Trusts

15 Dec LADYBIRD DEEDS BETTER THAN TRANSFER ON DEATH DEEDS (USUALLY)

Posted at 15:36h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Short Term Care, Taxes, Transfer of Death, Trusts

In a battle of the two most common probate avoidance deeds, it is often (but now always) better in Texas to use a Ladybird Deed (which is an enhanced life estate deed) than a Transfer on Death Deed. In both types of deeds, the owner...

23 Nov POTENTIAL TAX RAMIFICATIONS OF THE 2020 ELECTION ON INDIVIDUALS

Posted at 09:00h in Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Probate Administration, Retirement, Social Security, Taxes, Transfer of Death, Trusts

President-elect Biden has suggested various changes in tax laws to help achieve his legislative agenda. Although 2 Senate seats in Georgia have yet to be decided which could make a difference in likelihood of success in achieving the goals of the President-elect, the following are a...

02 Nov COMPREHENSIVE TO DO CHECKLIST AFTER LOVED ONE DIES (36 ITEMS TO CONSIDER)

Posted at 09:00h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Business, Charitable Giving, Disability Benefits, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Inheritance, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Mortgage, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Retirement, Social Security, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Transfer of Death, Trusts, Veterans, Wills

While the loss of a loved one may be emotionally devastating, the tasks to accomplish after one dies could be overwhelming. As a result, we have compiled a checklist of some of the important things to consider in a somewhat chronological order as follows: Get a...

19 Oct EIGHT ESTATE PLANNING ERRORS BY THE RICH AND FAMOUS

Posted at 19:38h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Taxes, Trusts

Although you would think the rich and famous would be the last to make estate planning errors, but they make mistakes (from which we can learn) like others. Here are some celebrity estate planning mistakes: No Estate Plan. Famous singers Prince and Aretha Franklin failed to...

09 Sep POST-DIVORCE ESTATE PLANNING: 6 COMMON QUESTIONS

Posted at 15:50h in Alzheimer’s, Beneficiary, Disability Benefits, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Guardianship, Inheritance, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Retirement, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Success Story of the Month, Trusts, Wills

Divorces are often draining – financially and emotionally. As a result, many do not want to incur more costs or even think about different financial arrangements. However, anytime there is a significant change in your family (death, divorce, disability, births, etc.), your estate plan should be at...

17 Aug SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH

Posted at 20:24h in Alzheimer’s, Asset Protection, Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Inheritance, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Public Benefits Protection, Retirement, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Success Story of the Month, Transfer of Death, Trusts, Wills

Husband and wife (“clients”) have 2 adult children. Once child is disabled and the other is a spendthrift (money is spent as soon as it is received). The disabled child is on Medicaid and lives in a facility where the drug costs and the great majority of...

11 Aug 16 WAYS TO AVOID GUARDIANSHIP OF THE ESTATE

Posted at 20:29h in Alzheimer’s, Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Disability Benefits, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Social Security, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Transfer of Death, Trusts, utma

Guardianship if often an expensive legal process which should be avoided if possible. Thus, planning should be considered as an alternative to guardianship. Guardianship is often needed for an incapacitated person. Texas law defines an “incapacitated person” as: a minoran adult, who because of a physical or mental condition,...

21 Jun WILL LADYBIRD DEEDS NEED A VENTILATOR DUE TO COVID-19?

Posted at 14:58h in End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Probate Administration, Transfer of Death, Trusts

As COVID-19 increases pressure on state Medicaid budgets as demands for Medicaid coverage become even greater, states may be inclined to expand Medicaid estate recovery giving the state the right to have a lien against the property (most commonly a homestead) of a Medicaid recipient...

30 May COVID-19 ESTATE PLANNING MODIFICATIONS TO CONSIDER IN CORE DOCUMENTS

Posted at 16:28h in Disability Benefits, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Wills

The coronavirus pandemic has not only resulted in the stark realization of our mortality resulting in a surge in the preparation of wills and trusts, but it has also caused the necessity for review or consider changes to the most basic estate planning documents including...

28 Apr KOBE BRYANT’S TRUST IS NO SLAM DUNK

Posted at 16:23h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills

Although Kobe Bryant’s revocable living trust was carefully drafted for estate and tax planning, the co-trustees (his surviving spouse, Vanessa and Robert Pelinka, Jr.) have filed a Petition to Modify the Trust to add as a beneficiary his youngest child, Capri, who is just nine...

