Post Mortem Issues Archives - Page 4 of 5 - Law Offices of Daniel Timins

How to Choose an Estate Planning Attorney

Posted on September 23, 2016

You may have some idea of how an Estate Planning Attorney can help you (Wills, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies, Trusts), but may not know how to choose one. In addition to the questions you would ask any service professional, here are some thoughts and questions you may want to consider prior to signing a Retainer Agreement with the attorney, who will help you establish your estate plan: EXPERTISE: Does the attorney primarily practice New York estate planning, or are they a general practitioner licensed in multiple states? If your estate planning needs are relatively simple (minimal assets, you are married in a first marriage without kids, no disabled relatives) a general practitioner may suffice. However, I have also seen some horrible Wills drafted by

On-Going Planning: Generic Estate Plans Still Create Unique Post-Mortem Issues

Posted on October 16, 2015

Your estate plan is generic. I can almost guarantee it. Sure, perhaps 1% of people have something original, fantastic and truly thoughtful created for them, but (much like movie plots) there are somewhere between 9 and 14 standard estate plans out there for 99% of the population. That is because only .25% of us are truly wealthy enough to justify non-traditional planning, and .75% have the actual need for original content. Congratulations: You are normal. When you die, however, your estate is unique, special, its own miracle or monster. You have accounts at different financial institutions than everyone else, you leave behind a family with different relations, health concerns and creditor issues than everyone else, and leave assets to certain

Why ITF & TOD Accounts Are (Sometimes) Worse Ways of Transferring Assets than Using a Will

Posted on August 24, 2015

If you read my blogpost dated August 8th, 2015 you saw my argument stating that “In Trust For” and “Transfer on Death” accounts are better ways of transferring your assets than using a will because these transfers are accomplished quickly, free of legal expenses, and are not public information. Transferring assets by probating a will, on the other hand, is not immediate, which assesses court filing fees and legal costs, and makes it a public affair. But I only told you one side of the story… There are several instances in which transferring assets by probating your will may be preferable, especially when utilizing a “Testamentary Trust” in your Last Will and Testament. While I can appreciate that the following

Why ITF & TOD Accounts Are Better Ways of Transferring Assets Than Using a Will

Posted on August 8, 2015

Many financial institutions offer the account holder a choice of establishing a bank account as an “In Trust For” account and an investment account as a “Transfer on Death” account. For example, my bank account statement may say “Daniel Timins I.T.F. Barack Obama” or my investment account may be titled “Daniel Timins T.O.D. Herman Munster.” My personal choice of beneficiaries aside, while seeing these words on a statement may be a bit unnerving, there are huge post-mortem benefits to having ITF and TOD accounts: The accounts are solely under my control during my life (the beneficiary doesn’t even get statements during my life) They are revocable Upon my passing my beneficiary merely needs to show up at the bank with

Smart Ideas for Making Your Agents Known (When Needed)

Posted on June 27, 2015

Too many attorneys make the mistake of not informing a person’s Power of Attorney, Health Care Agent or Executor that he/she has been named as a person’s agent or, even worse, not telling a client how to inform these people of their responsibilities. These practitioners appear to have the attitude of “I’ve been paid, you have your legal documents, let’s both move onto the next thing in our lives.” While this does not rise to the level of legal malpractice, it certainly is inconsiderate and potentially dangerous: These documents are not public record. If there is an emergency, how is a Health Care Agent going to be identified by the admitting health care facility? The documents may be hard to

Giving to the Right Charity at the Funeral: Using Your “DORA”

Posted on June 26, 2015

I attended the wake of my friend Michael on Monday. He was a funny, likable, handsome man of 29 years of age and died unexpectedly. Like so many other people, I will miss Michael’s good humor and positive attitude. At the wake I noticed that his family had requested that any people who were so inclined could make a charitable donation to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Here was a young man who had no idea his passing was imminent, and his family had decided to ask for donations for a cause that was relevant to him, but he may never have voiced an opinion for or significantly donated to himself. And it suddenly hit me: I have

Wills Only Deal With a Deceased Person’s Money

Posted on May 13, 2015

The title of this blog seems clear: A will only deals with a deceased person’s money. But what exactly does this mean? Is a retirement plan such as an IRA a deceased person’s money? How about a life insurance policy owned by the deceased individual? The term “estate” means many things, though the term essentially means “property”. Real estate is often referred to as real property by attorneys. The “gross estate” means all property owned by the deceased person for taxation purposes, meaning everything they have control over (including life insurance, some joint property, and retirement plans). However, the “Probate Estate” is only property that passes through probate. Probate proceedings do not distribute funds paid outside of probate. Life insurance

GUEST BLOG – Alix Purcell of Alix LLC Brand & Marketing Strategy: How Will You Be Remembered?

Posted on April 24, 2015

The thought of dying is an unimaginable event to most people. As a result it takes a lot to sit down and anticipate the outcome you’d like for your heirs upon your passing. Going through the legal process of pulling together a will and testament is difficult enough, but rarely do people go beyond this to consider the emotional impact of the content they leave behind upon passing. I encourage you to reconsider the attention you give to this important topic. In my marketing consultancy work in content creation, I see the impact that carefully chosen language can have in completely transforming a message and connecting with a market in business, but imagine this impact in your personal life. .

SIBLING RIVALRIES: The Funeral: Who is in Charge?

Posted on March 24, 2015

The first sibling rivalry goes back to the “first” siblings, Cain and Able. It was not the last (though the outcome was a little more dramatic than the average sibling rivalry). Of the many rivalries that have taken place since, one that is too often overlooked is over the parent’s disposition of their remains upon their passing. I have seen situations where one sibling [we’ll call him “brother”] was the local child living with his mother, and the more distant child [“sister”] lived a few thousand miles away. Brother and sister had not liked each other for decades. When mom passed away, brother did not tell sister, and decided to hold a small funeral where mom’s funeral service was highly

Testamentary Trusts: The Good and the Bad

Posted on December 9, 2014

A testamentary trust is not applicable until (1) you pass away, (2) your will is successfully admitted to probate, and (3) the trustee establishes a trust account with funds delivered by the will’s executor. But what kind of property should you have distributed via these trusts? The advice of many estate planning attorneys is to transfer as little as possible by will: Probate requires: a good deal of paperwork notice to a potentially large number of familial and beneficial parties, a court clerk approval of submission of the will, the court’s over-all approval, etc. Probate also has a sliding scale for court filing fees, is a public affair, and takes a good deal of time to administer. Meanwhile, transferring property