King & Wood, P.A.

Do You Need a ‘Pour-Over’ Will?

“For those who want to avoid the court-controlled process that takes place after a person’s death (known as ‘probate’)—using a Revocable Living Trust is typically the best way to do so.”

A revocable living trust gives a married couple or individual the power to direct what should happen after they die to assets and possessions placed within a Revocable Trust. The trust also indicates who should be in charge of carrying out these instructions without the involvement of a probate court judge, explains a recent article, “How does a Pour-Over Will work?” from Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press.

A Last Will and Testament, referred to as a “will,” is the traditional document that leaves instructions about what you want to happen to your assets when you die and includes the name of your executor, the person you want to carry out your wishes. If you have a will, do you still need a trust? Probably.

A Revocable Living Trust will only concern the specific assets and possessions you’ve placed into the trust. This is known as “funding the trust.” When the trust is first established, your estate planning attorney will help you with the steps needed to ensure that assets are retitled so they are owned not by you but by the trust.

As time passes, if you acquire new assets or possessions, you might forget to have them placed in the trust. This is a common oversight and can have major implications for the success of your overall estate plan.

If you die and there are assets outside of the trust, they will likely need to go through the court-controlled probate process. You were trying to avoid this in the first place by establishing a trust.

If you don’t have a will, these assets will be distributed according to state law instead of your wishes.

There is a solution—the Pour-Over Will.

A Pour-Over Will is a little different than a traditional will. It includes specific instructions to place any assets not placed inside your trust into the trust as soon as possible. This type of will still has to go through probate, but probate will only apply to assets left out of the trust and can typically be probated less formally.

While the goal in using a Revocable Trust is to avoid probate completely, the Pour-Over Will is an important “just in case” document to have if you have Trusts.

Parents of minor children have yet another reason to have a Pour-Over Will, even when there is a Revocable Living Trust. A will is used to name the person or people you want to serve as guardians for your minor children, if both parents are deceased. Leaving this decision to be made by the court rather than by you is something to be avoided at all costs.

Reference: Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press (Sep. 10, 2023) “How does a Pour-Over Will work?”

 

Do You Need a Revocable Trust?

“One of the most common misconceptions about a last will and testament is that having a will avoids the need for probate court.”

Think of your will as a letter to the court explaining your wishes for property distribution. A revocable trust is one of the easiest ways to pass property to heirs outside of probate, says a recent article from The News-Enterprise, “Revocable trusts provide flexibility in estate planning.” Revocable trusts are popular tools to avoid probate, protecting the decedent and beneficiaries.

Another benefit of revocable trusts? The trustee who manages the trust can work on their own timeline rather than worrying about meeting dates set by the court. In most cases, assets can be distributed much faster through a revocable trust than through a will. However, expediency isn’t always the main reason for a trust. Flexibility on timing is another benefit.

Revocable trusts can be held individually or jointly. This is usually determined by how assets are held before being placed in the trust. A joint trust is the more comfortable approach if all assets are owned jointly. Independent trusts usually work best for couples who prefer to keep assets separate.

Revocable trusts also offer several options for the distribution of property on the death of the first spouse.

The most commonly used option is the transfer of all property to the surviving spouse upon the first spouse’s death. All trust property remains in a “survivor’s trust,” which gives the surviving spouse all access and control, including the right to change beneficiaries. This works best for couples who have been married for a long time and share beneficiaries in common.

For blended families, another option is to split the trust assets upon the death of the first spouse between a survivor’s trust and a decedent’s trust. The surviving spouse retains full control over the survivor’s share of the trust property but becomes a beneficiary of the decedent’s trust. If the surviving spouse’s assets are insufficient, the decedent’s trust can be used for the benefit of the survivor. Nevertheless, the surviving spouse may not change the ultimate beneficiaries of the decedent’s trust.

Another option is to pass all assets completely outside of the control of the surviving spouse upon the first spouse’s death. Assets may pass into a family trust to benefit the spouse and other beneficiaries but at the discretion of a trustee. Alternatively, the assets may pass directly to residuary beneficiaries, with no assets left in trust for the surviving spouse.

This is often used when one spouse is unable to manage their own financial affairs or if one spouse is in a nursing home.

