Stone Law Offices, Ltd.

Finalizing Estate Planning Documents while Social Distancing

“Besides seeking to draft or alter wills and trusts, many clients were changing trustees, executors and the agents they assigned to oversee their finances and health care, if they were unable to make decisions themselves.”

After the initial shock of the pandemic, people are realizing not just that they need to update their wills, but the people who have been named in important roles. In a recent article from The New York Times, “What to Know About Making a Will in the Age of Coronavirus,” one person said, “I think I still have my jerk brother as the trustee. I need to change that.”

However, with social distancing now being the new norm, some necessary processes for finalizing estate plans are calling for extra creativity. While lawyers can draft any necessary documents from their home offices, the documents need to be signed by clients and, depending upon the document and the state, by witnesses and notaries. These parties usually need to be in the same room for the documents to be considered legally valid.

New York’s Governor Andrew M. Cuomo issued an executive order on March 7 that declared a disaster emergency in the state and temporarily gave notaries the authority to authenticate documents by videoconference. Other governors have also issued executive orders to allow video notarizations, including Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire and Washington. It’s safe to say that more states will probably permit this as time goes on.

However, besides needing notarizations, wills in New York State and other documents require two unrelated witnesses in the room when the document is signed. That also goes for the health care proxy, which gives a person the ability to name someone to make medical decisions on their behalf, if they become incapacitated.

One New York attorney used a video conference to watch two clients and their witnesses, located more than 100 miles away from his home office, sign new financial powers of attorney and health care proxies. He used his laptop to record a video of the proceedings, while clients used their phones. The client couple sat on the enclosed porch of a friend’s house in a distant county and signed the documents, while their friends stood six feet away. When the couple finished signing, they stepped away and their friends moved in to sign the documents, all in view of the attorney and all, of course, wearing vinyl gloves.

The documents were then scanned and sent to the attorney by email and he notarized them. They will also be mailed to him at his home, and then he will authenticate the documents.

In New Jersey, notaries need to be physically present at the signing of documents. One attorney took extra steps for two ER nurses, both single mothers and on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak. He met them in the front yard of one of their houses, where a table had been set up and rocks were used to hold down the documents from blowing away in the wind. Everyone wore gloves and brought their own pens. One nurse served as witness for each other, and another friend was a witness for both. After each person signed, they stepped away, while another stepped up to the table.

Not every state is making changes to permit these documents to be witnessed and notarized, so there may be many outdoor signings taking place in the weeks and months to come. Contact us today to see what laws apply in Nevada.  Our offices are open to help.

Estate Plan Updates in the Age of Coronavirus

“Financial advisors and estate attorneys say they are seeing a flurry of inquiries from people seeking to update or draft wills and take other estate-planning measures amid the coronavirus crisis.”

With the ever-increasing number of deaths in Europe and the U.S., many people are now doing what estate planning attorneys have advised them to do for years—get their estate plans in order. Many are having phone meetings or videoconferences with estate planning attorneys, says Barron’s in the article “The Coronavirus Has Americans Scrambling to Set Their Estate Plans. Here Are Some Key Things to Know.” People are worried, and they are in a hurry too.

However, estate planning can be complex, even when there is plenty of time to prepare. Here are a few tips:

Everyone should have three basic documents: a last will and testament, a durable power of attorney and an advance health care directive. These documents will allow assets to be distributed, give another person the ability to make financial decisions, if you are too sick to do so and also allow another person to talk to medical professionals on your behalf on treatment and care. These same documents are also a good idea for any young adults in the family, anyone older than 18 in most states.

With the proper documents prepared in accordance with the laws of your state, you may be able to avoid having a court appoint a guardian for minor children or having a probate court determine asset distribution.

However, there’s more. In addition to these basic documents, everyone needs to review their beneficiary designations on assets that include bank accounts, IRAs, annuities, insurance policies and any other assets. If family situations have changed, these may be out of date.

It’s also a good idea to have an attorney create a medical power of attorney for a minor child, in case another family member needs to take a child to the doctor, discuss their care and make decisions.

While young adults may be more worried about the financial impact of the pandemic, seniors and the elderly are concerned about having documents in order. Wealthy people are concerned about the impact that the pandemic may have on estate planning law, and some are engaged in planning to make substantial gifts, in case the current estate and give tax exemptions are lowered.

Other issues to be discussed with an estate planning attorney:

• Irrevocable living trusts, which provide an opportunity to direct how assets in a trust will be held, invested and distributed before and after death.
• Durable powers of attorney, which appoint an agent to make financial decisions.
• Health-care surrogates, which let people designate a surrogate to make health decisions on their behalf and receive health care information from physicians.
• Living wills, which allow people to designate whether to provide life-prolonging treatment, if in a terminal state.

