Executor Creates Process for Distributing Mother’s Assets

Clients who prepare their Living Trusts identify their assets and how they will be distributed among their heirs when they die. Assets include the obvious things such as real property, brokerage accounts, life insurance policies and other financial resources, but they also include other high-ticket items such as cars, jewelry, artwork, antiques, valuable collections, etc. Many people carefully allocate the large items but fail to identify how the smaller items will be distributed among their surviving family members. These are often items that may not have great financial value but are rich in sentiment, and their distribution can become highly contentious.

An Oakland client distributes mother’s assets

An Oakland client, the executor for his mother’s estate, shared this story of how he successfully distributed his mother’s assets among his siblings. His mother had created a Living Trust and had divided her estate equally among her three children. But she had not identified how the many small, sentimental items were to be divided among her three children. His brother and his wife were aggressive and greedy, and he wanted to avoid their taking the most valuable items, leaving his sister and him with the leftovers. He wanted to prevent potentially hard feelings and conflict, making sure that each of them was the recipient of household items and mementoes that would comfort them and keep their mother’s memory alive.

He knew, for instance, that his sister loved a beautiful Wedgewood plate that his mother always used for their birthday cakes, and she had a lovely gold bracelet that he would like to give his daughter. A wicker rocker in her study was where his mother used to sit and read, and he would love to have that chair in his own study. None of these things was worth a lot of money, but each was rich in memories.

As executor, he devised a plan that included only the three siblings, not their spouses

• Each would create and prioritize a written list of the items he/she wanted from their mother’s belongings, without saying one word to each other.
• They would flip a coin to see who would choose first.
• The sibling who won the coin toss would select the first item, segregating it physically into a pile.
• The person who came second would do the same, then the third, continuing until all of their mother’s belongings were taken.
• If somebody’s choice was already taken, they would take the next item on their list, if that item was still available.
• After all items were chosen, conversation was allowed and trading could begin. “You really wanted that item bracelet, and I really wanted that ring; would you be willing to trade?” Etc.

Siblings satisfied with the process

There was only one case where two siblings really wanted one item and a settlement/deal couldn’t be reached. Our client’s sister wanted something that he had chosen, but he wasn’t willing to part with it–their mother’s favorite pasta bowl that she had bought in Italy. There was no dispute, no loud discussion, and everyone was very satisfied with the process and the results—including his brother.

Have you created your Living Trust and named your executor? Contact the California Document Preparers team today to schedule an appointment. We help you through every step of the process.

Divorce: What If My Spouse No Longer Lives in This Country?

With our diverse Bay Area population, it’s not unusual that couples get married, then one spouse decides to return to his/her country of origin or move to another country altogether. Divorce can be part of this life change.

Our family law team at California Document Preparers finds that these cases surface from time to time. In most situations, these are uncontested divorces, with little property and no children or support. We recently helped several couples; in both cases, the wife was filing for divorce. One husband had moved to Ireland and the other had returned to his native Fiji. In both cases, these were relatively simple procedures–younger couples who had been married fewer than ten years, without community property or children, so there were no child support issues.

The method of serving your spouse varies by country

If you’re filing for divorce in the US, one spouse must be served with the divorce papers. When a spouse lives outside the US, he/she can’t be served; rather, he/she must respond to the court in which the spouse filed. The method for serving your spouse outside of the United States will depend largely on the laws of his country. This process typically runs about $1,000, may require additional document translation fees and take about nine months, if not longer.

Submitting a formal response to the court

We’ve learned that if the respondent (the person who has received the divorce papers) submits a formal response with the court after he/she has been served, then the petitioner (the spouse who is filing for divorce) is not required to submit a formal proof of service. Once served with the packet, the respondent can complete the response form (within the packet that he/she is served) and submit it to the court, along with the court filing fee.

California Document Preparers assists with document preparation and facilitating signatures

Once the response is filed with the court, the parties must continue to work together to complete the final court paperwork. California Document Preparers assists in preparing these documents and facilitating signatures between the parties. We’ve been very successful in helping our clients get divorced in those situations where spouses live in separate countries.

Lessons on Estate Planning from Gene Wilder

A comedian whose career spanned 40 years, Gene Wilder was 83 when he died in August from complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He kept his illness hidden from most people for at least three years. The star of legendary comedies Blazing Saddles, The Producers and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory reportedly wanted his fans to keep laughing over his large body of work rather than mourning the tragedy of his final years.

According to experts, keeping Alzheimer’s a secret is a common approach

Most Alzheimer’s sufferers hide symptoms for as long as possible for a variety of reasons.

• Losing control. Those who are alone fear they’ll lose control of their own lives if their family or friends think they can no longer care for themselves and/or handle their own affairs.
• Shame. There is also considerable shame attached to this disease, and many people who are in the early stages of dementia are understandably in denial. It may be family members, alarmed about cognitive changes, who finally force the issue. