John Lewis’ Long Goodbye: The Final Journey

 

Like many Americans, I’ve been profoundly moved by John Lewis’ long goodbye. He represented his community in Congress for 33 years and never ceased his pursuit of equality. He believed that ordinary people with extraordinary vision “can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble.”

His story is a retrospective of the civil rights movement

You can’t really tell Lewis’ story without its broader context–the brave men and women of the civil rights movement who fought and died for the right to ride busses or to sit down and eat at lunch counters. There was Dr. King, of course, but there were others. Ambassador Andrew Young, Hosea Williams, Reverend C.T. Vivian, Stokely Carmichael, Ralph Abernathy and Jesse Jackson—there was a common brotherhood and always a strong faith that united them.

Lewis was 15 when he heard Martin Luther King Jr., and it changed the course of his life

Lewis was inspired by Dr. King’s talking about the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence, that each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. In 1960, the lunch counter sit-ins began; they were fighting for the right to sit down and order an inexpensive meal. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), led by Stokely Carmichael, encouraged students to get involved in the civil rights movement. The Freedom Summer of 1964 was a crusade to register Black voters in Mississippi. Lewis was arrested 45 times during more than half a century fighting for civil rights. He was beaten unconscious in 1965 on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where he and 600 peaceful protesters marched toward the batons of Alabama State Troopers.

Education became an important stepping stone

The son of sharecroppers, Lewis knew that there was more to life than picking other people’s cotton. He understood the importance of education, and received a BA in Religion and Philosophy from Fisk University, and he is a graduate of the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville. He has been awarded more than 50 honorary degrees from prestigious colleges and universities throughout the United States, including Harvard. In 2010 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.

At his funeral, three former Presidents and the Speaker of the House eloquently shared personal, emotional experiences of working with Lewis. President Clinton believed that Lewis had survived so many close calls “because he was here on a mission that was bigger than personal ambition.”

A capacity for great courage

John Lewis would have been delighted that a former president, a Black man, had delivered a eulogy that received a standing ovation. “He believed that in all of us, there exists the capacity for great courage,” Obama said, “that in all of us there is a longing to do what’s right, that in all of us there is a willingness to love all people, and to extend to them their God-given rights to dignity and respect.”

Now it is your turn to let freedom ring

After reading John Lewis final letter, it may be that we look back on Lewis’ lifelong activism as a bridge between the civil rights movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s and the global consciousness-raising that is today’s Black Lives Matter movement. “That is why I had to visit Black Lives Matter Plaza. I just had to see and feel it for myself that, after many years of silent witness, the truth is still marching on. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.”

COVID has created a new urgency about creating a Living Trust

As the COVID crisis drags on, more clients are scheduling appointments to create or update their Living Trusts. Our Trust package includes a Pour Over Will, and for those families with children under 18, it means that they can name a Guardianrather than having the court appoint one for you. Creating a Trust helps provide some peace of mind during these uncertain times. Best of all, we guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents.

Our Trust package includes a Will, Power of Attorney, an Advance Healthcare Directive and Incapacity Planning. At California Document Preparers, for most of our services, we charge one flat fee. We’re helpful, compassionate and affordable.

We service the entire East Bay and North Bay areas

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

An Aid in Dying Update: More Available, Yet Few Will Choose It

On August 1, New Jersey became the eighth state to allow doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients who want to end their lives. On Sept. 15, Maine will become the ninth. By October 2019, 22% of Americans will live in states where residents with six months or fewer to live can determine how and when they will die. (Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, California, Colorado, Hawaii, District of Columbia) Oregon was the first state to pass the Death with Dignity Act in 1997. More than 20 years later, opposition groups remain wary of potential abuse. Hospitals with religious affiliations may refuse to allow their physicians to perform the procedure. Yet opposition is softening as support grows. Aid in dying is more available, yet few will choose it.

