21 January

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Why Your Estate Plan Needs to Include Your Pets

When designing an estate plan, many individuals forget to include provisions for the care of their beloved pets. Approximately 63% of all households own at least one pet, yet less than 20% of pet owners included their pets in their estate plan. Quite often, we meet with prospective clients that have never been asked by other attorneys about including pets in their plan. For many people, their pets are considered important members of the family. Having the pet end up at a shelter or with an uncertain future is a pet owner’s worst nightmare. Planning for the care of your pets in the event of disability is equally important as planning for their care when you pass away. Family members are often primarily concerned about the care of the disabled individual, and the pets needs can be overlooked. There are several different planning tools that can help ensure your pets receive...

19 January

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Concerned About Costly Nursing Homes? “Granny Pods” May Be an Option to Consider

Posted by Bobby Feisee

in Bobby's Blog

The median annual cost of a private nursing home is over roughly $84,000 per year, according to CNN.com. A 2013 survey by Genworth revealed that the cost of private nursing home care spiked 24 percent in a five-year period (2008 to 2013). Given the exorbitant cost of nursing home care, many people are struggling to figure out what to do with an elderly loved one who is living alone, and shouldn’t be at that stage of their life. Some people may be thinking, “Well, what about a semi-private nursing home where your loved one shares a room?” Unfortunately, this arrangement is not much cheaper than nursing home care where your loved one enjoys a private room. The Genworth survey indicated that a semi-private nursing home will cost, on average, about $75,000 per year. If you are considering assisted living, it is more cost effective, but still a large expense. For example, the...

07 January

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New Year’s Resolution – Review Your Estate Plan

Posted by Bobby Feisee

in Bobby's Blog

With a new year comes resolutions. Some people may plan to get into better shape. Some people may plan to get out of credit card debt. But everyone should make a resolution to review their estate planning documents. To help get you started, we put together a brief checklist of topics and issues you and your loved ones need to review in your estate plan. You should make this a yearly habit. That is why, at InSight Law, we have a formal maintenance plan for all of our clients to update their estate plans and make adjustments as events in our their lives progress and changes occur in the law. Let's begin… Review your Will and/or Trust You need to make sure you are comfortable with the Personal Representative (a.k.a. Executor) and Trustee designations in your Will and/or Trust instrument. The individual(s) selected need to be dependable and trustworthy. Remember, you also have the right to...

24 December

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Three Key Estate Planning Strategies You Can’t Overlook

Posted by Bobby Feisee

in Bobby's Blog

A great estate plan requires periodic updating, extensive analysis, and following these three important strategies. “Stress Test” Your Estate Plan Through Various Scenarios One of the best ways to determine your plan is thorough and ready for virtually any scenario is to actually test it out in a variety of hypotheticals. What will happen if you suddenly become incapacitated? What will happen if your child, or children, pre-decease you? What rights, if any, will your child’s ex-spouse have to your estate’s assets? Putting your estate plan through these “stress” variables should not stress you out! Our view is going through these scenarios during calm times beats the alternative and is a valuable exercise on life in general. Avoid Excessive Taxation By Leaving Stocks to Your Loved Ones, IRAs to Charity Many people have IRAs (traditional and/or Roth). What should be done with those accounts when you pass on? Well, if you designate a...

22 December

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Do or Don’t – Donor Advised Funds

Posted by Bobby Feisee

in Bobby's Blog

With the holiday season upon us, many people want to find the best way to give back and donate to charitable causes. A method for giving that is gaining in popularity is donor-advised funds. These are funds created by donors where money, appreciated securities or other assets are deposited, then those funds are distributed to charities over time. Donor-advised funds are on the upswing. In fact, donor-advised fund contributions make up approximately 7 percent of all individual charitable donations. Donations to these funds increased by nearly 24 percent in 2013, according to CNBC.com. If you make a donation to a donor-advised fund, you enjoy an immediate tax deduction against the full amount contributed. However, there are no regulations governing how quickly the donation has to be distributed. This provides benefits to both the donor (through the tax deduction) and the fund by allowing it to maximize how, and when, the donated funds...

17 December

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Holiday Season Good Time to Discuss Estate Planning with Loved Ones

Posted by Bobby Feisee

in Bobby's Blog

Your parents are getting older and you may be wondering if they have a plan in place just in case something awful suddenly occurs. However, it is difficult to have that conversation since it is an uncomfortable subject to talk about and you may not be in close proximity to your loved ones. The holiday season provides the perfect opportunity to have that conversation with your loved ones since everyone is together and can participate. It may not be the most “holly jolly” subject, but it needs to be done. Being proactive and getting your family on the same page will save all of you stress and chaos in the future. A lot of hurt feelings can be avoided if people know and understand what the plan is ahead of time. Below are some important tips that can help you and your loved ones make the conversation as productive and effective for all...

17 December

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Should You Adopt the Zuckerberg Strategy and “Donate” to an LLC?

Posted by Bobby Feisee

in Current Events

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg made headlines after announcing that he would be “donating” the bulk of his $45 billion fortune to charity. In some corners, Zuckerberg was derided since his “donation” was to a Limited Liability Company, as opposed to a charitable trust or actual charity, according to the Washington Post. The Zuckerberg-Chan Initiative (the LLC) will receive $45 billion worth of Facebook shares that Mr. Zuckerberg owns. So, in reality, no real charitable donation was made. Though, Zuckerberg has publicly stated that his LLC will focus on important charitable and public causes such as curing disease, advancing education reform, and so forth. Important question – is “donating” money to an LLC a wise estate and/or business strategy for you to consider? Answer: possibly. An LLC is a pass-through entity offering few tax benefits for Mr. Zuckerberg or his charitable endeavors. He may benefit from the timing of making estimated tax...

09 December

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Why Long-Term Care Funding is a Critically Important Investment for Your Future

Posted by Bobby Feisee

in Bobby's Blog

November was long-term care awareness month. Regardless which month it is, at InSight Law, we encourage all of our clients to have some type of long-term care plan in place, since you never know if and when you may need an in-home nurse or will need to reside in a long-term care facility. There are several different strategies that you can employ to address your long-term care funding needs. Strategies I have seen are: buying a straight long term care policy to fully fund your daily needs, buying a straight long-term care policy to partially fund your daily needs and then self-funding the remaining balance, life insurance policies that have long term care riders or access to cash value, and annuities. Which one is right for you depends on your specific situation (goals, budget, family background, etc.) As a lawyer, I see that my clients are faced with this issue when working through their estate...

13 November

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Don’t Let Your Long-Term Care Insurance Lapse

Posted by Bobby Feisee

in Bobby's Blog

The median annual price of a private room in a nursing home is over $90,000, according to Genworth Financial. Many people attempt to defray these exorbitant costs by purchasing long-term care insurance. But here is something that may blow your mind - more than a third of people with long-term care insurance policies at age 65 let their coverage lapse before they pass on, without reaping the benefits the policy may offer, according to Forbes.com. Specifically, men and women at age 65 have a 32 percent and 38 percent chance of lapsing prior to their death. Understand, when you coverage lapses, you effectively forfeit all of your insurance benefits. Even worse - Lapses in long-term care coverage are quite common among policy holders who are impaired. This makes sense considering these individuals may not even be aware they failed to pay their premiums. The study also found that low income individuals were at...