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How will a divorce impact your estate plan? · The Legal Exchange

0:01
Speaker 1: This is the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky from the
0:04
Speaker 1: law firm of Cushing and Dolan and Susan Powers of
0:07
Speaker 1: the Armstrong Advisory Group. Each week, Todd and Susan will
0:10
Speaker 1: discuss many topics, including estate planning, how to avoid probate,
0:13
Speaker 1: and protecting your money from a nursing home. If you
0:16
Speaker 1: need assistance in any of these areas, or have a
0:18
Speaker 1: question about another issue that may affect your future, call
0:21
Speaker 1: eight six six eight four eight five six ninety nine
0:24
Speaker 1: to make an appointment. That's eight sixty six eight four
0:27
Speaker 1: eight five six ninety nine. Operators are standing by. Now
0:31
Speaker 1: Here are your hosts, Todd Lutsky and Susan Powers.
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Speaker 2: Welcoming to the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky. I'm Susan Powers,
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Speaker 2: a financial advisor the Armstrong Advisory Group, and I'm joined
0:44
Speaker 2: by Todd Lutsky, a partner with the law firm of
0:46
Speaker 2: Cushing and Dolan with a master's in taxation. Welcome, Todd.
0:50
Speaker 2: How are you today?
0:51
Speaker 3: I'm never better in you.
0:53
Speaker 2: I'm great, Thank you. What do you have for us
0:54
Speaker 2: this week?
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Speaker 3: I've got a couple of cases of Gutta North Dakota
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Speaker 3: Supreme Court case I like bowl for me errors in
1:02
Speaker 3: reforming a will. First of all, why do we have
1:04
Speaker 3: to reform the will? Obviously planning was bad, so we'll
1:08
Speaker 3: talk a little bit about that and how to make
1:10
Speaker 3: sure you don't run into this particular problem. Next down
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Speaker 3: to Connecticut where we have an appellate court case where
1:18
Speaker 3: you wouldn't think about this, but post judgment modification of alimony,
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Speaker 3: you wouldn't think about how alimony would affect the state planning,
1:25
Speaker 3: but it does. What happens if the individual who was
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Speaker 3: paying the alimony dies and you didn't draft the alimony
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Speaker 3: agreement properly? Is there a claim against the estate could
1:34
Speaker 3: be so? And how do we draft around all of this?
1:37
Speaker 3: So we're going to give you all of those answers
1:40
Speaker 3: and much more because we also are at the beginning
1:43
Speaker 3: of the month. So it's a new guide back to
1:46
Speaker 3: the basics, folks. This is where you learn the basic
1:50
Speaker 3: let's face it, we do living wills, wills, healthcare proxies,
1:53
Speaker 3: powers of attorney, all things that we need to talk about.
1:57
Speaker 3: It also is almost like a real life story. It's
2:00
Speaker 3: it's almost like an engagement letter. It explains how to
2:03
Speaker 3: handle the entire estate plan of a family of a couple,
2:07
Speaker 3: and I think they actually focus on the irrevocable trust
2:10
Speaker 3: side of things, so it also will focus on how
2:13
Speaker 3: that irrevocable trust works. So this gives you an idea
2:16
Speaker 3: of what to look for when you're doing your estate
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Speaker 3: plan and whether or not this fact pattern fits for you.
2:21
Speaker 3: If it doesn't, maybe the revocable trust would be better.
2:24
Speaker 3: Get the guide back to the basics, folks, learn how
2:28
Speaker 3: things work eight six six eight four eight five six
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Speaker 3: nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com again eight
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Speaker 3: six six eight four eight five six nine nine or
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Speaker 3: Legal Exchange Show dot Com. Off to North Dakota. What
2:46
Speaker 3: happened here? So we have Randall who was married in
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Speaker 3: nineteen seventy eight until nineteen eighty one, not very long,
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Speaker 3: but long enough to have one child, Amanda. Later, Randall
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Speaker 3: was in a relationship stressing relationship, not married with Cynthia
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Speaker 3: for several years, so he decides to execute a will
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Speaker 3: giving his probate a state to Cynthia and naming Cynthia
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Speaker 3: as the alternate guardian of Amanda if the mother is
3:18
Speaker 3: not living. Okay, well, I guess you could do that
3:21
Speaker 3: right now. Again, not married, but that's the will. So
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Speaker 3: that's article three in article five, those are going to
3:26
Speaker 3: come into play. Well, obviously at the time, you must
3:30
Speaker 3: have done this shortly after, I mean, Amanda was probably
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Speaker 3: a minor in order to do this. Fast forward to
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Speaker 3: July of twenty twenty two, he dies, Amanda was appointed
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Speaker 3: personal representative after filing an informal probate. Cynthia, several months later,
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Speaker 3: files for a formal probate to set aside the appointment
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Speaker 3: of Amanda and to get rid of the reformation of
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Speaker 3: the will, facilitating Randall's alleged intent to leave everything to Amanda. Well,
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Speaker 3: the court lower court found the will to be valid,
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Speaker 3: but also found article three in article four were inconsistent
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Speaker 3: and that this was a mistake of fact or law,
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Speaker 3: and therefore reformed the will and the assets go to Amanda,
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Speaker 3: the daughter. Well, as you might imagine, Cynthia didn't like that.
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Speaker 3: I'm sure not, so she appealed and the Supreme Court reversed.
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Speaker 3: Now let's go through this. If you look at the will,
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Speaker 3: the will was unambiguously clear that Cynthia was to get
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Speaker 3: the assets, yep. And nothing inconsistent about providing a guardian
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Speaker 3: for your child if the mother's not living. Those statements
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Speaker 3: are not inconsistent. I agree. You can provide for your
4:52
Speaker 3: child someone to take care of them or her, even
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Speaker 3: if you're not leaving her any assets. It's not inconsistent. Strange,
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Speaker 3: but not inconsistent. And so the judge reversed, so Cynthia
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Speaker 3: gets the assets and Amanda's out. Now it sounds bad,
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Speaker 3: But what are the tips and lessons here? What do
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Speaker 3: we learn from this? Obviously? What red flags? Right? Please? Folks,
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Speaker 3: update your estate plan right after there's a divorce, right yeah,
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Speaker 3: or you are separated or whatever you want you want
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Speaker 3: to get. Update your state line this way, you could
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Speaker 3: provide for your child here if you if you have one,
5:28
Speaker 3: if you want one. And you can also make sure
5:30
Speaker 3: when you do this that you change the beneficiaries on
5:32
Speaker 3: your iras, your four oh one k's your life insurance, right.
