Trusts were once considered to be only for those with extensive estate assets; however, those days are long gone. Today, even someone with a modest estate can potentially benefit from the inclusion of a trust in his or her estate plan. The terms you include in a trust will dictate who receives the trust assets, when they are distributed, and what they can be used for in many cases. What happens though if you want to change one of those terms (or anything else in your trust)?

First, not all trusts can be changed once created. An irrevocable living trust cannot be changed once it becomes effective absent a court order in most cases. Other trusts, however, can usually be changed. A testamentary trust is a trust that is included in your Last Will and Testament and only takes effect when you die. Because of this, a testamentary trust can be easily changed up to the point of your death.

An inter vivos trust, or living trust, becomes effective during your lifetime. This type of trust can be changed by creating a trust amendment. To do this, you will make all the necessary changes on a sheet of paper and “amend” it to the original trust document. For more extensive changes, a trust restatement may be necessary. A trust restatement replaces the entire trust document but retains the original date.

Be sure to consult with your estate planning attorney to decide what the best way is to make  any needed changes to your trust.

The Law Offices of Barton P. Levine is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Legislation was recently introduced by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Or.) and five other co-sponsors that could impose a significant obstacle for Veteran’s Aid and Attendance, or VAA, benefits. If the bill passes, applicants for VAA benefits will be subjected to a 36 month “look-back” period much like the one currently used by the Medicaid program.

If you are unfamiliar with the VAA program, it is available through the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and provides valuable financial assistance to veterans and their spouses. Recipients are people who need assistance performing everyday functions either in a home or an assisted living facility setting. Typically, the Medicaid program falls short of covering these services for those who need them.

Along with the service requirement, an applicant and spouse cannot have more than $80,000 in assets to qualify for VAA benefits. As the program stands now though, assets can be transferred just prior to application for the benefits without a penalty. The proposed legislation would require a 36 month “look-back” period during which any transfers made could disqualify the applicant or cause a penalty period to be imposed. The bill treats a married couple as a unit, meaning that neither of the two can have transfers during the look-back period. The Committee on Veteran’s Affairs will be reviewing the bill sometime in the future. For now, if you think that you, or a family member, may qualify for the VAA program, now is the time to apply. For 2013, maximum benefit amounts are as follows:

Veteran – $1,732/month

Veteran and Spouse – $2,054/month

Surviving Spouse – $1,113/month

Information and application forms for the VAA program can be accessed here.

The Law Offices of Barton P. Levine is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When John F. Kennedy was President of the United States he designated May as Older Americans Month as a way to honor and remember the elderly among us whom at that time numbered 17 million. Fifty years later, the “greying of America” has increased the number of older Americans to 40 million. If experts are correct, that figure will shoot to 90 million by 2060, meaning that older Americans will outnumber their younger (under 18 years of age) counterparts for the first time in history. Sadly, it also means that unscrupulous individuals who make a ling by swindling the elderly will have about 50 million more potential victims.

Elder abuse is a growing concern in the United States, yet the numbers related to elderly abuse are hard to pin down. Elderly victims are frequently too ashamed to admit being the victim of abuse, too scared of the perpetrator, or completely unaware of the abuse because they suffer from dementia. Experts, however, estimate that swindling the elderly nets perpetrators over $3 billion each year. Lottery and sweepstakes schemes, unscrupulous lending practices, e-mail and telemarketing schemes, and identity theft are some of the more common forms of financial crimes perpetrated against the elderly. These crimes though are largely perpetrated by strangers. The truth is that family members and caregivers are equally as likely to swindle an elderly individual out of money.

If you are concerned that you could become the victim of elderly financial abuse in the future, there are some steps you can take know to protect yourself. Talk to your estate planning attorney about what you can do to prevent becoming a victim.

The Law Offices of Barton P. Levine is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

An estate plan can be as simple, or as complex, as it needs to be. For those with larger estates, a more complicated estate plan is usually necessary to ensure that all of the proverbial bases are covered. Just like their less affluent counterparts though, the wealthy can make mistakes in their estate plan. The following are some of the most common mistakes the wealthy make when estate planning.

