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When is it too late to create an estate plan? · The Legal Exchange

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  Speaker 1: This is the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky from the
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  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
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  Speaker 1: discuss many topics including estate planning, how to avoid probate,
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  Speaker 1: and protecting your money from a nursing home. If you
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  Speaker 1: need assistance in any of these areas, or have a
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  Speaker 1: question about another issue that may affect your future, call
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  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
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  Speaker 1: Here are your hosts, Todd Lutsky and Susan Powers.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome into the Legal Exchange with Todd Lotsky. I'm Susan Powers,
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  Speaker 2: opinancial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group, and I'm joined
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  Speaker 2: by Todd Lotski, a partner with the law firm of
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Cushing and Dolan with a master's in taxation. Welcome Todd.
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  Speaker 2: How are you today?
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  Speaker 3: I'm never better in you?
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  Speaker 2: I am great? Thank you What he have for us
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  Speaker 2: this week?
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  Speaker 3: A couple of things. One we don't talk about a lot.
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  Speaker 3: We're going to go all the way to Hawaii just
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  Speaker 3: to talk about bankruptcy. Yeah, you don't hear a lot
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  Speaker 3: about bankruptcy and how bankruptcy comes into a state planning
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  Speaker 3: when you're dealing with a trust and a kid who's
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  Speaker 3: living in the house and then taking care of mom
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  Speaker 3: and then paying rent and then not paying rent, and
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  Speaker 3: how does that all work? And by the way, with
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  Speaker 3: all this going on, there's even a reverse mortgage involved.
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  Speaker 3: So there's going to be lots of stuff to talk
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  Speaker 3: about there, and then we're gonna head over to Kansas
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  Speaker 3: where we have you know, what do you have when
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  Speaker 3: do you actually have capacity to sign a will? And
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  Speaker 3: it's so important because so many people think just because
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  Speaker 3: you have early dementia that you've lost capacity to sign
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  Speaker 3: a will and they give up. Not always the case.
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  Speaker 3: So we need to find out the difference between testamentary
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  Speaker 3: capacity and contractual capacity, because I think there's a difference.
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  Speaker 3: I know there's a difference, and of course not so
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  Speaker 3: much about that, but maybe how to avoid even having
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  Speaker 3: capacity ever become an issue to begin with? Thinking a
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  Speaker 3: lot about procrastination. When I say that, folks, I don't
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  Speaker 3: want you to procrastinate any longer. So get this guide
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  Speaker 3: top seven estate planning trusts really one of my favorite.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: It deals with the seven most commonly used trusts in
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  Speaker 3: estate planning, from revocable to irrevocable, to special needs trust
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: to pool trusts, but more importantly nominee realty trust that
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: no one understands and how they operate, gift tax, income tax,
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: and dos and don'ts. It'll help you get started, and
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: if you have trust planning already, it might help you
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  Speaker 3: figure out whether you've done the right one or maybe
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  Speaker 3: need to modify your plan eight six six eight four
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  Speaker 3: eight five, six nine nine or Legal Exchange show dot
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  Speaker 3: Com again eight six six, eight four nine five I'm
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  Speaker 3: sorry for eight four eight five six nine nine.
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  Speaker 2: Even twenty years. I can see how you forget?
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  Speaker 3: Or Legal Exchange Show dot Com. Now that's funny, huh Okay,
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  Speaker 3: So let's head over to the bankruptcy court in Hawaii.
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  Speaker 3: So the issue here is is Helen transfers title to
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  Speaker 3: her home in a revocable trust in twenty thirteen. Sounds
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  Speaker 3: good to me. Then she takes out a reverse mortgage
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  Speaker 3: that's due at her death. Well, they all are, okay,
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  Speaker 3: so she needed some extra money. Son. Then is a
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  Speaker 3: pat moves in and is living with Mom. In fact,
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  Speaker 3: not moves in. Has been living with Mom his whole life,
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  Speaker 3: and in twenty eighteen he decided to start paying rent
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  Speaker 3: about twelve hundred dollars a month to the trust. In
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  Speaker 3: twenty eighteen, Helen also amended her trust to give the
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  Speaker 3: house to Pat, which kind of makes sense. He's been
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  Speaker 3: living there. He's probably caring, for sure, I kind of
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  Speaker 3: get it. In May of twenty twenty one, Helen dies.
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  Speaker 3: A few months later, in July of twenty twenty one,
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  Speaker 3: Patrick stopped paying rent and utilities. Reggie, the successor trustee,
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  Speaker 3: claimed that Pat stopped paying rent, therefore, in February of
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  Speaker 3: twenty twenty two, gives him a notice of delinquency and
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  Speaker 3: increases the rent of fifteen hundred dollars. Remember she died
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  Speaker 3: in July of twenty twenty one. February of twenty twenty two,
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  Speaker 3: this happens. Pat said, I only paid rent to the
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  Speaker 3: trust to help cover mom's cost of a senior living
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  Speaker 3: later in life. Oh well, the bank doesn't care. The
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  Speaker 3: reverse mortgage is due and no one's paying the reverse mortgage,
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  Speaker 3: so they foreclose on the house.
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  Speaker 2: Well.
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  Speaker 3: Reggie then petitions the court. Remember he's the trustee. He
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  Speaker 3: petitions the court to distribute the house to Patrick because
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  Speaker 3: guess what, the trust has no money to pay the mortgage.
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  Speaker 3: Oh well, the court says, sure, give the house to Patrick.
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  Speaker 3: Patrick then files bankruptcy because he doesn't have any money.
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  Speaker 3: Can't make this stuff up?
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  Speaker 2: Really wow.
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  Speaker 3: Reggie then files a claim for unpaid rent for sixty
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  Speaker 3: nine thousand dollars in the bankruptcy court against Patrick mortgage. Yeah, no, no, no,
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  Speaker 3: for the rent that he hasn't paid. Oh, there's already
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  Speaker 3: the bankruptcy is to cover the mortgage. And then in
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  Speaker 3: the bankruptcy court, Reggie the trustee files a separate claim
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  Speaker 3: in the bankruptcy court for sixty nine thousand as a
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  Speaker 3: creditor huh, saying, hey, you owe me sixty nine thousand
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  Speaker 3: dollars of rent. Well. Patrick says there was never a
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  Speaker 3: landlord tenant relationship here. Reggie says, yeah, there was an
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  Speaker 3: oral agreement from month to month rent. Well, in reality,
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  Speaker 3: the court said, ultimately, no, we agree with Patrick that
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  Speaker 3: Reggie could not prove that there was any reason Patrick
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  Speaker 3: agreed to pay rent, nor did Reggie ever try to
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  Speaker 3: weave victim. Therefore, that claim goes away in the bankruptcy court.
