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Unmarried Partners, Joint Trusts, and the Risks of Poor Estate Planning · The Legal Exchange

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  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,
• 0:13
  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.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Welcome into the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky. I'm Susan
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Powers of financial Advisor the Armstrong Advisory Group, and I'm
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: joined by Todd Lutsky, partner with the law firm of
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Cushing in Dolan with a master's in taxation. Welcome Todd.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: 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: us this week?
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  Speaker 3: Couple? Thanks, A couple of things. I got two cases.
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  Speaker 3: We've got a case out of a Washington appellate court
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  Speaker 3: case basically estate planning in taxes. Being married or not
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  Speaker 3: is kind of the title. So are you married? Are
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  Speaker 3: you not married? You're in a committed intimate relationship for
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  Speaker 3: forty years, but you're not married. I like to say,
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  Speaker 3: these people saw the light, right, Why ruin a good
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  Speaker 3: thing by day marriage?
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  Speaker 2: Lately your wife might be listening.
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  Speaker 3: So at the end of the day, we got to
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  Speaker 3: explain how this played out and how the property ended
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  Speaker 3: up being treated when you know you actually wanted to
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  Speaker 3: leave assets to this significant other because they weren't married.
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  Speaker 3: So and of course there's kids from a second marriage.
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  Speaker 3: There's lots going on here, right, So that just it's
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  Speaker 3: just got a It just doesn't sound like it's going
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  Speaker 3: to work out well. Then I flip over when we
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  Speaker 3: go to a district federal district court in Arizona, where
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  Speaker 3: basically we have a great example of how a joint
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  Speaker 3: trust is supposed to work. But you have feuding parties
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  Speaker 3: and they both are trying to figure out while they
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  Speaker 3: exercise limited powers of appointment, and kids get involved when
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  Speaker 3: one spouse dies, and you know, is their undue influence here?
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  Speaker 3: But really it's a great example ultimately of how a
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  Speaker 3: joint revocable trust works, which is one of the things
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  Speaker 3: we spent a lot of time on a few months ago.
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  Speaker 3: I believe on explaining how those are. So I think
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  Speaker 3: this is going to be a great planning case with
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  Speaker 3: some twists in it. Of course, you can't have them
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  Speaker 3: without twists, of course, But folks, at the end of
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  Speaker 3: the day, all of this, both of these are some
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  Speaker 3: planning was great, there's a joint trust, and one really
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  Speaker 3: didn't have much planning at all. And folks, I think
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  Speaker 3: the message is to get this guide. If you've never
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  Speaker 3: started your estate planning and you don't know where to begin,
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  Speaker 3: This back to the basics guide is really for you.
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  Speaker 3: It lays out a real life example of about I
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  Speaker 3: don't know four million dollar fact pattern and explains how
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  Speaker 3: the estate plan works, the basic docs, the wills, the
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  Speaker 3: healthcare is, the power of attorney, what to think about
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: when you're starting out in terms of your age, the
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  Speaker 3: valuing of your estate, and explains then how to protect
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  Speaker 3: it through the use of an irrevocable trust. So in
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  Speaker 3: this case, the irrevocable medicaid trust is the one used,
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  Speaker 3: but it will really get you going if you've never
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  Speaker 3: started your planning. It'll help you figure out which path
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: is right for you. Call and get it eight six
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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 again eight six six eight four
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  Speaker 3: eight five six nine nine or Legal Exchange show dot com.
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  Speaker 3: And you can also go to our Instagram page Cushing
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  Speaker 3: Dollan PC for more information there. Oh, let me flip
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  Speaker 3: the page over. We're going to Washington. First, listen to
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  Speaker 3: these facts. Jack and Anne never married, but in a
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  Speaker 3: commit ned intimate relationship for forty years. In two thousand
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  Speaker 3: and five, Jack, to keep track of the names, Jack
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  Speaker 3: executed a will. Okay, naming first of all, that's the problem.
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  Speaker 3: Why is it just a will? Naming his son Frank
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  Speaker 3: Junior and two grandsons as beneficiaries. Jack left three parcels
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  Speaker 3: of real estate, investment accounts and twelve cars to Ann
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  Speaker 3: wow and the money. And he left a one dollar
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  Speaker 3: to his son, Frank Junior, and then all the rest
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  Speaker 3: of the real estate to the grandsons. Okay, okay, well
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  Speaker 3: you're allowed to do that. In August of twenty seventeen,
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  Speaker 3: Jack dies. All assets, interestingly enough, were titled in Jack's
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  Speaker 3: name alone. So this is a probate asset right. Junior
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  Speaker 3: then contested the will and Anne, remember the significant other,
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  Speaker 3: filed a petition under the trust a State Dispute Resolution Act,
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  Speaker 3: or TEDRA as they call it, and they had a
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  Speaker 3: finding that where that hey, we want she's petitioning to say,
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  Speaker 3: we were in a committed intimate relationship and as a result,
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  Speaker 3: all the property acquired during the relationship is community like property,
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  Speaker 3: meaning they own a half and half subject to division
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  Speaker 3: between Jack's estate and Ann. Well, they reached an agreement
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  Speaker 3: and the value of the estate at the time was
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  Speaker 3: eight point three million, with Jack and Anne having a
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  Speaker 3: one half undivided interest because of this intimate relationship. And
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  Speaker 3: so then jackfile or the estate files in a state
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  Speaker 3: tax return showing four point one to three million half
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  Speaker 3: as one half was excluded because it belonged to Ann
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  Speaker 3: technically prior to death, even though it was owned one
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  Speaker 3: hundred percent by Jack. That was the agreement. Well, the
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  Speaker 3: State of Washington's Department of Revenue said, well, we'll go
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  Speaker 3: ahead and honor the TEDRA agreement that you came up with,
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  Speaker 3: but we're not going to honor this community property idea,
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  Speaker 3: and therefore you need to include her half because you
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  Speaker 3: owned it all in your estate in the in the
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  Speaker 3: tax bill estate, and you owe us an extra eight
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  Speaker 3: hundred and twenty four thousand dollars in tax. Well, they
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  Speaker 3: appealed the estate appeal. The trial court and the appellate
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  Speaker 3: court both agree or both disagreed with Washington agreed with
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  Speaker 3: the with the tax with the Tedra agreement, saying the
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  Speaker 3: estate of a partner in a committed relationship does not
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  Speaker 3: contain the full amount of the interest of community like property.
