Asset Protection

Estate Planning Tips for Houston Widows

Published on: June 30, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

For the last several decades, you’ve always made these kinds of decisions together. What can already be an emotional task of drafting a will is even more so after the loss of a lifelong partner. Even in the event of a terminal illness diagnosis with time to prepare in advance, Senior Vice President and Financial Advisor Cinda J. Collins of RBC Wealth Management often felt overwhelmed during the settlement of her husband’s estate after he passed away from leukemia.

While the best course of action is always to plan together ahead of time, Forbes published estate planning advice for surviving spouses in “The Widow's Guide To Estate Planning And Wealth Transfer.”

Make Sure You Have a Professionally Drafted Will. To be as prepared as possible in the event of a spouse’s passing, talk to an experienced estate attorney together as a couple to ensure all your affairs are in order. If a spouse passes away unexpectedly without planning, the surviving partner will have headaches.

Don’t Have a Will? Do You Know What Happens?

Published on: June 29, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

In some parts of the U.S., like West Virginia, without a will, your estate is first distributed according to your marital status and children, including those of previous marriages. However, if you have no spouse or children, you may want to pull out your family tree to see who could be in the running.

When there is no will in place, commonly in West Virginia, the current spouse of a married couple with or without one or more descendants receives the full estate. However, your spouse would receive only 60% of the estate if he or she had children with you and also a previous marriage. Your children would then receive the remaining 40% of the estate. But if you were the spouse with kids from a previous marriage(s), then all your children will inherit one-half of your estate, and the other half to your current spouse.

Confused yet? That’s what The (Huntington, WV) Herald-Dispatch asks us in its recent article titled “Planning ahead: What happens if you don't have a will.”

Have You Planned for Your Digital Estate?

Published on: June 23, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Portland attorney Victoria Blachly said people can avoid the personal, financial and in some cases legal headaches that come with losing access to their online accounts by creating a Virtual Asset Instruction Letter where they list their online accounts, the passwords they use to access each one, and instructions explaining what, if anything, should be done with the content each account holds.

What happens to all of your online accounts when you die? Will your loved ones be able to access them? If so, what should they do with those accounts? There is much to think about when it comes to your digital estate planning.

An article from The (Bend OR) Bulletin, “Estate planning in a digital world,”says that you can avoid personal, financial, and legal headaches by creating a Virtual Asset Instruction Letter.

Divorced? Update Beneficiary Designations

Published on: June 12, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Fran had just learned that her deceased husband Ed’s life insurance proceeds were going to be paid to his ex-wife Sally. As Fran found out from her lawyer, beneficiary designations can be the trump card of estate planning.

You heard that right. The ex-wife Sally will get the life insurance proceeds. It doesn’t matter what the will says in these circumstances. With certain financial instruments the beneficiary designations have authority to control the asset disposition regardless of other provisions.

A recent WMUR article, titled “Money Matters: The trump card of estate planning,”sets out a handful of good pointers to remember.

You’re Getting Married? Is Your Estate Plan Current?

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

At some point, everyone needs to consider estate planning. It’s time to create an up-to-date estate plan when you experience one of these life events.

Think estate planning isn’t for you? Think again! And it’s not just a one-time deal; changes in your life should result in changes to your plan, so be ready to make some updates.

The Richland Source notes in a recent article, titled “Do you need an estate plan?”, that it’s time to create an up-to-date estate plan when you have one of these life events:

Pre-Retirement To-Do’s for Houston Boomers

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

Don’t wait until the very last minute to make sure you are prepared, says Michael H. Milarski, a partner and senior financial advisor with Signature Financial Planning.

Have you checked your list and you’re sure you’re ready to retire? You may have a few items to address before your golden years can begin.

A recent Fox Business article, titled “5 Things to Do Now if You’re Near Retirement,”says that these are the five important things to work on in the five years before you retire.

Time to Review Your Houston Estate Plan: 4 Key Dates

Published on: June 5, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

So how do you know if your estate plan is out-of-date? If your will or trust predates these four key “freshness dates,” it may be time to visit your attorney for a review.

Estate plans are not meant to be a one-time deal. If life changes – or the law changes – you need to update your plan accordingly.

The website nextavenue.org recently posted a very informative article, titled “Why Your Will May Be Out of Date,” which states that although your estate planning documents are still valid, they may no longer work the way you originally thought they would.

Crummey Trusts: Viable Tool for Houston Families?

Published on: June 1, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Actually the trusts are Crummey trusts named after one D. Clifford Crummey who won a decision in the Ninth Circuit in 1968, when I was just a high school lad. Israel and Erna Mikel were just in Tax Court showing how powerful the Crummey power can be as they used it to shelter over $1.4 million in transfers to their family trust from gift taxes. An arbitration clause that called for the use of a religious court caused the IRS to challenge the validity of the exclusions, but the Tax Court ruled in the taxpayer’s favor.

Trusts can have pretty funny names. Take the Crummey trust for example – doesn’t sound very good, does it? Who wants a “crumby” trust? Let’s explore this tool further.

A recent Forbes article, titled “Religious Arbitration Clause Does Not Hurt Million Plus Gift Tax Exclusion,” reminds us that there’s an annual exclusion from gift tax. Reminder: every year you can give the annual exclusion amount ($14,000 this year) to as many people as you want without any gift taxes or disturbing the unified credit against transfer taxes. However, to qualify for the exclusion, the gift has to be of a “present interest”.

Guardianship Selected for Bobbi Kristina Brown

Published on: May 28, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

“We are delighted to inform the public that the court has appointed Bobby Brown and Pat Houston as co-guardians of Bobbi Kristina Brown (‘Krissi’),” read a statement issued by David Long-Daniels, counsel for Pat Houston and Cissy Houston, and Christopher Brown, an attorney for Bobby Brown. “Both Mr. Brown and Ms. Houston are jointly responsible for decisions related to Krissi’s care and medical needs.” A court-appointed attorney, Bedelia Hargrove, will act as a conservator for the 22-year-old.

The court-appointed attorney specializes in fiduciary litigation, probate and estate administration, estate planning, personal injury and wrongful death cases, as well as general civil litigation.

As conservator, the attorney “is responsible for Krissi’s assets, including her likeness, rights and legal claims,” according to the statement read by attorneys for the family.

Houston Investors Should Organize Finances for Ease in Planning

Published on: May 27, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

There are several corners of your financial life that can be simplified through consolidation.

If you feel like your finances are all over the place and hard to manage, you just need to take a moment to de-clutter and get a system going. Also, it’s ok to ask for help!

A recent article in The Tahoe Daily Tribune’s, titled “Simplify your financial life,”provides some very helpful advice on de-cluttering and organizing your important information: