Houston Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney Blog

Legitimate Power of Attorney Use Leaves Widow Impoverished

Published on: April 23, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

This is a cautionary tale about what can happen, when the wrong person is given power of attorney. The problem here is that a man changed his power of attorney without any review or oversight from any family members, including his own wife.

Why Dorothy Jorgenson’s husband changed his power of attorney just days before his death, is something that only he and the relative he named will ever know. However, the relative acted fast and took more than $70,000 from the couple’s joint bank account, says WPRI.com in the article, “Son questions power of attorney after mother's bank account is drained.”

"When I went to pick up a prescription for my mother, there was insufficient funds to pick up a prescription," Dorothy's son, Gene Weston, said. "I can’t believe that someone would do that to an elderly woman."

Congress Recognizing Need to Help Those with Early Onset Alzheimer’s

Published on: April 19, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

A hearing of the Senate Special Committee on aging is looking at bipartisan legislation that would make changes to the Older Americans Act to give individuals younger than 60 with a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s a chance to access support programs.

Senate Bill 901, which is called “Younger-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Act” was introduced in late March by a number of Senators who crossed party lines to support the amendment to the Older Americans Act. According to McKnight’s Senior Living’s article, “Bill would aid those with younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease,” Senate Bill 901 was introduced by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), chairman of the committee, Senator Bob Casey, ranking member and Senators Doug Jones (D-AL) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). In the House of Representatives, the bill H.R. 1903 introduced was introduced by Representatives Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Pete King (R-NY), David Trone (D-MD), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Chris Smith (R-NJ).

Nutritional programs, supportive services, transportation, legal services, elder-abuse prevention and caregiver support have been available through the OAA since 1965. However, under the current law, only individuals over 60 are eligible.

What If I Don’t Want to Give My Kids the Same Inheritance?

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

One of the challenges of asset distribution comes when your children’s lives have taken different turns. Do you leave your successful daughter the same amount of money that you would leave to a son, who can’t seem to find a direction? It’s not always easy, but decisions do need to be made.

What and how you leave your wealth can be a hard decision, if you have more than one child. This is particularly true, if your kids’ circumstances are dramatically different or you’re much closer to one than another. The easiest solution might be to split whatever you have equally among them. However, is equal the same thing as fair?

Ladders.com’s recent article, “More parents are leaving unequal inheritances to their adult kids” says that a growing number of parents say that answer is a resounding “no.”

Special Needs Planning With Special Needs Trusts

Published on: April 11, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

It is important to understand the basics of special needs planning, so that you can plan for your child’s future. There are many issues to address, but an experienced Houston estate planning professional will be able to help.

Special needs planning is challenging. It’s important to have a strong team to work with. An estate planning attorney with experience in helping special needs families will be able to guide you through the process. They will also likely have access to other professionals to help.

A recent Forbes article, “Special Needs Kids Require Specialized Estate Planning,” says that if you have a child with special needs, it’s critical that you look at your planning options with your estate planning attorney and discuss your child’s health, capabilities and prognosis. You can then customize a plan that works for your child, with as much flexibility as possible.

Why is it Difficult to Pick an Executor?

Published on: April 10, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

It’s hard because you want to be sure your chosen person understands your wishes, your financial situation and can make good decisions on your behalf. Not everyone can do that.

There is considerable responsibility that comes with being named an executor of an estate, explains MoneySense in the article “Should the sole recipient of an estate be the executor too?” There have been new rules passed in the last year that make the tax reporting even more important. What happens if you realize that the person you originally named may not be up to the task? This is another reason why it’s good to review estate plans every few years. There are several factors to consider when you think about whom you might name.

Consider the person’s age. It’s smart to choose a person who’s younger than you. Although that doesn’t guarantee that they will outlive you, it certainly ups the odds. Ideally, you should try to find a person who is comfortable with the areas of money and tax and doesn’t easily get overwhelmed by paperwork. Since the role of estate executor can be an intense issue that takes a great amount of time, the person you choose ideally will be retired or have the bandwidth to dedicate the substantial time commitment required to do the job properly.

