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January 22, 2013
Filed under: Estate Planning — Tags: "Asset Protection", "Bloomfield Hills", "Durable Power of Attorney", "Estate Planning", "Living Trust", "Macomb County Estate Planning Attorney", "Michael P. Witzke", "Michigan Estate Planning Attorney", "Michigan Estate Planning Lawyer Blog", "Michigan Estate Planning Lawyer", "Oakland County Estate Planning Attorney", "Oakland County Estate Planning Lawyer", "Trusts", "Wayne County Estate Planning Attorney", "Will", "Witzke Berry Carter & Wander", "Women", estate administration — Christopher J. Berry @ 8:15 pm
Estate planning often has a more dramatic effect on women due to elongated life expectancy and the tendency to marry older spouses. As a result, they are three times more likely to be widowed at 65 than men. Estate planning is an imperative component in retirement planning, and with a greater probability of surviving their spouses, women often have the final word about how much wealth goes to family, charity or the taxman.
(Read more: The New Age Of Estate Planning)
1. Caring For Yourself Is Priority No. 1
Appointing a trusted individual to act on your behalf in financial and legal matters is an integral part of estate planning in the event you are unable (even temporarily) to do so because of illness or disability. This person is a “durable power of attorney”, separate from a living will, which expresses your end-of-life care preferences, and a health care proxy which authorizes someone to make medical decisions for your.
2. Everyone Has An Estate
An estate plan is not reserved for only the wealthy. An estate is everything you own upon death: your home, personal property, investments, bank accounts, retirement plans and any interests in a family business or partnership. Without a will or living trust to indicate who should receive those assets, state law will make the decisions for you.
(Read more: “Pound Foolish” Author Warns Americans From Taking Foolish Financial Advice)
3. A Will and Living Trust Are Not The Same
While each can be used to transfer assets upon death, unique uses apply to both. A living trust can take effect during life or at death and may also hold assets for your benefit while you are alive — in the instance of dementia, for example. A will doesn’t not take effect until death and is used to name guardians for children who are minors, creates trusts that begin after death and cover assets that you haven’t included in a living trust.
(Read more: Living Together and Property Agreements)
4. Trusts Are Not Only For the Rich
A trust is often the best way to reach your goals. It can safeguard assets in the event you are no longer able to manage your affairs, provide for children from a previous marriage, hold money for minors, and prevent funds from being eroded by spendthrift family members. Furthermore, a trust can protect assets from creditors and former spouses.
Read more: http://www.forbes.com/pictures/efik45ehjjg/estate-planning-is-a-womens-issue-2/
Mr. Witzke practices in the areas of estate and gift tax planning, financial planning, retirement planning, LGBT civil rights, charitable giving, elder law, and small business planning. He focuses on helping clients grow, protect, and transfer wealth efficiently. Mr. Witzke is a past president and board member of the Financial Planning Association of Michigan, a member of the board of directors for Leadership Oakland, and a member of the planned giving advisory committees of Wayne State University and the Community House in Birmingham. Follow Mr. Witzke on Twitter @gr8estatelawyer.
October 2, 2012
Filed under: Estate Planning,Federal Estate Tax — Tags: "Business Law and Commercial Transactions group", "Congress", "Democrats", "Estate Tax Law Expirations", "GOP", "Michael P. Witzke", "Portable", "Public Policy", "Spousal Exclusion", "Witzke Berry Carter & Wander", estate administration, estate planning, Michigan — Christopher J. Berry @ 10:30 pm
Among the plethora of Bush era tax cut and sequester debates, Congress must also address the expiration of the current estate tax law before the year’s end. As it stands, the federal estate tax exemption is set at $5.12 million and estates valued over this amount will be taxed at 35 percent. If no action is taken by Congress, the exemption will revert to $1 million and the estate tax rate will be 55 percent in 2013. It is estimated that 52,500 estates will be affected in the event Congress fails to act.
Business and farm lobbyists are fighting to rein in the estate tax, with many hoping to have the tax eliminated. In a full-force effort, they are trying to persuade Congress that resources needed for investment are being drained due to the constant changes in the estate tax rate, in recent years.
The GOP agrees, on the basis that decreasing the exemption and raising taxes on job creators in this economy rivals common sense. On the flipside, many Democrats repeatedly assert that in order to cut the deficit, the estate tax should return to the 2009 levels of a 45 percent rate for estates with a $3.5 million exemption.
Long-term and estate planning is subject to dramatic fluctuation if the estate tax plan expires without action. Currently, the federal unused spousal exclusion is portable, meaning, if one spouse dies and does not use all of the exclusion, the surviving spouse can combine the remaining amount with his or her exclusion. Also at risk of expiration, is the portability of the federal spousal exclusion in the event that the estate tax sunsets.
Witzke, Berry, Carter & Wander PLLC is keeping a close eye on the ongoing debates and how any estate tax decisions may affect you and your clients.
Mr. Witzke practices in the areas of estate and gift tax planning, financial planning, retirement planning, charitable giving, elder law, and small business planning. He focuses on helping clients grow, protect, and transfer wealth efficiently. Mr. Witzke is a past president and board member of the Financial Planning Association of Michigan, a member of the board of directors for Leadership Oakland, and a member of the planned giving advisory committees of Wayne State University and the Community House in Birmingham. Follow Mr. Witzke on Twitter @gr8estatelawyer.
May 3, 2012
Society with the increased used of the internet and the idea of “going paperless” is relying less and less on the real world and hard copies and putting more trust into the digital, virtual world or even the cloud. When a loved one passes away and you are a trustee or personal representative trying to gather assets, this can present some interesting problems and quirks. As Michigan estate planning and probate lawyers, I wanted to share some tips with you.
Know What to Find
Digital assets can include things like internet accounts, data, contractual and ineffectual property in the digital world. You should be looking for things like email accounts, bank statements, investment accounts, credit cards, bill paying accounts, Facebook, Twitter, online gaming, online gambling, e-books, and retail. Additionally, check for cloud based documents such as Dropbox, Google, Box.net, or SugarSync.
Get Your Google On
Do a Google search for the loved one’s name. This may help reveal different accounts, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or other social networking or internet sites. It’s amazing what you can find sometimes from a simple Google search.
Get Access to An E-Mail Account Quickly
Most people keep a spreadsheet on their computer of passwords or pass codes. See if you can find a list stored on their computer. If you can’t, take a stab at guessing some passwords, worse case, bring in an IT professional.
Get Access to E-Mail The Slow Way
If you are unable to access your loved one’s e-mail account, the slower option is to access it by contracting the e-mail provider. Generally, sending a scanned copy of the death certificate along with letters of authority to the e-mail host will grant access to the account.
Do Not Close the E-Mail Account Immediately
Similar to keeping the “snail” mail coming to check on bills and accounts, it is important not to immediately shut down your loved one’s e-mail address. This can be an easy way to find out about any bills, accounts, etc that your loved one had as the monthly emails come in to the account.
Close Your Loved One’s Other Accounts
It is important to close out the other accounts of your loved one, including Netflix, Pandora, iTunes, and especially anything that has a monthly fee associated with it. However, be careful with certain digital assets because you need to know the value. For example, some World of Warcraft accounts could be worth thousands of dollars and should consider being inventoried and then possibly sold.
Put Your Loved One’s Digital House in Order
Hopefully your loved one planned properly for their digital assets, for example a master document with all the relevant accounts and passwords could be stored with one’s estate planning documents. This must be kept safe just like any other assets.
Special thanks to ICLE and Attorney Michele C. Marquardt.
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