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The pitfalls of life estates · 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
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  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: to make an appointment. That's eight sixty six eight four
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  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.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Welcome into the Legal Exchange with Todd Lotsky. I'm Susan
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  Speaker 2: Powers of Financial Advice with the Armstrong Advisory Group and
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: I'm joined by Todd Lotsky, a partner with the law
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: firm of Cushing and Dolan with a Masters in taxation.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Welcome Todd. How are you today?
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  Speaker 3: I am never better in you?
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  Speaker 2: I am great? Thank you. What do you have for
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  Speaker 2: it this week?
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  Speaker 3: Couple of things. I got two cases, actually one out
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  Speaker 3: of Mississippi. Be it's an appellate court case dealing with
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  Speaker 3: and I'm just going to title it the Risks of
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  Speaker 3: life Estates and Children. Very interesting what this family did,
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  Speaker 3: what their life estate, and how the kids ended up
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  Speaker 3: dying before the parents, and there were leans on the
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  Speaker 3: parent's estate trying to get assets from the kid's estate,
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  Speaker 3: and how does this life estate remain your interest really work.
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  Speaker 3: So folks, stay tuned. It's a little convoluted, but we're
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  Speaker 3: going to learn not only what happened here, but maybe
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  Speaker 3: we're going to learn a little bit more about life
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  Speaker 3: estates and how to do them and how they work
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  Speaker 3: and how they really don't work. Secondly, we're going to
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  Speaker 3: head over to Ohio. We have another appellate court case there.
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  Speaker 3: This one is going to be sort of I kind
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  Speaker 3: of make up these titles. It's durable power of attorney
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  Speaker 3: and gifting problems that go with the power of attorney,
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  Speaker 3: like can you give the power of attorney the power
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  Speaker 3: to make self dealing gifts or not? And well there's
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  Speaker 3: a lot more involved in that in here, in terms
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  Speaker 3: of a family who the couple was romantic partners but
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  Speaker 3: not married yet one gave the power of attorney to
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  Speaker 3: the other and then started adding joint names of their accounts,
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  Speaker 3: and it really just goes downhill from there because obviously
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  Speaker 3: the kids from the prior marriage get involved. Sure, so, folks,
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  Speaker 3: there's a lot going on here. These are all problems,
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  Speaker 3: by the way, that can be avoided when you do
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  Speaker 3: better planning than perhaps just a life estate or a
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  Speaker 3: power of attorney. Not that those aren't important. And so
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  Speaker 3: I thought what we'd do this month, since it is
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  Speaker 3: a brand new guide, is we are going to give
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: out back to the basics, a complete guide to a
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: state and asset protection planning, where I give you an
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  Speaker 3: entire fact pattern in which you could put your own
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: fact pattern in and see if this is in essence
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  Speaker 3: an engagement letter that I do for clients explaining exactly
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  Speaker 3: how to do the plan for a certain set of facts.
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  Speaker 3: In this case, it's a four million dollar estate. You
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  Speaker 3: can learn how it works. The irrevocable trust is listed
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  Speaker 3: in here. How the taxes of the earvocable trust works.
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  Speaker 3: It explains how to talk. It talks about probate funding
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  Speaker 3: the trust. It talks about the type of assets that
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: go in the trust. You know, It talks about how
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: you get to step up in basis. It really explains
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: the entire plan, from wills to healthcare proxies to powers
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  Speaker 3: of attorney. They're all listed in here and you can
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  Speaker 3: really it really helps you get started. It might be
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: the way for you to kick off the year and
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: get your own estate plan in order. So back to
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  Speaker 3: the basics, folks, call and get the guide. It's brand
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  Speaker 3: new for the month eight six six eight four eight
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  Speaker 3: five six nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: again eight sixty six eight four eight five six nine
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  Speaker 3: nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com. And if you
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  Speaker 3: want even more information, go to our Instagram page, Cushing
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: Dolan PC. We're trying to slowly load that up with
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  Speaker 3: more and more information of all kinds of estate planning,
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  Speaker 3: real estate, everything we do as a firm. So check
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  Speaker 3: it out. That said, back to Mississippi. What's going on here?
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  Speaker 3: While we've got Max and Carolyn. They needed property to
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  Speaker 3: their sons, so these are married. They did property to
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  Speaker 3: their sons, Kevin and Brian. First of all, why would
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  Speaker 3: you do this? This is the first problem. I'm like,
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  Speaker 3: just screams off the page at me. Oh, but they
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  Speaker 3: decided to reserve a life estate, so they did less bad,
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  Speaker 3: less bad, Unfortunately, Ken the son died in twenty eighteen
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  Speaker 3: and he left his estate to his daughters, Catherine and
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  Speaker 3: Kay grandchildren.
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  Speaker 2: So now mom and dad owned property with the grandkids.
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  Speaker 3: That's super. Well, let's keep going. It gets better. Glinda,
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  Speaker 3: isn't she the good Witch of the West or something?
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  Speaker 3: So Glinda, creditor of Ken's estate. Ken's kid, filed acclaim
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  Speaker 3: for seventy nine thousand dollars. Over time, they reached a
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  Speaker 3: settlement agreement and included in the settlement agreement any future
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  Speaker 3: assets that Ken's estate gets, it then gives half to Glenda,
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  Speaker 3: so that was included in the settlement agreement between Glinda
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  Speaker 3: and Ken's estate. Ken is the child of Max and Carolyn.
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  Speaker 3: On April twenty twenty, Carolyn dies. She was the life
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  Speaker 3: tenant the mother. Her husband had already died, we don't
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  Speaker 3: know when, but he had died prior, so the final
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  Speaker 3: life tenant dies in twenty twenty. Well, Glinda decides to
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  Speaker 3: reopen the estate. Who's the state Ken's estate? Why? Because
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  Speaker 3: she's claiming that Ken now owns a future interest in
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  Speaker 3: the real estate that Carolyn had as a life tenant
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  Speaker 3: now that she died. In claiming her life tenant interest
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  Speaker 3: vested in kensas state, and now she wanted half of
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  Speaker 3: that interest. Don't understand life estates and remainder interests. What
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  Speaker 3: did the court do properly? It denied the claim as
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  Speaker 3: a life estate does not fall within the category of
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  Speaker 3: a future interest, and it does and it does not. Well,
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  Speaker 3: of course, she wasn't happy with that, so she appealed.