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  Speaker 3: Therefore only one half is included, and therefore no additional
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  Speaker 3: tax is owed to you. State of Washington go away,
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  Speaker 3: which I think they just got lucky. I mean, I
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  Speaker 3: mean when I see this that you died owning all
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  Speaker 3: the property in your name, I mean, the federal government's
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  Speaker 3: going to say, now, granted there probably was no federal
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  Speaker 3: state tax here. Well, yeah, no, he died in twenty seventeen.
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  Speaker 3: The estate was only eight million, The exemption in twenty
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  Speaker 3: seventeen was way over eight million. So you see, the
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  Speaker 3: federal government didn't get involved here. But I would think
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  Speaker 3: if the federal government got involved here, they would argue
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  Speaker 3: that this is one hundred percent included unless it was
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  Speaker 3: a community property. State, which it's not. Well, I don't know,
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  Speaker 3: so I think they kind of got lucky here, but
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  Speaker 3: you know what, at the end of the day, there's
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  Speaker 3: no planning here.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, she ended up getting a lot more than he
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  Speaker 2: thought she was going to get. He thought she was
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  Speaker 2: going to get three properties.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so play the string out. So they're not married, right,
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  Speaker 3: and they really needed to do a trust take care
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  Speaker 3: of the significant other, not the way you did it. Right. Therefore,
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  Speaker 3: your kids, if that's your wish, would be involved. So
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  Speaker 3: this really ended up leaving assets outright to the surviving
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  Speaker 3: the significant other. Yeah, right, so she gets half of
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  Speaker 3: these assets right now. Once she has them, you lose
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  Speaker 3: control over those. You never know if they're going to
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  Speaker 3: find their way to the grandkids, which is what what
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  Speaker 3: his wish ultimately was was to get these assets to
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  Speaker 3: the grandkids. So you'll never know if that's going to
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  Speaker 3: happen because of the way you did this. But if
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  Speaker 3: you had a trust, if you use the trust, you
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  Speaker 3: could have controlled the assets. You could have dictated how
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  Speaker 3: they are paid out to the significant other, what the
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  Speaker 3: significant other's control or use over them would be, and
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  Speaker 3: then had them left after that to the grandkids. Upon
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  Speaker 3: the death of the significant other, you could have allocated
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  Speaker 3: generation skipping tax exemption. You could have prevented any tax problems.
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  Speaker 3: The issue here, though, is they're not married. So if
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  Speaker 3: you did that and they weren't treated as one half
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  Speaker 3: owned by the significant other, there would have been a
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  Speaker 3: higher tax liability, right, so they would have owed the
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  Speaker 3: eight hundred and twenty four thousand dollars.
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  Speaker 2: The end result would have been, now her bloodline's getting
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  Speaker 2: four million dollars worth of stuff instead of whatever the
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  Speaker 2: eight million minus whatever he had carved out for her.
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  Speaker 3: Exactly, pay eight.
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  Speaker 2: Hundred thousand in taxes. Okay, because we're getting another three
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  Speaker 2: million dollars or so.
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  Speaker 3: You're following along, Yeah, perfectly, Susan. It's the eight hundred
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  Speaker 3: and twenty four grand It's like, well, that's the cost
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  Speaker 3: of not getting married.
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  Speaker 2: I guess curs world problems.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, you don't get married, that's the problem.
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  Speaker 3: If you get married, there's actually benefits because if you
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  Speaker 3: got married, you would have been able to use a
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  Speaker 3: trust and shelter, you know, all the assets from federal
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  Speaker 3: estate taxes and maybe more from the state.
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  Speaker 2: And approbate alone. That must have been so expensive.
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  Speaker 3: So at the end of the day. Sometimes getting married
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  Speaker 3: is okay, but then there's a price to pay if
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  Speaker 3: you don't. But folks, the bigger price here was that
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  Speaker 3: they didn't do any planning and they lost fifty percent
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  Speaker 3: of these assets to a significant other who can go
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: somewhere else. Don't let yourself fall into that trap. Get
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: this guide back to the basics. If nothing else, it
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  Speaker 3: will teach you the basics and help you get started
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  Speaker 3: on your estate plan eight six six eight four eight
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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
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  Speaker 2: financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group. We've got much
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  Speaker 2: more to come when we return to the Legal Exchange
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  Speaker 2: Welcome back into the legally change with Toddlinsky. I'm Susan
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  Speaker 2: powers if Negel, advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group, and
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  Speaker 2: I'm joined by Todd Lutsky, a partner with the law
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  Speaker 2: firm of Cushing and Dolan with a master's in taxation.
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  Speaker 2: Where are we headed now, Todd?
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: We are going to go to the district court in Arizona.
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: Interesting case here a joint revocable trust. I love these
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: so and we've talked about them a lot, so let's
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: see how would it works out? So Mark and Liota
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: established a trust in nineteen ninety three. They amended it
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: in two thousand and six, but the terms were essentially
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: the same, so we don't really need to address that.
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: It says upon the death of the first spouse to die,
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: the surviving spouse trustee, which is exactly how it should be,
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: splits the trust into two buckets, a marital share and
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: a family share they called it, and the family share
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: gets the assets over the federal exclusion amount. Well, okay,
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: the federal exclusion amount is fifteen million today, so that's
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: what would end up in the family share, and the
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: excess would end up in the marital share. A little
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: different than how we fund ours, but the same concept,
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: so that would be sheltered. I'm assuming this is a state.
