Pet Planning

Once again, with federal estate taxes not being much of a concern to most people, the smaller estate planning issues have become more prominent.  Planning for pets has taken on greater importance in recent years with the advent of pet trusts and other arrangements after the death of the owner.

My favorite anecdote in the article is the couple who has designated a guardian for their children, but would not trust them with their pet.  I think that they might wish to revisit the guardian selection.

Controversial Wills

Many people have criticized the wills of Chief Justice Burger and Howard Hughes as being poor examples of estate planning.  A recent article defends the Burger will as being adequate and raises the point that Hughes' hand written "Mormon  will" might have been legitimate after all and actually accomplished his estate planning goals.  Of course, if Hughes had hired an attorney to prepare the will, the questions about its authenticity would have dissipated.

Aging Parent(s)?

When and how do children offer to assist their parents with the management of  their financial affairs?  A few signs that assistance is needed are:

1.  a large volume of phone and mail solicitations for money,
2.  checkbook errors,
3.  unpaid bills, and
4.  disorder where there used to be order.

Children should offer to assist with bill paying and financial management.  Additionally, the parent should make sure that he has a will, financial power of attorney, health care power of attorney and perhaps a trust in place to enable the child to assist the parent.    

Unified Credit Per Obama Proposed Budget

For those looking for some clarity on the future of estate taxes, the Obama Administration has proposed a unified credit of $3.5 million and an estate tax rate of 45%.  Though this has the same likelihood of passing as the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Buffett Rule (re: nil) and would require the Senate to pass a budget for the first time in 1,000 days, it is illuminating for two reasons.

First, it indicates that unified credit will not revert to $1 million as currently slated.

Second, it amplifies the exigency of making a large gift this year for those who can afford to give away $5 million.  

Digital Data (Again)

When estate taxes do not apply to most people, the hot topic in estate planning apparently becomes accessing post-mortem digital data. I have revised my wills to authorize executors to access on-line accounts.  A corollary is to have a note with the will which lists the passwords and desired disposition of the account and data.    

nb.  The recommended language in the article is the type of drafting that people pejoratively refer to as "legalese."

Facebook Organ Donation Campaign

As if getting members to share the details or their lives and otherwise sell their souls is not enough, Facebook now wants members' body parts.  Actually, Facebook is encouraging its members to sign up to become organ donors.  However, in keeping with its minimal belief in personal privacy, the status would be shown on the member's page.      

Divorce and Insurance

People getting divorced need to change the beneficiary of their insurance policies.  Most states provide that a former spouse will be considered deceased for beneficiary purposes, but bad results can still happen especially if the former spouses own insurance on each other.

Also, for new marriages a trust could serve as a vehicle for receiving insurance proceeds to benefit a new spouse, but have the proceeds pass to the children from a prior marriage.