Barnes Lipscomb & Stewart PLLC

Senior Second Marriages and Estate Planning

“More Americans are now getting married over the age of 65 than ever before. Even though this may be a second or third marriage for many, caregivers should nevertheless be aware of certain aspects that shouldn’t be ignored amidst all the wedding plans and celebrations.”

For seniors enjoying the romance and vitality of an unexpected late-in-life engagement, congratulations! Love is a wonderful thing, at any age. However, anyone remarrying for the second, or even third time, needs to address their estate planning as well as financial plans for the future. Pre-wedding planning can make a huge difference later in life, advises a recent article from Seniors Matter titled “Your senior parent is getting remarried—just don’t ignore key areas.”

A careful review of your will, powers of attorney, healthcare proxy, living will and any other advance directives should be made. If you have new dependents, your estate planning attorney will help you figure out how your children from a prior marriage can be protected, while caring for new members of the family. Failing to adjust your estate plan could easily result in disinheriting your own offspring.

Deciding how to address finances is best done before you say, “I do.” If one partner has more assets than the other, or if one has more debts, there will be many issues to resolve. Will the partner with more assets want to help resolve the debts, or should the debts be cleared up before the wedding? How will bills be paid? If both partners own homes, where will the newlyweds live?

Do you need a prenuptial agreement? This document is especially important when there are significant assets owned by one or both partners. One function of a prenup is to prevent one partner from challenging the other person’s will and trusts. There are a number of trusts designed to protect loved ones including the new spouse, among them the Qualified Terminable Interest Property Trust, known as a QTIP. This trust provides support for the new spouse. When the spouse dies, the entire trust is transferred to the persons named in the trust, usually children from a first marriage.

Most estate planning attorneys recommend two separate wills for people who wed later in life. This makes distribution of assets easier. Don’t neglect updating Powers of Attorney and any health care documents.

Before walking down the aisle, make an inventory, if you don’t already have one, of all accounts with designated beneficiaries. This should include life insurance policies, pensions, IRAs, 401(k)s, investment accounts and any other property with a beneficiary designation. Make sure that the accounts reflect your current circumstances.

Sooner or later, one or both spouses may need long-term care. Do either of you have long-term care insurance? If one of you needed to go into a nursing home or have skilled care at home, how would you pay for it? An estate planning attorney can help you create a plan for the future, which is necessary regardless of how healthy you may be right now.

Once you are married, Social Security needs to be updated with your new marital status and any name change. If a parent marries after full retirement age and their new spouse’s benefit is higher than their own, they may be able to increase their benefits to 50% of the new spouse’s benefits. If they were receiving divorced spousal benefits, those will end. The same goes for survivor benefits, if the person marries before age 60. If they’re disabled, they may still receive those benefits after age 60.

Setting up an appointment with an estate planning attorney a few months before a senior wedding is a good idea for all concerned. It provides an opportunity to review important legal and financial matters, while giving both spouses time to focus on the “business” side of love.

Reference: Seniors Matter (April 29, 2022) “Your senior parent is getting remarried—just don’t ignore key areas”

What Is a Digital Estate Plan?

Traditional estate planning is step one, from creating a will to setting up a durable power of attorney and health care proxies. However, when you and your estate planning attorney create a comprehensive estate plan, you’ll now need to include digital estate planning. A recent article titled “Digital Estate Planning: 5 Things to Do Now to Make Things Easier in a Crisis” from Consumer Reports provides a step-by-step process.

First, get your important information organized. Create a document and either store it in a fireproof, waterproof safe in your home or share it with a secure digital password manager. Include complete contact information for doctors, estate planning attorneys, business partners, financial advisors, family members and important friends. Include land line and cell phones numbers and email addresses. Next, list your medical information, health conditions, prescriptions and pharmacies. Add information for your workplace, schools, houses of worship and community organizations. Anyone you interact with on a regular basis should be included.

Provide information for personal documents, including your birth certificate, Social Security card, estate planning documents, passport and Medicare or other health insurance information.

Your estate planning documents include your advance care directives, including a living will, durable power of attorney and healthcare proxy.

Financial information including bank accounts, account numbers, investments, credit cards, mortgages and car loans or leases should be listed. Make a note about all recurring bills when they are due and how you pay them.