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: Arizona must not have a state death tax, so they're
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: not talking about state death tax here. Well, Mark and
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: Liota had two children, Paul and Leanne. Paul was married
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: to Roberta and they had two kids, Kent and Kara.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: So Kent and Kara are their grandchildren. Paul and Leanne
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: are the children. Okay, it turns out that Paul and Roberta,
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: because they're married, they lived near Mark and Liota, and
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: Paul actually worked in the family business with Mark, and
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: they were all very close, the whole family, Paul, Roberta,
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: the kids, They were close with Mark and Liota. Well,
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Paul died in twenty thirteen. Leanne, the daughter, moved from
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: Washington to Oregon to help with the care of Liota
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: and allegedly claimed that Roberta requested that this happened, but
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: Roberta denies that she didn't ask Liota's sister in law.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: She didn't ask her to come, and the animosity between
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: Leanne and Roberta's family after Paul died grew continued to grow.
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: In May of twenty fifteen, Leota dies. Okay, so now
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: parents are gone. Mark is gone and Liota's gone, and
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: Paul is gone. Oh no, no, no, no, Mark is
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: not gone. Paul is gone. The son is gone, Anda,
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: and Liota dies. Mark is still alive. So Dad is
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: still alivet it. On May of twenty fifteen, Leota. Then
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: Leota dies and so the next day, without telling anybody,
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: didn't tell Roberta that she had died. Leanne drives Mark
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: to an attorney's office to update the trials and to
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: remove Paul's kids. That's the grandkids, Roberta's kids. That's Roberta's
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: kids and Paul's kids, right, that's the kids Kent and Kara.
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  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: Several other amendments were made Over the next several years.
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: The strain continued, and Mark the father allegedly sent no
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: contact letters out even though he had plenty of pleasant
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: visits with Roberta. But then they kept the kids Kent
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: and Kara away from visiting. So this started happening twenty
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: twenty one. Mark finally dies. Well, when Mark dies, the
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: grandkids now learn that they're disinherited. So they challenged the
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: will and bring a summary judgment to say this is
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: clearly undue influence. Well, needless to say that, Leanne also
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: brought a summary judgment, and both summary judgments were denied,
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: which basically means they said, you guys need to go
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: to court and figure out what's going on here. You
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: got a lot of problems, a lot of factual disputes
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: that are going on here, not for a federal not
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: for a summary judgment action.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: So what you're telling me, we don't have an answer
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: as to how you don't have a resolution. We've spoken
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: to you, Me and the people, the listeners don't like that,
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: don't enjoy it when you don't give us a solution.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: And what happened, Yeah, I mean, it clearly looks bad, right,
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: and we'll come to that. I mean, we'll come to
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: our own conclusion if we want.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: We might be done listening right now.
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: But at the end of the day, folks, at least
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: there was planning done here, and you're going to see
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: how this joint trust is going to help ensure the
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: wishes of mom and dad. And that's that's really the
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: key when it comes down to it. Well, folks, if
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: you've never done your estate planning, get this guide back
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: to the basics because it actually explains a real life
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: estate plan. It puts out is my engagement letter basically
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: explaining what to do for a family worked about four
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: million bucks, tells you how to get started with valuations,
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: what to think about, age, type of trust you might need.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: All the basic documents are explained, and the will and
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: in the irrevocable trust, as to how it works, the
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: tax savings, the control, et cetera. If nothing else, it
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: will help you get started with your estate plan and
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: learn which path is right for you. Call and get
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: the guide back to the basics eight six six eight
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: four eight five six nine nine or Legal Exchange Show
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: dot com again eight six six eight four eight five
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: six nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com. And
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: you can also go to our Instagram page at Cushing
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: Dolan PC for more information. What do we have here
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: for lessons? So this is a joint trust, right, I
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: think it's a great example of how a joint trust works.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: Let's run through it. Obviously there's family disputes, but let's
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: focus on what we can learn from this. Besides, please
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: plan all assets are put into one trust. It's so
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: much simpler than splitting them up as you saw here bo.
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: Both trusts are that both spouses are the trustee great control,
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: and you're you're completely in charge of any life changes.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: First spouse dies, I like to call them, a remainder
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: share and a marital share are created. They had two
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: shares created here as well, and they're funded right away. Okay.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: We also put a general power of appointment in language
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: allows if you have a general power of appointment, the
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: language allows all the assets of the trust to be
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: included on the first spouse's death. So if you had
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: a ten million dollar estate, all ten million are included
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: on the first spouse's death, allowing you, as we've always said,
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: to cram down more assets on the first death than
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: you can. If you had two trusts and had to
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: put five million in each trust and rely on whoever
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: dies first, you don't know, right, and so in this case,
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: you would put two million into the remainder share. Ch
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: equals the Massachusetts exemption, So we'd shelter that an eight
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: million would end up in the q TIP or the
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: marital share to allow it to be sheltered for federal.
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: So the whole ten eight and two would be sheltered
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: for federal. But then you would make a q TIP
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: election or a marital deduction election for the eight million
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: for Massachusetts, so that would pass to the spouse.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: I have to put the same amount through for the
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: federal as you do the state.
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: You pick two separate elections, so you get to cram
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: down the full amount federally, but only the two amount
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: two million for mass and then you kick the can
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: down the road for the eight million and maybe do
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: some planning after that. But even better, there's more involved
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: in this trust, so you're still in charge. You're the
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: surviving spouse. We then put a limited power of appointment in.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: This is what allowed Mark in this case, the surviving
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: spouse to change the trust even after one spouse died,
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: right even though it became irrevocable. The surviving spouse, with
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: the limited power of appointment, can change the kids, change
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: the beneficiaries. Now it's limited, so it's generally limited to
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: a class that you predetermine when you set up the document. Here,
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: kids of all generations and charity. Fine, you see, that's
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: how Mark was allowed to change the language and cut
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: out the grandkids. And again I'm not saying it's right
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: or wrong. I'm just saying that as families move along,
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: real life events happen, and sometimes there's a good reason
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: to exclude a child or a grandchild, maybe one struggling,
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: maybe one's gotten drug addict or something. You can do it.