Update Your Estate Plan to Protect Spouse and Children

“Imagine you get married and within a year or two, your new spouse passes away. Now, imagine that your grief is compounded with financial stress.”

Without an updated estate plan, a surviving spouse is left with a world of trouble, as described in the article “Protect Your Spouse and Children by Updating Your Estate Plan” from The National Law Review.

The documents that need to be updated beginning with the will. In one example, a will from a prior marriage left all of a person’s assets to their prior spouse and siblings. Under New York and New Jersey state law, gifts to prior spouses are automatically revoked by law. What does that mean? All assets pass to the alternate beneficiary, who is named in the first will. For this particular spouse, that means that all the deceased spouse’s assets went to the siblings and not the new spouse.

In New Jersey and New York, spouses can elect against a will to claim a share of the deceased spouse’s assets, but this only applies to a third of their assets. That’s far short of what a spouse usually wants for their surviving spouse and children.

The only thing worse than an out-of-date will is no will at all. In another case, a spouse died without having a will. The law in New Jersey provides that in this situation, most assets will go to the surviving spouse, but almost a quarter will go to the deceased’s parents, if they are still living. If there are children from a prior marriage, then a little more than half of the estate will go to the surviving spouse.

The other bad part of having an out-of-date will almost always means that beneficiaries have not been updated. Here’s where things can get even worse.

Assets that have designated beneficiaries do not pass through probate and go directly to the beneficiaries. How bad this can be, depends upon what assets are owned with a designated beneficiary, and how long ago the beneficiaries were named. In some states, prior spouses are removed as beneficiaries by the operation of law, but that is not always the case. An estate planning attorney will be able to explain your state’s laws.

Here’s one more case where a failure to update estate plans caused real hardship for a family. A niece, and not the new spouse, was named as the beneficiary of the deceased’s IRA, which was a large asset. Several hundred thousand dollars went to the niece, instead of going to the man’s new wife and child. He simply never updated his beneficiary designation.

While 401(k)s are always left to the spouse under ERISA, unless spousal consent is given for another beneficiary to receive the 401(k), IRAs are given to whoever is named as a beneficiary. The same goes for life insurance policies, investment accounts, bank accounts and any asset with a named beneficiary.

Speak with your estate planning attorney now to be sure that your current will still reflects your estate planning goals. If you have remarried, welcomed a new child to the family, or had any other major life events, your estate plan needs to be updated. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Preparing for an Emergency Includes Power of Attorney

If you experienced a temporary illness or needed someone to quickly step in to pay your bills, would your finances be organized enough for them to handle?

Unexpected events can happen at any time. Without a backup plan, finances are vulnerable. The importance of having an estate plan and organized legal and financial documents on a scale of one to ten is fifteen, advises the article “Are you prepared to hand over your finances to someone in an emergency?” from USA Today. Maybe it doesn’t matter so much if your phone bill is a month late but miss a life insurance premium payment and your policy may lapse. If you’re over 70, chances are slim to none that you’ll be able to purchase a new one.

When estate plans and finances are organized to the point that you can easily hand them over to a trusted spouse, adult child or other responsible person, you gain the peace of mind of knowing you and your family are prepared for anything. Someone can take care of you and your family, in case the unexpected happens.

A financial power of attorney (POA) gives another person the legal authority to take financial actions on your behalf. The person you give this responsibility to, should be someone you trust and who will put your best interests ahead of their own. An estate planning attorney will be able to create a power of attorney that can be very specific about the powers that are granted.

You may want your POA to be able to pay bills, and manage your investment accounts, for instance, but you may not want them to make changes to trusts. A personalized power of attorney document can give you that level of control.

Consider your routine for taking care of household finances. Most of us do these tasks on autopilot. We don’t think about how it would be if someone else had to take over, but we should. Take a pad of paper and make notes about every task you complete in a given month: what bills do you pay monthly, which are paid quarterly and what comes due only once or twice a year? By making a detailed record of the tasks, you’ll save your spouse or family member a great deal of time and angst.

Is your paperwork organized so that someone else will be able to find things? Most people create their own systems, but they are not always understandable to anyone else. Create a folder or a file that holds all of your important documents, like insurance policies and investment accounts, legal documents and deeds.

If you pay bills online, naming someone else on the account so they have access is ideal. If not, then try consolidating the bills you can. Many banks allow users to set up bill payment through one account.

Keep legal documents and records up to date. If you haven’t reviewed your estate planning documents in more than three years, now is the time to speak with your estate planning attorney to ensure that your estate plan still reflects your wishes. Call your estate planning attorney to discuss your next steps.

If Not Now, When? It is the Time for Estate Planning

“Estate planning attorneys are getting mobbed with questions. Here is some timely advice from three attorneys on what families and business owners should be doing to prepare, in case the unimaginable happens.”

What else could possibly go wrong? You might not want to ask that question, given recent events. A global pandemic, markets in what feels like free fall, schools closed for an extended period of time—these are just a few of the challenges facing our communities, our nation and our world. The time is now, in other words, to be sure that everyone has their estate planning completed, advises Kiplinger in the article “Coronavirus Legal Advice: Get Your Business and Estate in Order Now.”

Business owners from large and small sized companies are contacting estate planning attorney’s offices to get their plans done. People who have delayed having their estate plans done or never finalized their plans are now getting their affairs in order. What would happen if multiple family members got sick, and a family business was left unprotected?

Because the virus is recognized as being especially dangerous for people who are over age 60 or have underlying medical issues, which includes many business owners and CEOs, the question of “What if I get it?” needs to be addressed. Not having a succession plan or an estate plan, could lead to havoc for the company and the family.

Establishing a Power of Attorney is a key part of the estate plan, in case key decision makers are incapacitated, or if the head of the household can’t take care of paying bills, taxes or taking care of family or business matters. For that, you need a Durable Power of Attorney.

Another document needed now, more than ever: is an Advance Health Care Directive. This explains how you want medical decisions to be made, if you are too sick to make these decisions on your own behalf. It tells your health care team and family members what kind of care you want, what kind of care you don’t want and who should make these decisions for you.

This is especially important for people who are living together without the legal protection that being married provides. While some states may recognize registered domestic partners, in other states, medical personnel will not permit someone who is not legally married to another person to be involved in their health care decisions.

Personal information that lives only online is also at risk. Most bills today don’t arrive in the mail, but in your email inbox. What happens if the person who pays the bill is in a hospital, on a ventilator? Just as you make sure that your spouse or children know where your estate plan documents are, they also need to know who your estate planning attorney is, where your insurance policies, financial records and legal documents are and your contact list of key friends and family members.

Right now, estate planning attorneys are talking with clients about a “Plan C”—a plan for what would happen if heirs, beneficiaries and contingent beneficiaries are wiped out. They are adding language that states which beneficiaries or charities should receive their assets, if all of the people named in the estate plan have died. This is to maintain control over the distribution of assets, even in a worst-case scenario, rather than having assets pass via the rules of intestate succession. Without a Plan C, an entire estate could go to a distant relative, regardless of whether you wanted that to happen.

What Will Happen With My Probate Case?

By: Stephanie Hartman Rojo, Esq., Associate Attorney at Stone Law Offices, Ltd.

Whether your Probate case was in progress prior to COVID-19 or you are just getting started, you may be wondering, given the current climate, what will happen with the case?

There are a lot of elements and moving pieces with a Probate case. First and foremost, contact your attorney to confirm whether their office has remained opened for business. (Stone Law Offices, Ltd. remains open for all current and potential clients.)

If you have already done this, or you are an attorney, the next step is to understand what is happening with your local court. Be aware that court systems across the state may vary, please refer to your local court and corresponding website for court-specific details.

According to the public notice on the top of Nevada’s 8^th Judicial District Court’s website, as of March 16, 2020 (and until further notice) all non-essential 8^th Judicial District Court hearings are being “conducted by video or telephonic means, decided on the papers, or rescheduled unless otherwise directed by a District Court Judge” and “essential case types and hearings will continue to be heard through in-person appearances, although appearance by alternative means under Nevada Supreme Court Rule Part IX is encouraged when possible.”

Whether you’re an attorney, Executor, or interested party, we are all in uncharted territory at this point. I’m pleased to report that the Probate Judges and Commissioner have responded quickly and are in close contact with the local Probate Bench Bar Section to communicate changes in procedures to meet the various Administrative Orders and answer questions.

For the time being, cases which would regularly have come on the Probate Commissioner’s calendar will remain as scheduled if and only if such matter is unopposed. All contested or opposed matters are expected to be calendared for a future date.

Your attorney should be proactive in modifying their Notice to address the change in circumstances and provide directions for those interested parties wishing to make an objection. Additionally, your attorney will also be wise to obtain Notice of Non-Opposition statements from all interested parties and submit the same in advance of your scheduled “hearing” date. 

At Stone Law Offices, Ltd. we are here to address your probate concerns. Make an appointment for your complimentary telephonic consultation today: 702-998-0444. We are open Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm.