5:37
Speaker 3: You see this all the time, Susan. So those usually
5:41
Speaker 3: are left unchanged and guess who's on them your ex spouse, right,
5:46
Speaker 3: So you don't want that, so you want to make sure. Also,
5:49
Speaker 3: what should you do? Set up a trust? This way
5:52
Speaker 3: you can take care of minor children. Remember basics, very
5:56
Speaker 3: basic stuff, right, if you if you're young, married, even
5:59
Speaker 3: if you don't have a lot of money, but you
6:01
Speaker 3: have young kids, a trust is important to control the
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Speaker 3: assets for a young child. So here, this child was
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Speaker 3: young when it was when he put together this will. Yeah,
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Speaker 3: he cared about a guardian, wanted to put that together,
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Speaker 3: But what about all the assets?
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Speaker 2: And he did nothing because she obviously grew up and
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Speaker 2: was old enough to be trying to be named personal representative.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, and it turns out that they were close by
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Speaker 3: the way, there was a close relationship. Yeah, they weren't estranged,
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Speaker 3: and that was in the fact pattern. So I said, okay,
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Speaker 3: so remember if you have a trust, if you have
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Speaker 3: young children, remember you don't have to have a guardian.
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Speaker 3: You have to have a guardian, you have to take
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Speaker 3: care of the young child, but you don't need the
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Speaker 3: guardian owning your assets for that child. You have the
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Speaker 3: trust owned the assets for that child. In that way,
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Speaker 3: you can control those assets from the grave. Right And then,
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Speaker 3: of course, as that child would have grown older in
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Speaker 3: this case, as Amanda would have grown older, she could
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Speaker 3: have become trustee of the trust and actually controlled it.
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Speaker 3: Right now, Remember it's important to think about what's going
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Speaker 3: on here, because if there was no will, if it
7:12
Speaker 3: turned out that they were able to say that that
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Speaker 3: will was invalid. Remember she's not married, right, so as
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Speaker 3: a non married person, she would have no standing in
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Speaker 3: the intestate succession statue. So this was important that that
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Speaker 3: will be valid because if it was not, then likely,
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Speaker 3: very likely Amanda would have been number one in the
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Speaker 3: intestate succession statue. Again, yeah, I mean, I don't know
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Speaker 3: what it is for North Dakota. It's different for each state.
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Speaker 3: But folks, that's important, and that's the distinction here, So
7:48
Speaker 3: keep that in mind. Now. Of course, in this case,
7:51
Speaker 3: no planning would have been better for Amanda than actually
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Speaker 3: a will. I say, you know, a will allows you
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Speaker 3: to leave assets to anyone you want. Yeah, you can
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Speaker 3: disinherit your daughter. That's allowed. You know, even though they
8:03
Speaker 3: didn't specifically disinherit her, you kind of did anyway by
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Speaker 3: leaving everything the sinsei. Yeah, and you know you're allowed
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Speaker 3: to do that.
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Speaker 2: And they were together a long time.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, they absolutely were. And again, but the funny thing
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Speaker 3: is the relationship was good with the daughter. Why didn't
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Speaker 3: he update this?
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Speaker 2: So many people do that, Todd, I mean, how many
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Speaker 2: people do you meet that say, oh, we have a will, well,
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Speaker 2: when the kids were just born and now they're like fifty, I.
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Speaker 3: Don't think about it. Yeah, I must say, though, I
8:30
Speaker 3: give a lot of kudos to a lot of our
8:32
Speaker 3: clients because they in fact do call. In fact that
8:35
Speaker 3: when things change. I'm getting calls now like crazy, Oh
8:39
Speaker 3: it's been five years and you told me to call,
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Speaker 3: or it's been you know fifty, it's been we had
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Speaker 3: a divorce, or we had a Yeah. It's really funny
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Speaker 3: because they do call, and these events are important. You
8:48
Speaker 3: should call when these events happen. Now, take a trust
8:52
Speaker 3: for example, would have been so much better here than
8:55
Speaker 3: just the will. Right with the trust, you know, even
8:58
Speaker 3: if you're not married, you put the assets in. You
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Speaker 3: could have named the daughter as a trustee or a
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Speaker 3: co trustee with the girlfriend, doesn't matter that you're not married.
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Speaker 1: Ye.
9:07
Speaker 3: That way, you could have actually provided for the girlfriend
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Speaker 3: and if it was irrevocable, actually protected the assets from
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Speaker 3: the cost of long term care to ensure it's there, yep,
9:18
Speaker 3: for your daughter. So not only provide for the girlfriend,
9:21
Speaker 3: protect the assets for your daughter. Right, So you have
9:25
Speaker 3: this ability to do all of those things when you
9:28
Speaker 3: put things in a trust control who gets it? When
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Speaker 3: they get it, how they get it, why they get it. Folks,
9:34
Speaker 3: these are all important things that can be done with
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Speaker 3: a trust, over and above the standard stuff we talk
9:40
Speaker 3: about all the time, probate avoidance and tax elimination. I
9:44
Speaker 3: get it. But this family behind the estate plan very important,
9:49
Speaker 3: very important, So folks keep that in mind and think
9:52
Speaker 3: about getting started. For you, back to the basics guide
9:54
Speaker 3: will help you get there. It'll give you some basic understanding,
9:58
Speaker 3: a fact pattern till you can put your our own
10:00
Speaker 3: facts to it and see if you fit into this.
10:02
Speaker 3: Basically an engagement letter describing an a state plan for
10:07
Speaker 3: a family eight six six eight four eight five six
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Speaker 3: ninety nine or Legal Exchange show dot com. You can
10:15
Speaker 3: download it there and it will really help you get
10:18
Speaker 3: started in your estate planning.
10:20
Speaker 2: You've been listening to Todd Lutsky, a partner with the
10:22
Speaker 2: law firm of Cushing and Dolan. I'm Susan Powers, a
10:26
Speaker 2: financial advice with the Armstrong Advisory Group. We've got much
10:30
Speaker 2: more to come when we return to the Legal Exchange
10:33
Speaker 2: with Todd Lutsky.
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Speaker 2: Welcome back into the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky. I'm
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Speaker 2: Susan Paris, a financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group,
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Speaker 2: and I'm joined by Todd Lotski, a partner with the
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Speaker 2: law firm of Cushing and Dolan with a master's in taxation.
14:36
Speaker 2: Where are we headed now, Todd.
14:38
Speaker 3: We are going to go to Connecticut for an appellate
14:41
Speaker 3: court case. There. Interestingly enough, it talks about post modification
14:46
Speaker 3: of an alimony situation. Well, why does that even affect
14:50
Speaker 3: estate planning? So obviously divorce is important and if you're
14:54
Speaker 3: planning for it, you need to think about the dying
14:57
Speaker 3: end of it as well. So in this case, James
15:02
Speaker 3: and Christine got divorced in nineteen ninety eight. James was
15:09
Speaker 3: awarded to pay seven hundred dollars a month in alimony.