Planning should always be designed for the unique needs of each family. If the wish is to avoid probate and protect spouses and beneficiaries, revocable trusts offer many useful options.

Reference: The News-Enterprise (Aug. 5, 2023) “Revocable trusts provide flexibility in estate planning”

Who is Legally Able to Amend a Trust?

“The conditions for amending a trust, including who has the authority, is usually set out in the document.”

Procrastination is the most common mistake in estate planning when people don’t create a will and trusts and when documents are not updated. For one family, a revocable trust created when both parents are living presents some complex problems now, when the surviving wife wants to make changes but is suffering from serious health issues.

As described in the article “Estate Planning: Who can amend the trust” from NWI Times, this scenario requires a careful review of the trust document, which should contain instructions about how it can be amended and who has the authority to do so. An estate planning attorney must review the trust to ensure it can be amended.

If the trust allows the surviving settlor to amend the trust, the authority to amend it may only be given to the surviving settlor. The mother may be permitted to amend the trust. However, it can’t be anyone acting on her behalf.

If the language in the trust makes the power to amend personal, a guardian or an attorney-in-fact likely won’t be able to amend the trust. Likewise, if the mother is incapacitated and cannot do this herself, the trust may not be amendable while she is ill or disabled.

However, if the trust allows the surviving settlor to amend the trust and the power is not personal, a legal representative, such as a guardian or an attorney-in-fact, may be able to amend the trust for her, if they have the authority to do so under the terms of the trust.

Anyone contemplating this amendment must be aware of any “self-dealing” issues. The legal representative will be restricted to making changes only for the benefit of the beneficiaries and should be mindful before attempting to amend the trust.

Suppose the authority to amend doesn’t exist or other restrictions make it impossible, depending on the state’s laws. In that case, it may be possible to docket the trust with the court and obtain a court order authorizing the trustee to depart from the terms of the trust or even amend the document.

Accomplishing this is far easier if all involved agree with the changes to be made. Unfortunately, if any interested parties object, it may lead to litigation.

Depending upon the desired change, entering into a family settlement agreement may be possible after the mother dies. If everyone is willing to sign off, an agreement can be written authorizing the trustee to deviate from the terms of the trust. This will also require the guidance of an estate planning attorney to ensure that the agreement follows the state’s laws.

If family members disagree with the change, the trustee can refuse to accept the settlement agreement to protect themselves from potential liability.

Reference: NWI Times (May 7, 2023) “Estate Planning: Who can amend the trust”

Protect Your Elderly Parents from Scammers

“Scam artists often target older adults, partly because they have amassed greater wealth.”

Thinking on a very practical level, if you were a thief and had to choose a target, it would likely be someone who has wealth and is vulnerable—the picture of an elderly person, especially one who is likely to be isolated and may have cognitive issues. According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers aged 60 and older filed 467,340 fraud reports in 2021, reporting total losses of more than $1 billion.

A recent article from cbsnews.com, “How to protect elderly parents from financial scams,” says that consumers age 60 and older are less likely to report losing money to fraud than those aged 18—59. Still, when they do report a loss, it tends to be for more money, especially among those 80 and older. They have the highest median loss of all groups.

Older adults are likelier to lose money on scams involving tech support, prizes, sweepstakes, lotteries and friends and family impersonations. What can you do?

Talk about it. Scams target everyone. Therefore, it is an easy topic to bring up. First, start the conversation with your experiences or a trending news story. Next, explain specific scams, like someone reaching out through social media saying they want to be friends, followed by an urgent request for money or fake text messages from a grandchild who needs bail money. People informed about scams’ specifics are less likely to respond.

Use anti-fraud tools. Spam-blocking apps on cell phones can send unknown numbers to voicemail immediately. A credit freeze can secure credit information and is easily temporarily unlocked for legitimate access. Setting strict privacy tools on social media can also limit the number of scammers who can get through.

Signing up for financial account monitoring or receiving alerts for transactions is easily enough put into place. However, in some instances, it would be wise to allow adult children to monitor these accounts, depending upon the parent’s comfort level with sharing this information.

