The reader who posed this scenario is not alone in facing siblings who live far away but feel like they are not being included in their parent’s plans. For this family, one sibling lives 500 miles away and another lives 800 miles in the opposite direction. The one daughter who lives in the same community is the logical choice for power of attorney. What can be done?
According to the Faribault Daily News article “Attorney can smooth path for families making legal plans,” the problem likely has its roots in sibling rivalry, since it’s an emotional response to a sensible decision.
The parent’s foresight in updating their estate plan and related legal documents is to be congratulated. The one adult child who lives in their community is the best choice for power of attorney for medical and financial decisions, so they can quickly handle an emergency situation.
The parents have assigned the other two adult children as secondary POAs and everyone has already been informed that they will all receive equal shares in the estate. The out-of-town siblings should be happy at how fairly and expeditiously their parents are taking care of in these matters.
Adults need someone to be named to handle health care and financial decisions, if they become incapacitated and need someone else to make decisions. Having a POA puts others in place to take over any tasks. Having a secondary POA designates someone to step in, if the primary is unable to act.
When someone choses a POA because they don’t want to hurt any feelings, the result is often disastrous.
Some states also allow what is known as a “co-agent.” so that decisions are made together. But in an emergency, if the other person is not immediately present and time is an issue, this can lead to critical situations being unresolved.
One way to soften this kind of situation is to have the entire family meet with the elder law attorney in a family meeting. With a professional who is not emotionally tied to the family dynamics, decisions can be explained, and cooler heads may prevail.
If you’ve been putting off making decisions about your estate plan because of worries about hurt feelings, make an appointment to meet with an elder law attorney and discuss a family meeting. There are few scenarios that experienced elder law attorneys haven’t seen. They will know how to handle it best, so that your plan is completed, your family is protected and hurt feelings are soothed.
There is no doubt that, for the most part, parents are much more involved with their children and their children’s more numerous activities, than parents were when I was growing up.
Many homeowners plan to stay in their homes over the long-term, and some may plan to live independently at home, rather than moving into a retirement community, if possible.
Aging in place is what most people hope for as they enter their 60s and 70s. However, to make it a reality, there is a need to plan, according to the article “BBB On Homes: Focus on several things when aging in place,” from LMTonline.com. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define aging in place, as the ability to live in one’s own home and community safely, independently and comfortably regardless of age, income or ability level.
Budgeting. Living on your own means more independence and privacy. It may cost more because certain fixed costs can only be reduced so far.
If you are considering how to remain at home, make sure to speak with family members, so they are aware of what your wishes are. With their support and if you are financially able to do so, it may make a big difference in the quality of your life.
Most Americans enter retirement age with access to Social Security benefits. Many people also have Individual Retirement Accounts, including those that were funded by transferring money from workplace 401(k) plans.
There is a lot to think about, when business owners begin estate planning.
Speak with an estate planning attorney about your plans for your business to ensure that a successful plan aligns with your estate plan.
It’s a tough situation for people in financial services. However, these circumstances can pull the curtain back on elder financial abuse. That’s because banks and other financial institutions can sometimes spot potential problems early.
A man who makes loans in a company, that is not quite a bank and not quite a payday lending company, remembers when a young man came in for a loan to buy a truck. According to wbhm.com’s report “Uncovering Elder Financial Abuse? It’s Tricky,” the 19-year-old did not have any credit history and had only been employed for a few weeks, so he brought his grandfather with him to co-sign the loan application.
The grandfather told him, “I don’t really want to, but they’re saying it’s the only way he can get it.” This raised a red flag for the man as a possible instance of elder financial abuse, but it presented a difficult situation. He wanted to make the loan and avoid negative reviews on social media. What should he do?
Some financial institutions are now training their employees for signs of exploitation, keeping an eye out for things that appear out of the ordinary. Examples are a customer at a branch accompanied by someone who isn’t known to the bank, who does all the talking or withdraws large sums of money from a senior’s account.
If a client is in their eighties and the bank account suddenly shows a lot of nightlife spending, it’s a sign that something’s wrong.