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: So this really allows for that kind of you know, flexibility. Unfortunately,
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: you got to watch out for undue influence, which seemed
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: to be the case here. Obviously. You know, the daughter
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: took the father to the attorney and at the end
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: of the day, at the end of the relationship. Yeah,
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: the new trust basically says, I get a lot more.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: Why because if Paul, my brother is dead, and we're
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: now not leaving Paul's share to his kids, well then
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: it's going to come al to lean. So she's way
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: ahead of the game there. So folks just be mindful,
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: always look out for undue influence. But having a trust
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: in place is going to help way more than not
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: having it. So folks, get your estate plan off the ground,
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: get it up and running. Get back to the basics.
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: Eight six, six, eight four, eight, five six nine nine
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: or Legal Exchange show dot com and learn how to
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: start your estate planning today.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: You've been listening to Todd Letski, a partner with the
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: law firm of Cushing and Dolan. I'm Susan Powers, a
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group, and Todd will
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: be answering your listener questions when we return to the
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: Legal Exchange with Todd Letski.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: There are many elements needed to build a successful estate plan,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: and if you don't know where to start, Cushing and
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: Dolan can help. Estate planning doesn't stop with a will
• 24:00
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• 24:02
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  Speaker 1: exchange show dot com. That's Legal exchange show dot com.
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  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for in the views expressed are
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: solely those of Cushing and Dolan. Cushing and Dolan in
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  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for by Armstrong Advisory Group, a
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• 27:24
  Speaker 1: You're listening to the Legal Exchange, and it's time for
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Ask Todd, the segment where Todd will answer your questions
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: about anything and everything that's included in the estate planning process.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: Once again, here's Todd, Lutsky and Susan Powers.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: Welcome back, Todd. We have a few questions from listeners.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: First question comes from Val in Burlington, mass and Vale Rights.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: My father has reached the point where he cannot live
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: alone anymore. I have found a facility that seems appropriate
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: and cost forty five hundred dollars a month. My brother
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: has said that he would like to keep him at home.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: Could my pay my brother the forty five hundred per
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: month instead of paying it to a nursing home. It
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: would be a great solution for all is. My brother
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: has had some financial difficulties over the last few years,
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: and it would keep my father out of the nursing home.
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: So this is an interesting question. But let's just see
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: if I got the facts right. So if the father
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: doesn't go to this, I assume it's some kind of
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: assisted living. Forty five hundred a month is not a
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: nursing home. But let's assume that he doesn't go to
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: this assisted living. Is he then going to move in
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: with the son that's going to provide the care. It
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: sounds like he's going to stay at home.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: It sounds like the son is going to move in
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: with the dad.
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: Okay, the son's going to either move in with the
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: dad or at least be there to provide some care.
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: A couple of questions that aren't here. I wonder if
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: the son works. If the son is working full time,
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: then that hinders his ability to support the time that
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: he might put on a person care contract saying he's
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: doing this work for dad. So let's assume for the
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: moment that maybe he's not working, and so it works
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: out good for everybody. It works out for the son
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: who needs money, and it works out for the dad.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: Who needs care. He wants to stay home.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: If that's the case, I would say yes, but follow
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: these rules. Move in very important. Why now you're there
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: twenty four to seven he gets up in the middle
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: of the night. You're there. You have this ability to
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: support when needed. You then can put on your your
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: personal care contract. Don't just move in and provide care.
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: You need to make sure you sort of cleanse this
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: transaction of being done for love and affection of a
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: family member into a business transaction.
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: Okay, and how does he do that?
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: So you create a personal care contract, and in the
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: contract you need to put language that says, here are
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: all the things I plan to do for my dad.
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: Nice list. Here's how much I'm going to get paid. Okay,
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: like an hourly rate. Yeah, and maybe it's hourly. Maybe
• 30:08
  Speaker 3: I'm going to get paid bi monthly weekly. Put it
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: down right, you're going to have how long you think
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: you're going to do this? It might just be for
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: the rest of his life. Come up with the number
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: of hours that you think you're actually going to be
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: putting down to justify the forty five hundred a month,
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: which isn't outrageous quite frankly. And you put forty hours
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: a week in at you twenty bucks an hour or so,
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: and you can't get crazy. If you're not a nurse
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: or a licensed practitioner, you probably can't charge more than
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: twenty twenty five bucks an hour. I'm guessing to have
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: it support this rule, and then make sure you get
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: like some kind of a ten ninety nine at the
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: end of the year, and make sure that you report
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: it on your personal income tax return as earned income,
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: then other earned income. It's all of those things that
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: cleanse this transaction. When I say cleanse, it means prevents
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: the state if he ever needed to go to a
• 31:04
  Speaker 3: nursing home later because his health declined. Prevents the state
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: from saying this was done for love and affection and
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: saying that the transfers are really disqualifying transfers creating five
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: year waiting periods what every single month to prevent that
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: you do all these things, and now I'm actually spending
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: money for fair market value services rendered, So dad getting Yeah,
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: so Dad's getting fair market value services in return for
• 31:35
  Speaker 3: the forty five hundred that he's giving to his son.
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: Which also is why you need the contract. Right, if
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: it was to a third party provider, you wouldn't need
• 31:43
  Speaker 3: a contract, got it. But to a son, you do,
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: or to a daughter.
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: So that contract, Todd, that's not something they just whip up.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: That's a legal contract. An attorney has to.
