Author: wfcadmin

Don’t Shoot Yourself in the Foot: Protect Your Firearms in Your Estate Plan

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Kentuckians love their guns. According to CBS News, Kentucky ranks number 16 in the number of registered firearms among all 50 states with almost 60,000 federally registered firearms. Ohio, although much more populated than Kentucky, ranks in at number 23. Much like items of personal property like jewelry and antiques, firearms aren’t cheap and can also hold sentimental value among family members and friends. As such, firearms need to be accounted for in an estate plan. Failure to properly account for firearms in an estate plan could result in excessive fines or even jail time for the recipient.

Laws Relating to Transfers of Firearms

Federal law addresses the issue relating to receipt of firearms, stating that “it shall be unlawful for any person to receive or possess a firearm which is not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record; or to transport, deliver, or receive any firearm in interstate commerce which has not been registered as required by this chapter.” These laws are regulated strictly and are enforced with a zero tolerance policy. Violations can create potential criminal liability of up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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Is Your Old A-B Trust a Tax Burden for your Family?

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Save Taxes by Updating your Estate Plan

If you have an old A-B Trust in place, you may be unaware that recent tax law changes have transformed your A-B Trust from an estate tax shelter into an income tax burden for your loved ones.  An A-B Trust, also known as a Credit Shelter Trust or Bypass Trust, typically provides that on the death of the first spouse, a particular share of the married couple’s assets are transferred into an irrevocable sub-trust (the “B” trust), rather than to the surviving spouse directly.  Traditionally, using an A-B Trust was an estate planning strategy to preserve the deceased spouse’s estate tax exemption to be used upon the death of the surviving spouse.  Without sheltering the first spouse’s unused exemption in the “B” trust, any assets in excess of the survivor’s exemption amount would be exposed to very high federal estate taxes.

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The Top 3 New Year’s Resolutions for the Long-Term Success of your Small Business

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As a small business owner, how many times have you set lofty New Year’s resolutions for your business that never amounted to anything? This year, you can set three achievable resolutions that are simple to accomplish yet stay focused on the long-term success of your business. These resolutions will finally address those lingering tax savings, succession planning, and estate planning issues that you have put off for too long.  Accomplishing these resolutions will affect your bottom line and give you peace of mind for years to come.

Resolution #1: Implement Simple Choice of Entity Strategies for Tax Savings in 2017

Do you know if your business is taxed as a sole proprietorship, partnership, C-Corp, or S-Corp?  Do you know what tax bracket you are in? Did you know that if you are single, your business is a sole proprietorship, and you make between $37,650-$91,150, or if married, and you make between $75,300-$151,900, that your taxable rate on your business profits is 46%?  A business’ choice of tax entity can have major tax implications, but many small business owners are unaware that such issues exist. As a result, many small businesses are often taxed as the wrong type of entity and they end up paying too much in taxes.  This year, meet with your attorney and CPA to review your choice of entity options and see if you can save taxes by being an S-Corp.

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How to Have “The Talk” with Your Aging Parents

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Remember having “the talk” with your parents in middle school?  That awkward conversation you had with your mom or dad where they tried to explain the facts of life to you while you desperately searched for an excuse to end the conversation?  Well get ready to have another “talk” with your parents, only this time, you’ll be discussing their end-of-life planning, not the birds and the bees.

What does this “talk” need to cover?  Generally, this conversation needs to address the issues surrounding your parents’ twilight years, such as retirement planning, nursing home preferences, funeral arrangements, wills and trusts, powers of attorney, and possible Medicaid planning. Specifically, an estate planning and elder law attorney can identify your parents’ unique estate planning and elder law planning issues and assist with implementing their end-of-life planning strategies.  To have a successful “talk” with your parents, consider using this four-part strategy:

Don’t wait for tragedy to strike

Don’t wait for tragedy to strike before having the conversation.  I often see that families put off talking about these issues until an unexpected illness or death shocks the family, at which time it may be too late to do anything.

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New POA Law Highlights the Need for Estate Planning Review

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Financial elder abuse, although often overlooked, is a serious problem in our world today.  As baby boomers age and the average life expectancy rises, the number of elder abuse cases will continue to increase.  More often than not, the abuser in these types of cases is someone in a trusted role – a caretaker, a child, or even an agent appointed in a financial Power of Attorney.  While most agents acting under a Power of Attorney are honest, some have abused their power.  To prevent and punish this kind of misconduct, the Ohio legislature passed the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA) in 2012.

The UPOAA says that unless certain “hot powers” are specifically granted in a Power of Attorney document, an agent cannot do the following: (1) create a trust or make changes to an existing trust; (2) make gifts; (3) create or change rights of survivorship for certain assets; (4) change beneficiary designations; (5) allow others to serve as the agent; or (6) waive rights to be a beneficiary under certain annuities and retirement plans.

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Releasing Tax Liens on Business Assets-Case Study

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If your business has IRS and/or Ohio state tax liens, your tax problems will not just go away on their own.  The IRS and state of Ohio will eventually seize your assets or force you to declare bankruptcy – causing mayhem for you, your business, and your family.  However, if you find yourself deep in a hole with tax liens, there are different settlement strategies you might be able to implement to release these liens without completely paying them off.  These strategies may require you to sell most or all of your business assets, but you’ll ultimately save the time, money, hassle, and embarrassment of going through bankruptcy proceedings or having your assets seized.