15:12
Speaker 3: Later it was reduced to three hundred, but he had
15:14
Speaker 3: to pay that for the balance of Christine's life. The
15:20
Speaker 3: decree actually said it terminates upon her remarriage, normal cohabitation
15:27
Speaker 3: with a romantic partner, or her death. Well August twenty nineteen,
15:34
Speaker 3: James died. Okay, Well, nineteen ninety eight to twenty nineteen,
15:39
Speaker 3: James died and James's current wife Okay, I wonder if
15:43
Speaker 3: he did planning or not. Carolyn was appointed pr Well.
15:49
Speaker 3: Christine files a claim to enforce the alimony. Well, Carolyn
15:56
Speaker 3: decides to file a post judgment motion to modify or
16:00
Speaker 3: terminate the alimony as there's no assets in the probate
16:04
Speaker 3: estate of her late husband. Remember she's the personal rep
16:08
Speaker 3: And apparently there was some argument about the court having
16:11
Speaker 3: no jurisdiction over this subject matter. That's a song for
16:15
Speaker 3: another day. That's that legal jargon stuff. Let's skip on
16:19
Speaker 3: to what the court said. The court granted Christine's motion
16:23
Speaker 3: to dismiss the case again for probably lack of subject
16:27
Speaker 3: matter jurisdiction. While Carolyn was a fiduciary of the state,
16:31
Speaker 3: she had no direct claim or interest in the dissolution
16:36
Speaker 3: of this decree. That's the court said. Well, Carolyn decided
16:41
Speaker 3: to appeal, not surprised, and the appellate court reversed. It said,
16:47
Speaker 3: if James was alive, there would be a mechanism to
16:51
Speaker 3: allow a modification of an award of divorce whenever there's
16:55
Speaker 3: a substantial change in circumstances, which gives the court subject
17:00
Speaker 3: matter jurisdiction. So now we're back into this and Carolyn,
17:05
Speaker 3: as the personal representative of the estate of James, actually
17:10
Speaker 3: steps into the shoes of James, giving him the authority
17:16
Speaker 3: or her the authority to settle claims of the estate
17:19
Speaker 3: and to complete performance on James's contracts that were not
17:23
Speaker 3: fully performed at the time of his death. So she,
17:27
Speaker 3: as Fi Douciary, does have that ability to address these
17:31
Speaker 3: claims of the estate. Now, of course, I don't have
17:33
Speaker 3: an answer for you, because the court just simply said.
17:36
Speaker 2: Go back and think about what we've done up.
17:38
Speaker 3: You do have subject matter jurisdiction, take the case and
17:42
Speaker 3: figure out what we do with this alimony.
17:45
Speaker 2: It sounds like there was something missing with the drafting
17:49
Speaker 2: of the divorce decree to cover if he dies first.
17:54
Speaker 3: There probably was, And what we're going to do is
17:57
Speaker 3: we're going to come back and give you those answers
17:59
Speaker 3: because the guide for this month is called back to
18:02
Speaker 3: the Basics, and we don't want something to be missing
18:04
Speaker 3: when you're drafting your state plan or even figuring out
18:08
Speaker 3: how to get started. You know what I love about
18:10
Speaker 3: the guide is it talks about all the basics. First,
18:12
Speaker 3: you know, valuing your estate, what makes up your estate.
18:15
Speaker 3: The value of your estate will tell you how, how
18:18
Speaker 3: what kind of a state plan might be in order
18:20
Speaker 3: for you. You know, it talks about you know what, how
18:24
Speaker 3: what you talk about your children, what kind of family
18:26
Speaker 3: dynamics you have? Is it a second marriage. You know
18:29
Speaker 3: how to pick an estate planning attorney. All these these
18:33
Speaker 3: things are in there to help you get started. And
18:36
Speaker 3: then it puts a fact pattern in place and lays
18:39
Speaker 3: out an entire estate plan. See if it's right for you.
18:42
Speaker 3: Learn how to get going in your estate planning. Get
18:45
Speaker 3: the guide back to the basics eight six six eight
18:49
Speaker 3: four eight five six nine nine or Legal Exchange Show
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Speaker 3: dot Com again eight six six eight four eight five
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Speaker 3: six nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot Com New
19:01
Speaker 3: guide for the month back to this case. Okay, so
19:06
Speaker 3: what are some of the tips and lessons now? Again,
19:08
Speaker 3: it seems like it's similar to the segment we had earlier. Right, Hey,
19:12
Speaker 3: you got divorced again, get your estate plan in order? Right,
19:16
Speaker 3: that's a reason to go update your estate plan whenever
19:19
Speaker 3: you have a divorce. And keep in mind alimony. Let's
19:24
Speaker 3: talk for a minute. Like the guide talks about probate assets.
19:27
Speaker 3: What are they? It talks about avoiding probate. We got
19:29
Speaker 3: a situation here. They mentioned probatea state. She said, there
19:35
Speaker 3: are no assets in the probatea state to pay for
19:39
Speaker 3: this alimony. Let's talk about why that's important from an
19:42
Speaker 3: estate planning standpoint, Remember, what is a probate asset. A
19:46
Speaker 3: probate asset is an asset you die in your own
19:49
Speaker 3: name and has no designated beneficiaries.
19:54
Speaker 2: And no joint owner.
19:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, so let's go through this. What kind of you're thinking, Well, well, Todd,
19:59
Speaker 3: what other way would we own an asset? What other
20:02
Speaker 3: how could there be any other way other than in
20:04
Speaker 3: my own name? Well, a couple of ways. One joint
20:07
Speaker 3: as you said, Susan, if you have a joint asset,
20:11
Speaker 3: it's going to simply go to that joint owner and
20:16
Speaker 3: pass outside of probate and you get it whoever it is.
20:21
Speaker 3: You don't have to do anything. Go to the bank
20:22
Speaker 3: and take the account. Or there could be an IRA
20:26
Speaker 3: with a designated beneficiary, or you could have an investment
20:31
Speaker 3: account and the investment account could have a designated beneficiary.
20:34
Speaker 3: Even a bank account, folks can have something called a
20:37
Speaker 3: transfer on death a Tod. Those kinds of things cause
20:43
Speaker 3: the asset to avoid probate. And of course what's the
20:47
Speaker 3: most common way. Again, I don't love that arrangement doesn't
20:51
Speaker 3: really help from an estate planning standpoint, But the easiest
20:55
Speaker 3: way we avoid probate is we put assets in a trust.