• 31:51
  Speaker 3: Put that into's actually right, You definitely get an attorney
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: to put that together, walk you through all those things
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: so that you know it's not creating a problem that way,
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: if he gets sick, all the money that transferred is
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: protected from the nursing home. You don't have to put
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: it back, and it's not going to prevent them, as
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: you said, Susan from becoming eligible for Medicaid. So very
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: important question. And don't do that alone, folks. In fact,
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: don't do a lot of things alone. If you want
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: to get your estate plan off the ground this year,
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: this guide back to the basics, and we're still early
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: in the year, so it will be your ticket to
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: getting the estate plan off the ground. It explains what
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: to look for, valuation, what's included, how old you are,
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: family dynamics, questions ask. It also explains all the basic
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: documents healthcare, durable power of attorney, living will, and it
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: also takes a fact pattern and puts together an entire
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: estate plan. It's like my engagement letter for a four
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: million dollar client. You put your own assets in there
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: and see if this plan works for you. If not,
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: at least it will help you get started. Call and
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: get the guide back to the basics. One of my
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: favorite actually eight six six eight four eight five six
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: nine nine or Legal Exchange show dot Com again eight
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: six six eight four eight five six nine nine or
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: Legal Exchange Show dot com or go to our Instagram
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: page for more information. Cushing Dolan PC.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: Our last question comes from Jerry in North Kingstown, Rhode Island,
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: and Jerry writes, if I put my house in an
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: irrevocable trust, can I still withdraw from my home equity loan?
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: Or is it is that no longer an option? Can
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: I use funds in my irrevocable trust to pay off
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: my loan later on? A lot of people have mortgages
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: or home equity loans.
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: And this is a great question because there's a lot
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: of people who think they can't do these plans because
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: they have encumbered property, and that's not the case. So,
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: but you have to know what you're doing, otherwise you
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: could inadvertently trigger the con du on sale clause. You
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: could trigger a due on sale clause. What does it
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: do on sale class? Folks? If you sell your house,
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: transfer your house, give it away. Well, the mortgage was
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: to you, right, not to the new owner. So when
• 34:09
  Speaker 3: you do that, the bank discovers that, they call the note.
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: So how do you stop that from happening because you're
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: transferring it to an irrevocable trust?
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: Exactly right? Not to you transfer to the irrevocable trust,
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: you don't own it anymore technically, and therefore the bank,
• 34:23
  Speaker 3: if they discovered this transfer, could call the note. However,
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: when we meet clients that have encumbered property or home
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: equity lines of credit, we tell them, if you want
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: to keep this, we will transfer the property to the trust,
• 34:38
  Speaker 3: but reserve a legal life estate. I know, Susan, we
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: don't love life estates, right, but this is one of
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: the times we do use them. And it's not going
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: to cause any harm to anybody because kids are not involved.
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: Right, We're not giving it to somebody else.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: The remainder share of the property is in the trust,
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: irrevocab and you get to keep a nugget. It's a
• 35:02
  Speaker 3: little nugget of ownership called the right to live there,
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: which constitutes a couple of things for the life tenant, Yes,
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: the right to live there and two the right to
• 35:13
  Speaker 3: collect all the income. So if you ever rented it,
• 35:15
  Speaker 3: you could collect the rent. That's pretty much what you got.
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: But that little nugget of ownership is what prevents the
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: bank from saying you've transferred the property trigger the du
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: on saale class because you haven't. You kept the nugget,
• 35:31
  Speaker 3: and that's very important, so always keep that when you
• 35:34
  Speaker 3: do it, So that would be how you do it.
• 35:37
  Speaker 3: The rest of the question is, well, now that I've
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: done this, and let's say I have a two hundred
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: and fifty thousand dollars line of credit, but I've only
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: borrowed fifty and he wants to use more. Yeah, and
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: now I need a new bathroom. I'm going to borrow
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: another twenty five grand to fix the bathroom. Yep. Ye,
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: why because it's yours. Yeah, you can borrow it, certainly
• 35:59
  Speaker 3: you could, and then you could fix up the house. Now, arguably,
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: would that be considered a transfer to the trust which
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: might create a new five year waiting period because you
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: put money in the trust to fix up a house
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: in the trust. Maybe, but likely nobody would ever pick
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: up on that. And I think at the end of
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: the day, then during life, let's say you've also transferred
• 36:19
  Speaker 3: money to the trust. So you have this investment portfolio
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: in the trust and you have the house in yep,
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: and then later on you say, geez, you know, I
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: just want to pay off the mortgage. My mortgage, now,
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: my heelock? Can I do it?
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: Well?
• 36:36
  Speaker 3: Not directly because the money you can only take principal out.
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: You cannot take principle out directly to yourself, so there'd
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: have to be some kind of a distribution out to
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: a child through the terms of the trust, and then
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: the child would be able to pay off the mortgage.
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: So folks lots of flexibility with these irrevocable trusts. Get
• 36:56
  Speaker 3: in your estate plan off the ground. Get this guide
• 36:59
  Speaker 3: back to the base. It actually explains how the irrevocable
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: trust works. Eight six six eight four eight five six
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com.
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: If you have a question you would like to ask Todd,
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: visit his website Legal Exchange Show dot com and click
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: on the as Tod tab. Maybe I'll be able to
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: read your question on the air, and hopefully his answer
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: will stop you from becoming one of his next real
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: life stories. You've been listening to Todd Lutsky, a partner
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: with the law firm of Cushing and Dolan. I'm Susan Powers,
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: a financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory Group. We'll be
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: back with more after this quick break on the Legal
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: There are many elements needed to build a successful estate plan,
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: and if you don't know where to start, Cushing and
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: Dolan can help. Estate planning doesn't stop with a will.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: Wills by themselves do not keep your estate out of probate,
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: which takes time, can be costly, and it makes your
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: estate of matter of public record. Many families use trust
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: to help protect their assets. Trusts are tools that are
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: designed to help your assets passed privately, more efficiently, and
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: without court involvement. Cushing and Dolan have put together a
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: new guide called Back to the Basics, a complete guide
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: to an estate and asset protection plan. It explains in
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: clear terms how wills, trusts, and probate actually work and
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: why structure matters. Get your free copy today by calling
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: eight six six eight four eight five six niney nine.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: That's eight six six eight four eight five six ninety nine,
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: or you can request the guide online by visiting Legal
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: exchange show dot com. That's Legal exchange show dot com.