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  Speaker 3: The appellate court affirmed. Shocker. Why because when Ken died,
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  Speaker 3: his vested remainder interest which he had way back when
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  Speaker 3: passed to his kids Catherine and Kay, which they got
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  Speaker 3: because it was fully vested. So now they are one
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  Speaker 3: hundred percent fee owners of the estate. Because when Carolyn died,
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  Speaker 3: the life estate expires.
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  Speaker 2: Right, he didn't get an inheritance because of that he
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  Speaker 2: already owned it.
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  Speaker 3: Right, it expires and it automatically goes to the remainderment
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  Speaker 3: and the remaindermen were already Ken's kids or the grandkids,
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  Speaker 3: so they're out. The court got this right, Yeah, I mean,
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  Speaker 3: this is exactly how it's supposed to work. Now Glenda
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  Speaker 3: might now not be the good Witch of the Western,
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  Speaker 3: good Witch of the East and more, she's unhappy now
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  Speaker 3: because she didn't get what she wanted, So maybe she
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  Speaker 3: became a bad witch in this case. Though, I think
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  Speaker 3: we need to just understand life estates a little bit, sure,
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  Speaker 3: and that's the one thing that we're trying to do here.
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  Speaker 3: So let's see. The life estate says that by definition,
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  Speaker 3: you make a completed gift of the future interest of
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  Speaker 3: the property to the kids. That's what happened here. Immediately,
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  Speaker 3: it's a completed gift of the future interest.
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  Speaker 2: So her two kids already owned that property.
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  Speaker 3: Can and Brian correct, because they got that gift. Now,
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  Speaker 3: a gift tax return also was required. You know, maybe
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  Speaker 3: there was no tax do because they have a fifteen
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  Speaker 3: million dollar exemption. But you know what, the kids own
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  Speaker 3: that interest, right. For example, if they died, they get
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  Speaker 3: to will that interest or use their estate plan and
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  Speaker 3: it goes via their estate plan. Yeah, flip side. If
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  Speaker 3: the kids got divorced, it's subject to the kids divorce.
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  Speaker 3: They own it, right. What does the life tenant have, Well,
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  Speaker 3: the life tenant has the right to live there and
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  Speaker 3: the right to collect income. Okay, Well, if you're selling
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  Speaker 3: the property, the life tenant cannot sell it without the
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  Speaker 3: remainderman signing off. Well that's a lot of loss control
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  Speaker 3: if you ask me, because now you need to deal
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  Speaker 3: with the parents and the kids.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not asking for permission to do something with my
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  Speaker 2: own property. No, thanks, don't love it at all. Then
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  Speaker 2: there's tax problems if you sell it. A percentage of
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  Speaker 2: the money goes to the kids. They don't live there,
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  Speaker 2: so they don't even get a capital gains exclusion for
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  Speaker 2: living in their primary residence. And they also got an
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  Speaker 2: early inheritance and they paid the tax. And now unless
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  Speaker 2: the kids are willing to give back the money to mom,
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  Speaker 2: Mom doesn't have that money. So even if they're willing
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  Speaker 2: to give it back, it's going to have a haircut
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  Speaker 2: because they have to pay taxes on now the next.
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  Speaker 3: Words out of my mouth, and they would then have
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  Speaker 3: to file a gift tax return. I guess the only
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  Speaker 3: good news here is that creditors cannot move against the remainderman. Well,
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  Speaker 3: the life tenant is alive, so at least the life
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  Speaker 3: tenants would be allowed to live there. You know, my
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  Speaker 3: question is why wasn't a leen placed on this property
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  Speaker 3: right away when Glenda filed the action before Ken died.
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  Speaker 3: If that was possible, you should have said, you know,
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  Speaker 3: I want you know a lean on that remainder interest,
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  Speaker 3: but you didn't, so you know that's a problem, you know.
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  Speaker 3: But folks, at the end of the day, if you
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  Speaker 3: had just set up a trust and put the remainder
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  Speaker 3: interest in the trust, if you're going to do a
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  Speaker 3: life estate even now you keep control. There's no gift
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  Speaker 3: tax problem. You can sell it whenever you want. There's
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  Speaker 3: no income tax problem because it's a grand or trust
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  Speaker 3: and no kids creditors. It's really the way to go.
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  Speaker 3: But that is what was done here. But folks, get
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: started on your estate plan. Call and get the guide,
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: A complete guide to a state plan and asset protection.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: It's basically an engagement letter and in this guide it
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: deals with a fact pattern and an irrevocable trust. Learn
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  Speaker 3: how to get started with your estate plan eight sixty
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  Speaker 3: six eight four eight five six nine nine or Legal
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  Speaker 3: Exchange show dot com.
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  Speaker 2: You've been listening to Todd Lutsky, a partner with the
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  Speaker 2: law firm of Cushing and Dolan. I'm Susan Powers, a
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group, and We've got
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  Speaker 2: much more to come. When we return to the Legal
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  Speaker 2: Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome back into the Legal Exchange with Todd Latsky. I'm
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: susan powers of financial advice with the r I'm strong
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  Speaker 2: advisory group, and I'm joined by Todd Lutsky, a partner
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  Speaker 2: with the law firm of Cushing and Dolan with a
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  Speaker 2: master's in taxation, headed two year old stop mcgrounds.
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  Speaker 3: I am, how did you nyah? We're going to go
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: to Ohio where it all started. So in this case,
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  Speaker 3: it's an appellate court case. And as I said, I
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  Speaker 3: entitled a durable power of attorney and gifting problems. So
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  Speaker 3: here's what happens. Connie and Guito were romantic partners from
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: nineteen ninety six till his death in twenty eighteen never
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: married folks. Very important distinction here. Keep that in mind.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: Guito had appointed Connie power of attorney and executor on
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: the will, again just a will, just pointing that out,
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  Speaker 3: and he left her one hundred thousand dollars. Well, that's nice.