A look back on the EOLOA in California

California passed the End of Life Option Act (EOLOA) in 2015. Jerry Brown signed it into law in 2016. Four years and it remains controversial and problematic. While the campaign for aid in dying (or death with dignity) continues to make gains across the country, supporters are increasingly concerned about what happens after these laws are passed—on both sides of the issue.

• Some fear that the law forces the dying to navigate an overly complicated process of requests and waiting periods.
• There are op-out provisions that allow doctors to decline to participate and health care systems to forbid their participation—even in places where aid in dying is legal. In areas where there is a shortage of doctors, it can be difficult to complete the necessary process within the prescribed timeframes.
• Those who oppose the legislation fear that it sets up a slippery slope for abuse.

The New Jersey bill had neared passage several times, but derailed in 2014 when Governor Chris Christie threatened a veto. Legislators passed the Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act in 2019 and the governor signed it in April. Governor Janet Mills: “I do believe it is a right that should be protected by law–the right to make ultimate decisions.”

So what’s changed? All states are required to track usage and publish stats

Data show that whether a state has six months or 20 years of experience (Oregon, the pioneer in aid in dying), the proportion of deaths involving aid in dying (also known as physician-assisted suicide) remains tiny.

California’s 2017 data show that 632 people made the necessary two verbal requests to physicians, after which 241 doctors wrote prescriptions for 577 patients. This out of 269,000 deaths that year. The law shows no evidence of widespread abuse or misuse of the law. Attitudes within the medical community are changing. A number of national organizations and a dozen state medical societies have gone from opposing the law to taking neutral stances.

Despite Catholic organizations and other opponents, polls show broad support

In March, an aid-in-dying bill passed the Maryland House of Delegates but failed after a tie vote in the Senate. Opponents are attempting a ballot initiative to repeal Maine’s new law and pursuing a slow-moving court case to invalidate California’s. Yet public opinion polls consistently show broad support for aid in dying.

The small number of users suggests most Americans would not choose this option

There’s enough data from a number of states now to identify trending. The low numbers of users show that most users would not choose this option. However, it may also reflect difficulty in actually using these laws.

A recent survey of 270 California hospitals, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that 18 months after implementation of the state’s EOLOA, more than 60% — many of them religiously affiliated — forbade affiliated physicians to participate. Compassion & Choices is intensifying efforts to persuade local health care systems, doctors and hospices to agree to consider patients’ requests.

Laws drawing scrutiny; many believe they’re too difficult with too many safeguards

The model has been the first-in-the-nation Oregon law, which took effect in 1997. The law requires that a terminally ill patient:

• Sees two doctors.
• Makes two oral requests for a lethal prescription, plus one in writing.
• Waits 15 days.

For a terminally ill patient who perhaps lives in a rural area where doctors are scarce or even in an urban area where they’re booked up for weeks in advance, this can become challenging. A Kaiser Permanente study shows that at least a third of those who inquire about the aid in dying measure become too ill to complete the process or die before they qualify. Hawaii’s law took effect in January. It requires a 20-day wait, and they’ve an additional mental-health consultation requirement.

Dementia, testamentary capacity and Aid in Dying

• Rural areas face physician shortages, and Compassion & Choices has urged that nurse-practitioners and physician assistants be allowed to provide aid in dying in states where they can legally write prescriptions.
• One legislator has introduced several bills that would permit those in the early stages of dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases to use aid in dying, securing prescriptions theycould then use later as their illnesses progressed. “You could make the request when you were cognitively able to do it,” he said.
• Yet every existing state law bars that. Those requesting aid in dying must be able to show mental capacity; dementia patients will have lost that ability by the time they’re within six months of dying.

The support for aid in dying continues to gain momentum. The fact that very few people are actually using this measure may be tamping down the fears of those historically opposed to the measure.

Many of our clients are seniors who come in to our offices to create their Living Trusts

The result is numerous conversations on a wide range of topics related to health, healthcare and end-of-life planning. California Document Preparers assists our clients in the preparation of their Trusts, which include a Power of Attorney and Advance Healthcare Directive. Most are surprised at how easy it is. Schedule an appointment today by contacting us at one of our three Bay Area offices. Our dedicated team is helpful, compassionate and affordable.