20:59
Speaker 3: If they're owned by trust, they don't go to probate.
21:02
Speaker 3: So interestingly enough to find out, they didn't really discuss
21:06
Speaker 3: his estate plan here. But I'm trying to extrapolate for
21:09
Speaker 3: you as to how this might have played out. I'm
21:12
Speaker 3: guessing that he did have a trust in place because
21:17
Speaker 3: she said there's no probate assets to satisfy your claim
21:23
Speaker 3: go away. And again, in most states, I don't know
21:26
Speaker 3: all states, but in most states they say, if you know,
21:31
Speaker 3: the creditors of the estate can only file and collect
21:35
Speaker 3: against probate assets. Great things are in trust and probate. Yeah,
21:40
Speaker 3: we always talk about it, and this is just everybody
21:42
Speaker 3: always wonders, well, why the heck am I avoiding probate.
21:44
Speaker 3: Other than the cost and the time consumption and the
21:47
Speaker 3: nightmares that go with it, it's actually beneficial. It might
21:51
Speaker 3: help you from creditors. So I think that's what happened here,
21:53
Speaker 3: and so they have an insolvent estate. Now remember the
21:57
Speaker 3: alimony here. It appears that the divorce settlement, as you said, Susan,
22:01
Speaker 3: did not provide that alimony also ends at his death.
22:06
Speaker 3: It seemed to prod it ended at her death, so
22:09
Speaker 3: it kind of remained open. This contract remained open, which
22:12
Speaker 3: allowed the claim against the estate to take place. And
22:16
Speaker 3: generally these claims are satisfied with assets that are in probate,
22:20
Speaker 3: so if they're in trust, it would have been very
22:22
Speaker 3: very helpful in this situation. So when you're going through
22:26
Speaker 3: a divorce, you need to think not only about setting
22:30
Speaker 3: up your estate plan, but also the decree itself. Right,
22:34
Speaker 3: it needs to consider what the impact is on the estate.
22:38
Speaker 3: But don't misconstrue that the divorce settlement replaces your estate plan.
22:46
Speaker 3: It doesn't, even though it might address what happens at death. Please,
22:50
Speaker 3: you know, do your trust. So like in this case,
22:54
Speaker 3: he apparently well, yeah, he was remarried, right, so he
22:58
Speaker 3: could have provided for his new spouse in this trust
23:04
Speaker 3: and also take care of his kids from his prior
23:06
Speaker 3: marriage in this trust. I'm not sure ultimately what his
23:11
Speaker 3: estate plan was, but those are just some of the
23:13
Speaker 3: things that you need to think about when you're creating
23:17
Speaker 3: your estate plan. So once the divorce comes, like with
23:20
Speaker 3: the last case, you know, sit down with somebody like
23:24
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23:27
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23:30
Speaker 3: Not only family dynamics, what your assets are, what the
23:34
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23:37
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23:40
Speaker 3: family dynamic situation and put together your plan. Get the guide, folks,
23:45
Speaker 3: That's what this guide's all about. Back to the Basics.
23:48
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23:50
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23:53
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23:56
Speaker 3: basic documents themselves eight eight four eight five six ninety nine,
24:03
Speaker 3: or go to our website Legal Exchange show dot com.
24:07
Speaker 2: You've been listening to Todd Lutsky, a partner with the
24:09
Speaker 2: law firm of Cushing and Dolan. I'm Susan Powers, a
24:13
Speaker 2: financial advice with the Armstrong Advisory Group, and Todd will
24:16
Speaker 2: be answering your listener questions when we return to the
24:19
Speaker 2: Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
24:22
Speaker 1: If you're nearing retirement age and are concerned about how
24:24
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24:28
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24:30
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24:34
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Speaker 1: potentially eliminating your estate taxes. This free guide has all
24:41
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Speaker 1: your free guide today. You can also request a no
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24:57
Speaker 1: and Dolan have been helping families like yours for thirty years.
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Speaker 1: Let them help you too. Get their new guide, called
25:02
Speaker 1: Back to the Basics today Call eight six six eight
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Speaker 1: four eight five six nine nine, or request the guide
25:08
Speaker 1: online by visiting Legal exchange show dot com. The proceeding
25:11
Speaker 1: was paid for and the music expressed are solely those
25:13
Speaker 1: of Cushing and Dolan. Cushing and Dolan and or Armstrong
25:15
Speaker 1: Advisory may contact you offering legal or investment services. Cushing
25:19
Speaker 1: and Dolan and Armstrong Advisory do not endorse each other
25:21
Speaker 1: and are not affiliated.
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27:25
Speaker 1: Exchange and it's time for ask Todd the segment where
27:29
Speaker 1: Todd will answer your questions about anything and everything that's
27:32
Speaker 1: included in the estate planning process. Once again, here's Todd,
27:36
Speaker 1: Lutsky and Susan Powers.
27:39
Speaker 2: Welcome back, Todd. We have a few questions from listeners
27:41
Speaker 2: for you. First question comes from Monica and Norton Mass
27:45
Speaker 2: And Monica writes, my husband recently passed away and his
27:48
Speaker 2: estate was worth just under two million. In total, we
27:52
Speaker 2: owned around three and a half million. He had an
27:55
Speaker 2: IRA worth eight hundred thousand, naming me as a beneficiary,
27:58
Speaker 2: a revocable trust worth six hundred thousand, and half of
28:02
Speaker 2: our home worth six hundred thousand that was also in
28:05
Speaker 2: his revocable trusts? What steps do I need to take
28:08
Speaker 2: at this point to settle his estate?
28:11
Speaker 3: So sounds like we're married and this is the first death,
28:16
Speaker 3: and that's important. Whenever you are dealing within a state
28:18
Speaker 3: administration always need to know are we dealing with the
28:21
Speaker 3: surviving spouse or is this the first to die? So
28:26
Speaker 3: in this case, it's it's a first to die. So
28:30
Speaker 3: I'm guessing that this revocable trust that they speak of,
28:34
Speaker 3: do we think we can make the assumption that maybe
28:36
Speaker 3: it was a joint trust. I mean it just had
28:39
Speaker 3: one or do you think it's.
28:41
Speaker 5: I don't know.
28:41
Speaker 2: It kind of sounds like it's.
28:43
Speaker 3: His, Okay, So if it's his to me, he had.
28:46
Speaker 2: A revocable trust that was also in his trust. Yeah,
28:48
Speaker 2: so maybe it's an older one where they had two two.
28:50
Speaker 3: Yeah. Trust again, folks, I think just for our own education, right,
28:55
Speaker 3: in today's world, with someone with a two million dollars
28:58
Speaker 3: doing revocable trust planning, we would have absolutely done one trust.