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  Speaker 3: That's not the big picture here, But that's what this
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  Speaker 3: was all about, the rent and the sixty nine thousand dollars.
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  Speaker 3: At least they got that right. I agree that there's
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  Speaker 3: no rent doing here.
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  Speaker 2: Right, because why would you pay rent to yourself if
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  Speaker 2: you own the home now when she dies?
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  Speaker 3: That's exactly where I was going with is. I'm like,
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  Speaker 3: didn't the trust say that the house goes to Patrick?
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  Speaker 3: If it says that, then you own.
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  Speaker 2: It now I think that he would still be responsible
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  Speaker 2: for that reverse mortgage. Oh, because you have to settle.
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  Speaker 3: That you didn't go away, and you can't.
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  Speaker 2: Resolve that in a bankruptcy. That doesn't that's not part of.
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  Speaker 3: It, right, Well, you can't go to bankruptcy. They'll just
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  Speaker 3: take the house. But you're probably not going to walk
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  Speaker 3: away from that, right, And that isn't what this case
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  Speaker 3: was about. It was more about what happens to that rent.
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  Speaker 3: So let's try to figure out what do we learn
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  Speaker 3: from this. I mean, this is a bankruptcy case, but
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  Speaker 3: we're not here to discuss bankruptcy. Let's analyze what Helen
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  Speaker 3: was trying to do. So, number one, she had a trust,
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  Speaker 3: great idea great way to plan for the transfer of
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  Speaker 3: real estate. I'm on board with it. Now whether it's
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  Speaker 3: revocable or irrevoke and now that's a question. That's where
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  Speaker 3: the lawyer can offer some guidance to Helen when she's
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  Speaker 3: doing a state planning and say, well, Helen, I'm wondering
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  Speaker 3: if you wanted to have the house go to Patrick
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  Speaker 3: in an irrevocable trust, then would be better because if
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  Speaker 3: it's go, if you want it to get to Patrick,
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  Speaker 3: since he's been living there his whole life, and you
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  Speaker 3: want to protect this house for him so he has
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  Speaker 3: a place to live, well, then an irrevocable trust would
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  Speaker 3: have been better than the revocable trust you prepared or
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  Speaker 3: your lawyer prepared. Well, okay, Todd, if we did an
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  Speaker 3: irrevocable trust, does that cause a problem with the reverse mortgage. No,
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  Speaker 3: it doesn't, because the reverse mortgage would have existed before
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  Speaker 3: we would put it in the irrevocable.
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  Speaker 2: Trust, just like a traditional mortgage could have.
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  Speaker 3: It's right and all you need to do is reserve
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  Speaker 3: a life estate in your deed and therefore that doesn't
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  Speaker 3: trigger the reverse mortgage, so the reverse mortgage would stay
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  Speaker 3: in place. It still would need to be paid off
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  Speaker 3: at death. That doesn't change sure, but it wouldn't prevent
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  Speaker 3: you from putting the remainder interest of the property into
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  Speaker 3: the irrevocable trust to protect the whole thing from the
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  Speaker 3: nursing home. And that's important. I get it, the equity shrinking,
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  Speaker 3: but at least you would have protected the house, giving
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  Speaker 3: the sun some options. Okay, so so far, so good.
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  Speaker 3: The next thing I would learn is, you know, how
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  Speaker 3: do I want to leave this property? Right? So the
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  Speaker 3: trust seems to say that it was to go to him.
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  Speaker 3: Well again, therefore, if it's a payout of the trust
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  Speaker 3: to you, then there's no reason for you to be
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  Speaker 3: paying rent. You're responsible for every expense and tax and
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  Speaker 3: utility anyway. Now, if you were going to keep it
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  Speaker 3: in trust, which I think is sometimes a good idea
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  Speaker 3: for people, you want to hold it in trust, that's okay,
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  Speaker 3: trust can do that, But then you want to make
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  Speaker 3: sure there's money set aside inside the trust to help
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  Speaker 3: pay those bills, right, right, Or if you're not going
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  Speaker 3: to have money set aside, then you need to tell
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  Speaker 3: the person who's got the right to live there that
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  Speaker 3: you're holding the trust, they're holding the property in trust
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  Speaker 3: for to pay those bills and put teeth in there
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  Speaker 3: that says, if you miss a payment for ninety consecutive days,
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  Speaker 3: or you move out for six consecutive months, or you die,
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  Speaker 3: or you you know things aren't getting maintained, you put
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  Speaker 3: teeth in there to say, then you lose your right
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  Speaker 3: to live there. And that's important. So the house is
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  Speaker 3: not run down, and so now we've got the ability
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  Speaker 3: to live there. And then even by doing that, you
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  Speaker 3: can say, I'm not giving it to this child. I
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  Speaker 3: just want this child to have a place to stay,
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  Speaker 3: but they've kind of got to earn it.
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  Speaker 2: Right, and they have to keep it maintaining right.
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  Speaker 3: And then that way, when they don't and they either
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  Speaker 3: choose to move out on their own or whatever the
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  Speaker 3: trigger event, then the property can be sold or offered
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  Speaker 3: to the other kids, and all the kids can still
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  Speaker 3: benefit from this property ultimately, and it certainly helps their siblings.
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  Speaker 3: So trusts are a great way to deal with real
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  Speaker 3: estate and leaving it to your family. Call and get
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: the guide and learn about all seven trusts and see
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: if real estate can go into any of these trusts.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: See what they can be funded with, from revocable to
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  Speaker 3: irrevocable eight six six eight four eight five six ninety
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  Speaker 3: nine or Legal Exchange show dot com.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: You've been listening to Todd Lutsky, a partner with the
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: law firm of Cushing and Dolan with a master's in taxation.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: I'm Susan Powers, a financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: We've got much more to come when we return to
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: A trust isn't just a document. It's a powerful tool
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: that can help protect your assets from the nursing home
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: and even reduce or eliminate a state taxes. Cushing and
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  Speaker 1: Dolan are leaders in elder law, estate planning, and asset protection.
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  Speaker 1: Learning the differences now can help you make smarter decisions
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  Speaker 1: for your future and your loved ones. Trusts are a
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: critical part of any well designed estate plan. But they
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: can be complex. Don't guess your way through it. Get
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  Speaker 1: sixty six eight four eight five six ninet nine to
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  Speaker 1: request your free copy, or visit legal exchange show dot com.