One bank has an internal hotline that employees can call. The bank then turns over the report to authorities. There are also government agencies that protect seniors from financial abuse. Alabama’s Department of Human Resources has an Adult Protective Services Division, where one employee says about half of the cases are straightforward and the other half are challenging.
One woman was sending money overseas, thinking she was in a relationship that would end in marriage. She had all her faculties and that’s the key. Since she understood what she was doing, even if she was making poor decisions, there wasn’t much the department could do.
Just because the Department of Human Resources can’t help, that does not mean a crime had not been committed.
Alabama assistant attorney general Diane Dunning says the state has recently passed laws to better combat elder financial exploitation. One such law allows brokers to delay a payout, if they suspect elder abuse.
The law also protects financial professionals from liability, if they make a good faith report of possible abuse.
What about the man who was asked to make a loan with the grandfather as co-signer? He was denied the loan for other reasons.
The Maine Attorney General’s Office is monitoring the disposition of the estate, because of its size and since a large portion of the estate was set to be given for a charity.
A report shows that 82% of surviving spouses could have collected a higher benefit, if they restricted their application to survivor benefits and waited until the age of 70 to claim their own retirement benefits.
Losing a spouse at any time in life is difficult. However, losing a spouse while you are retired also presents some serious financial challenges. A recent article in Kiplinger, “Maximize Social Security benefits for surviving spouses,” explores the steps that a surviving spouse can take to make sure she is are receiving the most Social Security benefits possible. There’s a right way and several wrong ways to do this.
If you are widowed before claiming Social Security benefits, there are options to maximize Social Security payments by coordinating the timing of claims and survivor benefits.
If you don’t know about this, don’t count on Social Security to tell you about mixing and matching the benefits. A report issued early in 2018 by the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General found that as many as 82% of surviving spouses taking benefits could have received a higher monthly benefit by restricting their application to survivor benefits only and delaying taking their own benefits up to age 70.
Without restricting an application, a beneficiary eligible for both benefits receives the highest one to which they are entitled.
Not knowing about how to maximize survivor benefits, can put a big hole in monthly income. The report projects that the Social Security Administration underpaid about $132 million to more than 9,000 beneficiaries age 70 and older, and in the coming years it will underpay more than 2,000 additional beneficiaries who are under age 70 – by about $9.8 million, once they reach age 70.
Educate yourself about how this works. Surviving spouses need to consider whether they can make the most of their benefits by taking the survivor benefit first, and later switching to their own benefit, or by taking their own benefit first and then switching to a survivor benefit. The key factor to consider in this equation: How much either benefit can grow.
You can claim a survivor benefit as early as age 60, or age 50 if disabled. However, it is reduced, if it is claimed before the survivor’s full retirement age (FRA). It won’t grow past the survivor’s full retirement age. The most a surviving spouse will receive is 100% of the benefit the deceased spouse received or was eligible to receive at his death.
Run the numbers and do the math. Once you figure out which number will grow the most, you may want to delay that benefit. The amounts and the age you claim could make a big difference in the quality of your retirement.
Do not buy into the myth that estate planning is only relevant for wealthy individuals who need tax planning.
The message hits home especially hard, when the friends of elder law attorneys experience problems that could have been resolved earlier with correct planning. In one example, a woman’s friend began to experience unexpected health problems. Her husband is incapacitated and there are no children to step in and help. The couple’s lack of legal documents has made a difficult situation even worse.
The main reason for estate planning is to set down expectations and wishes, while you are alive and after you pass. An elder law attorney will help review the benefits of having a power of attorney and a healthcare directive. They can help, if the situation occurs where your loved ones have to make decisions for you. The amount of time, expense and frustration of going through a guardianship process can be avoided, if these items are in place.
An elder law attorney can also help you with completing beneficiary forms for non-probate assets, preparing a funeral plan, planning a personal property memorandum and discussing elder care and planning for incapacity.
Aretha Franklin's death is going to cause some headaches for her heirs.