29:03
Speaker 3: There would have been no reason to do too.
29:05
Speaker 2: And how long has that been going on? Like that's
29:08
Speaker 2: a relatively reasoning, isn't it Not?
29:10
Speaker 3: Really, I've been doing joint trusts for years, probably to
29:15
Speaker 3: early two thousands, So yeah, before twenty ten, for sure
29:19
Speaker 3: we were, you know, doing these joint trusts. Now, at
29:23
Speaker 3: the end of the day, it doesn't matter. You can
29:25
Speaker 3: still benefit with two trusts. So in this case, we
29:29
Speaker 3: would be looking at his trust, right, and what steps
29:32
Speaker 3: do we want to take now? So that's really the question, right,
29:36
Speaker 3: what steps do we take now? And how does this
29:38
Speaker 3: trust play out? Whatever's in his trust becomes irrevocable at
29:43
Speaker 3: the moment of.
29:44
Speaker 2: His death because he's not alive to revoke it, right, Okay.
29:48
Speaker 3: Likely the surviving spouse, Monica would be trustee perfectly good
29:54
Speaker 3: normal good news is whatever's in his trust. And let's
29:57
Speaker 3: just say it says two million in total. But do
29:59
Speaker 3: we think maybe a million is in his trust half
30:02
Speaker 3: the house?
30:02
Speaker 2: No, they were the three and a half million was
30:04
Speaker 2: the total. He has an IRA of eight hundred, he's
30:06
Speaker 2: got two million. Okay, let's say the two million side
30:09
Speaker 2: of a ledger, if you will. Let's say that the
30:12
Speaker 2: trust has the house two million. Let's say the trust
30:15
Speaker 2: has one point two Yeah, good enough, Yeah, and then
30:18
Speaker 2: he has an IRAV. They're bringing us to the So.
30:20
Speaker 3: The IRA probably would have passed to the spouse. Likely
30:22
Speaker 3: the designated beneficiary on the IRA would have been the wife.
30:26
Speaker 3: She just takes it, rolls it over into her own IRA,
30:29
Speaker 3: no fuss, no muss, but also not sheltered. First aiate
30:33
Speaker 3: tax right, it'll be taxed when she dies, but at
30:35
Speaker 3: least from her standpoint, it's easy. If there were any
30:38
Speaker 3: joint accounts kicking around that were not in his trust,
30:41
Speaker 3: she also can go in and take those, also avoiding probate.
30:45
Speaker 3: Easy for her move it over. You don't have to
30:47
Speaker 3: just go to the bank and do it. Good news
30:50
Speaker 3: is his trust did manage to have some real estate
30:53
Speaker 3: in it and some money in it, getting us up
30:55
Speaker 3: to about one point two. Why that's important is because
30:58
Speaker 3: what's in his trust is now going to break down
31:01
Speaker 3: into a marital share and a remainder share where we
31:04
Speaker 3: can actually shelter some of the assets for a state taxes.
31:08
Speaker 3: Likely in this case, since the federal exemption is so high,
31:11
Speaker 3: that's not an issue. All the assets are going to
31:14
Speaker 3: end up in what we call the remainder share, because
31:16
Speaker 3: the remainder share is going to get the maximum mount
31:19
Speaker 3: up to the state exemption, which we all know today
31:23
Speaker 3: is two million here in mass So we're going to
31:25
Speaker 3: be able to shelter that whole one point two million
31:27
Speaker 3: for the spouse by having it in this trust, meaning
31:31
Speaker 3: spouse's trustee Monica. She can sell the house, buy another house,
31:35
Speaker 3: she can invest the money, she can take out all
31:38
Speaker 3: the income, and she's allowed to take the principle as
31:41
Speaker 3: needed to maintain her standard of living, so she has
31:43
Speaker 3: full access. Really, she does as they did before he died. Really,
31:48
Speaker 3: she does with that little testamentary rerestriction to take it
31:50
Speaker 3: when you need it. But it's that language that causes
31:54
Speaker 3: those assets, no matter how big they grow, to not
31:57
Speaker 3: be taxable in her estate when she dies, and therein
32:01
Speaker 3: lies the sheltering for a state taxes. So likely when
32:04
Speaker 3: she dies, they're going to have she's going to have
32:06
Speaker 3: less than two million because we backed out one point
32:09
Speaker 3: two and so no tax on the first death, no
32:11
Speaker 3: tax on the second death, and it's going to ultimately
32:14
Speaker 3: provide for the family. Folks. That is really a basic
32:19
Speaker 3: estate plan, and that is exactly what we're talking about
32:22
Speaker 3: in our back to the basics. You want to learn
32:24
Speaker 3: how to begin your estate plan. It's got questions in
32:27
Speaker 3: there about valuing your estate, what to know, you know
32:30
Speaker 3: what assets make up your estate, think about how old
32:33
Speaker 3: you are, consider your family dynamics, figure out how to
32:37
Speaker 3: pick a good lawyer. There's guidance in there for that
32:41
Speaker 3: explains the probate process and most importantly takes a fact
32:45
Speaker 3: pattern much like this one and applies an estate plan,
32:49
Speaker 3: and it explains in this case, how the irrevocable trust
32:53
Speaker 3: works to take care of your probate taxes and nursing
32:59
Speaker 3: home planning. Folks. Get the guide learn how to begin
33:03
Speaker 3: your estate plan eight six six eight four eight five
33:07
Speaker 3: six nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com. I
33:10
Speaker 3: definitely enjoy this guide. It really is helpful eight six
33:14
Speaker 3: six eight four eight five six ninety nine or Legal
33:18
Speaker 3: Exchange Show dot com.
33:20
Speaker 2: Our last question comes from Howard in Northborough, mass And
33:24
Speaker 2: Howard writes, I am a beneficiary to my father's estate
33:27
Speaker 2: and my older sister is the executor and trustee. She's
33:31
Speaker 2: being very secretive about what my father owned when he died,
33:35
Speaker 2: and I'd like to know what we are dealing with here.
33:38
Speaker 2: Is she legally obligated to let the beneficiaries know what
33:42
Speaker 2: is in his trust?
33:44
Speaker 3: So there is the uniform Trust Code that governs a
33:49
Speaker 3: lot of these rules, and Massachusetts has adopted it way
33:53
Speaker 3: back and I don't remember twenty twelve is somewhere back there. Okay,
33:58
Speaker 3: what does that mean? Well, there is language generally that
34:02
Speaker 3: you know vested beneficiaries or we say, you know they're
34:06
Speaker 3: non contingent beneficiaries. They they are entitled to know what's
34:12
Speaker 3: going on. Generally you do that with an accounting, right.