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  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for in the views exprest or
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  Speaker 4: This is Mike Armstrong from the Armstrong Advisory Group. When
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: it comes to legacy planning, having a will is important,
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  Speaker 4: but it may not be enough. A will only covers
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: probate assets, and the probate process can be slow, public,
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  Speaker 4: you avoid probate, keep your wishes private, and control how
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  Speaker 4: well designed can make a meaningful difference. Our new free
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  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for by Armstrong Advisory Group, a
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  Speaker 1: registered investment advisor. Nothing in the ad or in any
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  Speaker 1: your own financial, tax into state planning advisors before making
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  Speaker 1: Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky, an expert in elder life
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  Speaker 1: planning and taxation. Need help with your estate plan? Call
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  Speaker 1: Todd right now and make an appointment eight sixty six
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  Speaker 1: eight four eight five six ninety nine. That's eight six
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  Speaker 1: six eight four eight five six ninety nine.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: Welcome back into the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky. I'm
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Susan Powers, a financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory and
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: I'm joined by Todd Lutsky, a partner with the law
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: firm of Cushing and Dolan with a Masters in taxation.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Are we headed down, Todd?
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  Speaker 3: Kansas?
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm gonna stick with you.
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: Liked why why is better?
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: Well, Kansas isn't bad. It's liked to where the Wizard
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: of oz takes place. So remember that show.
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  Speaker 2: Huh.
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  Speaker 3: So let's take a look. When do you have capacity
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  Speaker 3: to sign a will? Well, in February of twenty eighteen,
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  Speaker 3: Matilda did. She executed a will leaving everything equally to
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  Speaker 3: her five kids. February of twenty eighteen, got it. June
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  Speaker 3: of twenty eighteen, a new will dismantling I'm sorry, a
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  Speaker 3: new will came out that she decided at this case
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  Speaker 3: to disinherit godter Donna.
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  Speaker 2: So four months later, yeah, both.
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  Speaker 3: Wills were drafted by grandson Carlos M. Carl Not really sure.
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  Speaker 3: I love family members draft dinga state planning documents.
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  Speaker 2: No conflict of interest. There are a.
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  Speaker 3: Little little concerned about that. So Carlos then up after
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  Speaker 3: Matilda died, petitioned to probate, of course, the June will
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: disinheriting Donna. Well. Donna of course didn't like that. So
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  Speaker 3: Donna petitioned and said the February will, claiming that Matilda
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: lacked capacity when she did the June will. Shocker evidence
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: came out. Lots of evidence came out during the court
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: that showed that in June, the June will appeared to
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: be properly executed. Plus There was a police report that
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: was entered into evidence that showed that there was a
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: fight between Donna and Matilda about how Donna had been
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: living there rent free. Also, there was a health provider
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  Speaker 3: report stating that while Matilda's memory was not great, she
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: could still make decisions and knew exactly what repair she
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: wanted to make to the house, what she didn't want
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  Speaker 3: to make, and she also knew how to spend her money.
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  Speaker 5: M m.
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  Speaker 3: There was also witnesses that testified that there was no
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  Speaker 3: misunderstanding at the signing of the will. These are the
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  Speaker 3: witnesses on the will that she was in fact signing
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  Speaker 3: her will in June ye knowing what she was doing. Well,
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  Speaker 3: she appealed.
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  Speaker 2: Of course she did, because she's Donna.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, So Donna appealed, and the appellate court affirmed, stating
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  Speaker 3: that Matilda knew the extent of her property and the
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  Speaker 3: natural objects of her bounty, and therefore she knew and
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  Speaker 3: she knew she was omitting Donna as a trust as
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  Speaker 3: a beneficiary. Seems pretty clear, sure, And I think the
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  Speaker 3: answer is that this was the right the right results.
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  Speaker 3: It sounds like it, but I think we have a
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  Speaker 3: lot to learn about what was done here, and and
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  Speaker 3: you know, remember all that was done here was a will.
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  Speaker 3: Doesn't mean if you're not going to do anything, at
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: least do a will.
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  Speaker 2: At the very least.
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  Speaker 3: But I don't want people to take away from this
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  Speaker 3: show that a will, in my eyes is an estate plan.
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  Speaker 2: It's not right, and a lot of people are probably
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: wondering when it's too late to create an estate plan.
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  Speaker 4: Now.
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  Speaker 3: I want to come back to all those points and
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: talk to you about them, because, as I just said,
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  Speaker 3: a will is really not enough in my eyes to
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: do an estate plan. Get the guide on the top
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: seven estate planning trusts so you can add to your
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: estate plan not just the will, but the trust and
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: figure out which trust is right for you, how they work,
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: the estate tax, the income tax, the gift tax, issues
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: that go with them, all from revocable to multiple kinds
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: of irrevocable trusts, even special needs trust. If you have
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: a special needs child, how do you take care of them?
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: Call and get the guide. It'll help you figure out
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: what's right for you, or to change your estate plan
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: if you've done it while ago, when you want to
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: review eight six six eight four eight five six nine
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: nine or legal exchange show dot com again eight six
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: six eight four eight five six nine nine or legal
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: exchange show dot com and you can download it there.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: If you have a lot of people who start to decline, yeah,
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: and they may have lucid moments and some not so
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: lucid moments. So how do you figure that out when
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: you're meeting with folks?
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: Todd very good questions, and these are what we have
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: to ask about. So some of the lessons I want
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: to take away from this, and you're leading me right
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: down that path, Susan, is is, you know, don't wait
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: first and foremost. And the step I would take is,
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: let's let's take the capacity issue off the table. Right
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: As long as I'm not doing this later in life,
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: I'll never have this capacity issue as it as a
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: to deal with because I did my planning early, first
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: and foremost. But as you said, Susan, people start getting
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: dementia and they're showing signs of dementia, and you're saying, well,
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: you know, does that mean I'm stuck. I didn't do
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: a will, I didn't do an estate plan of any kind.
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: I just have to say, well, too late, too bad,
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: and it's just going to be a problem, not all
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: the time. Right, Remember, you could have early dementia just
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: beginning stages or right, you don't have a dementia diagnosis.
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: You don't have a diagnosis on record that says you've
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: lost the ability to sign documents. Right, you can still
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: do planning. It's just important to know the difference between
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: testamentary capacity and contractual capacity. So like here, right, you
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: simply do things like ask questions like you need to
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: know the nature of the bounty. That's what the court
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: decision said.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: So what kind of questions do you ask your clients
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: when you meet with them?
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: So I would say something like, you know, how many
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: kids do you have? You know, if they have three
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: kids and they say five, well that's a problem, right, right.
