Inheritance

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.”

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?”

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.

Distributing Houston Estate Among the Kids – Who Gets What?

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

In the book The Charles Schwab Guide to Finances After 50, author Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz poses the following scenario: “I’m confused about how to divide my estate between my children, who have different needs and financial resources. Is it best to divide it into equal parts?”

This question is directed at people who have children at different levels of personal and financial success, according to a recent Millionaire Corner’s article titled “Dividing the Estate: Treat Your Children Well.”It suggests that the parent in this scenario may want to do more for the struggling child than for the successful one as far as designating heirs for their estate assets.

The original explains that it makes sense for parents to treat their children equally. While one may think about providing extra assistance to a child with fewer resources, or for a child with special needs, you need to do so cautiously. The article also reminds us that the status of the children can change over time, making a strong argument for equal distribution.

Houston Families Can Explore Advantages of Charitable Giving

Published on: March 31, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Lifetime gifts may carry considerable advantages over charitable bequests, according to Atlantic Trust, the U.S. private wealth management division of CIBC (NYSE: CM) (TSX: CM).

Lifetime gifting allows you to see your donation make a difference. In addition to this giving advantage, there’s also the goals of receiving an income tax deduction or estate tax savings, explains the PR Newswire article titled “Benefits of lifetime charitable gifts can outweigh bequests.”

For instance, individuals who give cash to public charity typically are entitled to an income tax deduction of up to 50 percent of their adjusted gross income (AGI) or up to 30 percent of their AGI for donations of other appreciated assets that are held for at least a year. What’s more, these deductions can be carried forward for up to five years if they can’t be taken in the year the gift was made.

Plans to Secure Your Children’s Future

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

Although it is a difficult subject to face, you have options when it comes to protecting your estate and your family. The steps you take now can help prevent the wrong people from making decisions for your loved ones.

If you have minor children, who will take care of them in the event of your passing? Although no one likes to think about this, it is crucial that you make a plan for your Houston family.

A recent article from Military.com, titled “Protect Your Children's Future,”offers some ideas on how to protect your children. For starters, make sure to you have a will drafted by an experienced estate planning attorney. Be sure to name one or more people to be the legal guardian of any of your children you may have under age 18. [Note: In some states, like California, a will is not the only way to appoint such a guardian. Be sure to consult with an experienced estate planning attorney in your own state.]

Estate Planning in a Virtual World for Houston Planners

Published on: March 25, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Roos said it’s important that people plan ahead and put “someone in charge of these digital assets and giving the family the opportunity to take over accounts if something were to happen, so they can control the information so it doesn’t get into the wrong hands.”

Have you heard the buzz about digital estate planning? For those with online accounts—this includes online bank accounts, social media accounts, and photography accounts—these are part of your digital estate. And just like your physical assets, your digital assets need protection too.

A recent kcra.com report, titled Have you planned your digital afterlife?, reminds us that a digital estate can cause real headaches for grieving loved ones who may be attempting to access those accounts. The report recommends that people write down their passwords and make sure their trusted relatives will have access.

“Downton Abbey” — A Good Lesson for Houston Families

Published on: March 24, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The viewers of this high-end PBS costume drama, which takes place about a century ago, could very likely be your clients' demographic. Look at who's a top corporate sponsor: Viking River Cruises, which told The New York Times that “our demographic is affluent Baby Boomers 55+.” It's a big group: more than 10.1 million viewers watched the first episode of the fifth season in early January. Look closely and see if Downton can impart valuable financial lessons to you.

It can be difficult to explain to clients the ramifications of putting off their estate planning. Sometimes people have to “see it to believe it,” so to speak. Enter PBS hit series, Downton Abbey.

Downton Abbey follows the lives of the fictitious Crawley family who live in a grand English country house in the early 1900s. Downton’s characters can teach some valuable financial lessons, according to AccountingWEB’s recent post titled, “8 Lessons You and Your Clients Learn by Watching Downton Abbey.