Put legal tools into place. A durable power of attorney, revocable trust, or, if appropriate, guardianship, can be among the most effective ways to keep an older adult’s assets safe from scammers. If a revocable trust is created, an adult child can quickly step in before too much damage is done, whether it’s a fake charity or a “kidnapped grandchild” scammer.

Know the warning signs. An older adult who is suddenly reluctant to talk about their finances had said they are having trouble paying bills when they never had a problem before or is receiving a high number of text messages or phone calls and insists on being alone when they respond may have become a victim of fraud.

Scammers are especially good at creating a sense of urgency, saying their victims must send money or gift cards immediately, or the IRS or police will arrive at their door. The latest wrinkle is the use of artificial intelligence to mimic a loved one’s voice, and the technology is so good that even experts are fooled.

Avoid shaming loved ones. The embarrassment of being the victim of elder financial abuse worsens a bad situation. Don’t scold an elderly person for being fooled; they certainly will be angry enough at themselves for being taken. Reassuring words are more likely to allow the victim to keep some of their dignity, while encouraging them to call you if, and more likely when, they are confronted with another scammer.

Reference: cbsnews.com (April 10, 2023) “How to protect elderly parents from financial scams”

Estate Planning Considerations for Minor Children

“When preparing estate planning documents, certain beneficiaries may need more protection than others. One particular class of beneficiaries that needs to be intentionally considered is minor children.”

Creating an estate plan with minor children in mind has a host of variables quite different than one where all heirs are adults. If the intention is for the minor children to be beneficiaries, or if there is a remote chance a minor child might become an unintended beneficiary, different provisions will be needed. A recent article titled “Children need special attention in estate planning” from The News-Enterprise explains how these situations might be addressed.

Does the person creating the will—aka, the testator—want property to be distributed to a minor child? If so, how is the distribution is to occur, tax consequences and safeguards need to be put into place. Much depends upon the relationship of the testator to the minor child. An older individual may want to leave specific dollar bequests for minor children or great-grandchildren, while people with younger children generally leave their entire estate in fractional shares to their own minor children as primary beneficiaries.

While minor children and grandchildren beneficiaries are excluded from inheritance taxes in certain states, great- grandchildren are not. Your estate planning attorney will be able to provide details on who is subject to inheritance, federal and state estate taxes. This needs to be part of your estate plan.

If minor children are the intended beneficiaries of a fractional share of the estate in its entirety, distributions may be held in a common trust or divided into separate share for each minor child. A common trust is used to hold all property to benefit all of the children, until the youngest child reaches a determined age. When this occurs, the trust is split into separate shares according to the trust directions, when each share is managed for the individual beneficiary.

Instructions to the trustee as to how much of the income and principal each beneficiary is to receive and when, at what age or intervals each beneficiary may exercise full control over the assets and what purposes the trust property is intended for until the beneficiary reaches a certain age are details which need to be clearly explained in the trust.

Trusts for minor children are often specifically to be used for health, education, maintenance, or support needs of the beneficiary, within the discretion of the trustee. This has to be outlined in the trust document.

Even if the intention is not to make minor children beneficiaries, care must be taken to include provisions if they are family members. The will or trust must be clear on how property passed to minor child beneficiaries is to be distributed. This may be done through a requirement to put distributions into a trust or may leave a list of options for the executor.

Testators need to keep in mind the public nature of probate. Whatever is left to a minor child will be a matter of public record, which could make the child vulnerable to scammers or predatory family members. Consider using a revocable living trust as an alternative to safeguard the child and the assets.

Regardless of whether a will or trust is used, there should be a person named to act as the child’s guardian and their conservator or trustee, who manages their finances. The money manager does not have to be a parent or relative but must be a trustworthy person.

Review your specific situation with your estate planning attorney to create a plan to protect your minor children, ensuing their financial and lifestyle stability.

Reference: The News-Enterprise (Sep. 10, 2022) “Children need special attention in estate planning”

Estate Plans Can Protect against Exploitation

“According to experts, despite increased phishing emails and robocalls, it is far more common for financial exploitation to be committed by people who know the victim, such as relatives, caregivers, neighbors, or ‘friends.’”