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: Or you say, okay, do you know how many daughters
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: you have and they have none and they say three,
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: Well that's a problem.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: But I'm telling you, I'm not making these up. These
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: are answers that you might get, right, And so they
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: should be able to rattle off their names. They should
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: be rattle off you know, where do your children live,
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: how many grandkids do you have? Do you know their names?
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: You know things like that that if they're able to
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: rattle that stuff off. Ye, then then yeah, you know
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: my kids lives here. This is his name, He's got
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: three other kids. Here are their names. Well, that shows
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: me that they really know the nature of their bounty,
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: even if they don't have contractual capacity, which might require
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: a higher standard.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: So like entering a financial contract something like that, that's
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: a different level.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: Different level, So you can't say, well you didn't have that,
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: that's okay. You just need testamentary capacity. So you try
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: to ask these questions and then you know, if that's
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: the case, go ahead and do your plan right. You
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: want to make sure you get it done. Now, planning
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: in general, let's look at how important it was right
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: even though I say a will is a won't, at
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: least here it holds up and it ensures your property
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: goes where you want it to go or more importantly,
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: where you don't want it.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: It doesn't get to where you don't want it to
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: go to go.
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: So as much as I say a will's a won't,
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: remember it's better than nothing, yes, for sure, And it
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: did help her here. But you know, to me, advanced
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: planning is more important. Again, I know that's what the
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: guide's all about. This month all the different kinds of trust.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: So when I say advance planning, even though it's really
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: basic estate planning, these trusts are advanced compared to doing
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: a will. And why are they better than a will? Well,
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: because a will is a won't why it won't avoid probate,
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: It doesn't shelter assets first aid taxes, it doesn't protect
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: assets from a nursing home. I mean, at best, it
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: just makes sure your assets go where you want them
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: to go. Now, remember a trust can do all of
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: these things and still ensure your assets go where you
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: want them to go. And remember, in this case, I
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: think we said we're trying to protect it for the
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: other children. So maybe again they wanted maybe an irrevocable
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: trust was a better approach.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: Now, and if she has dementia, they probably want to
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: protect that from the nursing home.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, exactly. So again, if you're getting if you're
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: one of these people that are having dementia, you want
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: to certainly get that five year o'clock running. Now, if
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: just let's play out the string from Donna's standpoint for
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: a moment, why would she care to challenge this right?
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: If she could win here, it means that the June
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: will would have been no good. And if the June
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: will was no good, you go back to the twenty
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: eighteen will. So remember that's how it works when someone dies.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: If you challenge a will and it proves that will
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: is no good, then the other will is not revoked
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: by the June will. Remember you can revoke a will
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: by doing.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: A new will like it never existed.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: Remember it says right in the document I hereby revoke
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: all prior wills. So bottom line is that if you
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: didn't have a will, it goes back to that will,
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: or if there's no will, it goes to the intestate
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: succession statue. So get the guide learn how to do
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: more than just a will. The top seven estate planning
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: trusts are listed here and they will help you figure
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: out which one is right for you eight six y
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: six eight four, eight, five, six, nine nine, or go
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: to our website Legal exchange show dot com.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: You've been listening to Todd Lutski, a partner with the
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: law firm of Cushing and Dolan. I'm Susan Power as
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: a financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group. Tod will
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: be answering your listener questions when we return to the
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: A trust isn't just a document. It's a powerful tool
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: that can help protect your assets from the nursing home
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: and even reduce or eliminate the state taxes. Cushing and
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Dolan are leaders in elder law, estate planning and asset protection.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: This month, they're offering a free guide called Demistifying the
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: Top seven estate Planning Trusts. This guide breaks down the
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: most common types of trusts, explains the pros and cons
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: of each, and helps you understand which might be right
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: for you and your family. Trust come with different rules, benefits,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: and tax treatment, and choosing the wrong one could cost you.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: Learning the differences now can help you make smarter decisions
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: for your future and your loved ones. Trusts are a
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: critical part of any well designed estate plan, but they
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: can be complex. Don't guess your way through it. Get
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: the facts first. Call Cushing and Dolan now at eight
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: sixty six eight four, eight five six nine nine to
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: request your free copy, or visit Legal exchange show dot com.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for in the views exprest Or Sole,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: leaders of Cushing and Dolan. Cushing and Dolan and or
• 24:47
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• 24:50
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  Speaker 5: This is Michael Valila added of the Disabled American Veterans
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  Speaker 4: The future doesn't plan itself. Hi, this is Mike Armstrong
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• 27:11
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for by Armstrong Advisory Group, a
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: registered investment advisor. Nothing in the ad or in any
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• 27:18
  Speaker 1: your own financial, tax into state planning advisors before making
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: any investment decisions. Armstrong may contact you to offer investment
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: advisory services. You're listening to the Legal Exchange and it's
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: time for Ask Todd, the segment where Todd will answer
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: your questions about anything and everything that's included in the
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: estate planning process. Once again, here's Todd Lutsky and Susan Powers.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: Welcome back, Tod. I have a few questions from listeners
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: for you. First question comes from Carol and Falmouth, Mass
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: and Carol writes, my only son has been in some
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: financial trouble in the past, and he has an estranged
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: hex girlfriend that claims he is the father of her child.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: If he were to inherit money from me, could an
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: alleged child go after for his inheritance? How about once
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: he passes away, could they go after his estate he
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: stands to inherit around two million dollars.
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: All right, I got to do some unpacking here. This
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: is a lot packed into this, so let's let's go
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: through it a little slower. So Mom or Carrol has
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: one child, did the planning and has this one child anything,
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: which is the son, and there's someone claiming that the
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: son that there's a child that is the father is
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: the son?
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: So could this alleged grandchild, yes, be a beneficiary of
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: the estate of Carol when Carol dies, assuming Carol has
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: a trust and a will that defines, you know, says
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: I leave everything to my children or their issue. Let's
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: because that's usually how it's drafted. You know, that allows
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: for afterborn grandchildren to be included. Right, and so you
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: kind of see where this is going. So the answer
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: is really going to depend on what the document says
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: that she did from an estate planning. Okay, So let's
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: play out the string. In our trusts. We have language
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: that says, you know, we use that similar language, I
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: leave everything equally to my kids, if living, otherwise to
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: their kids. If deceased, leaving issue then living Okay, So
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: that would so if I had three kids, it would
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: go three ways. If a child died, it would go
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: to that child's children. So as long as this child
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: is living, it would just go to this child. Okay,
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: the grandchild would not be in the picture, assuming that's
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: what this trust says, right. The grandchild, whether it's really
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: a grandchild or not, would not be in the picture
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: yet because the child would have just gotten it. And
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: then they can do whatever whatever they want to do
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: with their with their own money. They could do their
• 30:08
  Speaker 3: own estate plan and provide for this person if they
• 30:11
  Speaker 3: want to or not, and then provide, you know, specifically disinherit.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: To leave money to your children.