Password sharing with trusted family members. Someone will need access to your online accounts. Ideally, share this information with two people—one who lives with you and one who does not—just in case one cannot help. Phone and computer passwords should be written down or write down a hint you know will easily be understood by someone who knows you well. You can also use a password manager. However, be careful to select one with extremely good security.

Create a legacy contact for major online accounts. A handful of major online platforms now provide an option to name a person who can access your accounts, if you designate a “legacy contact.” Apple, Facebook and Google are among those who offer this important feature. In the future, other platforms may follow.

Add digital assets to your will. Major platforms without a legacy contact feature have strict access requirements. Microsoft says it must be served with a valid subpoena or court order to provide access. LinkedIn and Instagram can memorialize accounts but require legal documentation or proof of death for an executor to gain access to the accounts. Go through all platforms and find out what your executor will need to do to obtain your digital assets. Make sure that they are added to your will. However, don’t include account numbers or passwords, as the will becomes part of the public record during probate.

Digital assets are still tricky. The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), which has been adopted by most but not all states, allows people you designate in your will to access digital property. However, it is not a complete solution. RUFADAA doesn’t allow for access to the content of emails and other digital communications because of privacy laws. Your will needs to have language clearly stating your wish for your fiduciary to be able to access and read your emails.

Call a planning meeting with your family. Talk about your wishes, the planning you’ve done and your expectations for who will handle your affairs. It’s not the easiest conversation, and some family members may be more comfortable than others, but when the inevitable occurs, they’ll be ready.

Reference: Consumer Reports (May 4, 2022) “Digital Estate Planning: 5 Things to Do Now to Make Things Easier in a Crisis”

Does Power of Attorney Perform the Same Way in Every State?

“The law sometimes appears to contradict itself. Specifically, the words ‘anything and everything’ do not always legally mean ‘anything and everything’.”

A power of attorney is an estate planning legal document signed by a person, referred to as the “principal,” who grants all or part of their decision-making power to another person, who is known as the “agent.” Power of attorney laws vary by state, making it crucial to work with an estate planning attorney who is experienced in the law of the principal’s state of residence. The recent article from limaohio.com, titled “When ‘anything and everything’ does not mean anything and everything,” explains what this means for agents attempting to act on behalf of principals.

When a global or comprehensive power of attorney grants an agent the ability to do everything and anything, it may seem to the layperson they may do whatever they need to do. However, each state has laws defining an agent’s role and responsibilities.

As a matter of state law, a power of attorney does not include everything.

In some states, unless certain powers are explicitly stated, the POA does not include the right to do the following:

• Create, amend, revoke, or terminate a trust
• Make a gift
• Change a beneficiary designation on an account
• Change a beneficiary designation on a life insurance policy.

If you want your agent to be able to do any of these things, consult with an experienced estate planning attorney, who will know what your state’s law allows.

You’ll also want to keep in mind any gifting empowered by the POA. If you want your agent to gift your property to other people or to the agent, the power to gift is limited to $16,000 of value to any person in one year, unless the POA explicitly states the power to gift may exceed $16,000. An estate planning attorney will know what your state’s limits are and the tax implications of any gifts in excess of $16,000.

These types of limitations are intended to give some common-sense parameters to the POA.

Most people don’t know this, but the power of attorney can be as narrow or as broad as the principal wishes. You may want your brother-in-law to manage the sale of your home but aren’t sure he’ll do a good job with your fine art collection. Your estate planning attorney can create a power of attorney excluding him from taking any role with the art collection and empowering him to handle everything else.

Reference: limaohio.com (April 30, 2022) “When ‘anything and everything’ does not mean anything and everything”

What If You Don’t have a Will?

“A recent survey estimated that 68% of people die without a will. The consequences of dying without a will (‘intestate’) can be disastrous.”

A will is a written document stating wishes and directions for dealing with the property you own after your death, also known as your “estate,” explains a recent article “Placing the puzzle pieces of long-term care and planning a will” from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The COVID pandemic has reinforced the importance of having an estate plan in place. With almost one million deaths attributed to COVID to date, many families have learned this lesson in the hardest possible way.