34:15
Speaker 3: You can show what comes in and what goes out
34:17
Speaker 3: of the estate through through this accounting, and that's a
34:21
Speaker 3: way of understanding what it is. But now since I
34:24
Speaker 3: guess there's a he died, right, the father died. Now
34:27
Speaker 3: when someone dies, well that's a different story. Now if
34:29
Speaker 3: you're a beneficiary of the trust because the father died
34:33
Speaker 3: and it's actually laying out who gets what, Yeah, you
34:36
Speaker 3: have to tell the people that are beneficiaries what they're
34:40
Speaker 3: entitled to right now. Sometimes you know, they they might
34:43
Speaker 3: only send that piece of the trust that shows just
34:46
Speaker 3: their interest. You don't want to show everybody else. But
34:49
Speaker 3: but yeah, I would say as a general rule, she's
34:52
Speaker 3: going to be obligated to tell you.
34:54
Speaker 2: Say, all right, there's a million dollars in the trust
34:57
Speaker 2: and you're getting you know, twenty five five percent of
35:00
Speaker 2: it or something like that.
35:01
Speaker 3: From that perspective, yeah, yeah, well yeah, something like that,
35:05
Speaker 3: I would say, you need to you need to show.
35:06
Speaker 3: But also if it's if it says that what your
35:08
Speaker 3: percentage is, show them, right, I think they're they're entitled. Now.
35:13
Speaker 3: I'm always one to try and avoid litigation. Yes, you know, obviously, folks,
35:18
Speaker 3: my advice to you here is talk to each other, right,
35:22
Speaker 3: just explain that you know, I don't want more than
35:24
Speaker 3: I'm entitled to. I just want to know what I'm
35:26
Speaker 3: entitled to. Something else you can do before you start
35:30
Speaker 3: maybe attacking your sister, try to go find his last
35:35
Speaker 3: tax return, his last income tax return, right, because that's
35:40
Speaker 3: going to provide a lot of information. Now you might say, like, what, well,
35:44
Speaker 3: that's going to list every single financial institution where he
35:49
Speaker 3: had money that generated interest and dividends, right, because what
35:53
Speaker 3: a ten ninety nine would have been issued, So those
35:56
Speaker 3: are going to be listed. So at least now you know,
35:59
Speaker 3: oh there was a Bank of America account, Oh, there
36:01
Speaker 3: was a TD bank, Oh there was a you know,
36:04
Speaker 3: a Schwab account. You can now know that there's at
36:08
Speaker 3: least these accounts, and so now when you talk to
36:12
Speaker 3: your sister, you could say, look, what would I want
36:15
Speaker 3: to see the statements for these accounts on the date
36:19
Speaker 3: of death. I mean, ultimately they have to produce that,
36:21
Speaker 3: and if it might not have the dollar amount in
36:24
Speaker 3: them on the attack return, but it'll at least have that.
36:26
Speaker 3: And of course if a tax return, if a death
36:28
Speaker 3: tax return is due, you know that's due nine months
36:32
Speaker 3: after the date of death, so you'd likely be able
36:35
Speaker 3: to get a copy of that.
36:36
Speaker 2: And that'll have a whole inventory with dollar amounts, right,
36:39
Speaker 2: everything that he.
36:40
Speaker 3: Owned, everything that they owned, how they owned it, what
36:43
Speaker 3: the dollar amount is supporting documentation, So a lot of
36:46
Speaker 3: that's going to happen, so keep that in mind for
36:48
Speaker 3: nine months later. But folks, these are all things that
36:51
Speaker 3: happen after your estate plan. Call and get the guide
36:55
Speaker 3: to learn back to the basics and how to set
36:57
Speaker 3: up the estate plan so it's in order when you
37:00
Speaker 3: pass away eight six six eight four eight five six
37:05
Speaker 3: nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com.
37:08
Speaker 2: If you have a question you would like to ask Todd,
37:10
Speaker 2: visit his website, Legal Exchange Show dot com and click
37:14
Speaker 2: on the ass Tod tap. Maybe I'll be able to
37:17
Speaker 2: read your question on the air, and hopefully his answer
37:19
Speaker 2: will stop you from becoming one of his next real
37:22
Speaker 2: life stories. You've been listening to Todd Lutsky, a partner
37:26
Speaker 2: with the law firm of Cushing and Dolan. I'm Susan Powers,
37:29
Speaker 2: a financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group. We'll be
37:33
Speaker 2: back with more after this quick break on the Legal
37:36
Speaker 2: Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
37:39
Speaker 1: If you're a nearing retirement age and are concerned about
37:41
Speaker 1: how to protect your assets, you need to call Cushing
37:44
Speaker 1: and Dolan, the experts in o their law Their new
37:46
Speaker 1: guide is called Back to the Basics, and it will
37:49
Speaker 1: help you create a plan that will help you understand
37:51
Speaker 1: issues like avoiding probate, passing your assets along to your family,
37:54
Speaker 1: and potentially eliminating your estate taxes. This free guide has
37:58
Speaker 1: all the information you need to build a safe and
38:00
Speaker 1: secure estate plan that will give you peace of mind
38:02
Speaker 1: as you close in on retirement. Call eight six six
38:05
Speaker 1: eight four eight five six ninety nine right now and
38:07
Speaker 1: request your free guide today. You can also request a
38:10
Speaker 1: no obligation consultation to review any current planning you've done.
38:13
Speaker 1: Cushing and Dolan have been helping families like yours for
38:16
Speaker 1: thirty years. Let them help you too. Get their new guide,
38:19
Speaker 1: called Back to the Basics today Call eight sixty six
38:22
Speaker 1: eight four eight five six ninety nine, or request the
38:25
Speaker 1: guide online by visiting Legal Exchange show dot com. The
38:28
Speaker 1: proceeding was paid for and the music expressed are sole
38:30
Speaker 1: leados of Cushing and Dolan. Cushing and Dolan and or
38:32
Speaker 1: Armstrong Advisory may contact you offering legal or investment services.
38:35
Speaker 1: Cushing and Dolan and Armstrong Advisory do not endorse each
38:38
Speaker 1: other and are not affiliated. The calendar is turned and
38:41
Speaker 1: the cold is here to stay, So now's the perfect
38:44
Speaker 1: time to plan that getaway to the US Virgin Islands.
