are set by the state and federal governments that are supposed to ensure that our elderly nursing home residents receive good care, a recent federal study found that over one third of all short term patients who enter a nursing home for rehabilitation are harmed. Moreover, the study found that almost sixty percent of the harm caused to these residents could have been preventable.

Federal Nursing Home Study

The report, published by the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, studied the number of adverse events occurring in skilled nursing facilities across the United States. The experts discovered that an estimated 22% of Medicare beneficiaries suffered an “adverse event” during their stay at a nursing home facility, and an additional eleven percent suffered a temporary harm during their time at a facility.

Not only is it important to create an estate plan that documents your final wishes for your estate and medical choices, but it is equally important to remember where those documents are when they are needed. Family members or close friends need to know where they can locate your estate planning documents in the time just before or after your passing. If someone does not know where these documents are kept, it could mean that your final wishes are not fulfilled.

Problems with Lost Documents

Being unable to find estate planning documents can have a drastic effect on your final wishes. One man wished to be buried at Arlington Cemetery after he had died, but his son could not find the paperwork after his passing. The cemetery offered to place his father in cold storage for six months while the son tracked down the proper forms documenting his military discharge. He eventually found it being used as a bookmark in his father’s home.