Estate Planning In Michigan

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Estate Planning Weekend Round Up

Here are some of last weeks estate planning news across the internet.

• The Modesto Bee had an article by Valentine Sabuco with the title “Is it time to get your estate planning house in order?”.  In the article she states “that estate planning is a very importnat component of everyone’s financial planning, regardless of the size of the estate.”  I could not agree more with her.  Read the rest of the article here: http://www.modbee.com/business/story/484500.html
• Michael E. Andrews wrote an article for Northindystar.com entitled “Estate plan safeguards assets, loved ones.”  In the article he lists six quality reason why you should have an estate plan.  Many of these have been covered on this blog already.  You can read his article here.
• Troy Neff wrote a good article in the Toledo Free Press entitled “Don’t Try this at Home”.  In the article Mr. Neff tells the story of a client who as a “do-it-yourselfer” and prepared his estate planning documents with a software package, without a lawyer.  Well, when it was all said in done, the client’s plan was fraught with issues.  You can read the full story here: http://www.toledofreepress.com/2008/10/31/don%E2%80%99t-try-this-at-home/

That’s all for this week across the web.  What we can take from it:

• The time for estate planning is NOW.
• I’ve yet to encounter anyone over the age 18 in Michigan who does not have a reason to complete a least  a basic estate plan.
• If you are going to do an estate plan, do it right.  Sometimes an poorly drafted estate plan is worse then having any type of estate plan at all.

Scam Targeting the Elderly in Michigan

An attorney colleague in Michigan just made us estate planners aware of the following scam that is targeting the elderly.

We have encountered a scam targeted at seniors. A lady in her late 70s was persuaded by a salesman to sign up as a local representative of a satellite television company, apparently under the suggestion that she could sell

(recommend) the service to her friends and receive commissions. She was offered and did sign an agreement to serve in this capacity, and in so doing authorized a charge of $7,500 to her credit card.

At this point I will not name the company on the contract or the satellite provider, but all of us should be on the lookout for this kind of scam.

It’s unfortunate that this type of thing happens to our seniors.

Fixed Fees

The Washington Post had an article about legal fees today.  The premise of the article was that many in-house counsel is requesting outside counsel to work on a more fixed fee basis, instead of an hourly fee basis.  My firm has been operating almost 90% on a fixed fee basis when we work with clients.  It feels good to be ahead of the game on this front.  You can read the post here.

Warren Buffet; Buying American

Warren Buffet had an interesting op-ed piece in the New York Times today.  You can read it here.  Basically, he is saying that the time to buy American stocks is now.  He is buying them in his personal fund.

So … I’ve been buying American stocks. This is my personal account I’m talking about, in which I previously owned nothing but United States government bonds. (This description leaves aside my Berkshire Hathaway holdings, which are all committed to philanthropy.) If prices keep looking attractive, my non-Berkshire net worth will soon be 100 percent in United States equities.

Why?

A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors. To be sure, investors are right to be wary of highly leveraged entities or businesses in weak competitive positions. But fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation’s many sound companies make no sense. These businesses will indeed suffer earnings hiccups, as they always have. But most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.

Let me be clear on one point: I can’t predict the short-term movements of the stock market. I haven’t the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower a month — or a year — from now. What is likely, however, is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up. So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over.

It’s good to hear from one of the richest men in the world that our economy will not totattly self destruct and that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

19 Year Old Passes Away From Heart Condition While Playing Basketball

I didn’t know the individual, but I work out and play basketball at the same gym.  Makes you realize how fragile life is.  A 19 year old passed away while playing basketball at Lifetime Gym in Commerce, MI.  He had a rare heart disease.

You can read the link to the article in the Detroit News here.

EDIE the Estimator helps you with your FDIC

EDIE the Estimator

The FDIC has came out with a webpage that hels you calculate your FDIC coverage for you deposit accounts.  In this turbulent time, this type of information is key.  In addition to consulting EDIE, it is probably a good time to contact you financial adivsor, financial professional to make sure you have  a plan to weather this storm that is sending investment portfolios south.

To use EDIE, go here.

Debate Night| Obama & McCain Plus Death & Taxes

McCain & Obama Debate | Federal Estate Taxes

With the looming McCain Obama debate tonight.   I thought it would be helpful to recap what each campaign is proposing for the federal estate tax.  Luckily, the Wall Street Journal had an interesting article on this very topic today.  You can read the WSJ article here.

