Wills, Trusts, & Estate Planning » Advance Directive

Estate Plan Updates at Transition Points

stevenberger — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:36:51 +0000

This is the time of year for graduations and we are proud that our youngest daughter graduated from Williams College. We are also relieved of our obligation to write those tuition checks twice a year. As an estate planning attorney I realize that the last college graduation means our estate plan needs to be updated. No longer do we need a common trust to ensure that assets will be available to cover the cost of educating all of our children. We reached the point where putting our assets into a revocable trust makes sense for disability management and probate avoidance. We created a Bypass Trust to double our Maryland Estate Tax exemption and to ensure that our daughters are the beneficiaries of our career savings. We have a Standalone Retirement Trust to ensure that our retirement accounts receive their maximum stretch to delay income taxes while providing asset protection and management. Our life insurance policies are owned by an Irrevocable Trust that keeps the proceeds out of our estate. Finally, we updated our advance medical directives and executed the new Maryland statutory power of attorney. We are glad to be finished with this phase of our life and looking forward to the new challenges that life will bring.

Pro Bono Legal Work for an Estate Planning Attorney

stevenberger — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:30:07 +0000

The Maryland State Bar Association highly encourages attorneys to make their legal services available to individual who cannot afford legal assistance or to help non-profit organizations in achieving their purpose. Here are some of the activities I have been involved in during the past year.

Wills for Heroes: This program involved preparation of simple wills, powers of attorney, and advance directives for police and firefighters in Anne Arundel County. For my part I trained ten lawyers from the Young Lawyers Association in the basic concepts of estate planning and answered any “hard questions” that our clients might have. A generous donation of software from LexisNexis (http://www.lexisnexis.com/) helped speed our clients through the process. We did not provide tax planning for the first responders, but provided a basic estate plan for our public servants. Most of all, I was impressed by their awareness of the need to name a Guardian for the children as they stand in harm’s way every day they put their uniform on to ensure our safety and well being.

Legal Services for the Elderly: My involvement with this program is to take on an elderly client and handle an elder law issue for them. Often the solution is quite easy, but this group is so susceptible to scare tactics and scams. They are an appreciative group making the work very rewarding.

Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts: My involvement here is to take on clients who have substantial art collections. I work to preserve the collection after the client’s death or sell the art to fund charitable causes usually involving the arts.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School: I sit on the board that oversees the business part of the church and school. Although my official title is that of executive vice-president for finance, my duties are closer to that of a corporate attorney. I answer the questions of: “What is the organization’s liability for that action?”, “Can you review this contract?”, and “How does our tax-exempt status affect our ability to carry on this activity?”. This position allows me to support an organization that is doing a great deal to improve the lives of its members, school students, and community.

Write Your Own Will using an On-Line Package

stevenberger — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 18:47:56 +0000

You can easily write your own will, power of attorney, medical power of attorney, and living will using an on-line package. Most of the software packages do a pretty good job for the “I love you wills” giving everything to your spouse, then to your children. The software replicates what most general practice attorneys can provide you. Some of the problems I have seen are improper execution (usually a problem with the witnesses) or failure to include a common clause such as excusing the executor from posting bond. You will never know if you made such a mistake, because a will is not probated until you depart this life.

Rather than spend your money on a software package and a Saturday of your time, you can go to a lawyer who prepares wills as loss leader for $300 to $500. The lawyer is willing to do this work to create a new client. The business model is that you will come back for other legal work. Eventually, the office can probate your estate for a nice fee.

The third alternative is to go to an attorney whose practice centers around estate planning. This attorney will evaluate your entire estate, e.g.; check the title of all your assets, review the beneficiaries of your life insurance policies and retirement plans, account for step children and second marriages. You will have to pay for the time, training, and experience of this attorney which should benefit your heirs in reduced estate taxes and probate costs.

The analogy I use is the maintenance of my automobile. I worked in my Father’s garage in High School and learned to maintain my own car. In the Air Force, I was able to use the lift and tools at the base garage to maintain and repair my car. As the years passed, automobiles became more complicated and my knowledge of mechanics grew rusty, so oil changes and tire rotations were all I could do at home. I found that I could get this work done at a very low price at the big tire shops. However, when it came time to get some other work done on my car the savings of those “inexpensive oil changes” disappeared. I asked around for the recommendation of a good technician and moved my business to “Richard’s Auto Repair”. I spend a little more on routine maintenance, but little problems get solved before they become big problems and I am kept appraised of what costs to expect as my car ages.

The lesson learned. You can write your own will on-line. You should be able to save a few hundred dollars. Beware – the few hundred dollars you save could cost your family thousands.

Do Not Resuscitate Orders

stevenberger — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:01:17 +0000

Boris Veysman wrote an interesting article on Do Not Resuscitate orders from a Physician’s viewpoint that was published in the Washington Post. A physician or nurse practitioner must sign a DNR order. Maryland Emergency Medical Services explains the effect of the order and you can download a form from their website. Do Not Resuscitate Orders are different from medical powers of attorney, living wills, which are often combined in one document called an Advance Directive. An Advance Directive is available from the Maryland Attorney General’s site. There is also an Advance Directive specifically written for Mental Health. An Estate Planning attorney should be able to assist you in preparing these documents.

As an attorney, my job is to educate clients on all the options available so they can make their wishes known to their family. The key to this process is a family discussion on difficult issues. In Veyman’s article, the family lost their will to fight before the patient did. You have to wonder if the patient had truly made his desires known to his family. I cannot stress the importance of advance discussions so your wishes will be followed. I was recently quoted in a Financial Planning Association’s article on “Making your Estate Plan Disaster Proof” on the importance of the estate planning process. Sitting down with your family and discussing your values and choices is a key part of that process. Not only do you ensure that your wishes are follow, your leadership provides a positive example for your family to follow.