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  Speaker 3: The balance of the estate is to his two sons,
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  Speaker 3: Matthew and Vincent, obviously from a prior marriage. Unknown to Connie,
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: Guito added her name as a joint owner on a
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: checking account. Connie, the power of attorney, sold Guito's home
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: and tractor, and then deposited the money into the joint account,
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: obviously probably not knowing it was a joint account, and
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: then she used those monies to pay for his nursing
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: home care. Well, that seems okay. Connie then filed an accounting,
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: apparently after he died, you know, for the estate and
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: Matthew and Vincent, the kids from the prior marriage. Shocker
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: objected to the sale proceeds. Objected rather and said that
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: the sale proceeds were missing and that there was a
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: breach of her fiduciary duty missing from the accounting. Obviously.
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: Well.
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  Speaker 3: The trial court granted Connie's motion for summary judgment. Summary
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: judgment means that, you know.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: Go away you get nothing.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: Go away you get nothing. It's no material fact. Well
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: they appealed, of course they did. Well the appellate court
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: reversed and remanded the case. Don't worry, Susan, do.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: You have an answer to this case for I do.
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: Good remanded the case as there was a material fact
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: as to whether or not Connie, as the power of attorney,
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: transferred funds from her joint account to her individual account.
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: So they remanded the case. So while on remand thankfully
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: the court there Connie, Connie said, look, I deposited money
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: to my joint checking account and did not know that
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: it was joint and I did not know that when
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: I die that would mean that all those assets would
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: just go to her, which is what happens with the
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: joint account. Well, the the court on remand found that
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: it was in fact a part of the sale, that
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: money in that account, apart from the sale proceeds, were
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: really Connie's money, but putting the sale proceeds into the
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: account was a gift to her and not permitted under
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: the power of attorney. So on remand the trial court
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  Speaker 3: now said, yeah, Connie, that's bad.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: But didn't Connie use those for his long term care expenses?
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Oh?
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  Speaker 3: Of course there was another appeal because this was the
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: trial court on the remand so on the appeal, the
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: appellate court reversed the trial court and said, no, there's
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: no evidence here that the deposit was a gift to herself,
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: and in fact, the intent was clear that, as you said, Susan,
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: you were following along, the money was used for his care.
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: She didn't put it in this account with the intent
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: of taking it. She put in the account to use
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: for his care. The fact that it went to her
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: at death unbeknownst to her because it was a joint
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: account that he put her name on, isn't a problem,
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: got it? So in this case kind of She's okay,
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: but I'm still a little uncomfortable. This whole situation is
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: just a bad lack of planning.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, but you know what, it screams to me, Todd.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: Everything changes when people die and that bag of money
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: gets on the table. They were together for twenty two
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: years and still these kids. There's problem. Yes, you know, so, folks,
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: please do your planning. Get the guide.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: It's back to the basics, right, It's really a complete
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: guide to helping us understand how to get your estate
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: plan in order, and so in this case, you know
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: you can call and the guide has It's basically an
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: engagement letter. I put together a four million dollar fact
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: pattern and I explain to the client what they want
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: to do, how to avoid probate, how to use an
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: irrevocable trust to protect the assets from the nursing home.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: I explain how the irrevocable trust works while they're living,
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: when they die, the estate tax savings. It also gets
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: you started, tells you about probate, tells you about health
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: care proxies, powers of attorney, tells you about how to
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: value your estate so you know what kind of trust
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: is right for you based on the value of your estate.
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: Look at family dynamics, look at age. All these things
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: are listed as little tips to help you not only
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: get started, but pick the right kind of trust for you.
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: Kick off your estate planning this year. Get the guide
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: eight six six eight four eight five six nine to
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com again eight six
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: six eight four eight five six nine nine or Legal
• 19:31
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• 19:34
  Speaker 3: Instagram page, Cushing DOLANPC. We are now filling that up
• 19:38
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• 19:42
  Speaker 3: estate to tax litigation to a state planning to asset protection.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: Folks give it a check. Cushing Dolan, PC.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: So I feel like there's lots of lessons we can
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: learn from this case.
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: Let's explore those now. Okay, So first and foremost, join accounts.
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: Those are a problem and people don't think about them
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: right when you set up a joint account like they
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: did here. Remember he added her as a joint tenant.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: When you set up a joint account, there is no
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: completed gift. Nothing happens. However, the moment say I put
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: it my daughter's name on an account, the moment my
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: daughter goes to that joint bank account and withdraws all
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: the money, why because she can, because she's a joint owner.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: The moment she does that, well I've made a completed
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: gift I did to her. That's a completed gift. And
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: guess what, I get to file a gift tax return
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: and I get to pay gift tax if it's over
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: nineteen thousand dollars, which is the present interest exclusion freebie
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: that you can give anybody every year. So that's when
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: that happens. Now, what about the death part. That's a
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: lifetime problem, right and also remember if my daughter had
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: a problem credit or divorce, Yeah, half that money would
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: be at risk. I don't like that. Death. Well, when
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: you die, the assets typically avoid probate, which is great,
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: but they pass directly to the surviving joint owner.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: Which may not be what you want.
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: So here you may or may not have wanted Connie
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: to have that money, but you know, Guito, you put
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: her name on it, So therefore you have that problem
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: as you're sort of leaning towards Susan. The bigger problem
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: is the disinheritance idea. Let's take this out of this
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: context and just say I have three children and I
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: put one of my children on a bunch of accounts jointly,
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: simply because they live nearby and it's convenient.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: Well again, when if I've done that, when I die,
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: it all goes to that kid and disinherits the other.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: Kids and they don't have to share, right, they don't have.
