If you've ever bought a lottery ticket, you've probably fantasized about what you'd do the minute you got that multimillion-dollar check.
That fantasy probably didn't include visiting a lawyer's office, but it's one of the first things you should probably actually do if you do become one of the fortunate few who actually wins.
That way an attorney can help you set up a lottery trust -- which may be the only way to hang on to that wealth and avoid adding your name to the "cursed" list of winners.
Here's the reality: Unless you already had a lot of money, you aren't used to handling all that money. You don't know how to preserve it, grow it or keep it safe from people who simply want to manipulate you out of it. A trust can do all three -- making sure that you have plenty of money decades after the thrilling moment is over.
A lottery trust generally has to be established prior to claiming your winnings, so consider these benefits of having one established carefully:
There are, naturally, several types of trusts that can be used to effectively manage lottery winnings -- but you want to discuss the particulars with your attorney so that your short-term and long-term goals are met.
Talk to an attorney today to learn more about trusts and how they can be useful to you.
Source: FindLaw, "Lottery Trusts," accessed Sep. 15, 2017
]]>Even the federal government has acknowledged the sickening reality: legal guardians of seniors, including those appointed by the state, are often financially abusive to their wards.
It's hardly surprising when the system is set up to be financially motivating and puts the control of the senior in the hands of anyone willing to take the job -- including a professional who might not even know the senior in question.
In many cases, someone will pass a background check and meet the surface requirements to become a court-appointed legal guardian for someone else -- but there's tremendously little oversight after they start. That leads to the financial and physical abuse of their wards.
Some of the examples included in a recently released study were outrageous:
It's also frighteningly easy for people to take control of a senior in a vulnerable moment. For example, an adult child can make a move to get guardianship while the senior is temporarily incapacitated due to health issues. Unable to fight back or attend the hearing, the judge may grant the guardianship believing that the situation is long-term and the child is acting in his or her parent's best interests -- while what they really want is financial control of the parent's assets.
If you believe that your parent's legal guardian is abusive or neglectful, or simply trying to grab all the money he or she can out of your parent's estate while your parent is still alive, talk to an attorney today. For information about how our firm may be able to help you, please visit our page.
]]>If you've worked hard, acquired some nice things and saved a bit, you'd probably like to know that someone will benefit from those things after you're gone.
However, it isn't always easy to sort through the intricacies of the way that different funds and assets are handled after someone dies -- and you may be surprised to find out that some of them don't work the way you might anticipate.
Here are a few things that you need to know -- and check -- if you want the right people to get your money when you're gone:
1. Insurance pays to the designated beneficiary.
Your insurance doesn't pay to your estate unless the person designated as your beneficiary (and any backup beneficiary you named) is deceased.
This can be a big problem. For example, if you bought your life insurance when you were married to your first spouse and you're now married to your second, nothing automatically changes. Your first spouse could still be the beneficiary. It's important to keep in mind that designated beneficiaries are under no legal obligation, regardless of your wishes, to turn that money over to the estate.
2. Pension plans also pay to designated beneficiaries.
If your pension allowed survivor benefits, you need to find out who you elected as a beneficiary and backup beneficiary. People often forget to update their 401Ks, for example, as their lives change. If your spouse has already passed on and your oldest child is named the only backup beneficiary -- because he or she was your only child at the time you began investing -- you may be leaving your other children and grandchildren out in the cold when it comes time to inherit.
3. Consider your options when it comes to the house.
If you own a home, consider your options carefully. If one of your children doesn't own a home, why not? Would that child be capable of taking care of a home? Is he or she a poor financial planner? Are there physical or mental issues that need to be considered? There are a number of way to keep your home out of probate, but you need to discuss the plans for your estate carefully with your attorney.
Don't let your plans get quashed by outdated paperwork. Make sure you update all relevant beneficiary information as soon as possible.
Source: First Republic Bank, "Pass on Your Assets Wisely: How to Choose the Right Beneficiaries," Mark Eghrari, accessed Aug. 31, 2017
]]>There are two very important things no estate plan should be without: the designation of someone to be your agent for health care (also known as the person who holds your medical power of attorney) and your living will.
Living wills are provided free by hospitals everywhere these days -- they function as a legal guide that allows the doctor, or other relatives, to follow your wishes regarding medical care once you can no longer express them on your own.