38:46
Speaker 1: Act now and take advantage of a special promotion to
38:49
Speaker 1: Saint Croix the experience a vibe like no other and
38:52
Speaker 1: receive a two hundred and fifty dollars per person airfare
38:55
Speaker 1: credit and a free hotel night when you book a
38:57
Speaker 1: five night minimum stay with any participation hotel before June thirtieth,
39:01
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40:26
Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for by Armstrong Advisory Group, a
40:28
Speaker 1: registered investment advisor. Nothing in the ad or in any
40:30
Speaker 1: Armstrong guide a specific financial, legal or tax advice. Consult
40:33
Speaker 1: your own financial tax into state planning advisors before making
40:36
Speaker 1: any investment decisions. Armstrong may contact you to offer investment
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Speaker 1: advisory services. Your tune to the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
40:44
Speaker 1: If you are a loved one needs a nursing homestay,
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Speaker 1: call Todd right now at eight sixty six eight four
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Speaker 1: eight five six nine nine, or visit him online at
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Speaker 1: Legal Exchange show dot com.
41:01
Speaker 2: Welcome back into the Legal Exchange with Todd Lunsky. I'm
41:04
Speaker 2: Susan Power as a financial advisor the Armstrong Advisory Group,
41:08
Speaker 2: and I'm joined, of course by Todd Lutsky, a partner
41:10
Speaker 2: with a law firm of Cushing and Dolan. So Todd
41:14
Speaker 2: your guide this month. It's all about back to the basics,
41:16
Speaker 2: and I'm going to go right to the most basic question.
41:20
Speaker 2: Great that a lot of people have asked me, what
41:24
Speaker 2: is an estate plan? You talk about this and we
41:27
Speaker 2: just make assumptions that people know, but what.
41:29
Speaker 3: Is that estate I almost feel like starting it off
41:33
Speaker 3: by saying, what is not an estate plan? Right? And
41:36
Speaker 3: this is what you probably hear. I know I hear it, Susan,
41:38
Speaker 3: And what is not an estate plan is when a
41:41
Speaker 3: client comes in and says, I've got my estate plan
41:44
Speaker 3: all done, I have a will. I hear that all
41:50
Speaker 3: the time, right, Yeah, well, certainly that's better than nothing.
41:55
Speaker 3: I wouldn't go so far as to call that an
41:59
Speaker 3: estate plan, but like we saw with some of the
42:02
Speaker 3: cases today on the show, it is better than nothing.
42:07
Speaker 3: It at least directs where your assets go and that
42:12
Speaker 3: can actually be enforced, and we saw that through some
42:14
Speaker 3: of the cases today. So yes, it does that. But
42:19
Speaker 3: what does it not do? And I think that's the
42:21
Speaker 3: bigger thing, and this is why I think it's not
42:23
Speaker 3: an estate plan. It does not avoid probate. It goes
42:27
Speaker 3: to probate. In fact, we saw the court cases that
42:30
Speaker 3: let's say that. So it does not avoid probate. It
42:34
Speaker 3: does not shelter assets. First eight taxes. If you're married,
42:39
Speaker 3: having I Love you wills that leave it to each
42:41
Speaker 3: other is not helpful in avoiding a state tax because
42:45
Speaker 3: of the unlimited marrial deduction. What else is it not?
42:48
Speaker 3: It does not protect assets from the cost of long
42:51
Speaker 3: term care. So if that is one of your objectives,
42:54
Speaker 3: then you're not going to have that benefit. So when
42:57
Speaker 3: I went through those items, probate, taxes, nursing home protection. Generally,
43:04
Speaker 3: those are three major components of an estate plan. Yep,
43:08
Speaker 3: So I think you need more than a will? What
43:11
Speaker 3: do I think it consists of? Yes, a will, it's
43:15
Speaker 3: on the list. Healthcare proxies, let's not forget those part
43:20
Speaker 3: of the estate plan. Medical decision making for each other,
43:25
Speaker 3: power of attorney part of the estate plan. It's to
43:28
Speaker 3: help make financial decisions right, appoint somebody a living will.
43:34
Speaker 3: I don't want to be on a machine. Hip a
43:38
Speaker 3: release form for medical records. Who can get them and
43:41
Speaker 3: when you don't have to be sick to get them?
43:43
Speaker 3: So very important. So those are all part of the
43:47
Speaker 3: estate plan. The next piece, which is the bigger piece,
43:52
Speaker 3: is a trust. And so then you're going to need
43:55
Speaker 3: the trust and make sure you fund that trust with
43:59
Speaker 3: assid and then you have to decide the type of trust.
44:02
Speaker 3: That trust will either be revocable if your concerns are
44:07
Speaker 3: providing the bloodline plan for the family, avoiding probate, reducing
44:12
Speaker 3: a state taxes. If you wanted to add to those
44:16
Speaker 3: protection from the nursing home those three plus nursing home protection,
44:21
Speaker 3: well then you would need to switch to an irrevocable
44:24
Speaker 3: trust and learn how those work.
44:26
Speaker 2: And just to clarify Todd when you talk about a trust,
44:30
Speaker 2: because someone who's never dealt with meeting with an attorney,
44:33
Speaker 2: they don't know what a trust is. And it's basically
44:36
Speaker 2: a what thirty forty page document?
44:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a document, right, Yeah, And it's really it's
44:41
Speaker 3: like an entity almost right, It like a corporation. You say,
44:45
Speaker 3: what's that, Well, it's an entity and it has its
44:48
Speaker 3: own functionality. So does a trust. Ye, it's a Yes,
44:52
Speaker 3: it's a bunch of paper to document, but it's really
44:55
Speaker 3: like a living, breathing entity. It does things. It has
44:58
Speaker 3: a trustee that is usually one of you, and you
45:02
Speaker 3: do what it says to do. So it's an entity. Okay.
45:05
Speaker 3: So that's a little bit about I think what an
45:08
Speaker 3: estate plan is. And this guide this month, folks gives
45:12
Speaker 3: you all of that, and it actually has a nice
45:15
Speaker 3: fact pattern. It talks about, you know, probate avoidance. It
45:18
Speaker 3: talks about things to think about when you're setting up
45:20
Speaker 3: your estate plan avoiding probate. But more importantly, it gives
45:24
Speaker 3: you an actual fact pattern of someone owns a house,
45:27
Speaker 3: a vacation home, a rental property, their four to oh
45:30
Speaker 3: one ks, their investment accounts, their bank accounts, life insurance,
45:33
Speaker 3: and you add up all those things and you have
45:36
Speaker 3: an estate and then what do you do with it?
45:39
Speaker 3: And this is gives you an exact example of an
45:42
Speaker 3: entire estate plan, walks you through all the basic documents
45:46
Speaker 3: and even explains how the irrevocable trust, which is what
45:50
Speaker 3: was right for this family, and how that irrevocable trust works.