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: To, And so that's a big problem. Right, So we
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: know this kind of thing happens a lot with joint accounts.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: We put in our will to make that language, convenience
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: language only, and to ignore the ownership arrangement as a
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: joint owner and have it go to probate anyway, and
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: that way the will would grab it and put it
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: in the trust as a poor over will and then
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: at least have it go according to the wishes of
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: the don or. So we try to put language in
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: to prevent that. Now, remember when we do the estate plan,
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: we fund the trust, so we take care of all
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: that problem is we're not with you every day. You
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: could open up accounts throughout your lifetime and we don't
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: know about it. So we put this safety net language
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: in to prevent you from disinheriting somebody. Now quickly on
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: the power of attorney. Remember it does allow you to
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: sell tractors, sell real estate. That wasn't a problem, right,
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: But they don't always allow you to have self dealing,
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: so yourself, yeah, you're not always allowed. That's up to
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: the drafter of that situation. And you just because your
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: power of attorney, you do not have power over the trust.
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: So again a trust here would have been no probate,
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: no gift tax problems, no selling problems, way better than
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: if you have it in this case. So just be
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: mindful when you set this up who you put us
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: power of attorney. But in reality, folks, here both of
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: these cases bad planning. Call and get the guide back
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: to the basics. It's basically my recommendation on a four
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: million dollar estate and how to do an estate plan.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: Get your estate plan going eight six six eight four eight,
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: five six nine nine, or go to our website download
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: the guide there brand new eight Legal Exchange show dot com.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: You've been listening to Todd Lutsky, a partner with the
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: law firm of Cushing and Dolan. I'm Susan Powers, a
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group. We'll be right
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: back with more on the legal Exchange with Todd Ludsky.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: There are many elements needed to build a successful estate plan,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: and if you don't know where to start, Cushing and
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Dolan can help. Estate planning doesn't stop with a will.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Wills by themselves do not keep your estate out of probate,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: which takes time, can be costly, and it makes your
• 24:07
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• 24:10
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  Speaker 1: eight six six eight four eight five six ninety nine.
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  Speaker 1: or you can request the guide online by visiting Legal
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: Exchange Show dot com. That's Legal exchange show dot com.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for and the views expressed are
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: solely those of Cushing and Dolan. Cushing and Dolan in
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: or Armstrong Advisory may contact you offering legal or investment services.
• 24:50
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  Speaker 4: As you get closer to retirement, making sound decisions to
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• 26:01
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  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for by Armstrong Advisory Group, a
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  Speaker 1: advisory services. You're listening to the Legal Exchange and it's
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: time for Ask Todd, the segment where Todd will answer
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: your questions about anything and everything that's included in the
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: estate planning process. Once again, here's Todd Lutsky and Susan Powers.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: Welcome back, Todd. I have a few questions from listeners
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: for you. First question comes from Pam and Wellesley Mass
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: and Pam writes, my husband recently passed away and his
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: state was worth His estate was worth just under two million.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: He had an IRA naming me as the beneficiary, a
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: revocable trust in half of our home was in his trust.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: What steps do I need to take at this point
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: to settle his estate?
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: So, and I just want to make everybody understand very
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: clear that this is not a joint revocable trust the
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: kind that we've talked about on the air. We really
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: like those joint trusts, which I certainly would have done
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: for an estate the size, but they didn't. They have
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: a husband trust and a wife trust, and that's very
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: important that we understand that. Now there's many of you
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: listeners that have those kinds of documents. So this is
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: a husband trust wife trust. So what's in there? Well,
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: half of the house. I don't know what that's worth, but.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: Well, his entire estate was just under two million, in
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: between the house and the iray. Half of the house
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: and the iray is just under two million.
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: So let's just say the house and you know it's
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: in Welles or the house gotta be worth a million.
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: I mean, there's not many homes in Wellesley worth less
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: than that. So let's just say a million. Half of
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: it would be five hundred thousand. So unfortunately, well, it
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: doesn't matter. It's only a two million dollar estate, so
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: it's not going to be critical. But number one, the
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: value of his estate would have been But wait a minute,
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: he had an IRA, So so his entire estate is
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: two million? Yes, I see, So he's got five hundred
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: thousand in the trust. Yeah, it is a one point
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: five million dollar IRA.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: It could be there could be other assets in the trust,
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: but the eye between the IRA and the trust, which
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: includes half the house, he has got just under two million.
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: All right, so somehow we have to get the two million.
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: So if the house is worth a million, then then
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: that's five hundred thousand. The IRA must be one point
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: five to get his estate to two million. Either way,
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: even if you want to say, you know, his half
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: of the house is a million because it's a two
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: million dollar home in Wellesley. Yeah, and then one million
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: for the IRA, just to make it easier for folks.
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: So it's two million dollars, but only one million is
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: tucked away in the trust. So with two million, do
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: they have to do anything? Well, you made it right
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: at two million. But arguably, if you have a two
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: million dollar estate, you're supposed to file in a state
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: tax return in Massachusetts. Doesn't matter, there's not going to
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: be any tax to, but it's good to do it.
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: You value the house, you get a step up in
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: basis based on the value of the house. You only
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: get a half step up in basis because only half
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: is included in his trust YEP and you know, and
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: then you simply take his half the house and move
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: it to the remainder share of his trust to show
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: alter that so that it's never taxed again when the
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: surviving spouse dies, and so there would be no tax to.
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: But we filed the return, we released the lean that's
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: on the property, and if there's any probate assets, which
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: doesn't appear that there is, we would do that. So
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: not a lot to do here because the planning was done.
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: So if he was under that two million dollar mark,
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: would he still have to file a tax return? No,
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: If it's under.