However, your personal agent is there to step in and make health care decisions on your behalf if the living will is either not in existence, incomplete or simply doesn't cover the situation.
Living wills can be broadly written or they can get down to specifics, like exactly what pain medication you want in your final hours when you are placed on comfort care. However, the agent's role is still vital -- because there's no possible way to cover every event that can happen during a crisis.
For example, what if you ask for morphine only during your comfort care but develop an allergy to morphine? As long as your agent is there, he or she can choose the substitute drug that can be used to keep you pain-free during your last hours.
Your agent can also step in if you're only temporarily incapacitated. For example, if you're put into a medically induced coma while a staph infection is brought under control, your agent can make the decision about whether or not to try to debride the infected area before going to more extreme methods (like amputation).
When choosing your health care agent, consider the following factors:
An attorney experienced in estate planning can provide you with estate planning advice, so you know your wishes will be carried out, even if you are incapacitated.
Source: FindLaw, "Selecting Your Health Care Agent," accessed Aug. 24, 2017
]]>The problem for many couples married overseas before coming to Florida is that the United States is stricter than many parts of the world about getting government-sanctioned permission for a wedding. In many countries, a couple's marriage is strictly a private affair -- if they're married according to local customs, that's enough for the government.
When one of those spouses happens to die in Florida, the legality of that marriage can sometimes be thrown into question -- especially if there are other potential beneficiaries waiting in the wings and all-too-willing to take possession of whatever the widow or widower would otherwise be rightfully due.
There is hope for those stuck in that kind of situation. While Florida does not recognize common-law marriages, where a couple never formalizes their relationship through a ceremony but holds themselves out to the community as a married couple, it does recognize marriages that don't necessarily meet the definition of a legal marriage under the laws in the United States.
For example, there was a dispute over the inheritance rights of a woman who was the "reputed spouse" of a man under Israeli law -- which is legally recognized in that country as equal to marriage and confers all the same benefits. The couples in such relationships are essentially without other options if they aren't religious or are unable to obtain a religious marriage because Israel offers no form of state-sanctified marriage. In other words, there's no possibility of getting married by a judge -- and not everyone has the capacity to be married in a religious ceremony for one reason or another. These reputed marriages are distinct from common-law unions under Israeli law but lack a precise term that easily translates.
The court found in favor of the "reputed" widow over the objections of his first wife, with whom he'd had a religious ceremony. While this clearly benefits any reputed widows or widowers in Florida, this ruling also has implication for surviving spouses who have a religious certificate of marriage but not a government-sanctioned certificate because the country they were married in doesn't require them. For example, some Middle Eastern countries rely entirely on a marriage contract to validate a union -- no government approval is necessary.
If your rightful inheritance is being disputed because you were married under foreign customs, talk to a probate attorney today.
]]>The odds are high that the first will you write won't be your last -- especially if you do things the way that you're supposed to and prepare a will while you're still fairly young. Over time, it is probably going to become necessary to change at least some of the provisions in your will as your children age, go to college, get married or have children of their own.
Should you just start over from scratch with a whole new will, or should you simply amend the one that you have with a codicil?
A codicil is usually a fairly short document and its sole purpose is to amend the existing last will and testament you've already created. It's far easier to add a codicil to a will than to entirely re-write one, but they're best used in certain circumstances:
On the other hand, it may be time to rewrite the entire will if you are making significant changes to an existing will or entirely changing the distribution of your personal effects and other assets:
An estate planning attorney can help you decide if a codicil to your current will is acceptable or you need a whole rewrite. For more information, please talk to an attorney today.
Source: the balance, "What is a Codicil?," accessed Aug. 10, 2017
]]>The biological mother and father of a teenage girl who was the victim of a gruesome murder are now asking a Pennsylvania court to make them the administrators of her estate.
That's the only way that the girl's biological parents can gain the legal standing that they need to sue the state and the social services organization that put their daughter in the care of the woman who first adopted her and then murdered her.
The biological parents had lost their parental rights to the teen and two of her siblings years before when the teen was still a young child due to abuse the children suffered at the hands of other adults in the family.
