Beneficiary Designations

Why “Regular Folks” Need an Estate Plan

Published on: May 26, 2017 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

An estate plan does a lot more than distribute your assets among family members and organizations that share your values. It also protects you and your loved ones. That’s why everyone needs an estate plan, especially if you have minor children.

It’s amazing that some people still think they don’t need an estate plan. According to an article in Trust Advisor, “Why An Estate Plan Is Beneficial,” a small estate needs the protection that an estate plan can offer against unnecessary expenses and ensures that personal, financial and charitable goals will be fulfilled. There are four key reasons why everyone needs an estate plan:

Stipulating Care for Yourself. This includes a healthcare proxy, power of attorney and living will that states how you want to be cared for, if you become incapacitated.

Senior Weddings Call for a Different Kind of Planning

Published on: December 14, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

If you’re walking down the aisle again, there are a number of smart steps to take before you say “I do” another time.

Just as your life was probably simpler the first time you married, your subsequent marriage, especially if it occurs late in life, can become problematic, if good planning doesn’t happen in advance. If you don’t know your legal rights or your responsibilities, reports New Hampshire Magazine in “Navigating Late-Life Remarriage,” you, your children and your new spouse may be in for some unpleasant surprises.

While death and the likelihood that one spouse will outlive the other is inevitable, another important fact is that the divorce rate among those who remarry later in life years is 60%. This is much higher than the rate of any other segment of the population. Some experts think that number may go even higher.

A Checklist for Post-Funeral Tasks

Published on: December 12, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

There are a number of tasks that need to be done after a loved one passes. A Houston estate planning attorney can help make these tasks easier.

Most people don’t know that there is a time limit on certain tasks that need occur after someone passes away. According to WXYZ Detroit’s article, “Tips you need to know to take a loved one's estate through probate,” you’ll need to contact the Probate Court within 42 days of the death to find out whether you’ll need to have either a formal or informal administration of the estate. That’s just for starters. Here are other things that need to be done after the funeral:

Don’t rush to have an obituary notice published. There are scam artists who use the obituaries as an information source for going after estate assets, planning burglaries and engaging in identity theft.

Collecting Death Benefits from Life Insurance Policies

Published on: September 20, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

If you are the beneficiary of someone’s life insurance policy, you should know that there are options as to how the policy funds, known as death benefits, can be distributed.

In most situations, the beneficiary of a life insurance policy does not have to pay income taxes on death benefits, according to a recent article in Forbes, “Are Life Insurance Proceeds Subject to Taxes?”

But depending on your situation, you might want to consider different options for that money that may be more productive in the long term. The insurance company can cut a check, but you can also have the insurer hold on to all or some of the funds and distribute them at a later date or in periodic distributions. If the money is held by the insurer, it will continue to earn interest—and that interest is taxable.

Make Sure Your Divorce Degree Aligns with Your Estate Plan and Vice Versa

Published on: September 6, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Forget to make these changes and your heirs may never forgive you. Forget to align these documents, and your estate planning attorney will never forget you.

Once the process of legally ending your marriage begins, you will need to make sure that your own interests are protected and that includes updating your estate plan to reflect this big life change. While some things may remain the same, like leaving your children certain assets, be assured that pretty much everything else will change, according to Forbes’ article, “The First Thing You Must Do When Your Divorce Is Final.”

Once your divorce is final, that is, the divorce decree has been approved by a judge, and a judgment rendered, contact your estate attorney and begin to review and revise the following legal and estate planning documents:

When Life Throws You a Curve Ball, Be Prepared to Respond

Published on: June 17, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

We never know what's around the corner. Big changes come in all different types. Best strategy: be prepared and deal with whatever comes.

Of those Americans who actually have a will and an estate plan in place, there's still a tendency to let years go by before they update their wills and finances. Any good Houston estate attorney will tell you that a will needs to be updated every three or four years to take advantages of any changes in the law and to address any life changes that occur.

The Middletown Transcript warns in "Game-changing life transitions that need attention" that sudden transitions need to be addressed immediately. However, many times these events will have more complex consequences impacting other parts of your life. Don't stick your head in the sand when such an issue comes up. Deal with it in the context of your overall life.

Avoiding Estate Planning Mishaps

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

In many cases, knowledge is power. But in estate planning, knowledge by itself can be a dangerous thing. You need to pair knowledge of the most common estate planning mistakes with another kind of knowledge: what to DO about those mistakes. And we would even add a third thing: knowing WHO to ask for help!

For example, you might know that it is desirable to avoid probate, but that is of little use unless you also know how to create an estate plan that will keep an estate out of probate. For the same reason it is important to not only know what common estate planning mistakes are but also to know how to avoid them.

A recent article by The Street entitled "How to Avoid the Most Common Estate Planning Mistake" discusses the most common mistakes and how to avoid them. Tips from the article include:

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.

It’s Time Again: Year-End Planning for Houston Families

Published on: November 13, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

As 2014 dwindles down, it’s time to consider your year-end planning.

The holidays will be here before you know it, and that means the end of 2014 is near. Have you started your year-end planning yet?

A recent article in the Physician's Money Digest, titled "10 Financial Planning Tips for Year-end," offers some helpful financial planning tips for the year-end.