14 Apr PANDEMIC PLANNING IN PERIL: WHERE THERE IS A “WILL”, IS THERE STILL A WAY?

Posted at 15:49h in Beneficiary, Business, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Guardianship, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Notarizations, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Quality of Life, Retirement, Transfer of Death, Trusts, Wills

Coronavirus concerns have resulted in an unprecedented demand for Will planning in America. Even younger Americans are realizing that they are not invincible. Most Americans fail to have even a simple Will leaving the risk of their assets being distributed in accordance with the laws...

31 Mar WILL ONLINE (REMOTE) NOTARIZATIONS BECOME THE NEW “NORM”?

Posted at 14:43h in Business, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Guardianship, Notarizations, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Wills

Italy and China have enforced strict curfews (much stricter than “shelter in place”) in recent months to “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus pandemic. As mentioned in our article “Pandemic Planning in Peril”, the signing of a Will in Texas is particularly difficult at this...

16 Mar IRA DISTRIBUTIONS TO BE AVERAGED TO DETERMINE INCOME FOR LONG-TERM CARE MEDICAID

Posted at 16:54h in Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Social Security, Trusts

Although nothing has been officially announced, a reliable source from the Texas Health and Human Services has indicated the state will look at the annual distributions from an IRA and divide that amount by 12 to determine the monthly income for long-term care Medicaid eligibility....

09 Feb SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH

Posted at 09:00h in Asset Protection, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Home Equity, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Nursing Home, Short Term Care, Success Story of the Month, Transfer of Death, Trusts

A married couple owns a homestead located out-of-state held in a trust. They move to Texas to be closer to their children since the wife needs long-term care. They have no long-term care insurance, and their liquid assets and income are insufficient to pay for...

28 Jan ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ESTATE PLANNING FLAWED

Posted at 09:00h in Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Trusts

Former Attorney General Janet Reno (appointed by President Clinton) created and funded a revocable living trust prior to her death in 2016. She was not married and had no descendants. Her trust had a specific bequest of her mostly underdeveloped four acre ranch home in...

21 Jan SEVEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUSTS USED IN PUBLIC BENEFITS PLANNING

Posted at 19:54h in Asset Protection, Assisted Living, Beneficiary, Disability Benefits, Estate Planning, Inheritance, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Miller Trust, Nursing Home, Public Benefits Protection, Social Security, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Transfer of Death, Trusts, Veterans

Public benefits can range from payment of expensive drugs (no matter what age) to long-term care costs such as skilled nursing care. There are 40-50 Medicaid programs in Texas in addition to strictly federal public benefits programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security...

14 Jan CHANGE IN RETIREMENT ACCOUNT LAWS AND INCREASED TAXES (SECURE ACT) LEAVES MANY BENEFICIARIES INSECURE

Posted at 19:45h in 401(k), 529 plan, Beneficiary, Disability Benefits, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Retirement, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Taxes, Trusts

Although the SECURE Act passage last month (which became effective January 1, 2020) covered 29 new provisions, the one provision likely to cause the most impact is the removal of “stretch” inherited IRA provisions to 10 years unless the beneficiary is an eligible designated beneficiary....

10 Jan SIX REASONS TO USE A TRUST PROTECTOR – AN EXTRA LAYER OF INSURANCE FOR YOUR TRUST

Posted at 19:44h in Beneficiary, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Trusts

A trust protector is a person or entity appointed by the one who establishes the trust (the “trustor”) to protect the trust assets and beneficiaries in the event the law changes or circumstances change and the trustor is unable to make such changes. Here are...

27 Nov BIG BAD WOLF (LONG-TERM CARE COSTS) CAN’T BLOW DOWN HOUSE MADE OF IRREVOCABLE TRUSTS

Posted at 16:47h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Medicare, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Trusts

Irrevocable trusts are a tool commonly used by many who plan in advance to preserve resources if they desire governmental assistance to pay for long-term care costs. Although Americans are living longer resulting in increased need for long-term care, sales of long-term care insurance have...

24 Nov JOINT BANK ACCOUNTS – A BLESSING OR A CURSE? NINE REASONS TO NOT USE A JOINT ACCOUNT

Posted at 16:09h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Guardianship, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Trusts, Wills

Joint bank accounts can be helpful in several ways, but such accounts can also be a trap for the unwary. A couple of the major benefits are as follows: Trusted joint account owner can pay your bills. Probably the most common reason for opening such accounts,...