End of Life Measures Get Complicated with Shared Legal Powers

Published on: April 9, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The idea that spouses and their stepchildren will share the legal power to make health care decision sounds good in theory, but, in practice, there may be some unexpected side effects.

Simple things get complicated in blended families. The idea that stepchildren and a spouse will work together to make health care decisions when their parent is ill, seems reasonable. However, what happens when the spouse and stepchildren differ on what is best?

A recent article from the Grand Forks Herald, “Joint power of attorney complicated this couple's wishes,” shares the story of what happened to one woman when her elderly husband was injured and then contracted pneumonia in the nursing home. His wife alerted her adult stepchildren, who rarely visit, and they immediately arrived to help out.

What Purpose Does a Revocable Trust Serve In My Estate Plan?

Published on: April 8, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The foundation of your estate plan is a will, also known as a last will and testament. Depending upon your situation, your Houston area estate planning attorney may recommend additional documents, including trusts.

The first part of your estate plan is the creation of a will to provide clear instructions of how your property should be distributed after you pass. The will is also used to name a guardian for minor children, if your family is still young. The concept that many people don’t understand, is that without a will, these and other decisions will be made for you according to the laws in Texas. It’s far better to make these decisions for your family yourself.

Some estates are straightforward and simple. If you have a large amount of assets, children from different marriages, or own a business, your estate will draw on different strategies used by the estate planning attorney. Among them may be a revocable trust.

How Should I Plan to Age as a Single “Elder Orphan?”

Published on: April 5, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

No one plans to be elderly and alone, but if you are single and either have no immediate family members or are not close with your family, you need a game plan, if you need long term care of any kind.

If you are married, or are close with your children, you probably figure that your children or your spouse will take care of you, when you need help with long-term care. As many as 66 percent of people over age 65 do, at some point in their lives. However, what if you are a single and without family, asks WFMZ TV in a recent article, “The single senior life: Elder orphans.”

While you're still healthy, you should make plans, in the event you find yourself in need of the help that is traditionally provided by a family member. There are solutions, but they require planning.

And You Thought a Volatile Market Was a Threat to Your Estate Plan

Published on: April 3, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

It seems like families need to spend more time discussing estate plans and their finances, especially if they are blended families, to prevent major disruptions.

For the second consecutive year, family conflict was named as the biggest treat to estate planning by estate planning and elder law attorneys and other professionals attending this year’s annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning.

The survey, conducted by TD Wealth, found that nearly half (46%) of respondents said that family conflict was the biggest threat to estate planning in 2019, followed by market volatility (24%) and tax reform (14%).

How Can I Use My Life Insurance to Give to Charity?

Published on: April 1, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

“Financial planning is an ongoing process that examines your goals, situation and finances, in order to determine if and how these goals can be met. It’s not a product-centric process, but often we use financial products like mutual funds, annuities and/or life insurance to achieve goals in the most efficient manner.”

As Forbes explains in the article “2 Ways To Combine Charitable Giving And Life Insurance,” one of the core products for protecting wealth is life insurance. As you age, your need for life insurance may lessen, but sometimes it will increase. If you have a life insurance policy that you no longer need, one option might be to donate the policy to a charity. There are several ways that life insurance policies can be gifted or used for charitable purposes.

Gift Your Existing Policy. You can simply give away an existing policy, if you no longer need the policy for estate liquidity or estate taxes. You could gift the policy outright to your favorite charity or use a Donor Advised Fund (DAF). If you give the policy to a charity outright, you can change ownership of the policy and pretty much be done with it. You might get a charitable income tax deduction for the value of the policy at the time of the gift (it’s measured by the sum of the interpolated terminal reserve plus unearned premiums rather than the death benefit amount).