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for and the views expressed are
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: solely those of Cushing and Dolan. Cushing and Dolan in
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: or Armstrong Advisory may contact you offering legal or investment services.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: Cushing and Dolan in Armstrong Advisory do not endorse each
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: other and are not affiliated. Winter dates fill up fast,
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: so if you're thinking about escaping the cold, now is
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: the time to plan a getaway to the US Virgin Islands,
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: America's Caribbean paradise. Here you can fall naturally in rhythm
• 38:51
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• 38:53
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• 38:57
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• 39:35
  Speaker 1: Book your trip today. At visit USVII dot com. That's
• 39:38
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• 39:41
  Speaker 4: As you get closer to retirement, making sound decisions to
• 39:43
  Speaker 4: protect your assets becomes even more important, especially with increasing
• 39:47
  Speaker 4: cases of elder financial abuse. HI. This is Mike Armstrong
• 39:50
  Speaker 4: from the Armstrong Advisory Group. A Bloomberg report from last
• 39:53
  Speaker 4: September notes that older Americans are losing an estimated twenty
• 39:56
  Speaker 4: eight point three billion dollars to exploitation, scam calls, and
• 40:00
  Speaker 4: fraudy emails. Our issues to beware of, but there are
• 40:02
  Speaker 4: other warning signs that may not be easy to spot.
• 40:05
  Speaker 4: Our new guide is called protecting yourself or a loved
• 40:08
  Speaker 4: one from Elder Financial Abuse. In it, we discuss a
• 40:11
  Speaker 4: variety of concerns to watch out for, as well as
• 40:13
  Speaker 4: steps that you can take to stay ahead of potential problems.
• 40:16
  Speaker 4: Call us right now at eight hundred three nine three
• 40:18
  Speaker 4: for zero zero one and ask for your free guide today.
• 40:21
  Speaker 4: That's eight hundred three nine three four zero zero one,
• 40:24
  Speaker 4: or you can request the guide online by visiting our
• 40:26
  Speaker 4: website Armstrong Advisory dot com.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for by Armstrong Advisory Group, a
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: registered investment advisor. Nothing in the ad or in any
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: Armstrong guide a specific financial, legal or tax advice. Consult
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: your own financial, tax into state planning advisors before making
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: any investment decisions. Armstrong may contact you to offer investment
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: advisory services. Your tune to the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: If you are a loved one needs a nursing homestay,
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: call Todd right now at eight sixty six eight four
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: eight five six ninet nine and let him make sure
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: your assets are protected. That's eight six six eight four
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: eight five six nine nine, or visit him online at
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: 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 the Armstrong Advisory Group, and
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: I'm joined, of course by Todd Lutsky, a partner with
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: the law firm of Cushing and Dolan with a master's
• 41:13
  Speaker 2: in taxation. Todd, I do want to talk about kind
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: of the basic documents, because this guide is back to
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: the basic so you haven't here there's information about a
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: living will as well as a last will and testament.
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: So what is a living will and how is that
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: different from your regular will?
• 41:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so those are confusing. I wish we didn't use
• 41:35
  Speaker 3: the same words right for them, I can understand the confusion.
• 41:39
  Speaker 3: So a living will is simply a statement by you,
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: while you're healthy and of sound mind to the world,
• 41:50
  Speaker 3: saying that you don't want to be kept alive when
• 41:54
  Speaker 3: all hope is lost. Oh no hero Yeah, I don't
• 41:56
  Speaker 3: want to be on you know, a machine. I've decided
• 42:00
  Speaker 3: that for myself, and that's very different than having a
• 42:04
  Speaker 3: health care proxy decide that for you. Okay, So that's
• 42:08
  Speaker 3: the living will.
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: So if I state here today on the radio for
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: everybody to hear, if all hope is lost, I don't
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: want any heroics, does that count?
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: Like?
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: Oh I heard Susan say. I heard Susan say she
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: didn't want any machines or anything like that. Trust me,
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: she didn't want it.
• 42:27
  Speaker 3: No, I don't think that matters. Okay, but you need
• 42:30
  Speaker 3: to have it testamentarily put together. Now. Having said that,
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: I still must tell you that, unlike the rest of
• 42:36
  Speaker 3: the Union, Massachusetts of the United States United States, that
• 42:44
  Speaker 3: Massachusetts doesn't really honor not legal, but it does provide guidance.
• 42:50
  Speaker 3: So we still yeah, for your family, very helpful to.
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: Have because if you if I've stated I don't want
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: any heroics, and I'm in Massachusetts, So when it comes
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: to that time and I'm in the hospital and my
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: kids are there, they'll have that guidance. And then whoever
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: I've named is my healthcare proxy would then make that decision.
• 43:09
  Speaker 3: I will say, look, clearly, that's what mom wanted, so
• 43:12
  Speaker 3: let's do what mom wanted, as hard as it might be.
• 43:15
  Speaker 3: And it also doesn't hurt when you show it to
• 43:17
  Speaker 3: the doctor. I mean, at least the doctor can see,
• 43:20
  Speaker 3: you know, see it, right. But again, I think a
• 43:22
  Speaker 3: lot of states, you know, ultimately, you know, we hope
• 43:25
  Speaker 3: that it will be considered, you know, but other states
• 43:28
  Speaker 3: certainly it is. Yeah.
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: Is that what the healthcare proxy provides for the pull
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: the plug power.
• 43:35
  Speaker 3: Well, the healthcare proxy is entirely different. The healthcare proxy,
• 43:39
  Speaker 3: first of all, is not necessarily your wishes. It's you
• 43:45
  Speaker 3: asking somebody else to make the wishes. What I guess
• 43:49
  Speaker 3: they're your wishes in the healthcare proxy, these are the
• 43:51
  Speaker 3: things that you wanted done. But somebody else is making
• 43:55
  Speaker 3: the decision.