This blog is made available by the lawyer or law firm publisher for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and the Blog publisher. The Blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

COVID-19 Estate Planning Scavenger Hunt Game

We trust this finds all well with you and yours, especially in light of the challenges surrounding COVID-19.

Are you practicing social distancing and possibly even self-quarantine?

Perhaps you fall within a high-risk category and are protecting yourself.

Maybe you are young and healthy and simply want to safeguard others.

Regardless, are you getting more than a little cabin fever despite streaming online shows, watching cable news, playing board games, or working on 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles?

So, what can you do when you are stuck at home? Can you be productive in self-quarantine or under a stay-at-home mandate?

The answer is “yes”!

Make the best of this COVID-19 situation by organizing your essential estate plan-related documents.

Why?

Searching for time-critical, relevant documents under duress is never ideal when dealing with the incapacity or death of a loved one.

By taking the time to gather and organize these essential estate plan-related documents now, you will be preparing your loved ones to efficiently and successfully carry out your wishes later.

How do you do this?

Download our COVID-19 Estate Planning Scavenger Hunt Checklist by clicking on the hyperlink (it can also be found in the forms section of our website). The rules are simple:

• See how long it takes you to locate each of the items on the Checklist;
• If an item on the Checklist does not pertain to you, just cross it off.
• If an item on the Checklist is not in your home, but you know where it is, note the location next to the item on the Checklist
• If can’t locate an important item, and believe it has been lost or destroyed, note this next to the item on the Checklist and where you think you can get a replacement copy
• Once you locate the items and complete the Checklist, put all of the items in a safe, central location
• Tell your spouse, children, power of attorney, designated executor or trustee, or another trusted person where the items are located if and when needed

We’d love to hear from you regarding the results of your own Estate Planning Scavenger Hunt.  Also, feel free to share this email and the Checklist with any other family, friends, neighbors, or others that you believe would benefit from a little productive distraction and may need to locate their own important documents.

All of us at Stone Law Offices are here to assist and support you if you have any questions.  In the meantime, stay safe and stay healthy!!!

No Will? Don’t Count on a Happy Ending for Your Family

“At the time, he had gone so far as to have his will drawn up, but he hadn’t finalized it. In addition, he hadn’t authorized anyone to have power of attorney, in case of illness.”

The gentleman at the heart of this article isn’t the first, and sadly he won’t be the last, to start and not finish the process of preparing a will and all of the other documents that go into having an estate plan. People say they don’t need to do this just yet, or they are having trouble deciding who should be their executor, etc. Regardless of the reason, the end result of an unfinished estate plan is almost always a disaster for the family. It certainly is in the article “Thy will be done (and you really should get it drawn up right now)” from the San Antonio Express-News.

One week after a woman spoke to her dad about his estate plan, he became ill and was hospitalized. The man’s girlfriend became verbally abusive to family members. The sisters of the man had previously sued him, accusing him, as trustee of the father’s trust, of taking more than his fair share of the family money. The daughter was trying to pay for his care during a two-month stay in the hospital. However, without a power of attorney and in the middle of a costly lawsuit from the man’s sisters, the only way forward was declaring a “conservatorship” of her father’s assets. The father died, with no will, and with his estate under attack from his sisters.

It took two years to settle the probate case and the lawsuit between the sisters and the estate of their brother. That’s a long time to mix mourning, family strife and court actions.

The value of the father’s estate was drained by the long litigation and probate process. The daughter estimates that her father’s estate paid 13 times more than necessary, because there was no power of attorney and three times more than necessary because of the lack of a will. And making matters worse, more than 30 percent of the estate vanished because of the unfinished estate plan and poor communication between family members.

More than $500,000 remained in probate, and then was drained by a third over the course of the two years.

However, the worst part can’t be measured in money. It is the emotional cost of siblings who grew to hate other. The sisters didn’t say goodbye to their brother, or even attend his funeral.

A Gallup poll in 2016 found that only 44% of Americans have a will. Thirty-two percent of Americans over age 65 still don’t have a will. What are they waiting for? Some think they are saving their families money by not having a will, but the above example is clear proof of how wrong that thinking is.  Doing an online will isn’t much better. One attorney said it best: when wills are not prepared by estate planning attorneys and they go wrong, they go very wrong.

Speak with an estate planning attorney and make sure that your family is protected from the fights, the costs and the lost time that can’t be regained.

What Do Farmers Need to Create an Estate Plan?

“When you are a farmer, your business is not only your livelihood and your passion, but, often, it is also intermingled with your family life.”

