Gender equality has come a long way in the past few decades and years, but still, when most people think of estate planning they think of wealthy older men along the lines of Joe Kennedy or John Rockefeller. The truth is, however, that estate planning is a subject which has a significant impact on women. Why? Here are just a few reasons:

* Older women (65+) outnumber older men by 22.4 million to 16.5 million.

* Poverty rates tend to be higher among older women than older men.

* On average, it is the woman of the family who will end up putting her career on hold for caregiving duties at various times in her life (either to care for young children or aging parents.)

* Not to mention that women’s longer life expectancy, combined with their tendency to marry older mates and their lower lifetime earnings means they are far more likely to see their living standards compromised in retirement if proper estate planning isn’t done.

How can women ensure that this doesn’t happen to them? The best answer is for every woman to take an active part in planning her estate—not just the typical “women’s issue” of guardianship of the children, but the financial issues as well. If you are married, talk to your partner about what will happen to your assets if your spouse passes away first, leaving you a widow.

Most modern women have some assets in their name only (and if you don’t have assets in your own name you will if your spouse is the first to pass away) and it’s important not only to create a will for these assets, but also to talk to your family about how these assets should be distributed upon your death. Because estate planning is all about the details, be sure to bring your estate planner into the conversation so you can discuss the issue in specifics, not just generalities.

There are many reasons for being reluctant to start planning your estate: You don’t have time, your partner or spouse generally takes care of the finances, you’re just not “a numbers person.” But there’s one overwhelming reason to take the plunge: to protect your assets and your future. This isn’t a job any woman should leave to someone else. Taking charge of your estate means taking charge of your life. If you can get the ball rolling, our firm can help with everything else.

As summer comes to an end and kids and parents both start getting ready for back-to-school week, estate planning may be the last thing on anybody’s mind; but the beginning of a new school year can actually be the perfect time to give your estate planner a call. Whether your baby is heading off to preschool or college, our office can help you plan for the future and ensure he or she is protected as the school year unwinds.

Any parent of a grade-, middle-, or high-school student knows that the first thing sent home during back-to-school week is the emergency contact forms. These are the forms on which you list who the school should call in case of an emergency when parents can’t be reached, and who might be authorized to make medical decisions for your child if the parents are unavailable. The names you put on these forms can be a perfect starting point for considering who you (and your children) love and trust enough to serve as guardians of your minor children should anything happen to you.

Parents of college-age students (currently or soon to be 18) have a whole different set of legal issues to consider. Although you may still think of your 18 year as your baby, he or she is looked upon as an adult under the law. This means that hospitals and medical personnel are no longer required to ask the parent’s permission before performing medical procedures. In fact, once your child is 18 health care providers are no longer required to share information with the parents at all.

Most college students (and parents) are unaware of this side-effect of turning 18, and parents and children alike can run into frustrating roadblocks should an accident occur. You can avoid these roadblocks by simply having your young adult execute two documents before heading off to school: a healthcare directive nominating you as his or her healthcare agent, and a HIPPA Authorization Form listing you as one of the people who have permission to receive information about his or her medical records and status.

Back-to-school is an exciting time for both parents and children. Taking care of legal and estate-planning business at this time can lift a heavy burden of stress from both parents and children, leaving you all free to enjoy the new year together.

The past few years have seen a number of significant changes in estate tax law; so much so that estate planners—as well as anyone with a will, trust, or estate plan themselves—have had to stay on their toes! The most significant event in recent estate tax history was the lapse of the estate tax in 2010. This lack of tax was so momentous, and was such a surprise, that we are still seeing the effects of it two years later.

A recent article from Reuters describes the ongoing saga of the Tweten family of California, and how the disappearance of the federal estate tax in 2010 caused (and may still be causing) a lengthy legal battle between father and daughters. Leonard Tweten and his wife of 58 years, Eileen, founders of Magnolia Audio Video, established a trust in 2008 which utilized a common formula clause to help minimize estate taxes.

“The formula clause typically divides the estate so that children get the amount of assets in the federal estate tax exclusion (currently $5 million per person), with the rest going to a marital trust for the surviving spouse. This allows the full amount of the exclusion to pass to the heirs tax-free.”