• Underutilizing trusts – after your Last Will and Testament, trusts are the common addition to an estate plan for the affluent. Trusts can provide tax and probate avoidance benefits as well as allow you to retain a significant amount of control over assets and/or beneficiary long after you have transferred assets.
• Not sharing with family – sadly, the more money involved, the higher the chance of conflict after your death. To avoid this, discuss your overall plan with family and beneficiaries now so that they can come to terms with the plan before you die.
• Failing to make gifts prior to death – If your estate assets exceed the lifetime exemption limit for gift and estate tax purposes, you likely need to start transferring assets now and taking advantage of lifetime gifting opportunities that can also avoid the gift and estate tax.
• Disjointed planning – instead of creating one plan with your financial advisor and another with your estate planning attorney, get everyone together to create one uniform plan.
• Putting off a review – once your plan has been created, you probably need to review and update your plan more than other people because your assets are more likely to change.

The Law Offices of Barton P. Levine is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Your Last Will and Testament allows you to do much more than just decide who will receive which assets when you die. In fact, for people with minor children, probably the most important decision you make in your estate plan is included in your Will – the appointment of a guardian for your child. Because this person will be responsible for raising your child should the need arise, consider the following tips before making a final decision about who to appoint:

1. Location – the older your child is, the more important it may be to choose a guardian who lives close if possible. Taking a teenager away from his or her friends and school right after losing a parent can have disastrous results.
2. Familiarity – appointing your cousin who lives 1000 miles away and whom your child has spent little, or no, time with may not be the best choice even if you have complete confidence in him or her.
3. Capacity – does your potential guardian have the emotional, physical and financial capacity to do the job? Is he or she mature enough and stable enough to handle becoming a parent?
4. Willingness – being capable is not the same as being willing. Never assume that someone will take the job either – always sit down and discuss your choice at length with a potential guardian before making a final decision.
5. Style – does your choice have the same parenting philosophies that you have? While not completely necessary, it will likely help your child adjust if your guardian has a similar parenting style to yours.

The Law Offices of Barton P. Levine is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

A family business is typically something that you have put your blood, sweat, and tears into to make a success. When it comes time to pass it down through your estate plan, dividing it among your children can become complicated rather quickly. Careful estate planning, however, can make it easier.

There are typically two major problems when it comes to passing down a family business. The first is who to pass it down to and the second is how to divide the assets equally. When your business has many of the assets tied up in the business itself, as is the case in many family farms for example, it can be even harder to divide your estate among beneficiaries.

If your business is a sole proprietorship, simply passing the business down through your Last Will and Testament may not be the best answer. This does not solve the problem of dividing assets among beneficiaries.

One answer is to create a legal entity such as a limited liability company, a family limited partnership or a corporation for the business. By turning the business into a legal entity, you can appoint someone who is interested in the business to a position of authority and compensate him or her appropriately.

Other family members can then share equally in the profits of the business. By doing this, your estate is not forced to sell off estate assets to create an equal division upon your death. Moreover, you can rest assured that the person who is actually interested in, and capable of, running the business will be the one doing so when you die.

The Law Offices of Barton P. Levine is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Prior to the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2013, many taxpayers with moderate to large estates created irrevocable life insurance trusts, or ILITs, in an effort to avoid a heavy tax liability on their estates when they died. Now that the temporary tax rules that were in place for a few years have been made permanent, what should you do with your ILIT?

An ILIT allows you to establish a trust that will receive the proceeds of a life insurance policy. You can then name your loved ones as the beneficiaries of the trust. Because the trust is irrevocable, trust assets are not considered to be owned by you at the time of death and, therefore, are not included in the value of your estate for estate tax purposes. This allows a taxpayer, for example, to purchase a $5 million life insurance policy and transfer it to a trust. Upon death, the policy would pay out into the trust, effectively providing $5 million in assets to the trust beneficiaries free from estate taxes. Now, however, the lifetime exemption to estate taxes has been raised to just over $5 million, making the use of an ILIT less necessary.