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: No, that's very true. You do not. You do not.
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: So so that's the first step. The first step is
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: we got to look at the document. Secondly, if the
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: document says pay it out to the kid and the
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: kids living in this case, it will be a moot point.
• 30:35
  Speaker 3: But if this child had died, would this grandchild alleged
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: grandchild be included. I think that's the question. So there's
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: a lot of you know, if we get their issues.
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: But if in fact the child died before mom died,
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: and mom didn't change the document, which she could have, right,
• 31:00
  Speaker 3: then where would it go, Would it go to this
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: alleged grandchild? Probably not? Well not in I can't say
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: probably not. I could say in our documents, probably not.
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: Why because we define children born out of wedlock to
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: be the child of the mother only unless they marry
• 31:19
  Speaker 3: each other. So in this case, this is a child
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: clearly born out of wedlock. It's a grandchild born out
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: of wedlock. But child children issue, it's all the same.
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: So this is a grandchild born out of wedlock. So
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: that particular person would be the child of the mother
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: only not the child of this father. Who's the son
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: in this case? Boy? Is that convoluted? Y?
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: So it's a great question with a tough answer. But
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: that comes back to the idea that you do your planning.
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: Get this guide, folks, the top seven estate planning trusts
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: to help you understand what trust is right for you
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: and how to draft it. There's language in here about
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: how to leave assets to the kids as well, gives
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: you options to find something so you don't run into
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: this this, you know, afterborn alleged grandchild situation. There's revocable
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: there's many kinds of irrevocable trusts, and folks quite Frankly,
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: the most confusing trust of all is in here, the
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: Nominee Realty Trust, and many of you might have that one,
• 32:28
  Speaker 3: so please call Get the guide, learn how to begin
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: your estate planning and pick which trust is right for
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: you eight six six eight four eight five six nine
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com. And if you've
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: done your planning, this is a good review eight six
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: six eight four eight five six nine nine or Legal
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: Exchange Show dot com.
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: Our last question comes from Felix in Boston, mass and
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: Felix Rights. My wife has been housebound for many years.
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: All of her identification documents expired many years ago, and
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: she is physically unable to go out to have them renewed.
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: If we were interested in an irrevocable trust, doesn't a
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: notary need valid identification during the signing process for the
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: trust in other documents? How could you handle something like this? Todd?
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, although today you can. You can do a lot
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: of getting new driver's license and things right online. I
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: would think you don't have to go out so and
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: if you don't drive, a lot of people just get
• 33:32
  Speaker 3: an ID like you see, like a mass ID card.
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: It's not a driver's license, but it looks like one,
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: but it's just called a mass ID card.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: Which would take this place. It's government issued perfectly.
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: Fine. Yeah, I mean I have veterans that come in
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: show me their veteran card, that's fine. Or they're going
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: to show me their their gun carrying card that got
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: the picture on it, something to identify them, you know,
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: as as this it just says I think the statue
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: just says some photo ID. So these all have photo
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: identifications and they're reduced by a you know, a governmental agency.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: Got it. And you do a lot of meetings by
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: zoom as well, right when you meet with folks.
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but not signing meetings. So you're right. I can.
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: I can meet people, you know, by zoom if they
• 34:13
  Speaker 3: don't travel a lot, but the signing meetings we'd like
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: to be in person. So a couple of things happen.
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: You know, most of the time people they're all wheelchair
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: handicap accessible, so even if they don't walk much, they
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: can be wheeled in, so it's usually okay. And if
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: they really are immobile, have have we gone to a house? Yes?
• 34:36
  Speaker 3: But more importantly nowadays you can get you can send
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: the documents out and maybe they can have them executed
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: somewhere locally, run to a bank and get a notary,
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: or there's actually traveling notary services that exist where you
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: can call and say, you know, have the notary come
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: to the house.
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: So there's something that can be done.
• 34:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there's definitely something that can be done for her.
• 34:58
  Speaker 3: I would say, don't not do your planning here, and
• 35:02
  Speaker 3: again we talked about this earlier. Don't not do your
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: planning just because you're you're old. You could still have
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: capacity even if you had dementia. But if you didn't
• 35:11
  Speaker 3: have dementia but just were physically unable, well you certainly
• 35:15
  Speaker 3: have capacity. So I would not do my plan.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: And I know that was a quick one because I
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: wanted to throw you one that I got this week
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: from a client who said, well, what does it really
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: mean when they talk about an estate plan? I hear
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: that phrase all the time, but what is an estate plan?
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: It made me think it might be a good opportunity
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: for us to explain the parts that make up that
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: estate plan, just real quickly for a folk.
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I think that's fair. So here we're talking about
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: an individual who wants to do planning and what they
• 35:46
  Speaker 3: need to do it. But now your answer is what
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: is it that actually they should be doing. So of
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: course the basics are going to go across the board
• 35:55
  Speaker 3: regardless of anything else. This is where you begin a will,
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: a health care proxy for medical decisions, a hippaform which
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: allows the release of medical records to the people listed
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: in your health care proxy. And you don't have to
• 36:14
  Speaker 3: be sick to have that work. Someone could just go
• 36:17
  Speaker 3: pick up if I can't get there this person, im mobile,
• 36:22
  Speaker 3: go get my medical record. You can even though you're competent.
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: So remember the healthcare proxy only works when you're not competent.
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: When you can't make your own mesa.
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: So that's why you do a separate hippoform, got it,
• 36:32
  Speaker 3: and a living will. I don't want to be on
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: a machine. And of course the power of attorney for
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: financial decisions, pay bills, access accounts also effective immediately, do
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: not require you to be sick. Right, So again, just immobile,
• 36:45
  Speaker 3: please go to the bank run these errand for me.
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: So those basic documents are a given no matter what.
• 36:52
  Speaker 3: And then the trust planning is really going to require
• 36:54
  Speaker 3: more analysis size of the estate that which is part
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: of the es. And then the trusts are certainly part it,
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: so just figure out where you fit. Call and get
• 37:03
  Speaker 3: the guide Top seven estate Planning Trusts eight six, six, eight, four, eight,
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: five six, nine to nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com.
