With so much of our lives online these days, many are curious as to what exactly happens to your digital stuff when you die? Currently, neither the U.S. nor Canada have consistent laws that treat digital data and accounts like physical goods, to be distributed via an estate plan after death.

Too often families are caught between estate laws (which grant them access to digital data) and privacy laws (which would forbid it). Some people create “social media wills” or share their passwords with a trusted person, while others use commercial services like LegacyLocker.com and SecureSafe.com, which allow people to store their account information in one place.

(Read more: Why Your Clients Should Be Concerned With the Federal “Death Tax”)

Without access to passwords and account details for the deceased, families must work within the guidelines of each individual tech company to gain access to their loved ones’ data. This can be a difficult process because most companies approach these situations differently.

This is a guide to navigate how some major internet companies handle the accounts of the deceased as of the end of 2012.

Google

• Won’t disclose passwords for Gmail or for its social network, Google+, or transfer ownership of an account.
• Won’t deactivate an account without a court order.
• May provide contents of a dead user’s account if family mails or faxes proof of the death and family connection, and family meets additional legal requirements such as an order from a U.S. court.
• Doesn’t offer Facebook-style “memorialization” for Google+ accounts.

(Read more: Estate Tax On the Rise, Don’t Panic, Plan)

Facebook

• Won’t disclose passwords or transfer ownership of an account.
• Will remove an account upon request of the family
• Will “memorialize” accounts if notified (not necessarily by a family member) that the user has died. Memorialization prevents anybody from logging into the account but allows friends to post remembrances and memorials to the deceased person’s account.
• Won’t disclose the contents of a deceased user’s account without a legal process.

Yahoo

• Won’t disclose passwords.

• If a user wants his family to have access to his account and after his death, Yahoo recommends he provide consent and his account information (username, password and/or answers to challenge questions) in his estate plans. Otherwise Yahoo won’t provide families data from the accounts of dead people.
• Will deactivate an account if the estate provides a death certificate via fax or email.

(Read more: Why You Need to Put Your Living Together Agreement in Writing)

Microsoft

• Won’t disclose passwords or transfer ownership of a Hotmail/Outlook.com account.
• Doesn’t consider it a violation for surviving family that gets a court order or otherwise has authority from the deceased to use his or her password to log into the account.
• Will deactivate an account upon the request of family.
• May provide contents of a dead user’s email if family contacts Microsoft via email and provides other documentation, which depends on location.

Twitter

• Won’t disclose passwords.
• Doesn’t disclose account data without a court order in the U.S.
• Doesn’t offer Facebook-style “memorialization” of accounts.
• Will deactivate an account if a family contacts Twitter with a copy of death certificate, a notarized statement, and other details.

Tumblr

• Won’t disclose passwords or transfer ownership of an account.
• Will remove an account from public view if requested by immediate family.
• Won’t disclose account data without a court order in the U.S.
• Doesn’t offer “memorialization” of accounts.

LinkedIn

• Won’t disclose passwords for accounts, or transfer ownership of an account.
• Allows others (even beyond family members or executors) to report the death of a member, which causes the account and its data to be hidden from public view. People reporting deceased members usually must know the email address associated with the deceased person’s account.
• If a family specifically requests it, will delete an account and all of its data.
• Will not provide account data to others, including family members, unless required by a court.
• Doesn’t offer Facebook-style “memorialization” for accounts.

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/01/04/what-to-do-online-when-a-loved-one-dies/

Marc H. Wander is a partner of the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke, Berry, Carter &Wander, PLLC. Marc has been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1992. Marc’s practice is devoted to estate planning and business succession planning.  Marc is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is a prior Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax Committee. He is a frequent continuing education speaker to insurance agents, financial advisors, CPA’s and financial industry organizations. He has also been heard on WJR Radio. Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcWander

Marc H. Wander is a partner of the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke, Berry, Carter &Wander, PLLC. Marc has been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1992. Marc’s practice is devoted to estate planning and business succession planning.  Marc is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is a prior Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax Committee. He is a frequent continuing education speaker to insurance agents, financial advisors, CPA’s and financial industry organizations. He has also been heard on WJR Radio. Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcWander

Preparing for the “fiscal cliff” deadline, a widow with $4 million in disposable assets is inquiring how to give away a sizable portion of her fortune as soon as possible. With the tax hikes fast approaching, the Chicago-area millionaire wanted to vacate the money from her accounts by the end of the year so the federal government could not take a giant bite out of it in the form of estate taxes.