Financial exploitation is far more common than most people think, especially of the elderly. There are several types of individuals more at risk for exploitation, according to a recent article from mondaq titled “How An Estate Plan Can Protect Against Financial Exploitation.” These include someone with a cognitive impairment, in poor physical health, who is isolated or has a learning disability.

Exploiters share common characteristics as well. They are often people with mental health illness, substance abusers or those who are financially dependent on the person they are exploiting.

There are warning signs of financial abuse, including:

• Changes in patterns of spending, transfers, or withdrawals from accounts
• Isolation from friends and family
• Unexplainable financial activity
• An inability to pay for routine bills and expenses
• Sudden changes to estate planning documents, beneficiary designations, or the addition of joint owners to accounts or property titles

One way to avoid financial exploitation is with an estate plan prepared in advance with an eye to protection. Instead of relying on a durable power of attorney, a funded revocable trust may provide more robust protection. A revocable trust-based plan includes safeguards like co-trustees and a requirement for independent party consent to any trustee change or amendment.

A support system is also important to protect a person if someone is attempting to exploit them. Estate planning attorneys team up with financial advisors, CPAs and other professionals to create a plan to avoid or end elder abuse. Other steps to be taken include:

• Consolidating accounts with a trusted financial advisor, so all assets are easily observed
• Have a family member or trusted person receive copies of account statements
• Consider a credit freeze to avoid any possibility of being coerced into opening new credit card accounts or taking out loans.
• Establishing a budget and sharing information with advisors and a trusted person, so any spending anomalies are easy flagged.

Elder financial abuse is an all-too common occurrence but taking proactive steps to safeguard the vulnerable family member is a good strategy to deter or thwart anyone intent on taking advantage of a loved one.

Reference: mondaq (Sep. 23, 2022) “How An Estate Plan Can Protect Against Financial Exploitation.”

Is it Important to have an Estate Plan?

“Estate planning is not just for affluent individuals. While good estate planning can lead to desirable financial outcomes under the right circumstances, estate planning in its most basic form involves implementing the legal steps and directives that are necessary to ensure that your health and your assets are managed properly in the event of incapacity and death.”

Everyone needs to have an estate plan to ensure that their family can take part in medical care, assets will pass to the heirs they want and to protect minor children, as explained in a recent article titled “Estate Planning Considerations That Apply to Nearly Everyone” from mondaq.com. An estate plan does all this, and more. Having an estate plan can also protects privacy; any assets moved into a trust do not become part of the public record.

Here are the documents making up the foundation of an estate plan.

Last Will and Testament. This is used to direct the disposition of assets and appoints an executor to handle final affairs after your death. If there is no will, the state law controls how your estate is distributed.

Revocable Trust. Trusts permit more control of the management and disposition of assets in a more private and tax-efficient way during your lifetime and after death.

General Durable Power of Attorney. This document usually names a spouse, adult child or trusted individual who can take over your legal and financial affairs, especially if you should become incapacitated.

Health Care Power of Attorney. Everyone over age 18 should have this document. This nominates a person you choose to make health care decisions. Without it, parents of teenagers and young adults may not be involved in their care. Treating physicians will not be able to discuss your loved one’s care, or you may need to petition the court for guardianship.

Living Will. This document allows you to express your wishes with regard to end-of-life care and medical treatment decisions. It alleviates the emotional burden of guessing what you would have wanted by family members.

HIPAA Authorization. Your medical and health insurance records are protected from being released to third parties without the patient’s consent. While this is helpful for patients seeking to maintain their privacy, it also means parents or loved ones will not have any access to medical records and healthcare providers will not discuss the patient’s medical condition with family members. Fines and penalties for professionals and facilities are strict.

Asset and Beneficiary Designations. Part of an estate plan includes ensuring that assets are in alignment with your wishes. Your will does not control how assets with a beneficiary designation or those with joint ownership titles will be inherited. For your estate to achieve the outcome you want, you’ll need to dig deep into your records and ensure that all assets are properly titled, including insurance policies, investment accounts, retirement accounts, property and any other assets.

If you have an estate plan in place and have not updated it in recent years, or failed to get one or more of the above-mentioned documents, there is no time like the present to do so. Unexpected events are always around the corner and being prepared in advance helps ensure your wishes will be achieved and your family will be protected.