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: If you have a question you'd like to ask Todd,
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: visit his website Legal Exchange Show dot com and click
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: on the ass Tod tab. Maybe I'll be able to
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: read your question on the air, and hopefully his answer
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: will stop you from becoming one of his next real
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: life stories. You've been listening to Todd Lutsky, a partner
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: with the law firm of Cushing and Dolan. I'm Susan Powers,
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: a financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group, and we'll
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: be right back with more after this quick break on
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: A trust isn't just a document. It's a powerful tool
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: that can help protect your assets from the nursing home
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: and even reduce or eliminate a state taxes. Cushing and
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: Dolan are leaders and elder law estate planning and asset protection.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: This month, they're offering a free guide called Demistifying the
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: Top seven estate Planning Trusts. This guy breaks down the
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: most common types of trusts, explain the pros and cons
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: of each and helps you understand which might be right
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: for you and your family. Trust come with different rules, benefits,
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: and tax treatment, and choosing the wrong one could cost you.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: Learning the differences now can help you make smarter decisions
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: for your future and your loved ones. Trusts are a
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: critical part of any well designed estate plan, but they
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: can be complex. Don't guess your way through it. Get
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: the facts first. Call Cushing and Dolan now at eight
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: sixty six eight four eight five six nine nine to
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: request your free copy, or visit legal exchange show dot com.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for in the views express or
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: sole leaders of Cushing and Dolin. Cushing and Dolin in
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: or Armstrong Advisory may contact you offering legal or investment services.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: Cushing and Dolin and Armstrong Advisory do not endorse each other.
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: In or not affiliated HI.
• 38:41
  Speaker 4: This is Mike Armstrong from the Armstrong Advisory Group. When
• 38:43
  Speaker 4: it comes to legacy planning, having a will is important,
• 38:46
  Speaker 4: but it may not be enough. A will only covers
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: probate assets, and the probate process can be slow, public,
• 38:51
  Speaker 4: and expensive. That's where trusts come in. Trust can help
• 38:54
  Speaker 4: you avoid probate, keep your wishes private and control how
• 38:58
  Speaker 4: and when your assets are district. Whether you're looking to
• 39:01
  Speaker 4: support family, minimize taxes, or prepare for the unexpected, a
• 39:04
  Speaker 4: well designed plan can make a meaningful difference. Our new
• 39:07
  Speaker 4: free Guide, Leaving a lasting Legacy, covers wills, trusts, and
• 39:11
  Speaker 4: other strategies to help you build a strong retirement plan.
• 39:14
  Speaker 4: Take the first step towards clarity by calling eight hundred
• 39:17
  Speaker 4: three nine three for zero zero one right now and
• 39:20
  Speaker 4: asking for your free guide today. That number again is
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: eight hundred three nine three four zero zero one, or
• 39:25
  Speaker 4: requested online at Armstrong Advisory dot com.
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for by Armstrong Advisory Group, a
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: registered investment advisor. Nothing in the ad or in any
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: Armstrong Guide a specific financial, legal, or tax advice. Consult
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: your own financial, tax into state planning advisors before making
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: any investment decisions. Armstrong may contact you to offer investment
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: advisory services. The holidays are just around the corner, so
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: now is the time to plan your winter escape. Trade
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: in the cold for sunshine, sea breezes and island vibes
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: in the US Virgin Islands, America's Caribbean paradise. Whether it's
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: a romantic retreat, a family celebration, or a solo recharge
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: for the new year. Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, and Saint
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: John offer the ultimate warm weather getaway. Lounge on sun
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: drenched beaches, explore vibrant culture and celebrate the holiday's island style.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: No passport, no hassle, just warm weather, clear blue water
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: and unforgettable memories. This is where the stress melts away
• 40:21
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• 40:24
  Speaker 1: of the islands. Go to visit USVII dot com and
• 40:27
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• 40:32
  Speaker 1: US Virgin Islands, America's Caribbean paradise. Your holiday escape starts
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: here at visit USVII dot com. Your tune to the
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky. If you are a loved
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: one needs a nursing homestay, call Todd right now at
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: eight six six eight four eight five six ninet nine
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: and let him make sure your assets are protected. That's
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: eight six six eight four eight five six nine nine,
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: or visit him online at Legal Exchange show dot com.
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: Welcome back into the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky. I'm
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: Susan Powers, a financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group,
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: and I'm joined, of course by Todd Lutsky, a partner
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: with the law firm of Cushing and Olan with a
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: master's in taxation. Todd, life insurance can be a relatively
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: tricky asset for a lot of people when it comes
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: to how it fits into your estate plan. And I
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: know that you've included information and your guide for this
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: month about irrevocable life insurance trust both for first to
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: die and second to die, So maybe you can kind
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: of start usauce in the conversation with explaining how these
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: irrevocable life insurance trusts differ from the Medicaid irrevocable trust
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: that we talk about quite a bit.
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: Okay, so let's let's break it down. The irrevocable life
• 41:51
  Speaker 3: insurance trust is designed to be, you know, less flexible
• 41:57
  Speaker 3: than the irrevocable medicaid trust. But the reason it's less
• 42:02
  Speaker 3: flexible is the purpose behind the trusts. The assets you
• 42:07
  Speaker 3: put in the irrevocable life insurance trust are designed to
• 42:12
  Speaker 3: be completed gifts. They're not yours anymore. It's my life insurance.
• 42:18
  Speaker 3: Can't remember I'll be dead when it pays out, so
• 42:21
  Speaker 3: I don't benefit from that trust, and so I don't
• 42:26
  Speaker 3: need to be the owner of it anymore. And if
• 42:28
  Speaker 3: I'm not the owner of it and I don't benefit
• 42:31
  Speaker 3: from it, then it's not going to be included in
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: my estate for estate tax purposes. Right, So when I die,
• 42:39
  Speaker 3: if I have a million or a two million dollar policy,
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: you know that's the Massachusetts exemption one item two million.
• 42:46
  Speaker 3: I don't want that in my estate. I don't want
• 42:48
  Speaker 3: that paying out so that it's subject to a state tax.
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: I want it paying out somewhere where it's estate tax free.
• 42:57
  Speaker 3: And this irrevocable life insurance trust will do that, whereas
• 43:01
  Speaker 3: the assets in the Medicaid trust are included because you
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: still really do enjoy a lot of the benefits of
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: what's in those trusts, and an inclusion is okay in
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: that case. We want it that way, okay, all right,
• 43:18
  Speaker 3: So big difference, I know, I mean there's all different
• 43:21
  Speaker 3: different that's a big one though.
