Estate Plan

What’s a Safe Place for My Estate Plan?

Published on: October 31, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

At last, you’ve completed your estate documents, including retitling assets and checking beneficiary designations. The only question left is, where should they be stored? The answer is not that simple.

Do you know where your estate plan documents are? Many people ask their estate planning attorneys to hold onto their originals. They feel like this is the best way to prevent the plans from being misplaced, and curious family members won’t be able to see their contents.

Forbes’ recent article, “Keeping Your Estate Planning Documents Safe,” explains that because of the expense of storage and the move to paperless offices, some estate planning attorneys are now having their clients hold the original documents.

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee: Take Care of These 3 Financial Tasks

Published on: March 15, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

These may be common mistakes, but they are too important to dismiss and delay.

Every year, local television news crews show up at local post offices to see the lines of folks waiting to get their tax returns postmarked on April 15—even when so many of us are using online tax services. We just tend to delay taking care of tasks that are not a lot of fun. However, according to Motley Fool, there are “3 Money Moves You Can't Afford to Put Off.”

An emergency fund. We're supposed to have at least three months' worth of living expenses in savings for emergencies, but 40% of Americans don't have the money to cover even a $400 unplanned expense. That means they're not even close to where they should be with their savings target. Without an emergency fund, you risk incurring costly debt if your paycheck disappears or you experience a surprise bill your regular earnings can't cover.

Millennials Need an Estate Plan Too

Published on: January 29, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Live long enough, and you learn that life can change in a heartbeat. Young adults don’t always know this, but they need to have an estate plan as much as older people.

Whether you are a Baby Boomer or a Millennial, you need to have an estate plan. With the help of a good estate planning attorney, someone in their 20s and 30s can get their estate plan done easily enough. Even if they think they’re immortal, says Wealth Advisor in, “Estate Planning Isn’t Only for the Old and Wealthy,” young adults need estate plans.

First, people can draft a will to provide directions regarding what happens to their assets, such as who will inherit both financial and personal items. Virtual assets like social media accounts should also be included. You should make a list of usernames and passwords for all your accounts and be sure that a trusted relative or friend has access.

The Sooner You Complete Your Estate Plan, The Better

Published on: January 24, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Among the top three reasons for an estate plan are to make sure that your assets are distributed according to your wishes, helping your loved ones from having to pay more taxes than necessary and if possible, avoiding having your estate go through probate.

When there are minor children or family members with special needs, it’s critical to have an estate plan, advises the Capital Press in the article, “Ag Finance: Why you need to do estate planning.”

While it’s likely that most adult children can work things out, even if it’s costly and time-consuming in probate, minor young children need protection. Wills are frequently written, so the estate goes to the child when he or she reaches age 18. However, few teens can manage big property at that age. A trust can help, by directing that the property will be held for the child by a trustee or executor until a set age, like 25 or 30.

Is Your Estate Plan Working for You?

Published on: December 20, 2018 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Remember that estate planning is not just for the wealthy, and now that the federal exemption is so high, not just for the billionaires either. Estate planning is also much more than a will.

Your estate plan has a lot of work to do for you, both while you are alive and for your family when you have passed. A good article that explains it all comes from Investopedia, “How to Get Your Estate Plan on Track.” There are three key objectives that your estate plan needs to do:

End-of-life health care decisions are documented in a legally binding document;

One Dozen Must-Have Documents

Published on: November 6, 2018 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

To make sure that your wishes are carried out, you’ll have to do your homework. Make sure that you cover these most important documents.

The last thing you want to do, is leave a bureaucratic mess for your loved ones when you die. Not only will it cause the family stress during a difficult time, it could change how your family thinks of you. That should be more than enough reason to get this done in advance!

US News & World Report’s recent article, “12 Documents to Prepare Now for Your Heirs,” says that when people don't have their paperwork ready, it can be a huge headache for the family. A family can be left with all kinds of paperwork to sort out while dealing with grief. Even worse, heirs may forfeit life insurance proceeds and tax deductions or overlook accounts they don't know exist. That's why it's critical to have important documents ready for loved ones. Here are the documents you should start preparing right away:

Preparing for the Realities of Aging and Dementia

Published on: October 22, 2018 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

A healthy life where you retain all your faculties and enjoy yourself, is definitely preferred to decades of dementia. We don’t get to choose, but we can plan.

As Baby Boomers continue to change the face of aging, and so many embrace the idea of genetic testing, many are confronted with a harsh picture of what their future may bring. If that includes dementia, there are facts you need to know and myths that need to be uncovered.

The (Bryan TX) Eagle’s recent article, “Alzheimer’s disease: Five common myths, busted,” reports that, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia. There are up to 5.7 million individuals who live and die with the disease, which makes it the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. The article provides five common myths about Alzheimer’s disease.

How Singles Can Address Estate, Financial and Emergency Planning

Published on: July 16, 2018 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Not having a spouse makes it more important for singles to plan to protect themselves from a legal and financial standpoint.

Everyone should have a plan in place for incapacity, affirms fox5atlanta.com in a recent article, “Estate, emergency planning for single people.” This is especially true for singles. While married couples can usually rely on each other, or their adult children, in case of emergency, what happens to singles who don’t have family members? You need a backup plan and a backup person.

In many instances, singles don’t have a backup plan. If you are young and single, then you typically aren’t thinking about a worst-case scenario at all.

Business-Owning Baby Boomers Need to Start Succession Planning

Published on: May 4, 2018 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

With an estimated 10,000 Boomers retiring every day, members of this generation who own businesses should already have their succession plans in place.

Exit or succession planning is a lot more complicated than most business recognize. It takes a long time if it is to be done properly. A recent article from Moultrie News, “Securing retirement through engaging in business exit planning,” says that not all business-owning baby boomers are ready.

Many soon-to-be retirees are closely-held business owners who have created and operated very successful businesses for years, but they’re now considering what their next move will be.

Tom Benson Excludes Daughter and Grandchildren from his Will

Published on: April 9, 2018 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Before he died, the owner of the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans gave millions of dollars of property to his daughter and her children, but they were not included in his last will and testament.

The last will of multi-millionaire Tom Benson, who owned several professional sports teams and other businesses, did not include his daughter and her children, according to an article from KPVI, “Though excluded from his will, Tom Benson’s daughter and grandchildren received much from family patriarch.”

Following Benson’s death, court records indicate that his third wife Gayle became the sole beneficiary of an estate controlling New Orleans’ NFL and NBA franchises, as well as the Dixie Brewing Co. There were other valuable businesses or properties in the estate: three car dealerships, the site of Benson Tower and Champions Square, a $3.6 million Uptown mansion, a racing stable and a parking lot used by fans attending Saints or Pelicans games.