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: So it's their final decision. So if my kids say, no, oh,
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: we don't want to pull the plug, even though she
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: wanted that, we can decide not to see.
• 44:04
  Speaker 3: That's what and it's not just pull the plug. In
• 44:06
  Speaker 3: a health care proxy, it might say, you know, we
• 44:09
  Speaker 3: want you to have the ability to provide prescription medication
• 44:14
  Speaker 3: or painkiller.
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: I want the drugs just to be clear well to
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: feel no pain.
• 44:19
  Speaker 3: You know, it might say, you know, if they can't
• 44:21
  Speaker 3: make a decision. You know, first of all, you have
• 44:24
  Speaker 3: to be in a place with a health care proxy
• 44:26
  Speaker 3: where you are not able to make the decision. So
• 44:28
  Speaker 3: health care proxies are not automatically kicking in when you
• 44:32
  Speaker 3: sign one. It's not effective. Okay until I'm when the
• 44:37
  Speaker 3: doctor determines you can't make a decision yourself, because the
• 44:41
  Speaker 3: doctor will always talk to you first, got it. But
• 44:44
  Speaker 3: once they pass that threshold and say the doctor says
• 44:48
  Speaker 3: I need to invoke the health care proxy, now the
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: person's listed get to make decisions based on what it
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: says in there. Okay, again, should I do the surgery?
• 45:01
  Speaker 3: Should I not? Should I provide prescription drugs? Should I
• 45:05
  Speaker 3: provide painkillers? Should I? Should I admit somebody to a
• 45:09
  Speaker 3: nursing home? Should I pull a plug? There's a whole
• 45:11
  Speaker 3: laundry list of things that are in a health care proxy.
• 45:15
  Speaker 3: It's a little different than the living will, so yeah,
• 45:17
  Speaker 3: maybe that's a better comparison. But folks, these are the
• 45:21
  Speaker 3: kinds of documents that are in your back to the
• 45:23
  Speaker 3: basics as well. The power of attorney, the will, the
• 45:25
  Speaker 3: healthcare very important. It also helps you get started with
• 45:29
  Speaker 3: thinking about what to ask when you're with the lawyer. Right,
• 45:33
  Speaker 3: how old am I? What's my family dynamics? How much
• 45:35
  Speaker 3: is my estate worth? You know, those are the kind
• 45:38
  Speaker 3: of things you want to be thinking about. It's got
• 45:40
  Speaker 3: a list in there, and it also puts together an
• 45:43
  Speaker 3: entire estate plan. My recommendation to this four million dollar
• 45:47
  Speaker 3: family that we made up as to how to do
• 45:50
  Speaker 3: their estate plan, not only to protect it from the
• 45:52
  Speaker 3: nursing home. It explains the irrevocable trust, but how it's
• 45:55
  Speaker 3: left to the kids when they die. All these are
• 45:59
  Speaker 3: examples of things that will help you get started with
• 46:03
  Speaker 3: your estate plan. Call and get the guide and kick
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: your estate planning off today eight six six eight four
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: eight five six nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot
• 46:14
  Speaker 3: com again eight six six eight four eight five six
• 46:18
  Speaker 3: nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com. And you
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: can go to our Instagram page Cushing and Dolan PC
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: for more information.
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: So, Todd, what's the difference between a healthcare proxy and
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: a hippaform because they're both health related, right, yeah.
• 46:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, true, Except the hippaform is simply designed to allow
• 46:37
  Speaker 3: the release of medical information medical records on you two,
• 46:45
  Speaker 3: generally the people listed in the healthcare proxy. Okay, I
• 46:48
  Speaker 3: mean you know you can't get medical records on anybody.
• 46:50
  Speaker 3: It's all private, right, So if you have this and
• 46:54
  Speaker 3: the reason I do a hippoform is the healthcare proxy
• 46:59
  Speaker 3: doesn't become effective till you're not effective in essence, So
• 47:06
  Speaker 3: if you're healthy and in the hospital and you want
• 47:10
  Speaker 3: medical records but you can't get them, yep, no one
• 47:13
  Speaker 3: else can. But if you have a hippiform, we make
• 47:16
  Speaker 3: the hippiform effective immediately.
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 47:20
  Speaker 3: It doesn't matter whether you're incompetent or not at the time,
• 47:23
  Speaker 3: got it. It matters that it's effective immediately. So if
• 47:26
  Speaker 3: you're sitting in the hospital and you could say to
• 47:29
  Speaker 3: your husband, if he's listed as the healthcare agent, hey
• 47:32
  Speaker 3: run over to my primary care physician's office, and you know,
• 47:37
  Speaker 3: grab the medical records. Got it? Oh, perfectly fine. So
• 47:40
  Speaker 3: it's great to have it in both places in the
• 47:44
  Speaker 3: health care proxy, but also separately done. Got it?
• 47:47
  Speaker 2: Okay, So your power of attorney then todd, they are
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: not able to do any of these things for you.
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: Whoever you've designated as your power of attorney.
• 47:56
  Speaker 3: You mean these things by saying medical health, the health stuff. Yeah, No,
• 48:01
  Speaker 3: the power of attorney is not a health decision making document.
• 48:06
  Speaker 3: It is a financial decision making document. It allows, and
• 48:13
  Speaker 3: it's different in a lot of ways. And I think
• 48:15
  Speaker 3: the biggest difference is the healthcare proxy that we've been
• 48:19
  Speaker 3: talking about. We all now know becomes effective when when
• 48:23
  Speaker 3: you're incompetent, right, But the power of attorney becomes effective imediately, immediately,
• 48:30
  Speaker 3: and in fact, it has language in there that says
• 48:33
  Speaker 3: it survives you're incapacity, not your death, but you're in capacity.
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: So if something like that takes effect immediately, how do
• 48:44
  Speaker 2: you decide who to choose to be your healthcare proxy
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: and your power atturney? I mean, you have to choose
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: wisely on these things, especially if that power of attorney
• 48:53
  Speaker 2: starts immediately.