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, all different flavors of life insurance out there, so
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: term life versus whole life. So are there specific types
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: of insurance that you would put in or would not
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: put into one of these irrevocable life insurance trusts.
• 43:37
  Speaker 3: You know what really depends. It depends on the size
• 43:41
  Speaker 3: of your estate. I mean, if dying owning a million
• 43:45
  Speaker 3: dollar policy term or whole life in my estate is
• 43:50
  Speaker 3: not going to put my estate as a married couple
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: over four million dollars, well, then I don't need to
• 43:56
  Speaker 3: spend the money to make the life insurance estate tax free.
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: It's not cheap and I don't want to do that.
• 44:04
  Speaker 3: But if the value of the policy, term or whole
• 44:08
  Speaker 3: life is large enough that it causes an estate tax problem,
• 44:13
  Speaker 3: then I should consider the irrevocable life insurance trust. And lastly,
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: the difference between term and whole life is if you
• 44:22
  Speaker 3: come to me and you say, Todd, I only got
• 44:23
  Speaker 3: two years left on my term policy, probably I don't
• 44:26
  Speaker 3: need to do that because it'll expire and go away.
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: Fingers cross drive safe.
• 44:31
  Speaker 3: But if it's a whole life policy and it's causing
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: an estate tax problem large enough that I want to
• 44:37
  Speaker 3: fix it, then I should consider the irrevocable Life insurance trust. Okay,
• 44:42
  Speaker 3: so's there's never a carte blanche answer. It really is
• 44:48
  Speaker 3: up to you in that situation.
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: So let's dive in a little further on the where
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: you said, depending how large it is and if it's
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: going to cause an estate tax problem? Okay, how large
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: is large enough you would actually create one of these?
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: Is it a state a state tax do? Or is
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: it the federal estate tax do? Where do you kind
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: of draw the line?
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: Federal estate tax do? Absolutely? If I'm saving forty percent
• 45:13
  Speaker 3: on a million dollars or forty percent on two million
• 45:16
  Speaker 3: or forty percent on three million, absolutely no brain right.
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 45:20
  Speaker 3: But when it's just a state death tax, so in
• 45:23
  Speaker 3: mass it's like twelve percent on average of the amount
• 45:26
  Speaker 3: over the four million dollar exemption, Well, now you have
• 45:30
  Speaker 3: to figure how much is that and is it enough
• 45:34
  Speaker 3: to justify getting it out of the estate. Yeah, I
• 45:37
  Speaker 3: mean could be. It just depends on how much you're paying.
• 45:40
  Speaker 3: If it's a two million dollar policy and I'm going
• 45:41
  Speaker 3: to owe two hundred thousand dollars in tax on it,
• 45:44
  Speaker 3: maybe I spend a little money and put it in
• 45:46
  Speaker 3: an irrevocable trust. Hey that's a home run, right, So
• 45:50
  Speaker 3: just got to think about it, got to run the numbers.
• 45:53
  Speaker 3: Always think about that stuff, and that's why you work
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: with somebody. Get your estate planning in order. But before
• 45:59
  Speaker 3: you go to talk to your lawyer about doing estate planning.
• 46:03
  Speaker 3: Arm yourself a little bit. Get this guide the top
• 46:05
  Speaker 3: seven estate planning trusts and sort of get a good
• 46:07
  Speaker 3: understanding of revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, medicaid life insurance trusts,
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: how they're different, special needs trust pooled trusts, and please
• 46:18
  Speaker 3: nomine realty trusts. Try to understand those so you don't
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: just walk out of a lawyer's office with a nominee
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: realty trust for you as an entire estate plan this
• 46:27
  Speaker 3: guide will help get you on track and will help
• 46:29
  Speaker 3: you understand how these trusts operate, taxes, et cetera. Eight
• 46:34
  Speaker 3: six six eight four eight five six ninety nine or
• 46:38
  Speaker 3: Legal Exchange show dot com again eight six six eight
• 46:42
  Speaker 3: four eight five six ninety nine or Legal Exchange Show
• 46:47
  Speaker 3: dot com.
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: So for these irrevocable life insurance trust so I'm going
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: to ask the question, because it sounds to me like
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: these are created strictly to hold life insurance? Do you
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: ever put any other kind of assets into them? If
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: you're moving things out of your estate for tax purposes.
• 47:04
  Speaker 3: You sure can. They are not limited to that. It's
• 47:07
  Speaker 3: just that generally that's an item that goes in. But
• 47:10
  Speaker 3: you know, if if you're okay with giving away the
• 47:14
  Speaker 3: asset and not enjoying it. Remember there's other kinds of
• 47:17
  Speaker 3: irrevocable trusts even then irrevocable life insurance trust there's irrevocable
• 47:22
  Speaker 3: special spousal lifetime access trusts that you can also give
• 47:26
  Speaker 3: away an asset but continue to kind of enjoy it
• 47:29
  Speaker 3: between spouses, right, whereas this one is kind of not enjoyed.
• 47:34
  Speaker 3: You know, you kind of make more of a completed gift. Yeah,
• 47:36
  Speaker 3: the other ones are completed gifts too, but they're designed
• 47:38
  Speaker 3: to allow some enjoyment cross cross owned kind of enjoyment.
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: You can given it away for tax purposes. Bad you
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: get a little a little bit it, okay, you know.
• 47:48
  Speaker 3: And then there's you know, qualified personal residence trustors, all
• 47:50
  Speaker 3: kinds of of irrevocable trust. So but yes, if you
• 47:54
  Speaker 3: happen to set one up to hold life insurance and
• 47:58
  Speaker 3: then later on you say, you know, I got a
• 47:59
  Speaker 3: lot of other assets, I don't mind getting getting it
• 48:01
  Speaker 3: out of my estate. You could you could throw money
• 48:04
  Speaker 3: in there, invested in an investment portfolio and let it grow. Yeah,
• 48:08
  Speaker 3: you don't have to just put life insurance in Okay.
• 48:12
  Speaker 2: So, so I know with the Medicaid irrevocable trust, it
• 48:17
  Speaker 2: takes five years to get that nursing home protection right,
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: So is there a five year look back for these
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: insurance trusts as well?
• 48:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, fair question. Uh So, first and foremost, I'm going
• 48:29
  Speaker 3: to tell you that we're not doing this trust generally
• 48:34
  Speaker 3: if we're doing Medicaid planning, So there will never be
• 48:36
  Speaker 3: a time where you're doing irrevocable life insurance trust and
• 48:40
  Speaker 3: Medicaid irrevocable trust at the same time. Oh, come, generally speaking,
• 48:45
  Speaker 3: the estates aren't large enough.
