Young & Single

Young & Married

Married with Minor Children

Under 59 1/2 with Adult Children

Over 59 1/2 with Adult Children

Seniors Over 70 1/2

When you are young and unmarried with your first job, you are at the beginning stage of financial and estate planning. All persons who are over the age of 18 should have a Will, Durable Financial Power of Attorney, Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Living Will.

Although you may not believe that you have sufficient assets to warrant estate and financial planning, you may be overlooking contract assets (i.e. life insurance, car insurance that has a value at sudden illness or accident) which would require planning. You may also be overlooking the possibility that a sudden illness or accident could require your parents or some other loved one to assume responsibility for your person along with your assets. If you are involved in an accident in a different state or if you have a sudden illness which renders you unconscious and you do not have the appropriate planning documents in place, your parents and/or other loved ones would have to apply to the Probate Court for the appointment of a guardian over your person and over your estate.

These guardianship proceedings are the most expensive legal work performed by an Elder Law attorney. Guardianships require that all matters be supervised by the court. In other words, if your guardian wants to move you from a hospital in the State of Illinois where the accident occurred to a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, they would need to file an application in the court in Illinois and an application in the court in Ohio to be granted court permission to move you from one location to another. Since these matters are generally charged on an hourly basis, preparation of the documents, the hearing process, and the court costs generally exceed a young person’s asset base, and therefore, the parents and/or other loved ones who assume responsibility end up paying the costs of these legal proceedings.

If you have the foregoing documents in place, your parents and/or other loved ones could utilize them to perform all of the same actions but without court supervision.

The foregoing stages of planning should give you an overall idea of when it is important to see your financial and/or estate planner for purposes of creating and/or updating your estate plan to achieve the maximum amount of income tax, estate tax, and unnecessary governmental interference.

Contact Browning, Meyer & Ball Co., LPA today to schedule an appointment to discuss your initial planning needs.

The next stage of financial and estate planning arrives with marriage and the purchase of your first home.  When we marry, we usually begin to acquire assets jointly which need to be allocated among the two families in the event that both husband and wife are involved in a sudden accident and pass away.

A Will, a Durable Financial Power of Attorney, Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, and Living Will should be prepared for both husband and the wife so that in the event an accident or sudden illness results in an estate or a guardianship, the surviving spouse and/or the parents of the husband or wife are properly empowered to be able to handle any contingency. Also, the consideration of joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, payable on death accounts and transfer on death accounts along with the proper designation of beneficiaries for IRAs, 401(k)s, 403bs and other similar accounts (i.e., life insurance) should be reviewed for the proper transfer in the event of an unforeseen passing or illness.

The foregoing stages of planning should give you an overall idea of when it is important to see your financial and/or estate planner for purposes of creating and/or updating your estate plan to achieve the maximum amount of income tax, estate tax, and unnecessary governmental interference.

Contact Browning, Meyer & Ball Co., LPA today to schedule an appointment to discuss your estate planning and the creation or revision of your Durable Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, and Wills.

The next stage of financial and estate planning occurs when a married couple have minor children.  Because a sudden illness and/or passing may incapacitate you as a parent, planning should be put in place to nominate a guardian for your minor children as well as someone to manage your assets for your children.  Instead of a simple Will, the husband and wife could prepare a Will with Testamentary Trust provisions for minor children along with the Durable Financial Power of Attorney, Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Living Will. The Will has two provisions for the children: 1) a suggestion of guardian over the physical placement of the children; and 2) an appointment of a Trustee over the monetary assets of the children.  Remember, ongoing Probate Court jurisdiction requires formalities that increase the cost of administration.

If both parents were to pass away suddenly, the court would consider appointing the guardian over the person of the children for purposes of health, maintenance and welfare of the children. This would enable the guardian to deal with day to day matters such as school placement, medical treatment, and other similar matters.

The court would appoint a Testamentary Trustee pursuant to the Testamentary Trust language in the Will. The Trustee would operate pursuant to the Testamentary Trust provisions, which normally state that the Trustee can pay for any bills related to health, maintenance and welfare of the children through the age of minority with distribution of principal amounts at ages 25, 30 and 35. This is called a “sprinkle provision” as it “sprinkles” the principal over a period of years rather than delivering a lump sum at one age.

As an alternative, parents may also consider a Living Trust with provisions for minor children similar to those described in the Testamentary Trust. A Living Trust is a contract that is independent of Probate Court jurisdiction and therefore streamlines the work considerably. Normally, a Living Trust is utilized when the Successor Trustees are persons who the parents trust with the proceeds from their estates.  Again, the guardian would be suggested in the Will and appointed by the court over the person, but there is limited ongoing court contact with the guardianship over a person as opposed to a guardianship over an estate or a Testamentary Trust administration.

The foregoing stages of planning should give you an overall idea of when it is important to see your financial and/or estate planner for purposes of creating and/or updating your estate plan to achieve the maximum amount of income tax, estate tax, and unnecessary governmental interference.

Contact Browning, Meyer & Ball Co., LPA today to schedule an appointment to discuss your estate planning needs.

