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When To Update Your Estate Plan

With all the events that happened in 2020, thoughts of your estate plan may not have entered your mind. The good news is that if you have one, you are at least in a better position than most people whether you thought about it or not. However, now is a good time to bring it to the forefront of your mind and think about your estate plan as we move into 2021. It’s time to consider events that might have occurred in your life in the past year or previous years that would affect your plan and that would require updating it.

Among events that would necessitate updating your estate plan are births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and moving to a new state. These are just the basics. You also might want to change your durable power of attorney or assign a healthcare power of attorney.

If you don’t review and revise your plan when you have had a life change – or a change of heart for some reason – your estate could end up in the hands of someone that it is no longer intended for. You don’t need a reason to review your estate plan. It’s a good idea to review regularly. You may be prompted to change things even though no major life events have occurred...

Read full article at https://www.elderlawgeorgia.com/blog/when-to-update-your-estate-plan/

#estate planning #Asset Protection #lawfirm

Three Legal Documents Necessary For Anyone On The Front Lines Over The Age Of 18

Now is not the time to procrastinate.

We humans tend to put things off until the very last moment and sometimes until it’s just too late to count. But, COVID-19 has actually provided the motivation for procrastinators to take action and get important legal documents in place just in case. As everyone knows, this virus is highly contagious, has no boundaries and can be deadly. And, even when the most fastidious precautions are taken, people are still getting the virus.

On the Front Lines

When you think about all the brave people working on the front lines, particularly those in the supermarkets, you have to wonder if they are legally prepared for the worst-case scenario. Do you suppose they all have designated a Financial Power of Attorney, or a Health Care Power of Attorney? Do you suppose these dear people have a will? My guess is that the majority of these brave people who are putting their lives on the line everyday so that we can continue to access food, do not have any of these documents. If any of them were to become ill with COVID-19 and God forbid, not recover, would their families and loved ones know what they would want to do with their belongings?

#coronavirus #estate planning

Those Suffering From Many Diseases Could Be Candidates For Medical Marijuana

Marijuana is now legal in some form in 33 states.

It’s been all over the news for several years now. The legalization of recreational marijuana in some states, while in other states, laws have been passed that allow the use of medical marijuana with a doctor’s prescription for a specific list of conditions.

The interesting fact is that our founding fathers, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams grew hemp, which is a cousin to marijuana. In fact, hemp was one of the most widely grown crops throughout the U.S. up until it was banned in the 1937. Hemp, being a cousin of marijuana, got a bad rap and got tossed out like the proverbial “baby in the bath water.”

Hemp and CBD Oil

Hemp has historically been grown to make fibers for clothing and for rope. It is one of the strongest fibers known to mankind. And, it is making a comeback for its use not only as a fiber but as a replacement for plastics. Along with its use as a fiber, CBD oil is also a product of the hemp plant. This oil is readily available today in drug stores and anyone can buy it without a prescription. CBD oil has been known to help people sleep better, as well as relieve anxiety and depression. CBD oil is available with and without THC which is the element in marijuana that makes people high. In other words, it affects the brain. Non-THC CBD oil works to relax the body and has no hallucinogenic effect on the brain.

#marijuana #legalization #cbd oil

Year In Year Out

Happy Holidays and A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year To All!

As another year draws to a close and we go into that in-between time before we begin another, I think of that special in-between time during the last days of life. We spend so much time thinking about how to live full, exciting, meaningful lives, yet give little to no time to thinking about how we want to make our departures from this earthly plane.

How often we hear the expression, “I’m going to live on my own terms.” Or, more famously, “I’ll do it my way!” Have you thought about how you or your loved one’s last day(s) should be to really end on your or their own terms? Just like thinking about how you want to spend your New Year’s Eve, you and your loved one’s final days can be so beautiful when planned and arranged in advance. You can spend the last moments providing love and support instead of scurrying around making arrangements while extremely emotional.

#new year #estate planning #asset protection

When Talking Domestic Violence Awareness, Let’s Not Forget Elder Abuse

“Domestic violence affects millions, both women and men, of every race, religion, culture and status. It’s not just punches and black eyes -- it’s yelling, humiliation, stalking, manipulation, coercion, threats and isolation. It’s stealing a paycheck, keeping tabs online, non-stop texting, constant use of the silent treatment, or calling someone stupid so often they believe it.”

~BreakTheCycle.org

Domestic violence against the elderly is an unfortunate fact of life.

