Friday, April 06, 2012 Over Age 18?
By Susan M. Graham, Certified Elder Law Attorney, Senior Edge Legal, Boise, Idaho
When was the last time you were asked if you are over 18?[1]
Why do I ask? Every adult, even young adults, should sign a financial and health power of attorney. The law states that a person becomes an adult once they reach age 18. If you have children or grandchildren who are going off to school, it is important that they sign a financial power of attorney, a health power of attorney and a living will so someone has the legal authority to help out in an emergency. If there is an accident, or a serious health issue, and no power of attorney is signed indicating who is to make decisions, it will be necessary for a parent, or someone else, to file a petition at court. The petition will ask for a court order giving them the right to act on behalf of the incapacitated person. This court proceeding, called a Conservatorship or Guardianship, is expensive and time consuming.
An easy, common sense solution for everyone age 18 and older is for each person to just sign the powers of attorney forms.
We have them available for free on our website.
[1] For me it was in the Chicago airport and I ordered a glass of wine. They make everyone show identification. How silly when you have grey hair and wrinkles!
Saturday, October 22, 2011 Would You Want Your Enemy As Your Guardian?
By Susan M. Graham, Certified Elder Law Attorney, Senior Edge Legal, Boise, Idaho
This happened for the heiress of L'Oreal, a French cosmetics company. Liliane Bettencourt is 89. She and her daughter, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, have been suing one another for oyears. A French Court found the mother to have failing mental healtlh and to be showing signs of dementia. The Court then appointed the daughter as her mother's guardian. Now, the daughter can control when her mother can travel and how her money will be managed.1
Could this happen to you?
A simple way to avoid this is sign a financial power of attorney and health power of attorney stating who you want to make financial and health decisions for you if you are not able to care for yourself. That will be a great first step.
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1Heiress Loses L'Oreal Family Fight. The Wall Street Journal, Page B8, October 18, 2011.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 Estate Planning Pitfall: You plan to take a retirement distribution later this year
submitted by Peter G. Lennington, Esq., St. Paul, MN
If you’re over the age of 70½ — or if you reach that age this year — you may be planning to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your IRA, 401(k) plan or other retirement accounts later this year. But you may be better off taking advantage of a tax law change that lets you skip RMDs this year.
Leaving funds in your tax-deferred accounts as long as possible often can make sense from an estate planning perspective. The longer you allow your retirement funds to grow on a tax-deferred basis, potentially the more there will be for your heirs.
Normally you must take your first distribution by April 1 following the year you turn 70½. After that, annual distributions are required no later than Dec. 31. Many people take their first RMD during the year they turn 70½ to avoid taking two distributions the following year.
In the economic downturn, the value of many investments has declined, so it’s not the best time to make withdrawals from tax-deferred accounts. Lawmakers recognized this when they enacted the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 late last year. The act suspended RMDs for 2009.
If you reached age 70½ before this year, you can skip the distribution that would have been required by Dec. 31, 2009. And if you turn 70½ during 2009, you can skip your first RMD — which would have been due by April 1, 2010 — so you won’t have to take an RMD until the end of 2010.
The act also provides relief for people with inherited retirement accounts. The rules are a bit complicated, though, so if you’re in that situation, consult your estate tax advisor to find out whether you’re entitled to skip this year’s RMD.
(Peter G. Lennington, Esq., is a wealth preservation and estate planning member attorney with offices in St. Paul, MN, Bloomington/Edina, MN, and Minnetonka, MN. The Lennington Law Firm, PLLC website is located at www.lennington.com. You can contact Peter G. Lennington via e-mail at peter@lennington.com) Friday, July 18, 2008 Affluent Struggle Over "How Much is Too Much"Wealthy Americans really struggle over how much inheritance their children should receive. According to JPMorgan Private Bank, more than a quarter of all clients with over $25 Milion simply cannot decide how much is "too much" Nearly 1/3rd of those interviewed feared that conflict would arise over the allocation/distribution of ivestable assets. And nearly 40% feared that their family would succumb to "financial predators."
Virtually none of those interviewed believed that children under 30 should receive a substantial outright inheritance. But more than one-half said that they were leaving their wealth to multiple generations. Thursday, July 17, 2008 Adoption Designed to Qualify Adoptee as Heir -- AnnulledAs reported in the N.Y. Times, an adoption designed to result in the adoptee qualifying as an heir to the I.B.M fortune was thrown out. The Times reported:
"The adoption of a woman by her lesbian partner 17 years ago in Maine has been annulled, and the woman has filed an appeal in the State Supreme Court, according to recently unsealed documents. The case involves Olive F. Watson, 60, the granddaughter of the founder of I.B.M. and the daughter of Thomas J. Watson Jr., the company’s longtime chief executive. In 1991, Ms. Watson adopted Patricia Ann Spado, now 60, in Maine, where the women spent several weeks each summer at the Watson compound on the island of North Haven. The purpose of the adoption, Ms. Spado said in court documents, was to allow her to qualify as an heir to Ms. Watson’s fortune. A year after the adoption, the women broke up. Now, with both of Ms. Watson’s parents dead, Ms. Spado is seeking to qualify as Mr. Watson’s 19th grandchild and a beneficiary of his trusts. The Watson family, including Olive, is fighting Ms. Spado’s claim. In April, the probate judge who granted the adoption annulled it on the grounds that the women did not meet residency requirements. Ms. Spado’s lawyers filed an appeal on July 2."
For the full story, go to http://tiny.cc/annulled |