With the $5 million exemption on estate taxes and lifetime gifts set to evaporate on Dec. 31, lawyers and financial planners are scrambling across the country to ease client’s concerns. Without a consensus in Congress, the tax rate on estates and lifetime gifts will rise from 35 to 55 percent. Even more of a concern is the amount of money exposed to the tax: Currently the tax rates only apply to estate more than $5 millions. The end of the Bush tax cuts would reduce this exemption to $1 million.

(Read more: 8 Life Stages of Estate Planning: Part 1)

An average American can have 1 or 2, or even 3 million dollars and not be wealthy, which is why many financial planners believe that the estate tax and the lifetime gift exemption will be reset closer to $3 million. And since spouses have the ability to give away an amount up to the exemption without incurring taxes, the exemption for a married couple would be $6 million.

“It’s a relatively small group of people who really need to worry now,” said Michael S. Beriss, a former tax attorney who is now a financial planner with Ameriprise. To take full advantage of the current $5 million exemption, a married couple would have to have a spare $10 million in the bank. “If you give away $1 million today, you’re not using your $5 million exemption,” he said.

(Read more: 8 Life Stages of Estate Planning: Part 2)

An older investor with investable assets and a home worth more than $3 million should not panic, rather, do some planning. Consider what you are trying to accomplish, and the legacy you would like to leave. The legacy you envision will determine the type of tax relief you choose.

If you want to send your grandchildren to college, a 529 college fund is the best solution; if you want to support your a cause that is close to your heart, a charitable contribution may be the best way to protect your money.Trusts may be the smartest answer if your main objective is to make your kids’ lives easier financially without leaving them with tax headaches themselves.

(Read more: Who Needs a Living Together Contract?)

However, a money-minded taxpayer may simply desire to pay as little a percentage in tax possible, to preserve their cash legacy and keep the government’s hand off it. For these savers, even the worst case scenario – a return to the 55 percent tax on any amount greater than $1 million – is a salvageable situation. Estate tax, said Beriss, “is probably one of the holiest areas in tax code, and I don’t mean it in the religious sense.”

Read more:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/estate-tax-going-people-arent-193631304.html

Marc H. Wander is a partner of the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke, Berry, Carter &Wander, PLLC. Marc has been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1992. Marc’s practice is devoted to estate planning and business succession planning.  Marc is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is a prior Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax Committee. He is a frequent continuing education speaker to insurance agents, financial advisors, CPA’s and financial industry organizations. He has also been heard on WJR Radio. Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcWander

The joys of parenting

If you have children, update your will to nominate a guardian to step in if you and your spouse pass away. Include provisions in your will or a separate revocable trust so that your child doesn’t inherit everything at the age of 18.

A revocable trust allows you to appoint a trustee to handle any money your child inherits. The trustee can use it to support your child as the child grows up, and you can specify at what age your child can receive the money, along with any reasons your child should get it before that age, such as starting a business or buying a house. You can also specify that the trustee can withhold money if your child has a gambling problem, is in the midst of a divorce, or there’s another situation that makes it inappropriate to inherit.

You’ll also need a separate guardianship nomination that nominates a guardian to care for your child if both parents are incapacitated. That’s helpful in simpler situations as well, such as when both parents take a vacation and a child needs emergency medical treatment.

Each time you have another child, be sure your estate planning documents address all of your children, and don’t forget to increase your life insurance.