When someone dies without a will, property is distributed according to their state’s intestacy laws. If your next of kin is someone you loathe, or even just dislike, they may become an heir, whether you or the rest of your family likes it or not. If you are part of an unmarried couple, your partner has no legal rights, unless you’ve created a will and an estate plan to provide for them.

In general, intestacy laws distribute property to a surviving spouse or certain descendants. A much better solution: speak with an experienced estate planning attorney to have a will and other estate planning documents prepared to protect yourself and those you love.

Start by determining your goals and speaking with family members. You may be surprised to learn an adult child doesn’t need or want what you want to leave them. If you have a vacation home you want to leave to the next generation, ask to see if they want it.

A family meeting, attended by an objective person, like an estate planning attorney, may be helpful in clarifying your intentions and setting expectations for heirs. It may reveal new information about your family and change how you distribute your estate. A grandchild who has already picked out a Ferrari, for instance, might make you consider setting up a trust with distributions over time, so they can’t blow their inheritance in one purchase.

Determining who will be your executor is another important decision for your will. The executor is like the business manager of your estate after you have passed. They are a fiduciary, with a legal obligation to put the estate’s interest above their own. They need to be able to manage money, make sound decisions and equally important, stick to your wishes, even when your surviving loved ones have other opinions about “what you would have wanted.”

You’ll need to speak with this person to make sure they are willing to take on the task. If there is no one suitable or willing, your estate planning attorney will have some suggestions. Depending on the size of the estate, a bank or trust company may be able to serve as executor.

The will is just the first step. An estate plan includes planning for incapacity. With a Will, a Power of Attorney, Health Care Proxy, and Living Will (also known as an Advance Directive), you and your loved ones will be better positioned to address the inevitable events of life.

Reference: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (April 24, 2022) “Placing the puzzle pieces of long-term care and planning a will”

What Happens If You Become Incapacitated?

“Many people ask what would happen if they were in the hospital and unable to make their own medical decisions? The answer depends on whether you planned ahead.”

If you became incapacitated and advance planning had been done, your family will have the legal documents you need. Just as importantly, they will know what your wishes are for incapacity and end-of-life care. If there was no planning, your loved ones will have to start with a lengthy application to the court to have someone named a guardian. They are a person who has legal authority to make medical decisions on your behalf.

Having a plan in place beforehand is always better, explains the article “If I become incapacitated, who makes healthcare decisions?” from Waterdown Daily Times.

Another reason to plan ahead: the court does not require the guardian to be a family member. Anyone can request a guardian to be appointed for another incapacitated individual, whether incapacity is a result of illness or injury. If no planning has been done, a guardianship must be established.

This is not an easy or inexpensive process. A petition must be filed, and the person in question must be legally declared incapacitated. In some cases, these filings are done secretly, and a guardianship maybe established without the person or their family even knowing it has occurred.

There are also many cases where one family member believes they are better suited for the task, and the family becomes embroiled in controversy about who should serve as the guardian.

The entire problem can be resolved by working with an experienced estate planning attorney long before incapacity becomes an issue. A comprehensive estate plan will include a plan for distribution of assets (Last Will and Testament), Power of Attorney, Healthcare Power of Attorney and a Living Will.

These last two documents work together to describe your wishes for end-of-life care, medical treatment and any other medical issues you would want conveyed to healthcare providers.

Unfortunately, the pandemic revealed just how important it is to have these matters taken care of. If you did create these documents in the last few years, it would be wise to review them, since the people in key roles may have changed. While the idea of being on a respirator may have at one time been a clear and firm no, you may feel otherwise now.

A Healthcare Power of Attorney is an advance directive used to name a person, who becomes your “agent,” to make healthcare decisions. If there is no Healthcare Power of Attorney, physicians will ask a family member to make a decision. If no family can be reached in a timely manner, the court may be asked to appoint a legal guardian to be the decision-maker. In an urgent situation, the physician will have to make the decision, and it may not be the decision you wanted.

The Living Will explains your wishes for end-of-life care. For instance, if you become seriously ill and don’t want a feeding tube or artificial heart machine, you can say so in this document. You can even state who you do and do not wish to visit you when you are sick.

The best advice is to have a complete estate plan, including these vital documents, created by an experienced estate planning attorney. If you have an estate plan and have not reviewed it in the past three to five years, a review would be best for you and your loved ones.

