Orlando Estate & Elder Law

Only 10% Take Crucial First Step

Let’s face it, it’s hard for most of us to muster up the energy to plan for retirement.

We all dream of retiring.  But few of us take the first practical step toward that goal.  According to a study by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies as reported in Forbes, most Americans do not know how much they will need in retirement.

In fact, most of those who think they have saved enough are merely guessing.  It is human nature to put off thinking about future issues when today’s issues are – well – here today.  But the longer one delays retirement planning, the more dire the potential consequences.   As with most concerns, avoidance does not improve anything.

So here goes:  estimate your needs for your future retirement using one of the many free online retirement calculators.  You can enter a lot of detailed information, but even a broad overview of your situation gives you a place to start.  If you need help finding an appropriate calculator or a reputable financial planner, we will be happy to assist.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Forbes (December 15, 2016) "Study:  Only 10% of Americans Take This Simple, Critical Step Toward Retirment.”

 

Do Undocumented Immigrants Have Inheritance Rights?

People who immigrate to the U.S. without following the legal procedures for doing so, live in precarious legal situations, but that does not mean that they do not have rights, including the right to inherit property.

Most people are aware that illegal immigrants to the U.S. can be deported at almost any time, unless they can convince an immigration court to let them stay. The Obama administration has deported millions and President-elect Trump has vowed to deport millions more. Many people wonder what rights these illegal immigrants have in the U.S., including one woman who recently wrote into Market Watch to ask "My brother-in-law is an undocumented immigrant -- can he inherit my sister's house?"

According to the letter writer, her deceased sister had been married to an undocumented immigrant for 30 years. The husband never applied for a green card or U.S. citizenship. The sister passed away with a house in her name. According to the writer, the husband is afraid to put the house in his name and claim the inheritance,  because he fears deportation.

She wonders whether he can inherit the property.

The simple answer is that he can inherit the property.

With some restrictions, foreigners can own real estate in the U.S. Estate law does not discriminate against non-US citizens.

Of course, that does not mean that the husband cannot be deported. He should do what he should have done a long time ago - call an immigration attorney to discuss his options to stay in the U.S. legally.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Market Watch (November 27, 2016) "My brother-in-law is an undocumented immigrant -- can he inherit my sister's house?"

A Costly Lesson from Prince's Estate

People can learn a lot from Prince's estate and the fact that he did not have an estate plan. Perhaps, most importantly they can learn how costly the lack of an estate plan can be.

There are several reasons why people decide not to get estate plans. One of the more common reasons is that people think that getting an estate plan is too expensive.

Attorneys' responses to that reasoning are often taken as self-interested and thus fall on deaf ears. However, estate attorneys who were truly acting out of their own financial self-interest would normally dispense the opposite advice and tell everyone not to get an estate plan.

The reason for this is illustrated in Prince's estate as TMZ reports in "Prince Lawyers Haul in Millions off Death."

The estate administrator has submitted a legal bill for the court's approval. It is requesting that the estate pay legal fees in the amount of $2.3 million to various attorneys who have worked on the case so far. The requested fees only cover work done between July 1st and September 30th. Since administering the estate is nowhere close to being finished, the final legal bill will be much more than that.

With an estimated worth of at least $200 million, it was known that it was going to be expensive to handle Prince's estate. However, it would have been far less expensive, if the musician had taken the time to get an estate plan.

For only three months, of what certainly will be a long process, the legal fees alone have already eaten up 1% of the estate's value.

That is a costly mistake.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: TMZ (Dec. 1, 2016) "Prince Lawyers Haul in Millions off Death."

Senate Committee Weighs in on Elder Financial Abuse

After receiving a report from the General Accountability Office, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held hearings to discuss the problem of guardians who financially abuse their elderly wards.

Elder law attorneys have been aware that elderly people are sometimes abused by guardians who receive inadequate court oversight. Despite the best efforts of attorneys and other elder law advocates, it has been difficult to curb the problem. Much of the evidence was derived anecdotally based on individual cases.

This has served to mask the overall scope of the problem in many states and in the U.S. as a whole. The General Accountability Office recently issued a report on the problem and offered some suggestions.

The report was the subject of hearings by the Senate Special Committee on Aging according to Financial Advisor in "Senators, GAO, Decry Elder Financial Abuse By Guardians, Complicit Courts."

