Nevada Estate Planning

Top Four Estate Planning Myths

There are so many myths about estate planning that it would be hard to pick out the Top 10 Myths that deserve debunking.  But writer Gina Barry took a pretty good shot at the Top Four recently , writing for BusinessWest Online.

Here are Gina’s Top Four Estate Planning Myths:

• Myth No. 1 – “If I have a valid will, my estate does not have to go through probate.”
• Myth No. 2 – “I can give away $10,000 to as many people as I want each year, but if I give more, then I have to pay gift tax.”
• Myth No. 3 – “I can give away assets when I enter a nursing home and still obtain Medicaid benefits.”
• Myth No. 4 – “If I need nursing home care, Medicare will pay for my care.”

Despite their wide reputation as fact, each of these are indeed myths. I would encourage you to read the entire article to get the real “skinny” on these myths. Then, hop on over to our website and check out our February e-newsletter: Five Common Estate Planning Mistakes, for another take on how mythology can undermine your estate planning goals.

Contact me at 702.384.3767 to answer your questions and dispel those myths before it's too late!

Warmest Regards,

Lizette B. Sundvick, Esq.

"Dragon Tattoo" Estate Drags On

A recent post by fellow estate planning attorney, Greg Turza offered an interesting commentary illustrating the need to clearly identify who your heirs are.  I hope you find this an interesting story about this famous author and his death without a will.  

Stieg Larsson, the author of the best selling novel “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (now a movie), died in 2004 without a will. His heirs are still fighting it out with Larsson’s live-in girlfriend of 32 years. She and Larsson never married which leaves Larsson’s heirs as the sole beneficiaries of his estate.

Swedish law is the same as many states on this issue. If you die with no spouse and no children your heirs are your siblings and your parents. In Larsson’s case this means his father and his brother. Apparently, the basis for the girlfriend's claim is that she was involved in the editing of his novels. For more details see the story here.

You may be surprised to see who your “heirs” are if you died without a will. It depends on the relationships you have by blood or marriage who survive you. To determine who your heirs are under our state laws, you might want to spend a quick hour with me to get up to speed on this.

One other interesting aspect of the case is that all three of Larsson’s novels were published after he died so the value of his estate at the time of his death was probably nil. But as it turns out, even if he had great wealth at the time of his death Sweden repealed its estate tax in the same year of his death, 2004! If only the United States would follow suit.

If Steig Larsson had spent an afternoon with me, he would have avoided many of these problems.  And the lives of his heirs would have been considerably less stressful.  If you want to avoid Steig Larsson’s fate, please contact me, and let’s meet.  If you’d like to read Larsson’s trilogy, you can find it here:  Millennium Trilogy.

Warmest Regards,

Lizette B. Sundvick, Esq.

702.384.3767

www.SundvickLegacyCenter.com

Inventory Your Digital Assets

I have an excerpt from an article by Dennis Kennedy, who is an information technology lawyer and legal technology writer who publishes a monthly column in the ABA Journal.  You can find the full text of the article at http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/ftr03103.shtml. The rapid explosion of digital information and accounts is making this a topic of interest to nearly everyone of us.

Inventory Your Digital Assets.

I spent a large part of my early legal career as an estate planning lawyer.  In the case of either death or incapacity, the first important step is to track down and identify all of the assets, liabilities and other concerns that must be addressed.  Once an inventory is created, you can move forward with marshalling and collecting assets, identifying outstanding liabilities and paying them in a timely fashion, and dealing with outstanding issues, such as turning off utilities, canceling credit cards, arranging for storage or disposal and the like.

In the real world, your family and designated successors (personal representative of your estate, trustee of your trust or attorney-in-fact under a durable power of attorney) will be aided immensely by any list of assets and liabilities that you can prepare for them and leave in a place that is easy for them to obtain.

In your digital world, you also want to help your successors by creating an inventory.  The more detailed and accurate the better, of course, but even a small start can be of help.  Here are some of the things I suggest that you inventory:

• Hardware.  Inventorying your hardware seems like an easier project that it actually will be.  I suggest that you create a list of your hardware with a summary overview of what is on it.  Creating the inventory is likely to be an eye-opener for you.  You are likely to find that you have important information not only on the computer system you use everyday, but also on multiple other computers.  Many of us have at least one laptop and one or more desktop computers.  Many people keep copies of vital information on their work computers.  Where do you back up information?  You might have many USB flash drives, USB hard drives, backup CDs or DVDs.  There might be important pictures still on digital cameras and even information on iPods or other devices.
• Software.  Do you use Quicken or another financial program?  What income tax preparation programs do you use?  Do you create spreadsheets or Word documents with important financial information?  If you blog, is there a program that someone would need to use to post news to your blog?
• File structures.  Your inventory should sketch out the main folders and places where you keep personal, financial and client files and documents.  For someone like me, I also have audio and video of presentations and podcasts that I’d want someone to be able to locate and deal with.  You might have important collections of family photos or videos or work in progress.
• Online presence.  Create a list of your Web site(s), blog(s), Facebook and other social media accounts, online backup sites, online sites where you store documents, photos or other files, and listservs, groups or other sites to which you belong.
• Online accounts.  Amazon and other shopping sites make it easy for you to create accounts and include credit card information.  You might also have online access to bank and investment accounts.  In fact, in many cases, you might no longer be receiving paper statements for accounts.  If you don’t identify these accounts, it will be difficult for your successors to even know that they exist because there simply will be no paper trail.  Also, make a list of all the e-mail accounts you have and use.  Many of us have several e-mail accounts these days.
• Work information.  Lawyers might have access to client sites, collaboration sites, online document repositories or other information that no one else knows about.  In addition, they might have access to software, online tools or online databases that someone taking over their work will need to have.  In some firms, lawyers might have important network passwords, backup media or other digital assets the existence or value of which is not realized until they are gone.