45:54
Speaker 3: See if it's right for you. If not, put the
45:57
Speaker 3: revocable trust in place and get the same idea something
46:00
Speaker 3: for everyone. Folks. Learn how to get started eight six
46:03
Speaker 3: six eight four eight five six nine nine or Legal
46:08
Speaker 3: Exchange show dot com again eight six six eight four
46:11
Speaker 3: eight five six nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot
46:15
Speaker 3: com to get back to the basics.
46:18
Speaker 2: So your state plan, we've established it's a number of
46:22
Speaker 2: documents that create this entity. So you can't just you know,
46:27
Speaker 2: some Joshmo off the street can't create this estate plan.
46:31
Speaker 2: An attorney has to create it for you.
46:33
Speaker 3: Yeah. Oh yeah, I mean there's there's You're right, Susan,
46:36
Speaker 3: I don't mean to make it sound that simple. It's
46:38
Speaker 3: going to have, you know, there's certain things that it
46:40
Speaker 3: has to have, like a will has to have witnesses,
46:43
Speaker 3: has to have a notary, has to have the clause
46:46
Speaker 3: revoking all prior wills. I mean, it has to have
46:49
Speaker 3: certain language in it to actually make it work well.
46:53
Speaker 3: Trusts also have to be drafted in a way that
46:56
Speaker 3: they that they work to make it a valid trust,
46:58
Speaker 3: Like you can't have a dead end and trust. There
47:01
Speaker 3: there's many things to think about.
47:03
Speaker 2: So I would think a very important part of the
47:07
Speaker 2: estate planning process is choosing your attorney. Oh yeah, so
47:13
Speaker 2: what should you be looking for in picking an attorney?
47:18
Speaker 3: Make sure he's really funny? No, no, just you gotta
47:22
Speaker 3: have a little fun with death and taxes, right, No,
47:25
Speaker 3: you're you're absolutely right, Susan. It's it's so important to
47:29
Speaker 3: pick the lawyer. And again, I think by getting the guide,
47:32
Speaker 3: it gives you some idea of what to be asking,
47:35
Speaker 3: what to look for, and and and then go in
47:40
Speaker 3: and I'll give you a little list of things that
47:44
Speaker 3: I would look for if I was picking in a
47:47
Speaker 3: state planning attorney, or really any attorney. You can use
47:49
Speaker 3: these for any attorney. But when you go in, you know, explain,
47:53
Speaker 3: I'm here to do an estate plan, right. You don't
47:55
Speaker 3: know how it works, what it works. They're going to
47:58
Speaker 3: ask you some questions. So first thing is, you know,
48:02
Speaker 3: look at the card and see if the business card, Yeah,
48:06
Speaker 3: the business card, and see if they have an LM
48:09
Speaker 3: on there. Usually it says, you know, like your name
48:11
Speaker 3: Todd Lutsky, and then it has ESQ. They all have that,
48:14
Speaker 3: and then LM after the ESQ. LM's going to tell
48:20
Speaker 3: you that the person likely has a master's in taxation,
48:25
Speaker 3: and you kind of want that when you're doing this,
48:27
Speaker 3: And I think that's one of the things that distinguished
48:30
Speaker 3: Cushing and Dolan quite frankly from a lot of other
48:32
Speaker 3: firms that do estate planning. Yeah, you can draft a
48:35
Speaker 3: trust or will as an attorney because you're licensed, but
48:39
Speaker 3: knowing the taxes, the income taxes, the estate taxes basis
48:45
Speaker 3: step up. I mean, understanding how the tax side of
48:48
Speaker 3: it works really is going to make the difference.
48:51
Speaker 1: You know.
48:52
Speaker 2: That brings to mind a scenario from one of my
48:54
Speaker 2: clients from years ago. She worked with a different attorney
48:59
Speaker 2: and they actually had her sign a statement saying that
49:05
Speaker 2: I understand that my attorney does not have that master's
49:09
Speaker 2: in taxation and they are not giving me tax advice here.
49:13
Speaker 3: Really yes.
49:14
Speaker 2: It was the first and only time I've ever seen that. Wow,
49:17
Speaker 2: So something must have happened with I would assume with
49:20
Speaker 2: that attorney that they didn't realize the implications of that.
49:23
Speaker 3: I mean, how could you possibly draft a trust and
49:25
Speaker 3: not understand that during the life of the individual there's
49:28
Speaker 3: going to be income, interest and dividends. Well, who's paying
49:31
Speaker 3: the tax on that? And how does that work? You've
49:32
Speaker 3: got to draft it accordingly. You know, if I sell
49:35
Speaker 3: a house as there, if I die, do I get
49:36
Speaker 3: a step up in basis? I don't know how you
49:39
Speaker 3: could draft it without knowing it, right, So please very important?
49:42
Speaker 3: Number one? Number two? You know, is it a flat fee?
49:47
Speaker 4: You know?
49:47
Speaker 3: I think I think in general, you don't want to
49:49
Speaker 3: walk in somewhere and say, well, it'll just be hourly.
49:51
Speaker 3: You have no idea what that's going.
49:53
Speaker 2: To be, how many hours that would take.
49:54
Speaker 3: Right this way, you get the explanation of what you're
49:57
Speaker 3: going to get, and at the end of the meeting
50:00
Speaker 3: you know exactly what you're getting, or you should know
50:03
Speaker 3: exactly what you're getting. And here's the number, right, that's
50:07
Speaker 3: I'm wrong with that. So I think flat fee LM
50:09
Speaker 3: is important. And of course you know the explanation I
50:14
Speaker 3: think is critical. Make sure when you're done and they
50:17
Speaker 3: I go to a whiteboard, I explain everything, I educate everything.
50:20
Speaker 3: Make sure when you're done you don't leave more confused
50:23
Speaker 3: than you were when you came in. Right. If you are,
50:26
Speaker 3: I'd get another lawyer, Okay, a couple of things, and
50:29
Speaker 3: finally make sure they do it one hundred percent of
50:31
Speaker 3: the time, not just a little bit. Folks, so much
50:34
Speaker 3: to think about. Get the guide Back to the Basics
50:37
Speaker 3: eight six six eight four eight five six ninety nine
50:41
Speaker 3: or Legal Exchange show dot com.
50:44
Speaker 2: Todd Lutsky from the law firm of Cushing and Dolan,
50:46
Speaker 2: thank you so much.
50:47
Speaker 3: Thank you, Susan, always a pleasure.
50:49
Speaker 2: I'm Susan Powers, a financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group.
50:53
Speaker 2: We thank you for joining us today and we'll be
50:55
Speaker 2: back again next week on the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
51:00
Speaker 1: If you're nearing retirement age and are concerned about how
51:02
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Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for by Armstrong Advisory Group, a
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52:51
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