• 48:54
  Speaker 3: Well, the primary is usually your spouse, so that's usually
• 48:56
  Speaker 3: pretty easy. And again it's not big decision because a
• 48:59
  Speaker 3: lot of your accounts might be joint where you both
• 49:02
  Speaker 3: would have access to it anyway, even without the power
• 49:05
  Speaker 3: of attorney. Yeah, the alternate can be tougher. You know.
• 49:09
  Speaker 3: I always tell people, look, don't just pick the oldest child.
• 49:12
  Speaker 3: Pick the one who's most suited to do these kinds
• 49:16
  Speaker 3: of things and perhaps the most trusted. I mean, you
• 49:19
  Speaker 3: have to decide that as a family. You know, sometimes
• 49:23
  Speaker 3: geography matters. You know, having it closer than further is helpful.
• 49:28
  Speaker 3: So I would say, try to do that.
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: And if you don't have these basic documents in place,
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: it can be a bit of a nightmare if you
• 49:37
  Speaker 2: become incompetent, right.
• 49:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, So I mean remember that the reason it becomes
• 49:40
  Speaker 3: effective immediately is for two reasons. One, you know, we
• 49:45
  Speaker 3: don't want to have to determine whether you're sick or not,
• 49:47
  Speaker 3: to have somebody go to the pay my bill or
• 49:49
  Speaker 3: sign my name somewhere, you know, for convenience, just when
• 49:53
  Speaker 3: you get older. It's nice to have a child to
• 49:55
  Speaker 3: be able to to do these things without adding them
• 49:58
  Speaker 3: to the account. You don't want them as an owner
• 50:01
  Speaker 3: on the account. You'd rather have them serve as power
• 50:04
  Speaker 3: of attorney. So it's good for that reason too. And
• 50:07
  Speaker 3: again it's It's good because when you do become incompetent
• 50:11
  Speaker 3: to have this and not have to go get a
• 50:12
  Speaker 3: guardianship or okay, or go to court and get a
• 50:16
  Speaker 3: you know, either a guardianship or a conservative conservatorship. Folks.
• 50:22
  Speaker 3: In any event, get your estate plan going this year.
• 50:25
  Speaker 3: Make it a point. Get the guide back to the basics.
• 50:28
  Speaker 3: It really will help you get your estate plans started.
• 50:32
  Speaker 3: Answers a lot of questions that you might have eight
• 50:36
  Speaker 3: six six eight four eight five six nine nine or
• 50:40
  Speaker 3: Legal Exchange show dot com and you can download it
• 50:42
  Speaker 3: right there.
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: Todd Letsky from the law firm of Cushing and Dolan,
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: thank you so much.
• 50:47
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Susan. Always a pleasure.
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: I'm Susan Power as a financial advisor with the Armstrong Advisory.
• 50:52
  Speaker 2: We thank you for joining us today and we'll be
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: back again next week on the Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky.
• 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 trusts
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: to help protect their assets. Trusts are tools that are
• 51:18
  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,
• 51:42
  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 int
• 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
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: other and are not affiliated.
• 52:00
  Speaker 5: Financial life is more connected than ever. You likely have
• 52:02
  Speaker 5: online accounts, digital payments, automatic transfers, and that connectivity can
• 52:06
  Speaker 5: create risks if you aren't careful.
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: HI.
• 52:09
  Speaker 5: This is Chuck's outa from the Armstrong Advisory Group. Elder
• 52:11
  Speaker 5: financial abuse doesn't always involve a scam call. It often
• 52:15
  Speaker 5: starts with small changes like unfamiliar transactions. New names on
• 52:18
  Speaker 5: certain accounts are someone quietly taking on more control than
• 52:21
  Speaker 5: they should. One of the most important planning steps isn't
• 52:24
  Speaker 5: about investments at all, It's about clarity. Our new guide
• 52:27
  Speaker 5: is called protecting yourself or a loved one from elder
• 52:29
  Speaker 5: financial Abuse, and it covers practical tools like account alerts,
• 52:33
  Speaker 5: trusted contacts, and how to structure powers of attorney. To
• 52:36
  Speaker 5: get your free copy, call us right now at eight
• 52:38
  Speaker 5: hundred three nine three for zero zero one. That's eight
• 52:41
  Speaker 5: hundred three nine three for zero zero one, or you
• 52:44
  Speaker 5: can request the guide online at Armstrong advisory dot com.
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: The proceeding was paid for by Armstrong Advisory Group, a
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: registered investment advisor. Nothing in the ad or in any
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: Armstrong guide is specific financial, legal, or tax advice. Consult
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: your own financial, tax into state planning advisors before making
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: any investment decisions. Armstrong may contact you to offer investment
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: advisory services. Winter dates fill up fast, so if you're
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: thinking about escaping the cold, now is the time to
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: plan a getaway to the US Virgin Islands America's Caribbean paradise.
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: Here you can fall naturally in rhythm with the heartbeat
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  Speaker 1: of the islands. Spend your days on powder soft beaches
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  Speaker 1: in crystal clear water, sailing, snorkeling, or simply relaxing under
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  Speaker 1: the sun. Your evenings will be just as memorable with
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  Speaker 1: world class dining, local cuisine, live music, and unforgettable sunsets.
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  Speaker 1: Explore Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, or Saint John, three distinct islands,
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  Speaker 1: each with its own vibe, its own flavor, and its
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  Speaker 1: own way of helping you unplug and reset this winter.
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  Speaker 1: Flights from New England could not be easier. There's no
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  Speaker 1: passport required and there's no money to exchange. Start planning
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  Speaker 1: your trip today because winter getaways don't last forever. Head
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  Speaker 1: to visit USVII dot com for details and for more information,
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  Speaker 1: and get set that jet on your dream vacation. Discover
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  Speaker 1: why the US Virgin Islands are America's Caribbean paradise. Book
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  Speaker 1: your trip today at visit USVII dot com. That's visit
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  Speaker 1: USVII dot com.