Houston Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney Blog

Paper Stocks – What Did Ronald Read Teach Investors?

Published on: April 17, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Individual investor Ronald Read has made the news because his personal investing strategy relied heavily on paper stock certificates. Today, investment advisors encourage individual investors to convert stock certificates to electronic form and consolidate stocks with a professionals so that heirs will have an accurate record of ownership.

In addition to his paper stock certificates, Ronald Read had stock positions held directly at transfer agents (the official record-keepers for share ownership), as well as in a Wells Fargo brokerage account.

Is this a good idea?

It’s National Healthcare Decisions Day! Do You Have Your Advance Directives?

Published on: April 16, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD). And now that you’ve met the big deadline for filing your tax return, it's a great time to turn your attention to ensuring that your estate planning documents are in place, beginning with your own advance directives.

Everyone needs current and valid advance directives. This simple outline of the care that you wish to receive when you may not be able to communicate your wishes provides a clear and concise roadmap for your loved ones and health care providers. This single step is so important, because your family won’t have to guess or assume what “Mom or Dad would have wanted” in the event that you cannot give direction to your family. Your instructions can be clearly spelled out in a legally recognized document.

We encourage you to consider taking a step forward in planning for your family’s peace of mind by making a decision on the the following — today:

Houston Family Caregivers Should Ask Important Questions

Published on: April 15, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Family caregivers face many details every day and estate planning may not be a top priority amidst the day-to-day caregiving tasks.

However, there are many things caregiving expert Amy Goyer wished she would have asked before her mom and sister passed away.She says that it’s harder for her to feel that she totally lived up to her responsibilities as executor of their estates.

Her recent AARP article, titled “5 Questions I Wish I Had Asked Before They Died,”explains that she is going to ask her other sisters and other loved ones about this type of information now—long before she hopes she’ll ever need it. She has in place the proper advance directives, estate and financial planning, but she says that she’ll also be more thorough with the finer details. To that end, the author recommends asking these questions:

Coach Dean Smith Leaves Legacy to Players Via Trust

Published on: April 14, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Legendary Coach Dean Smith's estate is making news and not for vast wealth. The North Carolina basketball coach left $200 each to almost 200 players via his revocable trust. Typically, trusts are a private matter but Coach Smith's legion of admiring basketball players shared the news via social media.

Revocable trusts are a very popular estate planning tool used by many to keep the details of an individual’s estate private. Wills, by contrast, are public documents. Coach Smith may not have intended for his gifts to be public knowledge, but his generosity is clearly treasured by his players.

Read the full story in a Bloomberg.com article, titled “Dean Smith's Generosity Got Lots of Press. His Estate Plan Deserves Some Too.”

Should An IRA Trust Be Part of Your Houston Estate Plan?

Published on: April 13, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

An IRA Trust can be a beneficial estate planning tool for families under certain conditions. However, many investors are unaware of the IRA Trust and the benefits that it may provide.

Trusts are only for the super wealthy, right? Wrong!

The Kokomo Perspective recently posted an article titled “Are You Trustworthy?” The article explains that due to all the recent rule and distribution changes to IRAs and other retirement accounts, the IRA Trust has become much more popular and effective. An IRA Trust is a special type of revocable living trust that’s designed to receive your IRA accounts for the benefit of your loved ones after you pass away. The IRA Trust offers both protection and control.

Divorcing? Re-Visit the Details of Your Houston Estate Plan

Published on: April 10, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Once you're divorced you should immediately create a new estate plan — a will or revocable living trust, a healthcare power of attorney, and a living will ("pull the plug") designee. Read on for more estate planning must-do’s regarding divorce.

A recent article in the The Huffington Post, titled “Divorce and Money,”says that you should always listen to your attorney about the applicable laws in your state regarding divorce and your estate. In addition, the article says that you should also look at the following issues.

The division of property in a divorce is typically not taxable to either party. However, if instead of dividing marital property, one spouse agrees to monthly maintenance (alimony), this will be taxed as ordinary income. And it’s deductible to the paying spouse. The original article also notes that the spouse receiving the maintenance checks must make a quarterly estimated federal and state tax payment, so you need to plan accordingly.

