New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

Advice on Discussing Estate Plans With Adult Children

Published on: October 31, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

It is often difficult for parents to determine whether to share details about an estate plan with their adult children. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer or easy solution to determining when to share this information with adult children. Fortunately, there is some advice to help parents decide when to disclose these details with adult children. This article will list some critical advice that parents should follow when discussing information about their estate plan with adult children.

Tip #1 – Be Certain to Make Personal Property Plans

It is very important that parents have a conversation with adult children about any personal property that multiple individual might want because personal property is one of the estate planning areas most likely to result in arguments between beneficiaries. To fully anticipate any arguments that might arise, parents should make sure to afford each adult child the opportunity to talk about their favorite items so that an agreement regarding how the personal property will be divided can be made.

Missteps with Retirement Withdrawals May Significantly Impact Your Estate Plan

Published on: October 30, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Comprehensive financial planning is an intricate, multistep process that often goes hand-in-hand with comprehensive estate planning. There are many different financial planning options available to you when you begin thinking about planning for your retirement, and it is never too early to start looking into them. One of the most commons options people choose in planning for retirement is the establishment of a retirement account like an IRA or 401(k) plan. A recent article from The Motley Fool discusses three common missteps people make when approaching their retirement account withdrawals.

Waiting Too Long

The United States Internal Revenue Service requires minimum distributions from retirement accounts after age seventy and a half. However, that does not mean you need to wait until then to start taking these distributions. In fact, doing so could actually cause you unintended financial harm. By the time a person is seventy and a half, they have likely amassed a good deal of savings in these retirement accounts.

Important Steps in the End of Life Planning Process

Published on: October 27, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

It is important for individuals to properly plan the end of their lives. There are many critical estate planning tools that should potentially be used during this planning process. While an estate planning attorney can help individuals navigate each of these issues, it is important for people to understand what each of these documents are and why they are very important. This article will review four of the most important end of life documents that individuals should consider creating with the assistance of a strong estate planning attorney.

Document # 1 – Advance Care Directives

These documents place in writing the desires that a person has about their health care to make sure that their wishes are followed in the event that they become incapacitated or in any way are unable to communicate them. These documents are very important because they make sure that patients who are permanently unconscious or terminally ill receive the care they deserve.

Unique Estate Planning Concerns for Women

Published on: October 27, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Comprehensive estate planning is an important consideration for everyone. There are many important factors to consider when engaging in responsible estate planning, not the least of which being how you want your assets to be distributed after your death. Most people will face questions about this concern at some point in their life, especially as they get older. However, a recent article from Forbes notes that women have some unique concerns when it comes to estate planning.

Healthcare Concerns

Statistics show that women live longer than men. In fact, the article notes that women are expected to live 4.9 years longer than men. This means that there are several more years of rising healthcare costs that women may need to worry about when engaging in estate planning and planning for retirement. Women need to make sure that their assets will be able to carry them through the extra years they will statistically have, which may involve paying close attention to your spouse’s estate planning portfolio because it could have a significant impact on your own estate planning choices and goals.

Understanding Required Minimum Distributions

Published on: October 25, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

When an individual begins to engage in responsible, comprehensive estate planning, they inevitably end up discussing their retirement savings and investments accounts with their experienced estate planning attorney. One of the most common terms when it comes to these types of assets is required minimum distributions. While retirement accounts themselves can be incredibly complex, a recent article from The Motley Fool helps make understanding required minimum distributions relatively easy and can help you approach retirement and estate planning in a more informed, confident manner.

The Basics

You are required to start taking required minimum distributions from your retirement accounts by April 1 of the year following when you turn age seventy and a half. However, it may end up being a wise choice for you to take the first required minimum distribution the year that you turn seventy and a half instead of waiting until the next year because you will end up getting two in that year as you are also required to take one yearly by December 31. Combining two withdrawals can have a significant impact on your taxable income for the year depending on the characteristics of your account.

Signs of Guardianship Abuse

Published on: October 24, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The co-founder of Americans Against Abusive Probate Guardianship recently organized a town hall meeting about guardianship. The topic of the meeting is the increasing number of guardianship cases occur in which guardians take money from a loved one’s estate. This concern comes at a time when other states like Nevada have made multiple arrests of guardians who were accused of abusing their relationship with an incapacitated individual. In addition to a lack of enforcement by the law of elder abuse, the meeting discussed the other inequalities that are occurring in the system.