At this beginning point, you really want to gather and collect as much information as you can for your inventory.  You can work on organizing and prioritizing later.

This is a new area of estate planning, and this information is helpful to trigger our thinking about our digital lives…..and which parts of our internet interaction, our home computer, and our business computer have become our digital assets that should be part of our estate planning.  My suggestion is that digital assets are  well worth organizing and treating as assets of your estate.  I am available to discuss  steps for managing your digital assets beyond the above list…..if advisable, let’s talk.

Warmest Regards,

Lizette B. Sundvick, Esq.

Resurrection of the Death Tax

The absence of rules for the estate tax is concerning.  Greg Turza is a fellow estate planning attorney who practices in Skokie, IL.   He read a recent article on the estate tax situation, and what follows is his summary.  His post also includes a link to the more detailed article.  And you are welcome to contact me with any of your questions.   

The good news is the estate tax is repealed! The bad news is, not for long. Since Bush's 2001 tax cuts went into effect the exemption from estate taxes climbed year by year from $1 million to a high of $3.5 million in 2009.

This year, 2010, is the repeal year but the Bush administration could never garner the 60 votes he needed in the senate to make the repeal permanent.
The consequence is the so-called "sunset" rule. As of January 1, 2011 the law automatically goes back to the way it was in 2001. In the case of the estate tax that means only a $1 million exemption and a top 55% tax rate.

The Obama administration advocates extending the 2009 exemption of $3.5 million on a permanent basis. This appeared to be where the Senate was headed on May 18th when an agreement was reached that had the support of more than 60 senators.

But the deal fell apart when the Democratic leadership decided that it will not allow the legislation to come to the floor for a vote unless the legislation has the support of more than half of the Democrat's 59 votes. Since the Democrats lack 50% support within their party the legislation failed.

Regardless of what happens there will be an estate tax next year. The only question is whether the exemption will be $3.5 million or $1 million –and $ 2.5 million is a huge difference in the plans for millions of taxpayers.

The “up-in-the-air” situation with the estate tax is concerning.  It is best to have a plan of action that you can execute quickly once the direction is finally established.  If you’d like to discuss ways to assemble a plan in advance, call my office to meet in person 702.384.3767 or email me at info@sundvicklegacycenter.com.  

To Your Success & Significance,

Lizette B. Sundvick, Esq.

Planning for Older Parents

Mary Lynn Pannen is one of the nation’s leading experts on Geriatric Care Management and Home Care for seniors. As President of Sound Options, she has built a very successful home care business in the Puget Sound region.  Mary Lynn recently described her company’s service this way: “Able to transform potentially stressful circumstances into readily manageable solutions, Sound Options works with clients with a wide range of needs and medical conditions.” I was struck with how similar her mission is to my mission in constructing comprehensive and well-thought-out estate plans.  For those of you wrestling with plans for your older adult parents, I thought you would benefit from this recent blog post by Mary Lynn.

One of the reasons that I am intrigued with working with older adults is their life stories. I really like listening to how a person summarizes their life or how they remember the simplest detail. Listening is a pleasure and it is so important while helping older adults live out the last chapters of their lives. One can learn so much by listening. As an adult child you may hear things you never knew before and that may allow you to see your parent in a different light. You may learn the very reason for why your parent made decisions – good or bad. I find listening creates for me more understanding and that at the end of the day we all have similar wishes and desires.

1. If possible have your older parent participate in planning their care
2. Create a safe environment for your parent
3. Provide quality of life- this will be different for each person.
4. Talk about the old times. Reminiscing can be very satisfying to both your parent and you.
5. Do not make promises you cannot keep
6. Make sure that their end of life desires are fulfilled
7. Do not forget that your parent is an adult – not a child
8. Provide ways for your parent to remain as safely independent as possible

Planning and sensitivity becomes even more important with age.  And it is even more important to address the personal as well as the factual elements of the situation.  I often refer to local Geriatric Care Managers in the Las Vegas and Henderson area.  If I can be of assistance in “transforming your potentially stressful circumstances into readily manageable solutions”, please, let’s talk.  Call me.

Lizette B. Sundvick, Esq.

702.384.3767

 

Seasonal Solutions: The Stages of Life & Estate Planning

To everything there is a season. So it is with your Life & Estate Plan. This article uses a Seasons of Life theme to illustrate how your Life & Estate Plan may change with your personal and financial circumstances over your lifetime.
Learn more about Life and Estate Planning and how your plans can change with the Seasons of your Life -- your personal and financial circumstances...