Beatles Lyrics: Can Your Houston Family Still Afford You?

Published on: April 9, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

"Will you still need me? Will you still feed me? When I'm 64?" The Beatles first released these quaint, clarinet-fueled lyrics in 1967 when the loving answer to these questions was a resounding, "Yes!" Traditional marriage vows echo this sentiment in that they presuppose a relationship span that encompasses young and old age, wellness and serious illness, wealth and poverty. However, as modern aging has come to be defined by living longer with chronic care needs, and providing long-term care has shifted to the public sector, with two thirds of long term care services paid for by Medicaid, loving spouses may be forced to answer, "No," to these questions. The future of elder care may depend on divorce.

Aging and care are already expensive and stressful, and even the young Beatles in 1967 wondered if love now would translate into care in old age. It should.

In case you haven’t heard, long-term care needs are expensive. In 2014 the average annual cost of a semi-private room in a skilled nursing facility was $83,114! The majority (70 percent) of people over 65 need some level of long-term care at some point—whether that will be provided in a home, an assisted living center, or a nursing care facility, according to The Huffington Post in a recent article titled “Is Divorce the Best Option for Older Americans?”

“House of Cards” Offers Life Lesson: You Are Entitled to Nothing

Published on: April 8, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Frank Underwood is not a real person. He’s the crooked politician portrayed by Kevin Spacey in the Netflix series “House of Cards” who claws his way into the White House by manipulating the press and ruthlessly crushing anyone that might get in his way. But sadly, with one line, he delivered more honesty than I have seen from any president, senator or House representative, from either party, in my lifetime: “We’ve been crippled by Social Security. By Medicare. Medicaid. Welfare. And entitlements. And that is the root of the problem. Entitlements. Let me be clear: You are entitled to nothing.”

Frank Underwood, Kevin Spacey’s character on House of Cards, gives us the cold, hard truth about retirement. Social Security and Medicare are not “rights” in any legal sense. Congress decides on the payout, and Congress can change it—or eliminate it—at any time. You really are not “entitled” to anything and certainly nothing is guaranteed, according to a recent Forbes article titled “Life Lessons From House Of Cards: "You Are Entitled To Nothing".

You are entitled to nothing. It’s not fun to hear, but it’s important to remember when you’re planning your retirement. You should plan under the assumption that your benefits in retirement will be lower than currently promised. With that in mind, here are three specific recommendations from the article’s author on how to approach your planning:

Don’t Just Think about Your Houston Estate, Plan It!

Published on: April 7, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The sad truth is that most of us — some 70% of adult Americans — have neglected to write a will. Some think their assets are just too puny to worry about, others worry that the costs of writing a “last will and testament” are too high. But wills aren’t just vehicles for the wealthy or the morbid. If you’ve got a family and a home — not to mention a savings account — you should definitely have one. Cost is no excuse.

A recent MarketWatch article, titled “Why wills aren’t just for the wealthy,” sheds light on this important life-planning topic.

Like many people in the U.S., you may not think about estate planning until you have kids. A will is critical when you have children, because people think about what would happen if both spouses die at the same time. Without a will, a probate court judge will be tasked with selecting the individual who will care for your minor children as a guardian. That could be just about anyone, including a person you would never ever pick to take care of your kids! Why not name someone yourself right now? You also should name an alternate guardian in the document in the event your first choice is unable to serve.

Good News for Houston Families: James Earl Jones Tackles Elder Law Topics

Published on: April 6, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

"In America" discusses elder law and the way that legal standards and details are changing over time.

What exactly is Elder Law? Why is this so important for Americans?

Elder law is a general term that describes the laws and regulations that affect older men and women. This term can relate to the proper care and guardianship of an older person who requires medical attention and can no longer function without assistance. The recent Insurance News Net article, titled “Elder Law is discussed with host James Earl Jones on "In America,” notes that the range of topics elder law addresses includes divorce among adults over 65 years old and law regarding elder abuse.