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: Nope, wouldn't have to file, but would we want to
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: maybe get a basis step up and just get evaluation
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: on the property. You could, just so you lock in
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: what that value is. But yeah, in this case, we
• 30:35
  Speaker 3: were have sheltered the five hundred or the million I'm
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: sorry half the house, and we were to have filed
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: the estate tax return and funneled that money into the
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: remainder share the house rather into the remainder share. But
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: remember the million dollar IRA would have just passed to
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: the spouse, and so that would have passed under the
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: unlimited marrial deduction. She then needs to open up her
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: own IRA, and then that's going to be included in
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: her estate, along with her own ERA and her own
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: half of the house and whatever else she has. So
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: now the big issue is not only do this, but
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: update her estate planning documents like her will, her health
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: care proxy, her power of attorney. Why because the primary
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: fiduciary is dead, so you want to put a new
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: primary on and a new alternate. And in doing that,
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: you can then look at the value of her estate,
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: see what's going to be included in her estate and
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: what's sheltered in the trust, and then make decisions as
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: to whether or not she's over two million, do we
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: need to do any kind of other tinkering with her
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: estate as a single person, Or maybe she says I'm
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: much older now and I really want to protect these
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: assets from the nursing home. She might shift out of
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: her revocable trust and into an irrevocable trust. So it's
• 31:47
  Speaker 3: always a good idea to sit with your estate planning
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: attorney after one spouse dies, even if there's not a
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: lot of a state administration work that needs to be done,
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: just to see where you are and whether or not
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: updates need to be done one of those life events
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: that triggers Yeah, well so there's a lot going on
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: there for not a lot going on. Yeah so, folks,
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: I think the important thing here is to understand planning
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: and to do your planning. So if you've not gotten started,
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: call and get the guide back to the basics it
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: is going to give you. As it's basically my engagement
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: letter explaining a four million dollar estate. It talks about
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: valuing the assets. It talks about probate and how to
• 32:28
  Speaker 3: avoid it, healthcare proxies, powers of attorney. It also explains
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: an entire irrevocable trust how it works to step up
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: in basis the estate tax savings, what you can do
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: during life. It really gives you a great understanding of
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: how the irrevocable trust works on its own and in
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: conjunction with your estate plan. It gets you going in
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: the right direction. Call and get the guide eight six
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: six eight four eight five six nine nine or Legal
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: Exchange Show dot com. You can download it there again
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: eight six six eight four eight five six nine nine
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: or Legal Exchange Show dot com. And also please go
• 33:07
  Speaker 3: to our website or our Instagram. Sorry, Cushing Dolan PC.
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: It's a new page and we're trying to update it
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: with a lot of information about estate planning.
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: Our last question comes from Howard in Northborough, mass And
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: Howard writes, I am a beneficiary to my father's estate
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: and my older sister is the executor and trustee. She's
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: being very secretive about what my father owned when he died,
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: and I'd like to know what we're dealing with here.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: Is she legally obligated to let the beneficiaries know what
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: is in his trust.
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: So she's a beneficiary of the estate, which is one thing,
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: but she you think she's also a sister.
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: Sorry, let's just assume there's two Howard and his sister.
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: The dad passed away, and he's also a beneficiary under
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: the trust.
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: We think, yes, that's what he's saying. He's a beneficiary
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: of the estate and the trust.
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: And the trust. So yeah, there are going to be obligations.
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: I mean you can read the trust to see under
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: the UTC whether they waive some of these. But generally speaking,
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: the UTC Uniform Trust Code requires the trustee to provide
• 34:13
  Speaker 3: notice to the beneficiaries, so you know, and and technically
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: an accounting you know what's in yeah, what's going on
• 34:23
  Speaker 3: during the year, how they're invested, what's you know, what
• 34:26
  Speaker 3: money moved in, what money moved out of the trust
• 34:28
  Speaker 3: and how it happened. And and ultimately to provide them
• 34:34
  Speaker 3: with perhaps a copy of the document just to show them,
• 34:38
  Speaker 3: you know, how they are a beneficiary. Right, you don't
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: have to provide the whole document, but you've got to
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: provide the section that says how that person is a beneficiary,
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: meaning you know, here's what I get perhaps a percentage
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: might be listed, and more importantly, here's how I get it.
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: Is it outright? Just give it to me, you can't
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: hold it back, or is it in trust for me
• 35:00
  Speaker 3: to get you know, perhaps at certain ages, or do
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: I get it, you know in the trustees discretion Well
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: that's a whole other kettle. Official, So then you might
• 35:11
  Speaker 3: know that you're that you're a beneficiary, but you can't
• 35:15
  Speaker 3: get it yet. Now it's up to the trustee to
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: make sole discretionary distributions. So you know, it depends how
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: much power was given to them as beneficiaries.
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: So if it's one of those situations where it's just
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: pay it outright, is there a time frame that these
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: things have to be resolving, because I can just envision
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: if there's siblings not getting along a lengthy kind of.
• 35:37
  Speaker 3: Well, pay it out right is certainly reasonable. You got
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: to be reasonable. You can't just hold it in trust.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: For it reasonable.
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: I mean certainly within within the within a nine month period,
• 35:46
  Speaker 3: if the tax return is due, you might be holding
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: stuff in there to wait to see if there's any
• 35:51
  Speaker 3: taxes due. And yeah, maybe you want to you want
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: to chase everybody for the money, so you just use
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: the money to pay the bills and the taxes and
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: then divide everything that's left. That way, everybody shared equally,
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: and what was what was in there? So you know
• 36:05
  Speaker 3: that would be reasonable. Okay, but certainly within a year
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: when you close the estate, you got to distribute it.
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: But there's also no reason to hold it necessarily even
• 36:15
  Speaker 3: that long, so you could make partial distributions right away
• 36:19
  Speaker 3: and say, well, we kind of know the estate tax
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: liability is only going to be a little so we
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: can hold it back and do it that way. Folks,
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: get your estate plan off in the right direction. Call
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: and get the guide back to the basics eight six
• 36:32
  Speaker 3: six eight four eight five six nine nine or Legal
• 36:36
  Speaker 3: Exchange Show dot com and you can download it right there.