One of the key recommendations is that courts should more carefully consider whether a guardian is necessary or if the elderly person could adequately be taken care of by a caregiver. If a guardian is appointed, then it is advised that the court should oversee the guardian’s actions and make assessments in the future about whether the guardian is still needed.

It was also recommended that guardians receive mandatory training on their responsibilities.

The government should have a better idea of the scope of this problem in the future. Next year, the Department of Health and Human Services will launch a National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System that will collect data from state agencies about elder abuse.

For more information about estate planning and planning for care as we age in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Financial Advisor (Dec. 1, 2016) "Senators, GAO, Decry Elder Financial Abuse By Guardians, Complicit Courts."

Robin Williams' Trusts Are Still Secret Despite Court Appearance

In the ongoing saga that is the estate of Robin Williams, the latest episode has seen the late comedian's children be the victims of online harassment because of a simple estate planning mistake that was made years ago.

There has been intense interest over the details of Robin Williams' estate, especially since most of the details have been kept private and people have taken sides in the relatively small public dispute between Williams' widow and his children. However, the recent rediscovery of some old trust documents that had been made public several years ago, has led to Williams' children being harassed on social media.

The late comedian's publicist has disavowed those trusts and stated that they do not accurately reflect William's plans at the time of his death according to Trust Advisor in "Robin Williams Hid His Assets After All, But Any ILITs May Have Backfired On His Planners."

The problem here is that the old trust documents would never have been made public in the first place, if they had been drafted a little more carefully.

The documents called for two co-trustees, but one of the designated individuals passed away. The remaining co-trustee had to petition a court to allow him to appoint a replacement co-trustee. The trust documents were made public through the court case.

This represents a failure of trust drafting, since the trusts documents should have had provisions for successor trustees and how they could be named without the need to go to court.

Despite that error, the details of Williams' estate are still mostly unknown to the public. If his publicist is to be believed, then Williams did change his plans later and those later plans are not known.

For more information about elder law or estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Trust Advisor (Nov. 20, 2016) "Robin Williams Hid His Assets After All, But Any ILITs May Have Backfired On His Planners."

Is Dead Roommate Liable for Apartment Rent?

Whenever someone passes away, it is important for the estate to assess any liabilities and determine what needs to be paid. One issue that can come up is whether an estate is responsible for paying rent for an apartment that the deceased co-leased.

When you pass away, your estate is still obligated to pay any debts you have and to fulfill any contracts you have signed, if possible. You cannot expect to escape your credit card debts, for example, by dying.

However, some things are not as simple.

What if you have signed a rental agreement as a co-lessor with a roommate? Ordinarily, if you do not pay the rent while you are alive, then the landlord can sue either roommate individually for the total amount owed or both jointly. If you pass away, the roommate is still responsible for the total amount of the lease, but can that roommate sue your estate for the amount you still owe under the lease?

That is essentially the question someone asked the New York Times recently in "A Roommate Dies; Must His Estate Pay the Rent?"

In this case, a woman was renting a garage apartment with her boyfriend who passed away. She continued to pay the full rent and wondered if she could receive her boyfriend's share of the rent from his estate.

The simple answer is yes, she can.

The estate, if it has the money to do so, would normally be responsible to pay her back for the rent. However, her claim against the estate would come after any tax liabilities or secured creditors and she would only get paid, if there is enough money left in the estate to do so.

Her position could be strengthened if she and her boyfriend had signed a written agreement about the amount of rent each of them was responsible for and what to do in the event one of them passed away during the term of the lease.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: New York Times (Nov. 5, 2016) "A Roommate Dies; Must His Estate Pay the Rent?"

Fight Back Against Alzheimer's

While scientists have not yet been able to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, they have learned enough about it to suggest some ways that the disease can be prevented or slowed down.

Millions of Americans suffer from the devastating effects of Alzheimer's disease. Despite efforts to find a cure to end patients' suffering, medical scientists have not yet been able to find one. There is still much about the disease that is not understood.

However, scientists have learned enough about how the human body and brain work, that they now understand some ways the disease's progress can be slowed and perhaps even prevented in the first place.