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Ohio Medicaid Rules Have Changed! Income Trusts-Medicaid Eligibility

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Ohio Medicaid Rules Have Changed!  Do You Need a Qualified Income Trust for Medicaid Eligibility?

Do you or a loved one live in Ohio and receive Medicaid benefits for long-term care? Do you foresee yourself or a loved one needing long-term care in the future? If so, the Ohio Department of Medicaid made changes to its eligibility requirements in 2016 that may affect you.

The Ohio Qualified Income Trust and its Requirements

In order to receive Medicaid benefits for long-term care, an individual’s monthly income must be below the Medicaid income limit set by the state of Ohio.  Starting August 1, 2016, if a Medicaid applicant or recipient’s monthly income exceeds $2,199, the applicant or recipient must set up a Qualified Income Trust (aka a “QIT” or “Miller Trust”) before he or she is eligible for benefits.  For individuals already receiving Medicaid benefits, they must set up their QIT either before August 1 or before their 2017 renewal date.  To be enforceable, the trust must be irrevocable, it must name Ohio as a residual beneficiary, and it must be properly executed.  The trust must also only contain the individual’s income.  It cannot shield assets or contain someone else’s income.

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Prince’s Legacy: Harsh Lessons From Estate Planning Errors

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The unexpected death of Prince shocked everyone around the world. To those of us in the financial and estate planning world, it was even more shocking to learn that he seemingly died without an estate plan. Even a month after his death, Prince’s family is still unable to locate evidence that he died with an enforceable Last Will and Testament. As a result of such a major blunder, the fate of his estimated $300 million estate lies in the hands of Minnesota state law. Rich or poor, we can all use Prince’s errors as a harsh lesson in the importance of implementing even the most basic estate plan.
Prince’s Property Rights

Prince was known to have been very controlling of his music. He fought to keep his music off of Youtube and other streaming sites and stood up to his record label when he felt his music was not being treated properly. Those close to Prince also believe he kept a trove of unreleased records at his Paisley Park mansion. Without specific instructions in a Will or Trust, the court-appointed Administrator of his Estate will have the sole authority to decide what happens with his property rights. How the Administrator decides to control his property rights may be inconsistent with what he would have wanted to do.

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Online Estate Planning Docs. Can Devastate-Money Can Be A Curse

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Reason 2: Ignorance Is Bliss! Don’t be a fool and do your own Generic Online Estate Planning Documents

The second reason in our series on how online estate planning documents can devastate your family and leave them in financial ruin is because online documents are generic and will oftentimes make your plan more complicated and confusing for your family.  If you have ever been in a position where a family member was sick or passed away, you know how much stress the situation can cause your family.  Unfortunately, some people have good intentions of making things easier for their family by using online estate planning documents, but oftentimes that decision just makes matters worse for everyone.  Online document users find it unnecessary to meet with a lawyer because they think that their situation isn’t complicated and that their online Will, Power of Attorney, and health care documents will suffice.  However, online documents are overly generic and usually do not serve the needs of even the most basic family situations.  In Reason 2 of this blog series, I will analyze how generic online documents can make matters worse for your family. More specifically, Part I of Reason 2 will address how customization issues can cause confusion and chaos for your loved ones.

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10 Reasons to Use a Trust in Your Estate Plan

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While trusts may seem necessary only for the wealthy, there are actually many benefits for creating them, even if you’re a member of the middle class.  Here are the top 10 reasons why you might consider using a trust in your estate plan:

  1. Wasteful spending. Some experts estimate that heirs spend 80% of their inherited money in the first 18 months of receiving their inheritance.  Without a trust in place, your heirs will receive their inheritance outright.  A trust can protect your heirs from quickly depleting their inheritance by spacing out distributions over a certain number of years or for their lifetimes.
  2. Wrong heirs. A trust can keep your estate assets in your blood line and not to your heir’s in-laws or your surviving spouse’s new partner. A trust can delay distributions so that your grandchildren inherit your estate after the death of your children instead of your children’s spouses.
  3. Worthless investments. A trust can protect your loved ones from investing their inheritance in worthless investments that will quickly deplete their inheritance or provide little to no return.
  4. A trust can ensure that assets and IRA/pension plans are used to provide for the surviving spouse for life, rather than being liquidated and spent on a new partner.
  5. A trust can control how assets are allocated among children and step-children upon the death of the surviving spouse. If you have a blended family and have children from a prior marriage, a trust can ensure that all of your children will be taken care of after your surviving spouse passes away.
  6. A trust can maximize federal estate tax savings, if necessary.
  7. A trust can control/hold assets in trust and limit distributions if heirs have alcohol/drug issues. Failure to leave your estate in trust to these individuals means they might stop working or going to school and use their inheritance to fund their lifestyle of drugs and alcohol.
  8. A trust can create asset protection for heirs from their creditors. Failure to leave your estate to your heirs in a trust means that family members own the assets outright and if they are subject to a lawsuit or the claims of their creditors, their inheritance may be lost to their creditors. Inherited IRAs also can get asset protection with a trust.
  9. A trust can avoid probate delays, costs, and burdens for your loved ones. Probate is costly, stressful, and time-consuming.  The only people who benefit from probate are the attorneys.
  10. Lastly, a trust can keep your estate private from the public. Simply implementing a Last Will and Testament will not keep your estate private.

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