Estate Planning

Important Documents For Houston Families: Before Dementia Strikes

Published on: March 18, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Accounting for the possibility of your own and your loved one’s eventual mental incapacity is a key part of any estate plan. If your loved one appears to be showing signs of diminishing mental acuity, ask if he or she has the proper documents in place. If so, find out who his or her agent(s) are so that you can alert them.

What if you or a loved one develops dementia? If you didn’t have the mental capacity to take care of yourself or your finances at some point, what would happen? You need to be prepared.

A recent articlein Physician’s Monthly Digest, titled “Dealing With a Loved One’s Cognitive Decline Is Simpler with Right Legal Documents in Place,”says that a healthcare proxy and a durable power of attorney are key legal documents to have before there are any signs of mental incapacitation. The documents allow you to designate another person to make medical and financial decisions on your behalf once you are unable to do so. This can be your spouse, an adult child, a friend, or a trusted adviser. Without a power of attorney, your spouse will need a court order to access any non-joint accounts that you have.

Farming and Other Property Tax Breaks May Net Good Yields for Your Houston Estate Plan

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

People who own as little as three acres and engage in agricultural practices such as hay harvesting, bee keeping, chicken raising, and designating land for grazing animals may find themselves rewarded by localities with an enormous discount of up to 95 percent on property taxes. This tax break — available in all states except Michigan — has made for some surprising members of the nation’s farming community. Consider Malcolm S. Forbes Jr., Jon Bon Jovi, and former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman, among many other famous business folk, celebrities, and politicians with a sideline in farming.

While most tax breaks for landowners occur in a single year, according to a recent Barron’s article, property-tax discounts awarded for agricultural activities are “reaped” annually, just like soy beans, corn, and alfalfa. Barron’s talks about these land tax breaks and more in an article titled “A Harvest of Land-Related Tax Breaks.”

Taxpayers using their land to grow timber can find benefits beyond the property-tax break: Timberland is great for wealth preservation. Even when land values or the demand for timber tails off, the trees on your farm continue to grow. Experts say that timber growth can provide an annual return of roughly 2 percent to 6 percent a year, and once you sell your timber, your profits are taxed as capital-gains, instead of higher income tax rates. It’s only when you manufacture products like pulp or poles from your timber crop that income tax will apply.

Daughter Fights to Ensure Father’s Proper Military Burial

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

Until Feb. 20, when Missouri state authorities intervened to help Yvette James get control of her father's remains, James was stuck in a nightmare of red tape. All she wanted was to rightfully fulfill her father’s burial wishes, something she should have legally been allowed to do from the get-go.

It seems Yvette James was wrongly excluded from her father’s burial planning due, in large part, to her own military service. Even though she has the right to make those decisions under state law as the primary next of kin and only child, a funeral home allowed her cousin to make arrangements for the service and burial. This story was told in The Army Times, in an article titled“Soldier fights for right to bury her father.”

The cousin wanted to bury James’ father at a veterans’ cemetery in St. Louis. However, James wants to have her father cremated and buried at Arlington National Cemetery, as she plans to retire in Maryland. As James put it: "Arlington is the ultimate cemetery. My dad was so proud of his service. That's all he talked about. He did four years, and you'd think he did 30. He loved the Marines."

“The Widow Lincoln” Sheds Light on Financial Lessons for Houston Widows

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

As Mary Todd Lincoln’s character in “The Widow Lincoln” faces dozens of unpaid bills for home furnishings, clothes and jewelry, she asks, “How will I ever pay these debts? I am nothing. I am no one.” On top of moving out of the White House, mothering her sons and moving forward with her life, Lincoln must deal with all these financial stresses. She no longer has her husband to rely on for emotional support, income or an identity. It’s a crisis many women in the 21st century face, too.

A recent article in U.S. News & World Report, titled “Modern Money Lessons from Mary Todd Lincoln,” reports that experts recommend participating in money management throughout marriage and preparing for the possibility of one day being on your own, like many women eventually are, due to divorce or death.

Becoming a widow often means a drastic change and a new way of life, whether in 1865 or 2015. For many, it means understanding how to manage finances by yourself and experiencing less income, along with debilitating grief.

Divorced? Time to Update Your Houston Estate Plan and Beneficiaries

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

Failure to do so — or to alert all relevant parties to the changes — could result in certain assets and benefits unintentionally going to your former spouse or his or her family upon your death.

A MarketWatch article, titled “Just divorced? Don’t forget to separate your estate plans,” shares a true life story of why we all need to pay close attention to our estate plans after a divorce.