Reference: mondaq.com (July 29, 2022) “Estate Planning Considerations That Apply to Nearly Everyone”

Can I Protect My Inheritance from Divorce?

“Your dad bequeathed you a generous sum of money on his passing. Those gifted and inherited assets, in many instances, will be considered ‘separate property,’ not marital property. That might mean that they might not be subject to division, if you divorce. However, perhaps you want to backstop that hoped for result to make the protection more likely to stick if your marriage doesn’t work out.”

Even if divorce is the last thing on your mind, when an inheritance is received, its wise to treat it differently from your joint assets, advises a recent article “Revocable Inheritance Trust: Inexpensive Divorce Protection” from Forbes. After all, most people don’t expect to be divorced. However, the numbers have to be considered—many do divorce, even those who least expect it.

Maintaining separate property is the most important step to take. If you deposit a spouse’s paycheck into the account with your inheritance, even if it was by accident, you’ve now commingled the funds.

You might get lucky and have a forensic accountant who can dissect that amount and make the argument it was a mistake, as long as it only happened once, but the Court might not agree.

Long before the Court gets to consider this point, if your ex-spouse’s attorney is aggressively pursuing this one act of commingling as enough to make the property jointly owned, you could lose half of your inheritance in a divorce.

You might also try to mount a defense of the particular account or asset being separate property, by identifying the means of transfer. Was there a deed for real estate gifted to you from a parent or a wire transfer for securities? This information will need to be carefully identified and safeguarded as soon as the inheritance comes to you, in case of any future upheavals.

To spare yourself any of this grief, there are steps to be taken now to avoid commingling. Document the source of wealth involved as a gift or inheritance, maintain the property in a wholly separate account and consider keeping it in a different financial institution than any other accounts to avoid commingling.

Another way to safeguard gifts and inherited property against a 50% divorce rate is to use a revocable trust. Creating a revocable trust to own this separate property allows you to make changes to it any time but maintains its separate nature, by serving as a wholly separate accounting entity. The trust will own the property, while you as grantor (creator of the trust) and trustee (responsible for managing the trust) maintain control.

For a turbo-charged version of this concept, you could go with a self-settled domestic asset protection trust. This is a more complex trust and may not be necessary. Your estate planning attorney will be able to explain the difference between this trust and a revocable trust.

One clear warning: if you have already created a revocable trust to protect your estate and it is not funded, you may feel like it would be most convenient to use this already-existing trust for your inheritance. That would not be wise. You should have a completely different trust created for the inherited property, and this would also be a wise time to remember to fund the existing trust.

Using a revocable trust this way will also require customized language in your Last Will, as you’ll want standard language in the Last Will to reflect the trust being separate from your other marital property.

Reference: Forbes (April 13, 2022) “Revocable Inheritance Trust: Inexpensive Divorce Protection”

What Does a Will Do and Not Do?

“Everyone needs a will. However, some people need more than that. To save on taxes and make for a smooth transition, they could really use a revocable trust, a family limited partnership or a gift trust.”

Estate plans are like life—over time, it changes, people are added and subtracted and your wishes and goals change. Regardless of your income, amount of assets or family circumstances, everyone wants to minimize taxes and facilitate a smooth transfer of property at death. Consider a recent aptly named article titled “Does Your Estate Plan Call for More Than Just a Will?” from Kiplinger to learn about what an estate plan can do, versus what a will by itself may accomplish.

Revocable trusts bypass probate, letting the property held in trust pass directly to beneficiaries. There is no public record of the trust and its instructions, and your wishes will remain private. Only the trustee knows what is in the trust and how it is distributed. By comparison, when a will is processed through probate, it becomes part of the public record and anyone who asks to see it can, including creditors, estranged family members, scammers and salespeople.

Trusts are a valuable tool for incapacity planning, as well as for private and swift distribution of assets after death. Let’s say a person has become incapacitated and is no longer able to manage his own affairs. Assets in the trust are controlled by the trustee, or the successor trustee, if the person who created the trust was the primary trustee. Trusts are recognized by all states, but a power of attorney (POA) may not as easily cross state lines. Banks and other financial institutions may refuse to accept an out-of-state POA, but, for the most part, they will not push back against a trust.