Planning for the end of life is intimidating for everyone, but when the plan includes a family business like a farm or ranch, things can get even more challenging. That’s why estate planning, that is, planning for the distribution of assets once you die, is especially important for aging farmers. The details are in the article “How farmers can start an estate plan” from Bangor Daily News.

Death and dying are not easy to talk about, but these conversations are necessary, especially if the family wants to continue as a farming or ranching family. For aging farmers and their families, here are a few tips to demystify the planning process and help get things started.

What are your goals? Think of estate planning as succession planning. This is about making decisions about retirement and handing down a business to the next generation. If you had a regular job, you’d have far less to consider. However, succession planning for a family business owner involves more resources and more people. Having a clear set of goals, makes that transition easier. Add to that list: your fears. What don’t you want to happen? If your children don’t know how much you want them to keep the farm in the family, they may take other actions after you die. Share your goals, hopes and yes, worst case scenarios.

Build a team of professionals. The number of moving pieces in a family farm means you’re going to need a strong team. That includes an estate planning attorney who has worked with other farm families, an accountant, a financial advisor and an insurance professional. Depending on your family’s communication skills, you might even consider bringing a counselor on board.

List out your assets. Don’t assume that anyone in the family knows the value of your assets. That includes deeds to land, titles of ownership for vehicles, information about any property mortgages or loans or leases. If you are leasing land to others, you’ll need the lease agreements as well as property titles. If your lease agreements are based on a handshake, your attorney may request that you formalize them. A verbal agreement may be fine while you are living, but if you should pass and your heirs don’t have the same relationship with your tenant, there could be trouble ahead.

Consider who will be in charge when you are not there. Whether you are planning to work until you die or making a retirement plan, one of the hardest decisions will be to name a successor. Inter-generational politics can be tricky. You’ll need an unbiased evaluation of who the best candidate will be to take things on. However, going into this now is better than hoping for the best. That’s when things go south.

Talk to your estate planning attorney. Just as people should start planning for their retirement as soon as they start working, planning for the transition of the family farm is something that should start when it is years in the future, not when the transition is a few months away. It’s a process that takes a long time to do right.

The Second Most Powerful Estate Planning Document: Power of Attorney

“A power of attorney, similar to a last will and testament, is a powerful document that must be created before it becomes necessary.”

All too often, people wait until it’s too late to execute a power of attorney. It’s uncomfortable to think about giving someone full access to our finances, while we are still competent. However, a power of attorney can be created that is fully exercisable only when needed, according to a useful article “Power of attorney can be tailored to circumstances” from The News-Enterprise. Some estate planning attorneys believe that the power of attorney, or POA, is actually the second most important estate planning document after a will. Here’s what a POA can do for you.

The term POA is a reference to the document, but it also is used to refer to the person named as the agent in the document.

Generally speaking, any POA creates a fiduciary relationship, for either legal or financial purposes. A Medical or Healthcare POA creates a relationship for healthcare decisions. Sometimes these are for a specific purpose or for a specific period of time. However, a Durable POA is created to last until death or until it is revoked. It can be created to cover a wide array of needs.

Here’s the critical fact: a POA of any kind needs to be executed, that is, agreed to and signed by a person who is competent to make legal decisions. The problem occurs when family members or spouse do not realize they need a POA, until their loved one is not legally competent and does not understand what they are signing.

Incompetent or incapacitated individuals may not sign legal documents. Further, the law protects people from improperly signing, by requiring two witnesses to observe the individual signing.

The law does allow those with limited competency to sign estate planning documents, so long as they are in a moment of lucidity at the time of the signing. However, this is tricky and can be dangerous, as legal issues may be raised for all involved, if capacity is challenged later on.

If someone has become incompetent and has not executed a valid power of attorney, a loved one will need to apply for guardianship. This is a court process that is expensive, takes several months and leads to the court being involved in many aspects of the person’s life. The basics of this process: three professionals are needed to personally assess the “respondent,” the person who is said to be incompetent. The respondent loses all rights to make decisions of any kind for themselves. They also lose the right to vote.

A power of attorney can be executed quickly and does not require the person to lose any rights.

The biggest concern to executing a power of attorney, is that the person is giving an agent the control of their money and property. This is true, but the POA can be created so that it does not hand over this control immediately.

This is where the “springing” power of attorney comes in. Springing POA means that the document, while executed immediately, does not become effective for use by the agent, until a certain condition is met. The document can be written that the POA becomes in effect, if the person is deemed mentally incompetent by a doctor. The springing clause gives the agent the power to act if and when it is necessary for someone else to take over the individual’s affairs.

Having an estate planning attorney create the power of attorney that is best suited for each individual’s situation is the most sensible way to provide the protection of a POA, without worrying about giving up control while one is competent.