I suppose in the above description one could stretch the imagination to include “age” in the word “status.” However, I want to be explicit about domestic violence against senior citizens. After children, our elders are among the most vulnerable group without a voice. Violence is often committed against seniors by family members and caretakers. Seniors are violated within the walls of nursing homes by those paid to take care of them. My plea is that we do not overlook this group during this designated time to become more aware of the inhumane and often deadly abuse that is inflicted on seniors on a daily basis.

Much Elder Abuse Goes Unreported

The statistics are chilling. Approximately 20% of the elderly population, with estimates as high 5 million elders are abused in the United States each year. And the sad news is that perhaps only 1 in 14 cases of elder abuse are reported. With the Baby Boomer generation moving deeper into their golden years, this will continue to be a growing problem in our culture unless we make continuous efforts to bring the issue to the awareness of the general population.

#elder abuse #domestic violence

Legal Challenges In A Digital World

We Are Living in a Digital World

Yes, we do still live in a material world as Madonna, the “material girl” so lyrically pointed out in her very popular song from the 1980’s. However, we also live in a digital world. That’s right. And the digital world is growing and gaining in importance in ways we can barely imagine. Most people are keenly aware of material assets yet are not remotely aware of the nature and value of their digital assets.

How to access, protect and distribute digital assets legally if someone should become impaired or die is the topic of many a legal discussion.(You can listen to a discussion between myself and our digital expert, George Ligon here: https://businessradiox.com/podcast/seniorsalute/digital-asset-administration/

And I must admit that the legal world is being challenged to pace with this new world we live in. There are some law firms that are keeping pace, though, and I like to think that ours is among them. George keeps us up-to-date on the digital world as well as other attorneys through his informative educational presentations.

As George often points out, most attorneys aren’t even quite sure how to define digital assets. I’m sharing excerpts from a presentation George makes to attorneys to help bring them up to speed. It is my hope that by gaining some insight into the challenges attorneys are facing in this new digital age, you will come to understand that you may need to review and update your current legal documents to appropriately include digital assets.

#digital assets #asset protection #estate planning

How To Establish Legal Rights To Digital Assets

How much of your life is online?

As we move deeper and deeper into the digital world, we accumulate more digital assets that have monetary as well as sentimental value. Sometimes the monetary value of these assets can be worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. For most regular people though, the value is more likely to be in the thousands or purely sentimental. Nonetheless these assets must be addressed from a legal standpoint when establishing estate and asset protection plans.

Until recently, very few laws helped to determine who could access these files and accounts if the user became incapacitated or died. If the deceased or incapacitated person wanted any of their digital assets to be deleted, modified, or distributed to loved ones, it was difficult to discern who would have a legal right to access them.

Since in the not-too-distant past, digital assets were largely not considered by most people, after the death accounts would often be deleted by the company that controlled them or they would just continue to exist unaccessed and inaccessible to family and friends. Now there are laws that help loved ones gain access, but there must be instructions left by the owner.

List Your Digital Assets

These days, most of us use digital assets without even thinking -- to keep in touch, pay bills, manage subscriptions, store photos, and more. When you create a will or asset protection plan, you will probably be asked about your digital assets. Here’s a list to help you determine yours. Digital assets include:

#digital assets #estate planning

Planning A Vacation With An Aging Parent

Travel is one of life’s most rewarding activities and it appeals to all ages.

For seniors, travel is even more exciting because it gets them out of their often-lonely day-to-day lives. Even for those with early onset Alzheimer’s, travel can still be an enjoyable experience that is looked forward to with excitement.

Sometimes the adult children who are caregivers to an aging parent have limited time and can accomplish double duty when taking a vacation together with the parent(s). With summer coming, it’s a great time to consider getting your parent out and about and getting a little change of scenery for yourself.

Things To Consider When Traveling With Seniors

If you are thinking about getting mom or dad/mom and dad out for an adventure this summer be sure to plan with their needs in mind. Consider their interests first, then their mobility, their mental and emotional capacity and other medical needs in the equation. Also be aware that there are some destinations and forms of travel that are much better suited for seniors than others. I came across a great article that highlights some destinations throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe that you can check out here.

Obligatory Travel

Sometimes family obligations determine where you’ll be going with your aging parent. The birth of a grandchild or great grandchild, a wedding, a graduation or simply enjoying an intergenerational vacation could mean that the specific needs of your aging parents are not going to be the priority. If that is the situation, you’ll want to research the details of the location and make sure that their needs can be accommodated. And, you certainly don’t want them to miss out on the event even if the circumstances are less than ideal. Missing out could be a source of depression for your parent. Your parent may not be able to participate in all the activities, but with appropriate planning should be able to enjoy the company of their many family members.

#senior travel #aging parents #roadtrip

They’re Not Doing It On Purpose

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We expect children to go through a learning curve.