The home the teen lived in with her adoptive mother was apparently even worse than the one she left. Authorities have charged the adopted mother and her boyfriend with the rape and brutal murder of the teen, whose body was first kept hidden and then dismembered. The story of the teen's heartbreaking life has touched a painful chord with many in the state as an example of how the social services system failed to protect children in its care by making sure that foster and adoptive parents were fit for the job.
Under the state's law, a wrongful death lawsuit can be brought on behalf of the beneficiaries of the victim's estate -- which would normally include the victim's parents. However, this case is likely to be complicated by the fact that the biological mother and father lost their parental rights -- making them legal strangers to their daughter. If the court appoints them the personal representatives of their daughter's estate, they would at least have standing to bring the wrongful death lawsuit, which might be the first step toward achieving some small measure of justice for the victim.
Heirs who are contemplating a wrongful death suit need professional advice before they proceed. The complex rules surrounding estate administration and legal standing to sue can be difficult to follow with an attorney's help.
Source: Daily Times News, "Biological parents of Grace Packer seek estate access," accessed Aug. 03, 2017
]]>Once you've finally gotten around to writing your will, what do you do with it?
A will won't do any good unless someone knows that it exists and where to find it -- but at the same time, you may not be comfortable placing it directly in the hands of one of your heirs, just in case the temptation to sneak a peek turns out to be overwhelming.
Here are several different options to consider:
1. Find out if your attorney can keep the will and your other estate planning documents on file. Not all attorneys provide this service, but those that do often charge only a small fee for storage. Then make sure that your heirs each have the attorney's business card so that they know who to contact when you die.
2. If you have a safety deposit box, you can put your will and other important documents, like life insurance policies, into the box. The only drawback to this solution is that you need to authorize someone else to have access to the box in the event of your death -- otherwise, your heirs may have to seek a court order just to get in.
3. Purchase a fireproof, waterproof safe for your house and store your documents there. If you have the money for it, you may want to ask a contractor to build a cubby hole for your safe, so that it isn't out in the open. Keep in mind, however, that you need to leave someone a key or combination to the safe and tell them where to look.
Whichever option you choose, there's are a couple of additional steps you need to remember: Review your will periodically (around your birthday is a good way to remember) to see if it still reflects your wishes. If you decide to make any changes, destroy all copies of any previous wills in order to avoid confusion and potential disputes among your heirs.
An experienced attorney can provide with more information about estate planning and what your legal options are.
Source: AARP, "10 Things You Should Know About Writing a Will," Brett Widness, accessed July 28, 2017
]]>Complications with high-value estates can make for ugly turns of events in courtroom battles. There's no exception just because the deceased is one of the most famous musicians of our time.
The musician Prince, who was fiercely in control of his artistic catalog while alive, somewhat curiously died without a will. In the absence of a will, an estate's administrators are generally required to try to maximize the value of that estate wherever possible.
However, administrators also have to be careful how they go about that process -- or they may accidentally dispose of something that's already owned by somebody else. In this case, the company sold the rights to much of Prince's music to Universal Music Group for a monumental sum -- $31 million.
Unfortunately, Universal's main rival, Warner Brothers, claims that it already owns a significant portion of what Universal was counting on getting, including the rights to the highly-influential album, "1999." The licensing to that album would have expired next year if Prince hadn't signed an additional agreement before his death extending the license with Warner Brothers.
Universal accused the estate's expert adviser, a music executive, of purposefully deceiving them in order to get the contract and using a confidentiality agreement to do it.
The judge made no ruling about the legitimacy of the additional agreement -- nor did he address the allegations of fraud against the expert adviser. Instead, he rescinded the contract (against the wishes of some of the heirs) because ongoing litigation over the issue would likely deplete the estate's overall value. Finding a new buyer for the reduced catalog may now become a problem -- the new buyer will have to take a chance on a lot of unpublished work of unknown value.
The judge's action further underscores the importance of leaving a will to direct how your assets are handled, especially if they have the potential to be worth more in the future. A lot of potential legal battles can be avoided by that simple method alone. In its absence, much of what you hope for your legacy, particularly if you're an artist of some sort, may be swallowed up.
If you hope to leave an artistic legacy behind, an attorney experienced in estate planning can help make it happen.
Source: The New York Times, "Prince Estate's $31 Million Distribution Deal Is Rescinded," Ben Sisario, July 13, 2017
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