Because an ILIT is, by definition, irrevocable, you cannot simply go back and change it now that it is not needed. In some cases, petitioning a court for the right to modify an ILIT may be an option. Another option is to simply cancel the policy and terminate the trust. Before you do that though, discuss your options with your estate planning attorney. While the new tax laws may have erased the necessity for an ILIT, you may decide that the remaining benefits warrant keeping the ILIT in place.

The Law Offices of Barton P. Levine is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Autism Spectrum Disorders, or ASD, are thought to affect one in about 88 children across the nation. Because of the sharp increase in the number of people diagnosed with ASDs, the Autism Society designates the month of April each year as Autism Awareness Month. The hope is that by bringing attention to the disorders, a cause and/or cure will be found in the near future.

Autism disorders are developmental disorders that impact a person’s ability to communicate and interact socially with his or her peers. Generally, autism is diagnosed before a child reaches the age of five. Over the last few decades, the number of people diagnosed with an ASD has increased sharply. Experts disagree about the cause of ASD; however, genetics are thought to play a part. Because ASD is a spectrum disorder, the symptoms and signs of ASD can vary dramatically from one person to the next. Some people living with ASD are highly functioning while others will require a lifetime of daily care. For the parents of a child with ASD, careful planning for the future is critical.

Estimates place the cost of caring for a person with ASD at as much as $5 million over the span of a lifetime. If you are the parent of a child with ASD, not only must you plan for the financial impact the disorder will have on your life, but you must also be sure to include special needs planning in your estate plan to ensure that your child will be well taken care of should something happen to you.

The Law Offices of Barton P. Levine is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

As recently as fifty years ago in the United States, men traditionally made all major decisions in a marriage. This included decisions regarding investments, expenditures and estate planning. Although this has certainly changed in more recent years, there are still a number of women in their golden years who are accustomed to the concept that the man handles financial and legal affairs. The problem with that is that women typically live longer, meaning that regardless of tradition, estate planning is equally as important for women as it is for men.

Experts tell us that women live, on average, five years longer than their male counterparts in the United States. Therefore, a woman can expect to live to the age of around 80…many live much longer. For women entering their golden years now, or in the near future, this means that comprehensive retirement and estate plans are important.  If your husband dies before you, will you have enough income/resources to live comfortably? Assuming you have sufficient assets to outlive the life expectancy estimates, what will happen to your assets after your death?

Traditionally, women deferred to the husband’s estate planning decisions. While there is nothing wrong with this, estate planning laws change often. If you outlive your husband, the decisions made in your existing estate plan may not be in your best interest because of changes in the tax code or changes in the law. For this reason, if no other, you should take the initiative to have your current estate plan reviewed and make any necessary changes to ensure that you  will be comfortable throughout your golden years and that your assets will go where you want them to go after your death.

The Law Offices of Barton P. Levine is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

New York may receive an estate worth $40 million – the largest in New York history – if heirs to the estate are not located soon. The decedent’s story reminds all of us why estate planning is necessary.

New York resident Roman Blum died last year at the age of 97, leaving behind an estate worth approximately $40 million. To date, a Last Will and Testament has not been found. When no Will is produced, an estate is probated according to the state’s intestate succession laws, meaning that the legal heirs of the decedent inherit the estate assets. The problem is that no heirs have been found either.

Although Blum’s life prior to moving to America is somewhat of a mystery, it appears as though he was born in Poland and was a holocaust survivor. Blum was married but divorced his wife after 50 years and the couple had no children. The public administrator who was appointed to probate the estate has launched an international search for heirs, even hiring a professional genealogist to help. To date, no heirs have been uncovered.

If no heirs are found within three years, what remains of Blum’s estate will be transferred to the State of New York’s unclaimed property fund. The cause of Blum’s failure to execute a Will remains a mystery as well. Although he was a successful developer and used an attorney on a regular basis, friends surmise that he may have not created a Will for superstitious reasons. Whatever the reason, the story should remind all of us why it is so important to create an estate plan.

The Law Offices of Barton P. Levine is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.