When a young child is just learning to navigate his or her way through life and doesn’t get something right the first time or the second or the third, no parent in their right mind would think the child is being deliberately stubborn. The child does its best to learn and grow. Whether it’s eating with a spoon for the first time, drinking from a real cup instead of a sippy cup or going to the bathroom on their own for the first time, every child feels a sense of pride and accomplishment. And every parent feels respect grow as their child displays more abilities and achievements. This is how the respect of parents is gained.

The Sweet Feeling of Respect

Every person knows when they are gaining respect. Likewise, it’s pretty clear when we’ve lost a person’s respect too. Especially when dealing with parents. Every child craves their parents’ love, respect and approval. Typically parents let their children know when they are disappointed in their behavior. For instance if a child grows up and begins using drugs or despite the parents’ insistence decides not to go to college, it’s difficult for parents to veil their disappointment. To a child that also means the respect their parents held for them has diminished.

When The Tides Are Turned Through Aging

This roller coaster ride of respect and disrespect and disappointment keeps chugging along through life. Eventually you get married and start a family of your own and watch the cycle begin again. Then suddenly you notice that your parents are becoming old. Maybe they forget to come for one of the kid’s birthday parties. Or they are more tired than usual. As they age, perhaps they become ill and suddenly you are the designated caregiver.

#aging #elderly parents #estate planning

Seniors Continually Targeted On Dark Web

Seniors have historically been targets for con artists and scammers of all variations.

Seniors have worked during their lives to save for retirement and, then along comes some scam artist to con them out of their hard-earned money.

Today, people are getting more savvy to scams that come over the telephone and, often (but not often enough) they put into place Estate and Asset Protection Plans. But now we live in the digital age, and again seniors are the primary targets of cyber criminals on the dark web. An Estate and Asset Protection Plan will ensure that your assets are distributed the way you want and can prevent lawsuits from gaining access to your assets. But, if your assets are accessible to cyber criminals there is no asset protection plan that can prevent them from stealing from you.

An In-depth Look At The Dark Web

AARP has recently published an article that gives great detail into the workings of the dark web. In case you haven’t read it, or don’t want to read the entire article, I’m going to highlight some of the points that I consider relevant for every person, especially seniors.

The article is the result of interviews with two cyber criminals – one spent time behind bars – who have decided to become good guys and help law enforcement catch active cyber criminals. They describe the dark net as being like the bottom of the ocean vast, while the Internet that we use is described as being like the surface of the ocean.

According to the article, “Seniors are prime targets because they are more likely to have money and better credit.” They also reported that, “stolen profiles of seniors are the easiest to acquire and are the least likely to become compromised, because most seniors don’t check their accounts.” Meaning they don’t go online to check their bank and financial accounts. In fact according to the AARP, “Only 1 in 3 individuals over 65 have online access to all of their bank accounts for monitoring purposes, greatly reducing their ability to check for illegal activity.”

#dark web #hackers #identity theft

Step-by-Step How To Leverage Your IRA For Long-Term Care Insurance

In my most recent blog, (Leverage Your IRA To Pay For Long-Term Care Insurance And Benefit Your Heirs), I promised I would provide a guide to help readers take steps on their own behalf for rolling an IRA into a life insurance policy with long-term care features. As promised, here we go.

There may be other ways to go about this, but this is one option that you may be able to accomplish on your own. If you need guidance or further assistance, please contact our office.

What you will want to do is to convert your IRA into a long-term care insurance policy with a tax-qualified annuity.

If you invest in a tax-qualified annuity that makes internal distributions to an insurance carrier, you can indirectly pay for long-term care coverage using IRA money without additional tax penalties. Here’s how the process works:

Step 1: Apply for 20-pay Life Insurance with Long Term Care Features

Apply for a 20-pay life insurance plan with an LTC rider, which can accelerate the death benefit to pay for long-term care. This policy will be funded with tax-qualified annuities that make annual distributions to the insurance policy over a 20-year period. After you apply, complete the underwriting process, and receive approval, you will be given a quote for the annual premiums required for this plan. The premiums may be higher than those for term insurance, but limited-pay plans offer lifetime security.

#long-term care #life insurance #estate planning

You Never Know When or How Fraudsters Will Find You

I was recently hired by a client who lives in a nursing home and is on Medicaid. Not long ago, this client received a termination notice from the state Medicaid office because of an IRS notification stating this client had “additional” income.

Can you imagine the terror when your health insurance is terminated?

Fake Tax Return Filed

My client did not have any additional income. What happened is that some criminal filed a false tax return using my client’s Social Security number. They reported fake income presumably to get a tax refund, which initiated a report to Medicaid and caused my client to lose Medicaid coverage until we could clear up the mess.