“Sing it, Tammy Wynette: D-I-V-O-R-C-E

If you’re separating or divorcing, it’s unlikely that you want your spouse to have the authority to make decisions on your behalf and access your medical and financial information. Revoke those documents, including beneficiary designations, or sign new ones. A divorce decree doesn’t magically change those things.

If you remarry, revise your will and trust documents to reflect the proper beneficiaries. Most people want to share with their new spouse but also want to provide for their separate children at their death. Determine which assets you want to leave to your spouse and which to leave to your children.

The middle ages

As you approach your 40s and 50s, consider purchasing long-term care insurance, which will cover the cost of long-term care or a nursing home.

The golden years

Review your life insurance to determine whether you can reduce it if your children are grown. Also, review designations on your durable power of attorney, health care proxy, and HIPAA release to ensure the people you’ve named are still in your life and willing and able to serve in that role. At this stage, it is common for people to start planning their funeral to make sure that’s in order.

Contact Michigan Estate Planning Lawyer Christopher Berry to ensure your estate plan is secure and in place.

Read more:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/8-life-stages-estate-planning-080013261.html

Attorney Christopher J. Berry is a Metro Detroit estate planning and elder law lawyer who helps families, seniors, veterans and business owners with their important legal needs. Oakland County estate planning lawyer, Christopher Berry is a partner in the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke Berry PLLC. Mr. Berry practices in the areas ofestate planning, business, probate, veterans benefits & Medicaid planning. Follow Christopher on Twitter@chrisberryesq.

Your estate plan should account for the many stages of life that you experience. Below is a rundown of the estate-planning tools you should have if you’re just beginning your life’s journey, halfway through, or approaching the homestretch.

Ch. 1: Planning for life

• 8 life stages for planning
• The basics of estate planning
• Estate-planning Q&A
• Should you have a will?

(Why You Need to Put Your Living Together Agreement in Writing)

Young, single and carefree

Parents make financial decisions for children by law, until they reach 18, and that legal right is vanquished. Consider the worse, if something happened to you, it is in your best interest for your parents to have access and control to your health care and financial decisions. Access to your medical providers, and more importantly, a say in your health care decisions protects you in the event of the unforeseen.

(A Risky Lifeline for the Elderly Is Costing Some Their Homes)

If you’re over 18 and unmarried, execute four documents to ensure  your loved ones can carry out your wishes:

1. A general durable power of attorney enables you to designate who will control your finances if you become incapacitated, whether it’s your parents or another loved one.
2. A health care proxy allows you to designate who will make medical decisions on your behalf in the same situation.
3. A living will lets you lay out your wishes regarding life-sustaining medical treatment.

Estate planning life stages

1. Young and single.
2. Single, but committed.
3. Engaged.
4. Just married.
5. Parents.
6. Divorced.
7. The middle years.
8. The golden years.

(Sandbagging In M&A Deals: Silence May Not Be Golden)

4. Finally, a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, release enables your designated agent to discuss your medical condition without violating patient privacy laws. Without those documents, loved ones may have to resort to seeking guardianship over you in court at a time when it is the last thing in the world that they want to be doing.

Single, but committed

A will or trust can ensure your life partner inherits your possessions if you’re in a long-term relationship but unmarried. Otherwise, state law deems that they go to your closest relatives.

(The Global Logic of Strategic Alliances)

We’re engaged!

A prenuptial agreement isn’t only for people who have a lot of money. It’s essential for everybody. A lot of people divorce because they’ve never had conversations about money. A prenuptial agreement forces people to engage in this financial conversation.

Just married

Edit your durable power of attorney, health care proxy and HIPAA release if you want to eliminate any question that your spouse should control your financial and medical decisions if you become incapacitated. Think of Terri Schiavo, referring to the woman whose parents and husband battled publicly for seven years over the right to make health care decisions on her behalf after she became incapacitated. She didn’t have a health care proxy.