The Types of Elder Abuse

Financial abuse is just one type of elder abuse. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention consider elder abuse to include any intentional act that has the potential to harm a person who is 60 years of age or older. 1 in 10 senior citizens are reported by the Center for Disease Control to be subject to elder abuse. Some of the common types of elder abuse are:

Rising Healthcare Costs Could Impact Your Estate Plan

Published on: October 22, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

We have written several posts about the importance of addressing health-related issues as you engage in comprehensive estate planning and plan for your retirement. You may want to invest in long-term care insurance, or you may want to create a trust that you can fund with money to help you cover healthcare expenses as you age. Whatever your approach, a recent WealthManagement.com article reminds us of the importance of considering healthcare as part of a responsible estate planning strategy. Filing to do so could have a significant negative effect on your estate and the assets that you can pass on to your heirs.

Projected Costs

The article cites a recent Fidelity Investments estimate that the average couple retiring at age 65 this year can expect to have to pay approximately $275,000 for healthcare and related needs during their retirement. This astronomical number is six percent higher than it was in 2016. In fact, the uptick in healthcare costs during retirement have pretty much been on the rise since 2002, with most years seeing an increase in the estimated cost. Since Fidelity first did an estimate of healthcare costs in retirement about 15 years ago, the cost estimate has gone up 70 percent.

Reminder: Planning for Your Digital Assets

Published on: October 21, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In the last decade, digital platforms like Facebook and Twitter have exploded in popularity to the point where millions of people, both young and old, have accounts and regularly post and share information with one another. Other media like Google Drive and Dropbox allow allow anyone with an email address to set up an account and store and share information across the cloud with anyone the individual gives access to.

Just like with any other material assets, we need to plan for someone to take charge of managing these digital accounts for when we pass on. Fortunately for New York Residents, state law allows individuals to grant executors of their estate legal and practical powers to digital assets upon death. New York is one of several states which passed the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) in the New York Consolidated Laws §13-A-1 through §13-A-5.2.

The RUFADDA defines “electronic communications” as a type of digital assets that requires stronger privacy protections as these are often private communications between one person and another. The law requires individuals give explicit consent for the executor of the estate to access these sensitive electronic communications, no matter how benign they may be. Whether these digital assets are simply an email or social media account, certain procedures must be followed to ensure quick and expedient access.

Wealth Advisors and Estate Planning

Published on: October 20, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Experienced estate planning attorneys can provide a wealth of information to individuals looking to make the most out of their estate plan. However, as with any other area of law requiring specialized knowledge, good estate planning attorneys are not afraid to tell their clients where to look for additional information pertinent to their individual circumstances. Sometimes that means working with an experienced wealth planner while working with an estate planning attorney to make the most out of your assets. A wealth advisor can play an integral role in your estate planning approach, and a recent article from Forbes highlights the important role they can play.

Role of a Wealth Advisor

A good wealth advisor will work with your estate planning attorney to help find the estate planning mechanisms that will best enable you to preserve your wealth and make it available to your heirs. When they work closely with your estate planning attorney, much of the burden of communicating important information is removed from clients. Instead, they can help you assess the estate planning mechanisms you have in place and look for ways that your wealth could best benefit from modifying or even expanding your estate planning portfolio based on your individual needs. This is especially helpful for families with diverse financial needs or large financial portfolios, but can also be a tool for anyone that wants to make the most out of their estate.

Important Reminders When Planning for Your Pets

Published on: October 18, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

For many people with animals, those furry friends are a part of the family. We make exceptions for them to make sure that they are taken care of while we are alive, and it is not uncommon for people to include provisions in their estate planning for pet care after a human companion passes away. Making sure your pets are taken care of after you pass is an important part of responsible pet ownership as well as an important part of comprehensive estate planning. However, a recent article from Fox News provides some reminders of traps to avoid when including your pets in your estate plan.

An Important Consideration

If you include provisions for your pet(s) in your estate plan, make sure they are realistic. A pet does not fit into everyone’s life, so when approaching estate planning for pets you first need to be confident that the person you nominate to care for your pet(s) is ready and able to accept the responsibility. This means that you will need to have a serious discussion with the person you are designating as the caretaker before you create provisions in your estate plan involving them. This important reminder extends to a number of different aspects beyond pets – and an experienced estate planning attorney can help you approach them correctly.