Robyn Lewis executed a will in 1996 that named her then-husband to receive her property after her death. The property included the house—a home that had been in her family for generations. In her will she designated her then-father-in-law as the secondary beneficiary. Robyn ended up divorcing her husband, but no record was found of a change in her secondary beneficiary after the divorce.

Houston Estates Can Be Subject to Same Discord as Celebrity Estates

Published on: March 11, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Ernie Banks died on January 23rd at age 83 from a heart condition. Interestingly, his death certificate listed dementia as a “significant condition contributing” to his death. Why is that important? Well, three months before he died, Banks signed a new set of estate planning documents, including a power of attorney, healthcare directive, new will, and a trust.

Ernie Banks signed a new set of estate planning documents that left his caregiver and talent agent, Regina Rice, in control of everything. This new will and trust totally left out his family members and named Rice as his sole beneficiary. Rice would stand to inherit not only whatever assets and wealth Ernie Banks accumulated during his life, but the right to control (and profit from) his name, likeness, and image.

Since Banks had dementia and made these changes a mere three months before his death, his children are planning to take Rice to court over Banks’ estate. Houston families should make note of family dynamics that could place estate planning in jeopardy.

Multimillion Dollar Estates Can Be Subject of Family Feuds

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

Dr. Richard Grossman amassed his fortune as the founder of the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles, one of the first to use a hyperbaric chamber to prevent infections in burn victims and speed their recovery. He retired from his medical practice in 2013. Lawyers for his children and widow now disagree on what Grossman intended to do with that wealth before he died.

If you aren’t crystal clear on your wishes in your Houston estate planning documents, you may leave behind much speculation after you pass.

A recent article in the Thousand Oaks (CA) Acorn, titled “Battle over Grossman estate intensifies,” describes the contentious fight over a noted physician’s estate between his wife and his children from a previous marriage. With all of the assets going to the wife, the children assert that the doctor had advanced dementia and wasn’t able to make his own decisions.

Should Houston Family’s Care About Marlon Brando’s Estate?

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

In part due to questions about his true intentions as expressed in his will and trust, Brando’s estate was involved in more than two dozens lawsuits by 2009 — five years after his death. He passed away on July 1, 2004, at 80 years of age, suffering from a host of ailments including dementia and lung failure.

Marlon Brando once said “The only thing an actor owes his public is not to bore them.” Ironically, the public hasn’t been bored one bit since Brando’s passing as issues over his estate have made many headlines.

Right before his death eleven years ago, Marlon Brando couldn’t leave his bedroom and was so paranoid that he wanted the room padlocked at his death so no one would steal the buttons off of his shirt!

Include Everything in the Prenup! A Lesson from Robin Williams’ Estate Dispute

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

"The mess comes when you don't have proper estate planning," said Robert Nachshin, a family law attorney based in Los Angeles. An important tool in that toolbox is a prenup, which spells out how assets should be split up if the marriage fails or a spouse dies. Nachshin said that a spouse who wants to protect assets in a second marriage should have both trusts and a prenup.

A prenup details how assets would be split up if the marriage fails or a spouse dies. A spouse who wants to protect assets in a second marriage should also talk to an experienced estate planning attorney about trusts. Planning details about prenups were covered in a recent CNBC article titled “Remarrying? Shower kids with love, and a good prenup. ”

One of the best features of a prenup is that it can protect nearly every kind of asset an individual may want to pass along—this includes art collections, cash, and the family business. Without a prenup, it’s easier for a spouse to obtain some unintended part of the estate if you die. A prenup should be airtight to avoid legal issues. Although Robin Williams had a well-thought-out estate plan when he passed, which included a prenup and a trust for his children, some of his personal items were left out of the documents. This is causing a fight between his spouse and his children.

Your Houston Estate Plan Check Up

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

Once the basic documents are in place, they should be revisited periodically. If there is a major change in your circumstances- good or bad, your attorney should know.

How are those New Year’s Resolutions coming along for your finances and estate plan?

Fox News recently posted some tips in an article titled “Is it time for your legal checkup?”The article advises that a will is a great starting point, even if you’re young and healthy. Once we have children, another important part of estate planning is designating a guardian who will rear your children if something unforeseen happens. It’s also important to decide the ages at which your kids should inherit assets. You should discuss all of this with your estate planning attorney: allowing the trustee to have the discretion as to how, whether, and when to make distributions can protect immature or young beneficiaries. This will also keep these assets from counting against a young person’s college financial aid applications.