The next stage of financial and estate planning occurs when the married couple have attained the age when they may still have minor children as well as adult children. Because a sudden illness and/or passing may incapacitate the parents, planning should be put in place to include a guardian for any minor children as well as an an individual to handle your financial affairs.  Instead of a simple Will, the husband and wife could prepare a Will with Testamentary Trust provisions for minor children along with a Durable Financial Power of Attorney, Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, and Living Will.

The Will has two provisions for the children: 1) a suggestion of guardian over the physical placement of the children, and 2) an appointment of a Trustee over the monetary assets of the children. Remember, ongoing Probate Court jurisdiction requires formalities that increase the cost of administration.

If both parents were to pass away suddenly, the court would consider appointing a guardian over the person of the child for purposes of health, maintenance and welfare.  The guardian would then be responsible for day to day matters concerning the child, including placement in a school system, medical treatment, and other similar issues.

The court would appoint a Testamentary Trustee pursuant to the Testamentary Trust language in the Will. The Trustee would operate pursuant to the Testamentary Trust provisions, which normally state that the Trustee can pay for any bills related to health, maintenance and welfare of the children through the age of minority, as well as with distribution of principal amounts at ages set forth in the Will.  If you wish for your children to receive distributions of principal at specific ages (i.e. 25, 30, 35), we can draft a Testamentary Trust with ”sprinkle provisions.”  The principal is then “sprinkled” in over a period of years rather than your children receiving a lump sum distribution at one age.

The parents may also consider a Living Trust with provisions for adult children similar to those described for the Testamentary Trust.  A Living Trust is a contract that is independent of Probate Court jurisdiction, and it therefore streamlines the work considerably.  Normally, a Living Trust is utilized when the Successor Trustees are persons who the parents trust with the proceeds from their estates.  Again, the guardian would be suggested in the Will and appointed by the court over the person, but there is limited ongoing court contact with the guardianship over a person as opposed to a guardianship over an estate or a Testamentary Trust administration.

The foregoing stages of planning should give you an overall idea of when it is important to see your financial and/or estate planner for purposes of creating and/or updating your estate plan to achieve the maximum amount of income tax, estate tax, and unnecessary governmental interference.

Contact Browning, Meyer & Ball Co., LPA today to schedule an appointment to discuss your estate planning needs.

If empty nesters have reached and/or gone by age 59 1/2, a thorough and proper review of their retirement planning is necessary.  Each type of deferred compensation plan (i.e. IRA, SEPP, 401(k) 403(b), PERS, STRS, etc.) has rules and regulations which govern the withdrawal and the receipt of the account at the participant’s death. These rules should be reviewed both financially and in the retirement and estate planning aspect so that no adverse tax rules apply.

The parents should prepare a Will in conjunction with a Living Trust, Durable Financial Power of Attorney, Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, and Living Will. The Living Trust avoids a probate estate and also has tax provisions in the event your estate has tax consequences at death. The Trust would have provisions for the surviving spouse and would have provisions if no spouse survives for distribution to the adult children and/or grandchildren. Empty nester estate planning becomes more complicated because the children’s lifestyles have been established, and special planning may be necessary in light of the adult child’s capabilities. In some instances, an adult child may be disabled and/or become disabled.  In this event, special trust provisions must be created to avoid the interruption of governmental benefits.  In some cases, the adult child is competent, but may not be one with a great deal of financial responsibility.  This may lead the parent to consider an ongoing trust for protection of the corpus from bad decisions of the child. These matters are thoroughly discussed in estate planning and are tailored to specific client circumstances.

The foregoing stages of planning should give you an overall idea of when it is important to see your financial and/or estate planner for purposes of creating and/or updating your estate plan to achieve the maximum amount of income tax, estate tax, and unnecessary governmental interference.

Contact Browning, Meyer & Ball Co., LPA today to schedule an appointment to discuss your estate planning and elder law needs.

Before attaining 70 1/2, you should review all of your estate planning documents along with those describing financial and retirement benefit planning.  Because the age of 70 1/2 has been magically designated by the Congress of the United States and the Internal Revenue Code as a lock-up date for certain types of tax-deferred compensation plans, it is imperative that all persons within a year of 70 1/2 review their plans to avoid any income tax and/or estate tax complications.

The parents should prepare a Will in conjunction with a Living Trust, Durable Financial Power of Attorney, Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, and Living Will. The Living Trust avoids a probate estate and also has tax provisions in the event your estate has tax consequences at death. The Trust would have provisions for the surviving spouse and would have provisions if no spouse survives for distribution to the adult children and/or grandchildren. Empty nester estate planning becomes more complicated because the children’s lifestyles have been established, and special planning may be necessary in light of the adult child’s capabilities. In some instances, an adult child may be disabled and/or become disabled.  In this event, special trust provisions must be created to avoid the interruption of governmental benefits.  In some cases, the adult child is competent, but may not be one with a great deal of financial responsibility.  This may lead the parent to consider an ongoing trust for protection of the corpus from bad decisions of the child. These matters are thoroughly discussed in estate planning and are tailored to specific client circumstances.

The foregoing stages of planning should give you an overall idea of when it is important to see your financial and/or estate planner for purposes of creating and/or updating your estate plan to achieve the maximum amount of income tax, estate tax, and unnecessary governmental interference.

Contact Browning, Meyer & Ball Co., LPA today to schedule an appointment to discuss your estate planning and elder law needs.