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: If you have a question you would like to ask Todd,
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: visit his website Legal Exchange Show dot com and click
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: on the ass Tod tab. Maybe I'll be able to
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: read your question in the air, and hopefully his answer
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: will stop you from becoming one of his next real
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: life stories. You've been listening to Todd Lutsky, a partner
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: with the law firm of Cushing and Dolan. I'm Susan Powers,
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: a financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group. We'll be
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: back with more after this quick break on the Legal
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: There are many elements needed to build a successful estate plan,
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: and if you don't know where to start, Cushing and
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: Dolan can help. Estate planning doesn't stop with a will.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: Wills by themselves do not keep your estate out of probate,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: which takes time, can be costly, and it makes your
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: estate of matter of public record. Many families use trusts
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: to help protect their assets. Trusts are tools that are
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: designed to help your assets pass privately, more efficiently, and
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: without court involvement. Cushing and Dolan have put together a
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: new guide called Back to the Basics, a complete guide
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: to an estate and asset protection plan. It explains in
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: clear terms how wills, trusts, and probate actually work and
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: why structure matters. Get your free copy today by calling
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: eight six six eight four eight five six ninet nine.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: That's eight six six eight four eight five six ninety nine,
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: or you can request the guide online by visiting Legal
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: exchange show dot com. That's Legal exchange show dot com.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for. The abuse expressed are solely
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: those of Cushing and Dolan. Cushing and Dolan into or
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: Armstrong Advisory may contact you offering legal or investment services.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: Cushing and Dolan in Armstrong Advisory do not endorse each
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: other and are not affiliated.
• 38:10
  Speaker 4: Life changes quickly as we age. Technology is moving faster
• 38:13
  Speaker 4: and is creating new risks for families they didn't have
• 38:15
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• 38:18
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• 38:21
  Speaker 4: I'm not talking just about scams, but situations where more
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  Speaker 4: online accounts, digital payments and shared access can slowly open
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  Speaker 4: the door to problems. Today, financial exploitation doesn't always look obvious.
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  Speaker 4: It can show up through unfamiliar transactions, misused powers of attorney,
• 38:37
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• 38:39
  Speaker 4: someone's life. That's why the Armstrong Advisory Group put together
• 38:42
  Speaker 4: a new guide called protecting Yourself or a loved one
• 38:45
  Speaker 4: from Elder Financial Abuse. To get your free copy, call
• 38:48
  Speaker 4: eight hundred three nine three four zero zero one that's
• 38:51
  Speaker 4: eight hundred three nine three four zero zero one or
• 38:54
  Speaker 4: requested online at Armstrong Advisory dot com.
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for by Armstrong Advisory Group, a
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: registered in best advisor. Nothing in the ad or in
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: any Armstrong guide a specific financial, legal or tax advice.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: Consult your own financial tax into state planning advisors before
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: making any investment decisions. Armstrong may contact you to offer
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  Speaker 5: This is Michael Valila, adjudent of the Disabled American Veterans
• 40:14
  Speaker 5: Department of Massachusetts. We focus on the people returning from service,
• 40:18
  Speaker 5: not their specific illness or injury. Our number one goal
• 40:21
  Speaker 5: is to make sure our veterans have the necessary services
• 40:25
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• 40:35
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• 40:41
  Speaker 1: Your tune to the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky. If
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: you are a loved one needs a nursing homestay, call
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: Todd right now at eight six six eight four eight
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: five six ninety nine and let him make sure your
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: assets are protected. That's eight sixty six eight for eight
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: five six nine nine, or visit him online at Legal
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: Exchange show dot com.
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: Welcome back into the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky. I'm
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: Susan Powers, a financial advised with the Armstrong Advisory Group,
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: and I'm joined of course by Todd Lutsky, a partner
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: with the law firm of CUSHINGA. Dolan with a master's
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: in taxation. Todd, your guide is all about back to
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: the basics. So I thought i'd started square one, which
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: is where does someone start? So in your guide you
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: talk about valuing your estate? What does that even mean?
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 41:29
  Speaker 3: I think that's a great place to start, because when
• 41:31
  Speaker 3: you're thinking about a state planning, and many of you
• 41:34
  Speaker 3: might be, and so obviously it's the easiest thing in
• 41:36
  Speaker 3: the world to put off. I get it. Why do
• 41:38
  Speaker 3: we want to talk about death and taxes? How fun
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: is that? But if you're going to a good place
• 41:44
  Speaker 3: to start is the value? H how much am I worth?
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: And how do I know what's included in the estate
• 41:53
  Speaker 3: for valuation purposes? And what's not? Right? Well, let's go
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: on through that. Your bank accounts, your brokerage accounts, right.
• 42:05
  Speaker 3: Your your property, so real estate, your home, your rental property,
• 42:13
  Speaker 3: if you have any. Your iras. People forget that roth iras,
• 42:19
  Speaker 3: even though they're tax free, tax free, but a state
• 42:22
  Speaker 3: taxable right four to oh one ks? How about life insurance?
• 42:30
  Speaker 3: Nobody thinks about that.
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: Insurance is tax free though, isn't it that's that's how
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: it's sold.
• 42:35
  Speaker 3: That's exactly how it's sold. But it's income tax free,
• 42:38
  Speaker 3: not a state tax free.
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: Tax free to the beneficiary, but not to you.
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: As when you die. Remember, the government values everything the
• 42:47
  Speaker 3: moment you die. Well you might even have term insurance now,
• 42:51
  Speaker 3: but which means it's got zero cash surrender value. So
• 42:55
  Speaker 3: today it's worth nothing, but the moment you die, it's
• 42:58
  Speaker 3: worth a million. If that's the face value death benefit,
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: well that's when the government values it. So one item
• 43:07
  Speaker 3: in the entire estate could put you halfway up to
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: the Massachusetts exemption or over. Yeah, or over if I
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: just started with zero. But you're absolutely right, So think
• 43:16
  Speaker 3: of all of those items. Every single thing you own
• 43:20
  Speaker 3: is going to be valued on the date of death.
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: That's what I want to know. So you say, today,
• 43:26
  Speaker 3: if I died, what am I worth? And it's that
• 43:29
  Speaker 3: number that's going to help you decide what kind of
• 43:34
  Speaker 3: planning I'm going to do. At least right if I'm
• 43:38
  Speaker 3: at you know, the federal exemption is fifteen million and
• 43:41
  Speaker 3: the state exemption is two million for mass And so
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: now I know that if I'm worth five million and
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: I'm married, I know with basic planning a trust, not
• 43:57
  Speaker 3: without it. With a trust, I can double the exemption.