Family limited partnerships lessen the burden of estate taxes for heirs. Right now, the federal estate tax exemption is $12.06 million. However, this is scheduled to be cut by half by 2025, unless Congress takes action earlier, which is possible. By setting up a FLP and allocating assets among partners, usually family members, you can prepare for the change to the estate tax exemption and lower the value of your estate at the same time.

Tax benefits are not the only reasons to create an FLP. A Family Limited Partnership can protect assets against seizure by creditors, including plaintiffs in lawsuits. If structured correctly, they can also protect against divorcing spouses, allowing succession plans to continue minus worries about the impact of a divorce.

Gifting trusts are used to avoid Generation Skipping Transfer Taxes, known as GST taxes. The GST tax is currently calculated at a flat rate of 40% on transfers above the lifetime GST tax exemption amount, currently $12.06 million per individual. It’s the highest estate and gift tax rate. The GST becomes effective when grandparents directly transfer money or property to grandchildren or younger descendants, without first leaving it to their children. Your estate planning attorney will know how to create a trust to avoid this tax so you can transfer assets to your children for their children, without incurring a GST or estate tax.

Reference: Kiplinger (April 4, 2022) “Does Your Estate Plan Call for More Than Just a Will?”

What a Will Can and Cannot Do

“A will allows you to distribute your worldly goods, select a guardian for minor children and name an executor to carry out your wishes.”

Having a will doesn’t avoid probate, the court-directed process of validating a will and confirming the executor. To avoid probate, an estate planning attorney can create trusts and other ways for assets to be transferred directly to heirs before or upon death. Estate planning is guided by the laws of each state, according to the article “Before writing your own will know what wills can, can’t and shouldn’t try to do” from Arkansas Online.

In some states, probate is not expensive or lengthy, while in others it is costly and time-consuming. However, one thing is consistent: when a will is probated, it becomes part of the public record and anyone who wishes to read it, like creditors, ex-spouses, or estranged children, may do so.

One way to bypass probate is to create a revocable living trust and then transfer ownership of real estate, financial accounts, and other assets into the trust. You can be the trustee, but upon your death, your successor trustee takes charge and distributes assets according to the directions in the trust.

Another way people avoid probate is to have assets retitled to be owned jointly. However, anything owned jointly is vulnerable, depending upon the good faith of the other owner. And if the other owner has trouble with creditors or is ending a marriage, the assets may be lost to debt or divorce.

Accounts with beneficiaries, like life insurance and retirement funds bypass probate. The person named as the beneficiary receives assets directly. Just be sure the designated beneficiaries are updated every few years to be current.

Assets titled “Payable on Death” (POD), or “Transfer on Death” (TOD) designate beneficiaries and bypass probate, but not all financial institutions allow their use.

In some states, you can have a TOD deed for real estate or vehicles. Your estate planning attorney will know what your state allows.

Some people think they can use their wills to enforce behavior, putting conditions on inheritances, but certain conditions are not legally enforceable. If you required a nephew to marry or divorce before receiving an inheritance, it’s not likely to happen. Someone must also oversee the bequest and decide when the inheritance can be distributed.

However, trusts can be used to set conditions on asset distribution. The trust documents are used to establish your wishes for the assets and the trustee is charged with following your directions on when and how much to distribute assets to beneficiaries.

Leaving money to a disabled person who depends on government benefits puts their eligibility for benefits like Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid at risk. An estate planning attorney can create a Special Needs Trust to allow for an inheritance without jeopardizing their services.

Finally, in certain states you can use a will to disinherit a spouse, but it’s not easy. Every state has a way to protect a spouse from being completely disinherited. In community property states, a spouse has a legal right to half of any property acquired during the marriage, regardless of how the property is titled. In other states, a spouse has a legal right to a third to one half of the estate, regardless of what is in the will. An experienced estate planning attorney can help draft the documents, but depending on your state and circumstances, it may not be possible to completely disinherit a spouse.

Reference: Arkansas Online (Dec. 27, 2021) “Before writing your own will know what wills can, can’t and shouldn’t try to do”