(Lesbian Couples’ Marriage Rights)

If you do not have a revised durable power of attorney, your spouse also can’t administer property solely in your name or property you hold jointly with your spouse. Also, indicate the person you’d like to make financial and medical decisions on your behalf in the event an accident incapacitates you and your spouse.

If you don’t already have one, this is also the time for a will or trust. In a lot of states, if you die without a will and have a spouse but no children, your spouse will inherit some of what you own, but your parents will also inherit. Avoid the risk of a fight between your spouse and parents over who should inherit, and have a will or trust definitively state who should receive your assets. Also, if you own a home, purchase life insurance that will pay off your mortgage if one spouse dies.

(The Paperwork Mountain at Veterans Affairs)

Finally, change your beneficiary designations in terms of health insurance and investment plans so they pass to your spouse. A lot of people think when they get married, those things change on their own, but that’s not the case. Visit your human resources department and ask which documents include a beneficiary. Health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts sometimes have a beneficiary, as do bank accounts payable on death.

Contact Michigan Estate Planning Lawyer Christopher Berry to ensure your estate plan is secure and in place.

Read more:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/8-life-stages-estate-planning-080013261.html

Attorney Christopher J. Berry is a Metro Detroit estate planning and elder law lawyer who helps families, seniors, veterans and business owners with their important legal needs. Oakland County estate planning lawyer, Christopher Berry is a partner in the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke Berry PLLC. Mr. Berry practices in the areas ofestate planning, business, probate, veterans benefits & Medicaid planning. Follow Christopher on Twitter@chrisberryesq.

While living together contracts are sometimes made to protect each partner in the event of a breakup, more commonly, couples enter into them to communicate their needs and expectations, define their rights, and enhance one or both partners’ peace of mind at either the start of the relationship or when the couple makes a major purchase. By creating a well-crafted agreement, not only do you gain a better understanding of how you really want to own your property, but it also serves as a useful reminder if misunderstandings develop later or one of you perishes without a will. An additional benefit of a living together agreement is that if one partner is supporting the other, or if one partner has given up a career in order to take care of the home or raise children, the agreement will protect the dependent partner by ensuring that issues of support and compensation are stated in writing.

If you are in a long-term and serious partnership you should consider the legal consequences of dealing with money and property. If you plan to mix assets or share expenses, you should put your agreement in writing, especially if a lot of money is involved. If neither of you have any money, with no property and little prospects on the horizon, there is still benefit in deciding how money and or property will be dealt with if it one day arrives. In addition, practical issues of day-to-day living like how expenses will be paid can be established at this time.

A written agreement, though no substitute for trust and communication, is essential and can do wonders to reduce paranoia and confusion and help people deal with one another fairly. While there aren’t any national statistics on the number of unmarried, cohabiting couples enter into living together contracts, some lawyers say such contract are rising as a result of more couples living together and new legal rulings that support the validity of living together agreements.

Legal Rules Governing Living Together Contracts

Predominantly, courts and judges — not legislatures — have made the legal rules governing living together contracts. The leading court case is the well-known Marvin v. Marvin, 557 P .2d 106, decided by the California Supreme Court in 1976. It involved the actor Lee Marvin and the woman he lived with, Michele Triola Marvin; who used his last name even though they were not married. In its Marvin case decision, the court announced what later became the common legal principles governing the right of unmarried couples to make contracts. First, the court ruled that marital property laws do not apply to couples who are not legally married. Next, it recognized that unmarried couples are here to stay, and finally, the court declared four contract principles:

• Unmarried couples may make written contracts.
• Unmarried couples may make oral contracts.
• If a couple hasn’t made a written or oral contract, the court may examine the couple’s actions to decide whether an “implied” contract exists.
• If a judge can’t find an implied contract, she may presume that “the parties intend to deal fairly with each other” and find one partner indebted to the other by invoking well-established legal doctrines of equity and fairness.