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: I can use my two million dollar exemption and my
• 44:03
  Speaker 3: wife's two million dollar exemption, So you can reduce quite
• 44:06
  Speaker 3: a bit for four million, and not only one million
• 44:10
  Speaker 3: would be subject to tax. And now with the new
• 44:13
  Speaker 3: law only the amount over Obviously the federal exemption is
• 44:16
  Speaker 3: much higher. But that also would drive you right. So
• 44:19
  Speaker 3: it's that number that helps you figure out, yes, I
• 44:22
  Speaker 3: need planning, and two what kind of trust do I
• 44:28
  Speaker 3: need to talk about?
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: And does your age factor into that or just what
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: you want to accomplish? How do you figure out the
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: type of trust?
• 44:35
  Speaker 3: It sure does, And so you know, let's say I've
• 44:40
  Speaker 3: got that four million dollar estate as a married couple
• 44:43
  Speaker 3: and I'm over, you know, sixty, Now you probably would
• 44:47
  Speaker 3: be at least considering nursing home planning as part of
• 44:51
  Speaker 3: your objectives.
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: So you'll have the conversation. Is I kind of bring
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: it up age thoughts process?
• 44:57
  Speaker 3: Yes, my sort of round number. I would at least
• 44:59
  Speaker 3: bring up see if it's on their mind, And if
• 45:02
  Speaker 3: it is, then I would say, okay, we're probably going
• 45:04
  Speaker 3: to need two trusts, not one. That's another thing we
• 45:07
  Speaker 3: can talk about and it would be two irrevocable trusts,
• 45:11
  Speaker 3: so that we can do both the probate and estate
• 45:14
  Speaker 3: tax savings, the doubling of the two million, and connect
• 45:18
  Speaker 3: it with nursing home protection planning because it's irrevocable. Folks,
• 45:24
  Speaker 3: that's just part of how you begin the estate planning process.
• 45:29
  Speaker 3: By the way, the back to the Basics guide has
• 45:32
  Speaker 3: that in It talks about what to do in the
• 45:35
  Speaker 3: beginning to figure out what kind of trust you have,
• 45:39
  Speaker 3: from age, from valuation, from family dynamics. You think about
• 45:44
  Speaker 3: these things, second marriages, what kind of planning then you
• 45:49
  Speaker 3: after you get the value. This particular guide then lays
• 45:53
  Speaker 3: out a four million dollar example. You can put your
• 45:55
  Speaker 3: own fact pattern in here and see if it fits,
• 45:58
  Speaker 3: and then we go on to make a record commendation.
• 46:00
  Speaker 3: In that case, Susan, the four million would be, you know,
• 46:03
  Speaker 3: avoiding probate, protecting from estate taxes, eliminating nursing home, protecting
• 46:09
  Speaker 3: from the nursing home. All of that is in this guide, folks.
• 46:12
  Speaker 3: Talks about the irrevocable trusts, how they work, et cetera.
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: So this guide helps you get started, so learn what's
• 46:20
  Speaker 3: right for you in the estate planning World eight six
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: six eight four eight five six nine nine or Legal
• 46:26
  Speaker 3: Exchange show dot com. You can download it right there
• 46:30
  Speaker 3: again eight six six eight four eight five six nine
• 46:34
  Speaker 3: nine or Legal exchange show dot com and also visit
• 46:38
  Speaker 3: our Instagram page Cushing Dolan PC for lots more information.
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: So you mentioned family dynamics, Todd, So you know the
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: family is really why most people come to do planning.
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: They say, yeah, I want to protect from the nursing home,
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: but I want to protect it for my kids, for
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: my spouse. So it's really the family behind the estaateplan,
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: the drive a lot of people to do in a
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: state plan. So what specifically, in terms of fight family
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: dynamics should people be aware about or waty to talk
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: about when they meet with an attorney.
• 47:11
  Speaker 3: So I think there's two things to think about. Like
• 47:13
  Speaker 3: you mentioned family dynamics. We want to protect for the kids.
• 47:16
  Speaker 3: So let's say they come in and there's no kids.
• 47:19
  Speaker 3: That'd be a first kind of example. Well, when there's
• 47:22
  Speaker 3: no kids, then there may be less of a need
• 47:25
  Speaker 3: to do nursing home planning and more about each other.
• 47:28
  Speaker 3: How do we just protect each other? Because when you're married,
• 47:32
  Speaker 3: if you're not trying to protect it for the kids
• 47:35
  Speaker 3: pretty much as a married couple. We can take care
• 47:37
  Speaker 3: of each other, even last minute. There's just so many
• 47:40
  Speaker 3: last minute things you can do. But you should do
• 47:42
  Speaker 3: your estate plan but maybe not nursing home planning. So
• 47:45
  Speaker 3: for them we might be looking more at a joint
• 47:49
  Speaker 3: revocable trust, not the irrevocable. But back to your example,
• 47:54
  Speaker 3: now we have kids. Now family dynamics come in. Okay, Well,
• 47:58
  Speaker 3: now part of that dynamic is, yes, I want to
• 48:02
  Speaker 3: make sure something is left for them, of course each
• 48:07
  Speaker 3: other first, and then for them. It might be that
• 48:10
  Speaker 3: we've got this particular home that a child needs, or
• 48:13
  Speaker 3: we have a vacation home that we want to protect,
• 48:16
  Speaker 3: or a rental property or maybe just money yep. But
• 48:20
  Speaker 3: whatever it is that we put in the trust, that's
• 48:22
  Speaker 3: what we're trying to protect. So that's the first aspect
• 48:25
  Speaker 3: of family dynamics. In addition to that, I think, as
• 48:30
  Speaker 3: you're moving through the planning process, which also is mentioned
• 48:33
  Speaker 3: in this guide, folks, how do I want to leave
• 48:36
  Speaker 3: it to them? Right now? That I've figured out the
• 48:39
  Speaker 3: kind of trust to protect it for them, now we
• 48:43
  Speaker 3: have to talk about when you die, how does it
• 48:46
  Speaker 3: get to them? And if the family dynamics are such that, oh, yeah,
• 48:50
  Speaker 3: they're married and not thrilled with the spouses and want
• 48:53
  Speaker 3: to make sure I protect it from future divorces and
• 48:56
  Speaker 3: other creditors.
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: Good with money, dependency issues, things like that. There's a
• 49:00
  Speaker 2: lot of concerns out there.
• 49:01
  Speaker 3: Those are the next special needs What if I've got
• 49:03
  Speaker 3: a special needs child? I mean, so now we need
• 49:06
  Speaker 3: to think about how do we want to leave the
• 49:08
  Speaker 3: assets to them? And that's where the family dynamics really
• 49:11
  Speaker 3: comes into play. And you can draft it any way
• 49:14
  Speaker 3: you want, yeah, to accommodate that. So I think that
• 49:17
  Speaker 3: answers that question.
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: And for folks that are out there that you know,
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: are wady to meet with an attorney, maybe they don't
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: live close to where you practice. How do you go
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: about selecting an attorney? What should you be looking for
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: in the state planning attorney?
• 49:30
  Speaker 3: Well, come on, Susan, we have an office, snare you
• 49:33
  Speaker 3: don't we Let's be as corny as I can be.
• 49:35
  Speaker 4: We do.
• 49:36
  Speaker 3: I'm sure we have an.
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: Off New England is covered.
• 49:38
  Speaker 3: But no, I tend to think, you know, I think
• 49:41
  Speaker 3: when you're out there and you're trying to pick that lawyer. Yeah,
• 49:44
  Speaker 3: obviously location is important to a degree. You don't want
• 49:47
  Speaker 3: to be traveling more than like a half hour I
• 49:49
  Speaker 3: think to get to your lawyer's office, give or take.
• 49:53
  Speaker 3: But also, uh, you know, when you meet with the lawyer,
• 49:57
  Speaker 3: if you're going in for the first time, you know,
• 49:59
  Speaker 3: make sure there's a nice explanation given. Make sure you
• 50:02
  Speaker 3: leave knowing more than when you got there and you're
• 50:05
  Speaker 3: less confused. Make sure the attorney does this one hundred
• 50:09
  Speaker 3: percent of the time, not fifty. Make sure it's a
• 50:12
  Speaker 3: flat fee. Don't try to go in and get hourly
• 50:14
  Speaker 3: charges you don't know about. So get all that and
• 50:18
  Speaker 3: make sure that maybe even they haven't an LM couldn't
• 50:20
  Speaker 3: hurt either. That's a master's master's and taxation folks, Just
• 50:24
  Speaker 3: some things to look for. Getting the guide will arm you,
• 50:27
  Speaker 3: of course with what you want to talk about at
• 50:30
  Speaker 3: the meeting as well. So back to the basics. Get
• 50:33
  Speaker 3: your estate planning going, folks eight six six eight four
• 50:36
  Speaker 3: eight five six nine nine or Legal exchange show dot
• 50:40
  Speaker 3: com and download it right there.
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: Todd Lutsky from the law firm of Cushing and Joel,
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: and thank.
• 50:46
  Speaker 3: You so much, Thank you, Susan. It's always a pleasure.
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: I'm Susan Power as a financial advisor with the Armstrong
• 50:51
  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.
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: There are many elements needed to build a successful estate plan,
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: and if you don't know where to start, Cushing and
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: Dolan can help. Estate planning doesn't stop with a will.
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: Wills by themselves do not keep your estate out of probate,
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: which takes time, can be costly, and it makes your
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: estate a matter of public record. Many families use trust
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: to help protect their assets. Trusts are tools that are
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: designed to help your assets pass privately, more efficiently, and
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: without court involvement. Cushing and Dolan have put together a
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: new guide called Back to the Basics, a complete guide
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: to an estate and asset protection plan. It explains in
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: clear terms how wills, trusts, and probate actually work and
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: why structure matters. Get your free copy today by calling
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: eight six six eight four eight five six ninety nine.
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: That's eight six six eight four eight five six ninety nine,
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: or you can request the guide online by visiting Legal
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: Exchange Show dot com. That's Legal exchange Show dot com.
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for in The views expressed are
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: solely those of Cushing and Dolan. Cushing and Dolan in
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: or Armstrong Advisory may contact you offering legal or investment services.
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: Cushing and Dolan in Armstrong Advisory do not endorse each
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: other and are not affiliated.
• 52:00
  Speaker 4: As you get closer to retirement, making sound decisions to
• 52:03
  Speaker 4: protect your assets becomes even more important, especially with increasing
• 52:06
  Speaker 4: cases of elder financial abuse.
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: HI.
• 52:08
  Speaker 4: This is Mike Armstrong from the Armstrong Advisory Group. A
• 52:11
  Speaker 4: Bloomberg report from last September notes that older Americans are
• 52:14
  Speaker 4: losing an estimated twenty eight point three billion dollars to exploitation.
• 52:18
  Speaker 4: Scam calls and fraudy emails are issues to beware of,
• 52:21
  Speaker 4: but there are other warning signs that may not be
• 52:23
  Speaker 4: easy to spot. Our new guide is called protecting yourself
• 52:27
  Speaker 4: or a loved one from Elder Financial Abuse. In it,
• 52:29
  Speaker 4: we discuss a variety of concerns to watch out for,
• 52:32
  Speaker 4: as well as steps that you can take to stay
• 52:34
  Speaker 4: ahead of potential problems. Call us right now at eight
• 52:36
  Speaker 4: hundred three nine three for zero zero one and ask
• 52:39
  Speaker 4: for your free guide today. That's eight hundred three to
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  Speaker 4: nine three for zero zero one, or you can request
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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: Armstrong Guide a specific financial, legal, or tax advice. Consult
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  Speaker 1: your own financial tax into state planning advisors before making
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  Speaker 1: any investment decisions. Armstrong may contact you to offer investment
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  Speaker 1: advisory service. Winter dates fill up fast, so if you're
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  Speaker 1: thinking about escaping the cold, now is the time to
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  Speaker 1: plan a getaway to the US Virgin Islands, America's Caribbean paradise.
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  Speaker 1: Here you can fall naturally in rhythm with the heartbeat
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  Speaker 1: own way of helping you unplug and reset this winter.
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