Reference: Watertown Daily Times (April 14, 2022) “If I become incapacitated, who makes healthcare decisions?”

When a Spouse Dies, Does Survivor Get Their Social Security Benefits?

“When you’re gone, your spouse’s income will take a major hit–one that can be worsened significantly, if you make the wrong decision about when to claim.”

Most people don’t understand how Social Security works for themselves or their loved ones. Here’s one major misconception: you can’t file early for Social Security and then get an increased level of benefits once you’ve reached Full Retirement Age, or FRA. This is one of many common errors, according to a recent article “When You Claim Social Security Can Have Huge Implications for Your Spouse” from Kiplinger. Once you’ve started taking benefits before your FRA, your lower level is set for life.

Another common error happens when married couples don’t understand how their benefits impact each other. If your spouse depends on your Social Security benefits to pay the bills, you both need to gain an accurate understanding of how surviving spouse benefits work.

Let’s that say a couple retires and both decide to take their Social Security benefits right away. One is 66 and the other is 62. The older, Pat, receives $3,000 monthly. The younger spouse, Penny, will receive $1,900. Their total household benefit from Social Security is $4,900. If Pat dies first, Penny will lose her own benefit and receive only Pat’s $3,000 monthly benefit. If this is the only income, Penny may face some serious financial challenges.

If Pat started taking benefits earlier than his FRA, at 64 instead of 66, his monthly benefit would be $2,625. If he were to start taking benefits at 62, his Social Security benefit will be even smaller. The reductions are permanent, and they also impact a surviving spouse’s monthly benefit.

What can you do to maximize your spouse’s survivor benefit? Wait for as long as you can to claim your Social Security benefits. For every year you wait, you earn an extra 8% in delayed benefits. These increases grow until age 70, at which point your Social Security benefit reaches the maximum.

Not everyone can afford to delay their benefits. However, when possible, it makes a big difference to the surviving spouse, who is statistically likely to be the female spouse. For couples who can afford to delay benefits, couples with significant age differences and couples where one of the two has exceptionally good health or comes from a family with longevity, this is a worthwhile approach.

Delaying benefits means the loss of benefits during the years until age 70. Forgoing several thousand dollars a month may not be possible for everyone.

If your surviving spouse won’t be able to make ends meet without both Social Security benefits, there needs to be a plan to somehow bridge the gap. How this is done depends upon the individuals and their families. Every situation is different. It is not an easy situation to address. However, one thing is certain: ignoring it will not make the problem go away.

Reference: Kiplinger (April 20, 2022) “When You Claim Social Security Can Have Huge Implications for Your Spouse”

What Is a Pour-Over Will?

“A pour-over will can be an important part of a person’s estate planning checklist.”

A pour-over will is a particular kind of will created to work with a trust, with a goal of facilitating the transfer of assets if the person creating the trust (the grantor) has not transferred all of their assets into the trust. This happens more often than you’d think. How do you know if you need a pour-over will? The article “Do you need a pour-over will in your estate plan?” from Bankrate will help prepare you for a discussion with an estate planning attorney.

A pour-over will contains a provision permitting the will to pour-over any residual assets left in the person’s estate into a living trust, which is overseen by a trustee when the grantor has died.

Think of the pour-over will as a safety net for a person who didn’t get around to placing all of their assets into the trust before they died. It is also a good tool to avoid the intestate rules that come into play when someone dies without a valid will. Even if assets were not specifically part of the living trust, they can be moved into the living trust after the death of the grantor.

How does the pour-over will work? When the estate plan is created, the grantor may designate certain assets to be titled in the name of a living trust established to own the assets which will pass to designated beneficiaries of the trust after the grantor dies. Assets owned in a trust are outside of the estate and don’t go through probate.

Some assets may not be eligible to be titled directly in a trust, including IRAs or other qualified retirement plans. These pass to heirs by a beneficiary designation. Most assets passing by beneficiary designation are not eligible to be placed in a trust.

In the pour-over will, the grantor states that any assets not previously placed in the trust should be added to the trust upon their death. Assets acquired after the trust was established may be poured over into the trust and receive the same treatment as any assets placed in the trust already.