Recently, a neuroscientist offered some helpful tips in Market Watch in "These simple lifestyle changes can prevent or slow Alzheimer's," including:

• Get Regular Exercise - It is believed that regular moderate exercise can help slow the progress of Alzheimer's. A mere 2.5 hours of weekly exercise as simple as taking regular 15 minute walks can be helpful.
• Move Frequently - Long periods of time sitting down will cause the body to go into a metabolic rest state that can ultimately be harmful. It is suggested that whether you are at home or the office, you should get up and move around every half hour or so during the day.
• Mediterranean Diet - Dietary changes can also be helpful. You should consider eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes. Replacing butter with olive oil is also a good idea. Finally, it is a good idea to use poultry and fish as your main protein sources more often than beef and pork.

For more information about elder law or estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Market Watch (Nov. 23, 2016) "These simple lifestyle changes can prevent or slow Alzheimer's."

The Challenge of Challenging an Estate

When deciding whether you should challenge a relative's estate, it is important to look at the terms of the estate and the circumstances when the estate plan was made.

Challenging someone's estate plan can be very expensive and very difficult to do successfully. Therefore, challenges should only be made after careful consideration. They should not normally be made merely because you received less from the estate than you expected.

You should instead first consider whether the distribution of assets would seem reasonable to an independent observer and whether there were any suspicious circumstances under which the estate plan was made.

Sometimes that initial inquiry will lead to an obvious answer, as was the case in a recent Market Watch column "My stepfather left $1 million to strangers and dead people."

A Market Watch reader wrote in to ask about some instructions his stepfather had left concerning a trust written a few days before he passed away. Instead of leaving any money for his wife of 60 years or any other close relatives, the stepfather decided to leave everything to relatives who lived overseas with whom he had no contact for years.

At least one of those foreign relatives was dead at the time.

While that is a pretty simple case of plans that do not on their surface appear reasonable to an independent observer, most cases are far less straightforward. Before deciding to challenge the estate plan of a relative, contact an estate attorney and see whether you have a good case.

For more information about elder law or estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Market Watch (Nov. 26, 2016) "My stepfather left $1 million to strangers and dead people."

Elder Abuse Missed in ER

Even though elderly people often rely on care in an emergency room instead of from a primary care doctor, a study suggests that emergency room staff are failing to identify cases of elder abuse.

It is believed that 10% of American senior citizens are the victims of elder abuse. It can be difficult to catch the perpetrators, because the victims are often isolated and medical care is not regularly sought.

Abusers do not want their victims establishing trusting relationships with primary care physicians since that could lead to the abuse being discovered. As a result, victims often do not receive any care until they have serious injuries and need to go to the emergency room.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that emergency room staff are doing a good job of catching elder abuse. Only 1 in 7,700 visits by elderly patients to emergency rooms results in a report of possible elder abuse, according to CBS News in "Elder abuse often missed in the ER."

This is alarming because it means that many victims of abuse could be treated for injuries caused by their abusers and released back into the care of those abusers. While the primary job of emergency room staff is not to detect elder abuse, they can and should do a better job making sure that injuries suffered by their elderly patients are not the result of abuse.

This new study will hopefully lead to a renewed focus in emergency rooms on this important issue and to increased staff training about how to detect potential elder abuse victims.

For more information about elder law or estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: CBS News (Nov. 25, 2016) "Elder abuse often missed in the ER."

U.K. Judge Allows Girl's Body to Be Frozen

A terminally ill teenager in the U.K. asked a court to allow her body to be frozen in the U.S. A judge granted the request.

Cryogenics is a controversial subject in elder law and for families of terminally ill patients. Those who believe in the practice think that if their remains are frozen it is possible they can be unfrozen in the future when a cure for their diseases will be available.

Most experts, however, do not think that is possible.

They point out that we do not currently have an ability to freeze human beings in a way that preserves their ability to be brought back to life. Some people do still request that their bodies be frozen after they pass away.

One of the latest such stories comes from the U.K. as FOX News Health reported in "Dying UK girl convinces judge to let her body be frozen."

A 14-year-old girl with terminal cancer wanted her body to be shipped to the U.S. to be frozen. However, her divorced parents disagreed with each other about granting the girl's wishes. Her mother was in favor and her father was opposed.

This caused the girl to ask a judge to direct that her body should be frozen. Although the girl was too ill to make her request in court, the judge visited her and agreed to her wishes. This was one of the first of these kind of cases in the U.S.

While cryogenics remains a rarely used option in the U.S. expect it to be used more frequently as medical science advances even if the experts continue to say it will not work.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: FOX News Health (Nov. 17, 2016) "Dying UK girl convinces judge to let her body be frozen."