This case is of great concern to me because of the great number of people, particularly the elderly, disabled or ill who are not savvy to the methods criminals employ to get private information like Social Security numbers, birthdates, financial information and more. Tax fraud is on the rise. When it happens to anyone on a fixed income, which is often the case with the disabled, ill and elderly, the disruption can be devastating.

Growing Complexity Increasing Compromise

Recent research has found that, “despite industry efforts to prevent identity fraud, fraudsters successfully adapted to net 1.3 million more victims in 2017, with the amount stolen rising to $16.8 billion. With the adoption of EMV (embedded chip) cards and terminals, the types of identity fraud continued to shift online and away from physical stores. The complexity of fraud is also on the rise as criminals are opening more new accounts as a means of compromising accounts consumers already have.” The article went on to report that, “For the first time ever, Social Security numbers (35 percent) were compromised more than credit card numbers (30 percent) in breaches.”

#identity fraud #tax theft #asset protection

Warning for Divorce Attorneys: Things to Know about Cryptocurrencies

Technology has without question contributed so much good to the world.

On one hand, it has simplified many things while on the other hand it has made certain areas of law considerably more complex. When it comes to divorce and the legal division of assets the arrival of cryptocurrencies is turning out to be a serious challenge.

When Financial Assets Are No Longer Physical

The relative anonymity along with the difficulty of tracing and tracking cryptos has made it possible to hide assets and to avoid full disclosure of monetary property in divorce proceedings. Cryptos are not traceable by Social Security numbers.

In today’s divorce proceedings there are several things you need to ask that will lead to the disclosure of cryptocurrencies. You need to know what to ask and where to look and what to look for in order to ferret out these accounts.

Learning The Language of Cryptocurrencies

‘Cold wallet’ and ‘warm wallet’ are two terms that you’ll want to become familiar with. A ‘cold wallet’ is typically a USB storage device, which makes cryptos untraceable from a computer. A ‘warm wallet’ is the computer itself. Since the purchase of cryptos have to originate somewhere (bank account, credit card) through an “exchange”, then most people will typically take them off the exchange and put them on a warm wallet (their PC) or in a cold wallet (a flash drive).

Most attorneys have been clueless to the existence of these ‘wallets’. Looking through bank records for initial purchases will be helpful in identifying purchases. You can ask for external drives or to examine their PCs browser history which can lead to the discovery of warm wallets.

#cryptocurrency #digital assets #divorce

Avoid Cryptocurrency Criminals Online And In Real Life

Cryptocurrencies have gotten the attention of hackers and cyber criminals from around the world.

In the digital world, cryptocurrencies are somewhat like the gold rush days in the early history of this country. One had to be very careful about who they told if they found gold. Ill intentioned people were all to ready to take one’s hard-earned treasure away at gunpoint. If you have ventured into this wild world, you must take precautions to protect yourself and your investment.

First Prepare For The Worst Case Scenario

One of the most important protective measures is to make sure you designate someone to inherit your crypto-coins in the event of your death. That means having all of your information to access your wallets written down and in a safe place. And to make sure that information is in a will.

Avoid Meeting Sellers Or Buyers Face-To-Face

However, there are also more imminent real life concerns. If you advertise that you are interested in either buying or selling cryptocurrencies and someone asks you to meet them in person, don’t take this as a good sign. I recently read about two instances where sellers were held at gunpoint. According to the report, “The victim was to meet with a Bitcoin seller whom he contacted through Craigslist in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Upon meeting the “seller”, a gun was pointed at him and the “seller” demanded $1,100 worth of Bitcoin to be transferred to his Bitcoin wallet.

Hackers are busy in the cyber world and they are sophisticated. In fact, all they seem to need are phone numbers. This was reported in the same article. “On August 2016, there was massive case of a Bitcoin hacking wherein a hacker used phone numbers of random people in order to steal Bitcoins from the market as reported on Forbes.” And, while the article states, “Such cases alerted the crypto-currency platforms to boost up their security,” it hardly makes one feel that their investments are safe.

#cyber criminals #cryptocurrency #hacker

November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month

Back in 1983, President Ronald Reagan designated November as National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month.

Back then, fewer than 2 million Americans had the disease. Today there are more than 5 million people with the disease. Some sources indicate that number is likely to triple by 2050. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the USA and is climbing steadily in the rankings. Also, Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of dementia and accounts for about 65% of all dementia worldwide.

If a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I pray that you have taken action to have their legal and healthcare needs handled before they are unable to make decisions. That is one of the most rewarding things family members can do for loved ones the moment there are symptoms.