This sounds like a great solution, especially for a person who doesn’t always get around to every last detail. However, there are some pros and cons.

On the plus side is the creation of a safety net to ensure assets go into the trust, making it easier to protect and distribute assets.

Reducing probate complexity is another plus. If a big asset was not included in the trust, it simply goes into the trust at death.

However, there are some drawbacks. The will still needs to go through probate. The will can be challenged, which is always a factor in any estate. Finally, each state has its own laws regarding pour-over wills. Ask an experienced estate planning attorney if this is an option for you before proceeding.

Reference: Bankrate (April 20, 2022) “Do you need a pour-over will in your estate plan?”

Is Bitcoin Part of an Estate?

“Have you thought about what will happen to your bitcoin when you die? For many of us, the thought has at least crossed our mind.”

Few bitcoin owners have seriously considered what will happen to their bitcoin when they die. A recent article titled “The Importance of Having an Estate Plan for Your Bitcoin” from Bitcoin Magazine, strongly urges owners to create a legally sound plan of action ensuring both the sovereignty and privacy of these holdings. However, many owners don’t expect to die very soon, and even those who have an estate plan haven’t considered the nuances of estate planning for digital assets. Among all digital assets, there’s no asset requiring more planning for custody and conveyance as bitcoin.

Can you use an irrevocable trust for bitcoin? This type of trust is an excellent tool for your estate plan and beneficiaries. However, for bitcoin, a revocable trust may be the better alternative. The revocable trust does not protect your assets from creditors, but it provides complete control to the grantor, the person creating the trust.

Bitcoin cannot be treated like dollars in your estate plan. If your crypto is held on an exchange like Coinbase or Gemini, your executor may not have as much of a battle to uncover and access your money. However, what if they are not? Would your executor know what to do with the seed phrases buried in the backyard, or “how to interpret BIP39 punched into steel?” These are things known only to bitcoin owners.

Digital asset estate planning requires a level of technical competence and understanding.

Most states have adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) or plan to in the near future. RUFADAA, in most instances, empowers the executor of your estate with the authority to request access to most digital assets, taking into account your privacy interests and the terms of service agreements with big tech companies. However, when it comes to decentralized money like bitcoin, RUFADAA will be of little use.

In many cases, a living or revocable trust is the best choice. This will allow you to maintain access to your assets in the same way you do while living, but if the unexpected occurs, like death or incapacity, the assets won’t be lost, forgotten or misused.

With a revocable trust, you may act as the trustee of your digital assets. As both the grantor and trustee, you can make as many changes as you want to the trust. The property is not protected from creditors and does not receive any special tax treatment while you are living. However, the revocable living trust can be created to convey bitcoin to your heirs without limiting your own use of the assets while you are living.

How you store bitcoin during your lifetime is your choice. Many use a non-custodial cold storage solution, which provides great privacy but requires technical competency to manage. The bitcoin you wish to pass to your heirs needs to be documented correctly legally and technically. Talk with your estate planning attorney to be sure your digital assets are as protected as your traditional assets.

Reference: Bitcoin Magazine (April 17, 2022) “The Importance of Having an Estate Plan for Your Bitcoin”

What Assets are Not Considered Part of an Estate?

“In presentations regarding essential actions individuals should take regarding inheritance, emphasis is usually placed on drafting a will. This leaves unanswered what happens to assets that do not pass by will —so called non-probate assets.”

In many families, more assets pass outside the Last Will than through the Last Will. Think about non-probate assets: life insurance proceeds, investment accounts, jointly titled real estate assets, assuming they were titled as joint tenants with right of survivorship, and the like. These often add up to considerable sums, often more than the probate estate.

This is why a recent article from The Mercury titled “Planning Ahead: Pay attention to your non-probate assets” strongly urges readers to pay close attention to accounts transferred by beneficiary.

Most retirement accounts like IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s and others pass by beneficiary designation and not through the Last Will. Banks and investment accounts designated as Payable on Death (POD) or Transfer on Death (TOD) also do not pass through probate, but to the other person named on the account. Any property owned by a trust does not go through probate, one of the reasons it is placed in the trust.