The way the current law works is that in 2008, the Federal Exemption is up to $2million.  Meaning there is no Federal Estate Tax for any estates under $2million.  In 2009, the number jumps up to $3.5million.  In 2010, there is an unlimited exemption.  Then 2011 and beyond, the exemption is at $1million.

Each canidate has discussed his views on where they would like the tax to go.  Here is an important quote from the WSJ article linked above.

Sen. McCain proposes raising the exemption “as soon as possible” to $5 million and cutting the top tax rate to only 15%, says Douglas Holtz-Eakin, senior policy adviser. Sen. Obama wants to keep the exemption at $3.5 million and the top rate at 45%.

Portability. Both candidates agree the exemption amount should be easily portable. “Families should not be required to undertake complex and unnecessary financial planning or be penalized for failing to take advantage of sophisticated financial strategies,” says Jason Furman, economic policy director for the Obama campaign. The Democrats’ nominee “believes we should eliminate the estate tax for 99.7% of families — and this is part of his plan to accomplish that goal,” says Mr. Furman.

Sen. McCain also favors portability. The Republican nominee “opposes situations where taxpayers may have unfavorable tax consequences” simply because they couldn’t afford — or didn’t know — “to seek sophisticated tax planning advice,” says Mr. Holtz-Eakin. “All of the costs and effort involved in such planning would be unnecessary or greatly reduced if there was portability of the estate-tax exemption. Such a proposal also meets another of John McCain’s goals of simplifying our complex tax code whenever we can.”

Under current law this year, a married couple could leave a total of $4 million to their children without federal estate tax. “But because the exemptions aren’t portable, quite a bit of planning is necessary to achieve this result,” says John M. Olivieri, a tax partner at the law firm of White & Case LLP in New York City.

Suppose a husband and wife each has $2 million. The husband dies and leaves everything to his wife. Although there’s no federal estate tax because of the marital exemption, the wife now has a $4 million estate but only a $2 million exemption, Mr. Olivieri says. Consequently, if she dies this year and leaves her $4 million to her children, “her estate will be hit with a federal estate tax of about $900,000,” based on this year’s rate structure, Mr. Olivieri says. “A similar problem arises if the entire $4 million is owned by the husband and the wife dies first.”

To avoid the problem, “many married couples expend considerable time, effort, and money to avoid wasting their combined federal exemptions,” says Mr. Olivieri. “But if the exemptions were portable, none of this would be necessary.” However, even if the exemption does become portable for federal estate-tax purposes, Mr. Olivieri points out that many people may need to take special estate-planning steps anyway because of state-tax issues.

Although many tax advisers do expect major estate-tax changes next year, no matter who wins the presidency, don’t count on them just yet. Even though the two candidates agree on portability, nobody knows how quickly such a change might happen, what the effective date might be and how the fine print of legislative language would read.

But “my sense is that portability would have bipartisan congressional support,” says Blanche Lark Christerson, managing director at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management in New York. “It also could simplify people’s planning and be a good thing.”

However, many people still might benefit from setting up trusts and taking other steps anyway, Ms. Christerson says. That includes many people who live in states that have “decoupled,” or separated, from the federal estate-tax system. “Also, bear in mind that even if there were no potential tax consequences and apparent need for a trust, you still might want one” for other reasons, such as protecting assets from creditors or other factors.

Valuations. This is a key issue when calculating capital-gains taxes on the sale of inherited assets. Here’s an example: Suppose your cousin dies and leaves you stock he originally purchased decades ago for $100,000 and the value of that stock has grown to $500,000 as of the date of his death. Your tax basis typically would be $500,000 — or, under certain circumstances, the value six months after the date of death. That means you don’t have to figure out what your cousin originally paid for that stock. This system is scheduled to continue through next year and undergo major changes in 2010. Critics say those changes would create additional complexity and impose unfair recordkeeping burdens on taxpayers. Advisers to both candidates have said the candidates want to retain the current system.

An Estate Built for Special Needs

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article regarding how to plan for special needs children.  As our office does this type of planning, it is good to see the word getting out that this type of planning is a necessity.

You can find the rest of the article here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122351155944317491.html

A key compenent when our office prepares a special needs trust is the letter to caregivers.  The article talks about this concept in detail:

Letters for Caregivers

There are some other key steps families with special needs should take. Parents should create power-of-attorney or guardianship documents for finances and health care, naming themselves as their child’s agent or guardian when their child turns 18. Without this formality, parents of kids over 18 may not be able to have access to their child’s medical records or make health-care or financial decisions, says Boston lawyer Harry S. Margolis, the co-founder of the Academy of Special Needs Planners.

It’s also smart to create a “letter of guidance,” a document spelling out everything another caregiver should know about their child’s special needs, including medical diagnosis, treatment and medications, specific likes and dislikes, and food preferences or aversions. “You know things about your children that no one else on this earth knows,” says Michael Gilfix, a Palo Alto, Calif., lawyer who does a lot of special-needs planning. “This includes little things, like what breakfast food makes them happy or what breakfast food makes them really angry.”

Ms. Valentine, a client of Mr. Gilfix, recently wrote a letter of guidance for her son, Gabe. The document describes how Gabe is a huge San Francisco Giants fan, so any caregiver should make sure he gets tickets to home games. He doesn’t like ice cream or cake, but likes pizza. His epilepsy medication affects his teeth, so the letter recommends that he get his teeth cleaned regularly. “He actually loves the dentist,” she says.

If you have any questions on how to plan for a special needs child, please contact our office at (248) 865-4700.

FDIC Updates Revocable Trust Rules

Using a revocable living trust is a common estate planning tool. On September 26th, 2008 the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) updated their deposit insurance regulations regarding revocable trust accounts. This interim rule can be summarized as follows:

The FDIC is adopting an interim rule to simplify and modernize its deposit insurance rules for revocable trust accounts. The FDIC’s main goal in implementing these revisions is to make the rules easier to understand and apply, without decreasing coverage currently available for revocable trust account owners. The FDIC believes that the interim rule will result in faster deposit insurance determinations after depository institution closings and will help improve public confidence in the banking system. The interim rule eliminates the concept of qualifying beneficiaries. Also, for account owners with revocable trust accounts totaling no more than $500,000, coverage will be determined without regard to the beneficial interest of each beneficiary in the trust.

If you have any questions on how this effects your accounts or estate planning documents, please contact our office at (248) 865-4700. For the rest of the update you can go here: http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal/2008/08sep26rule.html

“Last Lecture” & Leaving A Legacy

Randy Pausch, the professor/scientist who gave the famed “Last Lecture”, has succumbed to the terminal cancer he was diagnosed with back in 2006. His lecture leaves something more valuable than assets or items, it is values and a legacy. Too often estate planners and their clients focus on the money and ignore family, faith, and value issues, especially when planning for families with young children.

Here is his video on YouTube, it is the full lecture and over an hour long, but well worth watching if you have not.

Last Lecture

Here is the CNN story reporting his passing.

The WSJ wrote a quality article about his situation, read it here. From the article

Early on, he had vowed to do the logistical things necessary to ease his family’s path into a life without him. His minister helped him think beyond estate planning and funeral arrangements. “You have life insurance, right?” the minister asked.

“Yes, it’s all in place,” Randy told him.

“Well, you also need emotional insurance,” the minister explained. The premiums for that insurance would be paid for with Randy’s time, not his money. The minister suggested that Randy spend hours making videotapes of himself with the kids. Years from now, they will be able to see how easily they touched each other and laughed together.

Knowing his kids’ memories of him could be fuzzy, Randy has been doing things with them that he hopes they’ll find unforgettable. For instance, he and Dylan, 6, went on a minivacation to swim with dolphins. “A kid swims with dolphins, he doesn’t easily forget it,” Randy said. “We took lots of photos.” Randy took Logan, 3, to Disney World to meet his hero, Mickey Mouse. “I’d met him, so I could make the introduction.”

Randy also made a point of talking to people who lost parents when they were very young. They told him they found it consoling to learn about how much their mothers and fathers loved them. The more they knew, the more they could still feel that love. To that end, Randy built separate lists of his memories of each child. He also has written down his advice for them, things like: “If I could only give three words of advice, they would be, ‘Tell the truth.’ If I got three more words, I’d add, ‘All the time.’ “

You can also view the Last Lecture in written form by reading the transcript here.