In addition, I am providing an excerpt from a recent article posted at caring.com to help raise awareness of this heartbreaking disease.

1) We generally detect Alzheimer’s at the end-stage of the disease.

On average, Alzheimer’s follows a 14-year course from the onset of the first symptoms until death. There is some variability across patients but 14 years is pretty typical. The more surprising news is that, on average, we diagnose Alzheimer’s in years 8-10 of that disease course. This means that for most patients, symptoms go undiagnosed and untreated for at least seven years, during which time the lesions spread through the brain and cause irreparable damage. Please be aware that we diagnose Alzheimer’s disease far too late to optimize the effects of currently available treatments.

2) Memory loss is not a part of normal aging.

The point about end-stage detection raises an obvious question about “why” we diagnose this disease so late. There are many contributing factors but most of them can be reduced through awareness and education. Some patients resist medical attention in the early stages because they fear a stigmatizing label or because they are misinformed to believe that Alzheimer’s cannot be treated. Many people, including a startling number of physicians, incorrectly believe that memory loss is a normal part of aging. Improving the timeliness of diagnoses for Alzheimer’s disease is, in many ways, a problem that can be addressed through awareness and education. Please be aware that memory loss is not a part of normal aging and, regardless of the cause of the memory loss, timely medical intervention is best.

3) Current Alzheimer’s drugs are probably more effective than you think.

Our widespread practice of late detection has many negative consequences. For example, one of the reasons that current treatments are often deemed ineffective is because they are routinely prescribed for patients with end-stage pathology who already have massive brain damage. With earlier intervention, treatment can be administered to patients with healthier brains, many of whom will respond more vigorously to the recommended therapy. Yes, we need better treatments, but a great start would be to intervene earlier with the treatments we already have. Please be aware that currently approved treatments may be more effective than some headlines indicate.

#alzheimers #dementia #aging #mental health

When Roles Are Reversed – Caring For Aging Parents

Caring for aging parents without seeming like an overbearing ‘helicopter’ child can be like walking a tightrope for adult children.

I read a recent article at theatlantic.com entitled, What Aging Parents Want From Their Kids. The biggest issue is that parents find there is a fine line between their kids’ caring and controlling.

In my experience that fine line exists for both parents and kids. So the tightrope-walking act is often going on for both parent and child. Role reversal can be distressing when the adult child makes every effort to help the parent who stubbornly resists help.

It is easy for the child to greatly overestimate the mental and physical decline of the aging parent. What I have been witness to in the aging parent scenario is parents resisting the notion of being considered incapable by their children often due to minor diminished capacity. When the diminished capacity is great, the resistance can also become more intense. Everyone is afraid of the worst while wanting the best.

A Preventative Suggestion

I always encourage families to attempt to come to some kind of agreement sooner rather than later. No one ever knows for certain if or when they will become mentally or physically incapable of caring for oneself. Also, it’s difficult if there is only one adult child who doesn’t live close enough to the parent to see to their needs on a regular basis.

Giving up one’s independence can be terrifying. No longer being able to drive oneself to the supermarket or church or to see friends can understandably make someone cranky. However, endangering their own lives as well as the lives of others must be taken into consideration. So, how do families make that decision before someone gets hurt?

#aging parents #asset planning #diminished capacity

Protecting The Family

Typically the role of protecting the family has been the ‘father’s’ job. As we celebrated Father’s Day this month, I started to think about the multitude of non-traditional family units we see today.

As new forms emerge alongside the traditional roles, the only thing that doesn’t change is the concept of protection. And this role falls to every member of the family unit, not just the father figure, as well as the community at large.

Traditional roles are still alive and well, however more and more non-traditional roles are replacing the traditional. Stay at home dads, two mother and two father families, grandparents raising their children’s children, single mother families, single father families, the combinations continue to present themselves as gender specific roles and family designations become blurred into non-recognition.

What Protection Means

Protecting our families and loved ones mean we keep them out of harms way. The most basic form of protection is to provide food, clothing and shelter. In the event of a natural disaster you protect your loved ones by preparing yourself with the knowledge of how best to act during such an event. It’s about baby-proofing the home when little ones join the family.

On a day-to-day basis, protecting loved ones means modeling good, safe behavior. Little things like teaching children to wear a bicycle helmet and wearing one yourself. It amazes me when I see parents riding alongside their young children and the child is wearing a helmet but the parent isn’t. It’s like when I was a kid and we were told that smoking was bad for us, yet the doctors doling out that sage advice did it while holding a cigarette in hand. The point is to teach children safety habits by modeling the behaviors for them. Please don’t practice the “do what I say, not what I do” method.

#asset planning #non-traditional family #long-term care

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