Mythbusters: 6 Common Misperceptions about Living Trusts

We’ve helped more than 5,000 clients prepare Living Trusts over the years, and if there’s anything we’ve learned, it’s that there’s a lot of confusion when it comes to these documents. Something else we’ve learned: our clients consistently tell us that the process was a whole lot easier than they thought it would be.

Here are a few common myths about Living Trusts:

Myth #1: A Revocable Trust is Always Complicated. FALSE

These days a Revocable Living Trust is the basis of a solid estate plan for the majority of people because the benefits far outweigh those of a Last Will and Testament. A Living Trust protects your privacy, while a Will becomes a public probate record.

We excel at making the process straightforward–our clients really do comment on how easy this is—they credit our team and our workbooks. You just need to be thinking about who should receive your assets and what trusted person should administer your estate.

Myth #2: A Revocable Living Trust Reduces Estate Taxes. FALSE

A Revocable Living Trust has absolutely nothing to do with your estate tax bill. Its primary purposes are to protect your privacy, plan for disability and avoid probate.

Myth #3: A Revocable Living Trust Always Avoids Probate. FALSE

• A Revocable Living Trust can’t avoid probate by itself; the Trust must be fully funded to avoid probate.
• There may be quirks in an individual estate that make probate necessary, such as the need to defend or initiate a lawsuit or deal with creditors, but these situations are rare.

Simply creating your Living Trust isn’t enough; it must be funded. If you have property, deeds must be retitled and moved into the Trust. Assets, such as life insurance and brokerage accounts, must also be moved into the Trust. California Document Preparers transfers the deeds for our clients and helps with financial accounts.

Myth #4: A Revocable Trust Protects Your Assets Against Lawsuits. FALSE.

A Revocable Living Trust does nothing to protect your assets against lawsuits for two reasons.

1. You can change the terms of the Trust at any time and put assets in and take them back out.
2. You still personally own the assets titled in the name of the Trust.

Unfortunately, a Revocable Living Trust can’t shield your assets from the claims of creditors. For this, you would need to create an asset protection plan in addition to your Trust. The time to do this is long before a lawsuit is filed against you, and despite the widespread fear of lawsuits, most people will never be involved in one and do not need to plan for such a situation.

Myth #5: A Revocable Living Trust Eliminates All of the Work after the Trustmaker Dies. FALSE.

Sadly, when a loved one dies, there are still many details that will need to be resolved. Your heirs won’t have to go through the agony of probate, but your Successor Trustee will likely need to deal with a number of tasks before the beneficiaries can collect their checks.

Consider the matter of selling the family home and other articles of value, consolidating total assets and items of sentimental value and distributing them among the beneficiaries. If a loved one had been undergoing medical care or was in a nursing facility, there’s a good chance that outstanding bills will continue to trickle in from a variety of healthcare providers that will need to be paid. With a Living Trust, the process is streamlined, but there is a considerable amount of unavoidable administrative work involved in finalizing an estate and, depending on the complexity, this can drag on for quite some time.

Myth #6: Revocable Trusts are Only for Wealthy People. A great big FALSE!

People often underestimate their net worth. Do you own your own home? Have a life insurance policy, savings account, brokerage account and/or a 401K? Expensive jewelry/antiques/cars/artwork? What if you just have very few assets, but you do have life insurance and young children? These are all considered assets. Many people, naïve about their net worth, think they don’t need a Living Trust. The truth is that if you have assets and a family, a Living Trust will save your loved ones the agony of probate at an already difficult time filled with grief and loss. You will also be saving a big chunk of their inheritance—probate is always expensive.

If creating a Living Trust is on your to-do list, we encourage you to come in to one of our California Document Preparers offices to get started. Our comprehensive Trust package includes a Power of Attorney and Advance Healthcare Directive.