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: Okay, so you're kind of self insured net worth people.
• 48:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it probably wouldn't work, not only for that, but
• 48:54
  Speaker 3: you can't keep paying premiums into an irrevocable life insurance
• 48:58
  Speaker 3: trust because every time you did that, you'd create a
• 49:02
  Speaker 3: new five year waiting period for Medicaid eligibility and you'd
• 49:04
  Speaker 3: never get eligible for Medicaid.
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: So that insurance premium has to be paid out of
• 49:10
  Speaker 2: the trust.
• 49:10
  Speaker 3: So you can do a Medicaid irrevocable trust and an
• 49:13
  Speaker 3: irrevocable life insurance trust at the same time, but you
• 49:16
  Speaker 3: would need to make sure that you have enough money
• 49:19
  Speaker 3: in the irrevocable life insurance trust to pay the ongoing premiums.
• 49:22
  Speaker 3: Got it, because you can't keep adding to it. So
• 49:25
  Speaker 3: there's it's not even the size of the estate, it's
• 49:28
  Speaker 3: just the whole planning concept doesn't work well when you're
• 49:32
  Speaker 3: doing medicaid planning and irrevocable life insurance trust planning. So
• 49:38
  Speaker 3: now the question was I lost the question? It was
• 49:41
  Speaker 3: why would when would I do it?
• 49:42
  Speaker 2: For me to remember?
• 49:45
  Speaker 3: So so you know the answer is you are very different. Yeah,
• 49:48
  Speaker 3: they're very different in terms of what you would use
• 49:50
  Speaker 3: and when you would use them.
• 49:51
  Speaker 2: But if you have a lower value estate, well.
• 49:53
  Speaker 3: It was the five year waiting period, remember the question. Yeah,
• 49:56
  Speaker 3: so in this case, again they're sort of conflict ideas.
• 50:00
  Speaker 3: But you create a five year waiting period every time
• 50:03
  Speaker 3: you pay the premium, so you wouldn't do it. But
• 50:05
  Speaker 3: is there a look back period when you put life
• 50:07
  Speaker 3: insurance in? Yes, if you transfer an existing policy to
• 50:12
  Speaker 3: an irrevocable trust, you got to live three years. Otherwise
• 50:15
  Speaker 3: the death benefit is included in your estate, got it.
• 50:19
  Speaker 3: Otherwise buy it in the trust from the get go,
• 50:22
  Speaker 3: and there's no three year waiting period. All that said, folks,
• 50:26
  Speaker 3: just get the guide. Top seven Estate planning trusts, try
• 50:29
  Speaker 3: to figure out what's right for you and when to
• 50:32
  Speaker 3: use them eight six six eight four eight five six
• 50:36
  Speaker 3: nine nine or Legal Exchange show dot com to download
• 50:39
  Speaker 3: the guide there. I just have so much to say
• 50:41
  Speaker 3: all the time.
• 50:42
  Speaker 2: I can't get guy it it's easier. Todd Lutsky from
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: the law firm of Pushing in Dolan, thank you so much.
• 50:47
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Susan, always pleasure.
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: I'm Susan Power as a financial advisor with the Armstrong
• 50:52
  Speaker 2: Advisory Group. We thank you for joining us today and
• 50:54
  Speaker 2: we'll be back again next week on the Legal Exchange
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: with Todd Lutsky.
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: This isn't just a document, it's a powerful tool that
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: can help protect your assets from the nursing home and
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: even reduce or eliminate a state taxes. Cushing and Dolan
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: are leaders in elder law, estate planning and asset protection.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: This month, they're offering a free guide called Demistifying the
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: Top seven Estate Planning Trusts. This guide breaks down the
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: most common types of trusts, explains the pros and cons
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: of each, and helps you understand which might be right
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: for you and your family. Trust come with different rules,
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: benefits and tax treatment, and choosing the wrong one could
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: cost you. Learning the differences now can help you make
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: smarter decisions for your future and your loved ones. Trusts
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: are a critical part of any well designed estate plan,
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: but they can be complex. Don't guess your way through it.
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: Get the facts first. Call Cushing and Dolan now at
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: eight sixty six eight four eight five six, ninet nine
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: to request your free copy, or visit legal exchange show
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: dot com. The proceedings paid for in the views expressed
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: or sole leaders of Cushing and Dolin. Cushing and Dolin
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: in or Armstrong Advisory may contact you offering legal investment services.
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: Cushing and Dolan and Armstrong Advisory do not endorse each other.
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: In or not affiliated.
• 52:00
  Speaker 4: NUTURE doesn't plan itself. Hi, this is Mike Armstrong from
• 52:02
  Speaker 4: the Armstrong Advisory Group. Whether you've built a business, grown
• 52:05
  Speaker 4: your investments, or simply want to protect your family, your
• 52:08
  Speaker 4: legacy deserves more than a generic estate plan. From wills
• 52:12
  Speaker 4: and trusts to beneficiary designations and beyond. True wealth transfer
• 52:16
  Speaker 4: is personal, powerful, and deeply strategic. That's why we created
• 52:20
  Speaker 4: Leaving a Lasting Legacy, a comprehensive guide to legacy planning
• 52:23
  Speaker 4: that puts your vision, values, and family first, learn how
• 52:26
  Speaker 4: to protect your assets, avoid probate, minimize taxes, and build
• 52:30
  Speaker 4: a legacy that lasts for generations. Get your free copy
• 52:33
  Speaker 4: of Leaving a Lasting Legacy today by calling eight hundred
• 52:37
  Speaker 4: three nine three four zero zero one. That number again
• 52:40
  Speaker 4: is eight hundred three nine three four zero zero one,
• 52:43
  Speaker 4: or you can request the guide online by visiting Armstrong
• 52:45
  Speaker 4: Advisory dot com.
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for by Armstrong Advisory Group, a
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: registered investment advisor. Nothing in the ad or in any
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: Armstrong Guide a specific financial, legal or tax advice. Consult
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: your own financial tax into state planning advisors before making
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: any investment decisions. Armstrong make contact you to offer investment
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: advisory services. The holidays are just around the corner, so
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: now is the time to plan your winter escape. Trade
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: in the cold for sunshine, sea breezes and island vibes
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: in the US Virgin Islands, America's Caribbean paradise. Whether it's
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: a romantic retreat, a family celebration, or a solo recharge
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: before the New year, Saint Croix, Saint Thomas and Saint
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: John offer the ultimate warm weather getaway. Lounge on sun
• 53:25
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