This formula clause is a wonderful tool when the estate tax exclusion amount hovers around $2 million, exactly the amount it was in 2008 when the Twetens set up their trust. Unfortunately, “in 2010, the exclusion was unlimited, because there was no estate tax. So when Eileen died in April of that year, her whole estate, rather a few million dollars, would have gone to the kids, leaving Leonard out of the money.”

The Twetens were not unaware of the exclusion, and made an eleventh hour change to their trust only 12 days before Eileen Tweten’s death. Unfortunately, their efforts were not enough. “The couple’s adult daughters, Nancy Crowe and Janet Houston, petitioned the court to invalidate that amendment on grounds of forgery and incapacity, while their father petitioned to allow the trust’s modification.”

The court eventually had to throw out the amendment, “noting that it had not been notarized as required by the trust”, but sided with Leonard Tweten in spite of this, letting the original intent of the Tweten’s estate plan stand. The Tweten’s daughters, however, plan to appeal the court’s decision.

The lesson we can all take away from the Tweten’s experience is that no matter how safe you may feel with your current estate plan, it is absolutely essential to review your trust regularly, and consult your estate planning attorney about any changes to estate tax law that may have been enacted since your last review. Contact our office for more information.

Married couples take note: Congress passed a law in 2010 that can significantly reduce the amount your estate pays in estate taxes. Unfortunately, most couples are either completely unaware of this opportunity for savings, or they find out about it too late to take advantage of it.

This recent article in the Wall Street Journal gives an example to explain the law both under the previous law and the newer, 2010 law: “A husband and wife together have $7.5 million of assets, $6 million of it in a business owned by him and the rest owned by her. Under prior law, if they died and each partner left everything to the other (with no trusts), the estate of the second-to-die partner would owe federal tax on $2.5 million—even though the law gave each spouse a $5 million exemption. Under the new rules, when the first partner dies—say it’s the wife—the executor files an estate-tax return preserving the value of her $5 million exemption. The result: At the husband’s death, the wife’s exemption is added to his, and the entire $7.5 million passes to heirs tax-free.”

Taking advantage of this opportunity isn’t difficult to do… but only if married couples (or their financial/legal advisors) are aware of the law. And in this case it’s not enough to be simply aware of the law, couples will need to be made aware of the law in time to take advantage of it within the limited time frame. “An estate-tax return must be filed soon after the first partner’s death—usually within nine months—in order for a couple to get this new benefit.”

For more information about this beneficial tax law, or to find out how to take advantage of it before it’s too late, please contact our office.

The thought that your child may have to survive on his or her own before they are ready is every parent’s worst fear; it’s what keeps many parents up at night, and what brings many parents into our offices asking about trusts, guardians, and estate plans. For parents of children with special needs that fear of leaving their child unprepared is magnified, because parents of children with special needs don’t know if their child will ever be able to fully support themselves—even when they are well into adulthood.

One way to help ensure that your special needs child will be taken care of—even when you can’t be there anymore—is to create a special needs trust. In fact, a special needs trust is almost essential for any child (or adult) who will rely on government assistance for much of his or her life. As this article in the Wall Street Journal points out, the sooner you get a financial plan (and a special needs trust) in place, the better for your child.

A special needs trust (or SNT) “typically will hold funds to be used solely for the child, usually to cover out-of-pocket costs related to the child’s care and living expenses, but the money won’t be in his or her name… This is important because if a child has more than $2,000 in assets, he or she typically won’t qualify for benefits such as Supplemental Security Income or Medicaid. (For this reason, many parents use a trust while they’re alive if the special-needs child inherits any assets or receives other monetary gifts.)”

In the hands of an experienced estate planning/special needs attorney the process of creating an SNT can be a great opportunity to anticipate your child’s lifetime needs, review your current (and potential future) assets, and plan not only for your child, but also for yourselves in the coming years. Every child and ever family will have different needs, and no two trusts will be the same. Please contact us for more information about protecting your special needs child and how we can help.