In the aftermath of the courts Marvin ruling in California, other states have upheld the application of these principles made by unmarried partners — both straight and gay. Based on the state, however, a court may abide to different legal rules. Nearly every state’s courts and the District of Columbia now enforce written contracts between unmarried partners; with Illinois, Georgia, and Louisiana as exceptions. Additionally, most states also recognize oral contracts; Texas and Minnesota are the only states that have passed laws requiring contracts to be in writing; while New York and New Mexico have been unwilling to recognize implied contracts.

You can avoid a host of legal problems by putting your living together agreement in writing. Contact attorney Marc Wander to do so, today.

Read more:
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/living-together-book/chapter2-5.html

Marc H. Wander is a partner of the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke, Berry, Carter &Wander, PLLC. Marc has been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1992. Marc’s practice is devoted to estate planning and business succession planning.  Marc is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is a prior Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax Committee. He is a frequent continuing education speaker to insurance agents, financial advisors, CPA’s and financial industry organizations. He has also been heard on WJR Radio. Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcWander

Now three months after Sherman Hemsley, star of the CBS series “The Jeffersons” died in his El Paso home, yet he hasn’t been laid to rest as the beneficiaries of his will, and even his cause of death, have been called into question.

Confirmed by a worker at the Eastside location of the San Jose Funeral Home in El Paso, Texas, Hemsley is still at the home where they are waiting for a court order telling them what to do with his body.

It was first revealed in August that Hemsley’s body had not been buried due to a legal dispute between his former manager and self-proclaimed business partner and live-in best friend Flora Enchinton– who was named as the sole beneficiary in his will– and a Philadelphia man, Richard Thorton, who claims to be the actor’s brother. Thorton filed a civil lawsuit disputing the validity of the will, signed by Hemsley one month prior to his death.

On September 24, Probate Court judge Patricia Chew delayed the trial over the actor’s estates and remains to October 31, and ordered the man who claims to be the brother to undergo a DNA test. Thorton’s nephew Robert Thorton took the stand in support of his Uncle’s allegation, and question the authenticity of the signature, which suspiciously left everything to Enchinton.

All the while, a third person has since come forward amid the battle vowing to intervene on the issue prior to the October 31st trial date. Reverend Michael George Wells– a minister at Arch Street United Methodist Church claims to be a cousin on Hemley’s mother’s side– told the El Paso Times that he doesn’t believe Enchinton was close to Sherman and that the Thortons were not related to the late actor.

Wells told FOX411 that he would like to intervene before October 31, but doesn’t have the $10,000 he says he would need to join the legal fray. Wells wants the media to know that Sherman Hemsley’s body has been in the refrigerator for an unnecessary amount of time and it’s uncalled for.

While he was initially said to have died of natural causes, it later came out that he had cancer. Wells is calling for an investigation, claiming that no doctors or hospitals ever mentioned cancer. He also is weary of the claim that the actor’s estate is worth just $50,000, and believes its value is beyond the reported amount. At the time time of his death no foul play was suspected, and no autopsy was planned, although Wells insisted that if he had the financial means he would have one performed to get the truth.

A postmortem report obtained by TMZ listed the primary cause of death is listed as “superior vena cava syndrome” — a complication resulting from a mass on Sherman’s lung, and noted that the star had been advised to undergo chemotherapy and radiation therapy before he succumbed to the illness.

Attorneys for Enchinton and Thornton did not respond to a request for comment, and Thornton declined to comment. Civil litigator Anahita Sedaghatfar said she is not surprised that something like this, particularly with an association to Hollywood, could happen.

Contact attorney Marc Wander and ensure your living will is in place, before it ever comes to this.

Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/10/29/sherman-hemsley-still-not-buried-3-months-after-death-bizarre-legal-dispute/?intcmp=features

Marc H. Wander is a partner of the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke, Berry, Carter &Wander, PLLC. Marc has been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1992. Marc’s practice is devoted to estate planning and business succession planning.  Marc is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is a prior Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax Committee. He is a frequent continuing education speaker to insurance agents, financial advisors, CPA’s and financial industry organizations. He has also been heard on WJR Radio. Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcWander