Archive for the ‘Planning For Young Families’ Category

The Cost of Michigan Estate Planning Part II

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on August 5, 2008 – 1:22 pm -

The other day after paying $4+ dollars for gas I was surfing the internet pricing out a new hyrbid car. Not that I am buying a car right now, but I was fed up with the price of gas. Well, I like leather seats in my car. So I was also looking at the price of upgrading from a standard package to a package that included leather seats. Around this same time I had a potential client balk at the price of an estate planning package that would meet all of their goals and protect their children.

Then it struck me, to upgrade from a cloth package to a leather package in a car was actually less than an estate plan for this family that would protect their children from creditors, predators, bankruptcy, the children themselves while also putting the affairs of the parents in order, avoiding the 3%-5% cost of probate, and many other benefits. All for less cost then the 7 years you will be driving a new car to experience leather seats. Mind boggling when you think about it.

It’s odd what people value and what people say they value.

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What Happens to The Children?

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 26, 2008 – 5:34 pm -

A common concern of parents of minor children is “who will take care of my children if i die?” Through proper estate planning you can make the decision as opposed to leaving it up to the court system to make the decision for you.

However, this decision is one of the toughest for parents to come to a decision on. Often times, it is so difficult it leads to inaction and procrastination. This deadlock could be one of the major reasons why 57% of Americans do not have a will or estate plan set up.

Unfortunately, this deadlock can have very unfortunate consequences. For example, if the planning is not completed one potential outcome is that someone who you may not like or trust could end up being the guardian of your child or children. If you do not name a guardian in your estate plan, a judge who has little knowledge of your family situation could appoint just about anyone he or she sees fit to assume the role of subsitute parent in your stead upon your passing. A very frightning proposition.

Another potentially harrowing outcome is that there could be a legal battle to decide who will assume the role of guardian for your children. If more than one person wishes to assume the role you could be setting up your family and loved ones for a time consuming, stressfull, and expensive legal tug-of-war battle, that more often than not has no real winners.

And most frighting of all, what happens if the kids are dumped on a family member who has no interest or desire to be a guardian or, even worse, the children are put into foster care. Another scary proposition for any parent.

Meeting with an estate planning attorney can help with the decision making process. As professionals who see these situations on a daily basis we have creative solutions to solve the dilema and counsel parents past the deadlock of indecision through effective legal counseling.

Don’t let this tough decision be a roadblock to completing an estate plan, because the consequences can be dire.

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“Last Lecture” & Leaving A Legacy

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 25, 2008 – 5:28 pm -

Randy Pausch

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.

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Who is Watching The Child Care that is Watching Your Children

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 23, 2008 – 1:04 pm -

In a frightening report, according to a Michigan auditor general’s office audit as reported by the Detroit News, state oversight of child care providers was so poor that 1,900 people who were not qualified to provide the care, including sex offenders and child abusers, were not identified, nor prevented from doing so.

This is a frighting for any young families looking for child care. DHS has provided a good guide for what to look for in your child care provider. Their guide can be read here. Included in the guide are questions to ask, what to look for, how to check references, and how to stay involved.

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Incentives for The Heirs

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 23, 2008 – 1:28 am -

In a recent survey, only 30% of people who have estate planning documents have outlined specific requirements that their heirs must meet to gain access to their inheritance. This is at odds with the finding that 62% of people felt strongly that each generation should take responsibility for creating it’s own wealth.

What this tells me is that people are not taking advantage of the possibilities with incentive based trusts for their children and heirs. An Incentive based trust is a nifty tool for estate planning attorneys to use that create a set of stipulations that would reward heirs for making specific life choices (and withhold inheritances for poor choices).

Some creative drafting incentives for a trust for children and heirs include:

  • Encourage heirs to seek a higher education by distributing income or principle from the trust to pay tuition and supplies. Additionally, the trust could provide bonuses if a certain grade point is received.
  • The trust assets could be used to match the income of an heir dollar for dollar to reward an heir for having gainful employment.
  • Supplement the income for a child who works for a nonprofit or volunteers to a charitable organization
  • Reward an heir for trying to start their own business.

There are many estate planning options when creating incentives in trusts for the benefit for heirs. As an estate planning lawyer working with a client, we are only limited by our creativity in drafting.

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