Why is it important to know whether assets pass through probate or by beneficiary designation? Here’s an example. A man was promised half of this father’s estate. His dad had remarried, and the son didn’t know what estate plans had been made, if any, with the new spouse. When the father passed, the man received a single check for several thousand dollars. He knew his father’s estate was worth considerably more.

What is most likely to have happened is simple. The father probably retitled the house with his new spouse as tenants by the entireties–making it a non-probate asset. He probably retitled bank accounts with his new spouse. And if the father had a new Last Will created, he likely gave 50% to the son and 50% to the new spouse. The father’s car may have been the only asset not jointly owned with his new spouse.

A parent can also accidently disinherit an heir, if all of their non-probate assets are in one child’s name and no provision for the non-probate assets has been made for any other children. An estate planning attorney can work with the parents to find a way to make inheritances equal, if the intention is for all of the children to receive an equal share. One way to accomplish this would be to give the other children a larger share of probated assets.

Any division of inheritance should bear in mind the tax liability of assets. Non-probate does not always mean non-taxed. Depending upon the state of residence for the decedent and the heirs, there may be estate or inheritance tax on the assets.

Placing assets in an irrevocable trust is a commonly used estate planning method to ensure inheritances are received by the intended parties. The trust allows you to give very specific instructions about who gets what. Assets in the trust are outside of the probate estate, since the trust is not owned by the grantor.

Your estate planning attorney will be able to review probate and non-probate assets to determine the best way to achieve your wishes for your distribution of assets.

Reference: The Mercury (April 12, 2022) “Planning Ahead: Pay attention to your non-probate assets”

Can I Protect My Inheritance from Divorce?

“Your dad bequeathed you a generous sum of money on his passing. Those gifted and inherited assets, in many instances, will be considered ‘separate property,’ not marital property. That might mean that they might not be subject to division, if you divorce. However, perhaps you want to backstop that hoped for result to make the protection more likely to stick if your marriage doesn’t work out.”

Even if divorce is the last thing on your mind, when an inheritance is received, its wise to treat it differently from your joint assets, advises a recent article “Revocable Inheritance Trust: Inexpensive Divorce Protection” from Forbes. After all, most people don’t expect to be divorced. However, the numbers have to be considered—many do divorce, even those who least expect it.

Maintaining separate property is the most important step to take. If you deposit a spouse’s paycheck into the account with your inheritance, even if it was by accident, you’ve now commingled the funds.

You might get lucky and have a forensic accountant who can dissect that amount and make the argument it was a mistake, as long as it only happened once, but the Court might not agree.

Long before the Court gets to consider this point, if your ex-spouse’s attorney is aggressively pursuing this one act of commingling as enough to make the property jointly owned, you could lose half of your inheritance in a divorce.

You might also try to mount a defense of the particular account or asset being separate property, by identifying the means of transfer. Was there a deed for real estate gifted to you from a parent or a wire transfer for securities? This information will need to be carefully identified and safeguarded as soon as the inheritance comes to you, in case of any future upheavals.

To spare yourself any of this grief, there are steps to be taken now to avoid commingling. Document the source of wealth involved as a gift or inheritance, maintain the property in a wholly separate account and consider keeping it in a different financial institution than any other accounts to avoid commingling.

Another way to safeguard gifts and inherited property against a 50% divorce rate is to use a revocable trust. Creating a revocable trust to own this separate property allows you to make changes to it any time but maintains its separate nature, by serving as a wholly separate accounting entity. The trust will own the property, while you as grantor (creator of the trust) and trustee (responsible for managing the trust) maintain control.

For a turbo-charged version of this concept, you could go with a self-settled domestic asset protection trust. This is a more complex trust and may not be necessary. Your estate planning attorney will be able to explain the difference between this trust and a revocable trust.

One clear warning: if you have already created a revocable trust to protect your estate and it is not funded, you may feel like it would be most convenient to use this already-existing trust for your inheritance. That would not be wise. You should have a completely different trust created for the inherited property, and this would also be a wise time to remember to fund the existing trust.

Using a revocable trust this way will also require customized language in your Last Will, as you’ll want standard language in the Last Will to reflect the trust being separate from your other marital property.

Reference: Forbes (April 13, 2022) “Revocable Inheritance Trust: Inexpensive Divorce Protection”