Category Archives: Wills

Power of Attorney

Written on May 18, 2010 by in Estate Planning, Legal, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Wills

Typical concerns about Powers of Attorney 

 

I’m afraid that the person I appoint won’t manage my affairs properly

giving someone the potential power to manager affairs can be frightening. This is why it is important for you to appoint someone you trust to be your attorney. She must use your finances as you would for your benefit. Giving someone a power of attorney does not limit your own rights in any way. It simply gives the other person the power to act when or where you cannot act.

Does a power of attorney take away my rights?

Absolutely not. Only a court can take away your right to manage her own affairs, through a conservatorship or guardianship proceeding. In attorney simply has the power to act along with you, and as long as you are competent, you can revoke the power of attorney.

I don’t have anyone I trust enough to give them power over my affairs

if you do not have someone you trust to a point, it may be more appropriate to have the probate court looking over the shoulder of the person who is handling your affairs through a guardianship. In that case, you may use a limited durable power of attorney to simply nominate the person you want to serve as your guardian. Most dates require the court to respect your nomination "except for good cause for disqualification."

What if I change my mind?

You may revoke your power of attorney at any time. You need to send a letter to your attorney telling her that her appointment has been revoked. From the moment the attorney received a letter, she can no longer act under the power of attorney. If you have recorded the power of attorney with the land records of your County or at the probate court, you must record the rev

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Threat Over Health Care Reform

Written on August 18, 2009 by in Health, Legal, Rajiv Nagaich, Wills

 

Last Friday, someone left a threating message on my office phone because I deal with living wills, which help people make life-or-death decisions beforehand – in case they are ever put on life support. But somehow, confused people believe I am promoting the violence and confrontations at recent town hall meetings about health care reform.

The anonymous caller said, "People like me need to be stopped because I are enabling a person who is planning to cause violence in our country. And my organization will be protested this weekend and they are going to go after me."

I deal with living wills, estate planning, medicare and medicaid advice – not health care reform.

"And they are ignorant, some people are, saying I talk about the same thing that the administration is talking about – so I must be part of the whole gestapo regime, which is not the case.

"This is nonsense. My wife looks at it, and she’s afraid for our safety now."

I am glad that no protest actually materialized at my seminar in Bellevue. Maybe because I-405 was closed due to construction work….

"What we need to be doing is coming together to help people age better and live better." "I have no skin in the game as to whether the administration does with the health care plan. It will be what it will be."

There is one element of Obama’s plan that’s like a living will – it lets you decide your own fate if you’re incapacitated.

Opponents say the plan calls for "death panels" that would make that decision, but today the president denied again that there is such a thing in place. I will encourage people not to wait for the government to make that decision for us. Be responsible and act today, make your own decision and have a living will in place for yourself.

KOMO News was kind enough to interview me on the subject.

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The Probate Process: What to Do Following a Death ?

Written on July 14, 2009 by in Estate Planning, Executor, Legal, Probate, Wills

The emotional trauma brought on by the death of a close family member often is accompanied by bewilderment about the financial and legal steps the survivors must take. The spouse who passed away may have handled all the couple’s finances. Or perhaps a child must begin taking care of administering an estate about which he or she knows little. And this task may come on top of commitments to family and work that can’t be set aside. Finally, the estate itself may be in a disarray or scattered among many accountants, which is not unusual with a generation that saw banks collapse during the Depression.

Here we set out the steps the surviving family members should take. These responsibilities ultimately fall on whoever was appointed executor or personal representative in the deceased  family member’s will. Matters can be a bit more complicated in the absence of a will, because it may not be clear who has the responsibility of carrying out these steps.

First, secure the tangible property. This means anything you can touch, such as silverware, dishes, furniture or artwork. You will need to determine accurate values of each piece of property, which may require appraisals. Later, you will distribute the property as the deceased directed. If property is passed around to family members before you have the opportunity to take an inventory, this will become a difficult, if not impossible, task. Of course, this does not apply to gifts the deceased may have made during life, which will not be part of his or her estate.

Second, take your time. You do not need to take any other steps immediately. While bills do need to be paid, they can wait a month or two without adverse repercussions. It ‘s more important that you and your family  have time to grieve. Financial matters can wait.

When you are ready, but not a day sooner, meet with an attorney to review the steps necessary to administer the deceased’s estate. Bring as much information as possible about finances, taxes and debts. Don’t worry about putting the papers in order first; the lawyer will have experience in organizing and understanding confusing financial statements. Just bring all the information and papers you have to the meeting  and go from there ……………..

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Will or Trust ?

Written on June 10, 2009 by in Estate Planning, Legal, Probate, Trusts, Wills

This is one of most common question I get  asked all the time from my clients & radio listener, should i have a Will or Trust ? Let me start by explaining the difference between a Will & Trust .

Will & Trust do exactly the same thing: who gets what when I die. But they work totally differently.

Will is a very simple document, where I write down my wishes, name the  beneficiaries of my estate & let  my family members  know who gets what when I die. And when I die, my estate will go through  probate. Lots of people are scared of the probate process. I am hear to tell you that probate isn’t a scary process. It usually takes 4-5 months to complete the whole process & during the process all my creditors will be notified & required to submit any claim if they are owed any money before the assets from my estate are transferred to my beneficiaries. Once the probate process is complete, no one can come to the  beneficiaries of my estate and claim their inheritance.

On the other hand Trust is a business arrangement, it basically says I can avoid probate when I die, if I don’t owe any money to anyone. When I create a trust, I give up the ownership of all my assets ( like house, cars, stocks, bank account etc) to the trust. One of the biggest benefits of Trust is protecting my assets from creditors. Trusts are private documents and only those individuals with direct interest in the Trust have any right to know of Trust assets and distribution.

In my personal opinion, I will create a Trust if my estate is worth more than 4 million dollar, I am in a second marriage situation, my kids will fight over the inheritance, or  I have real estate in more than one state. Other than that Will should do fine for me ……………

 

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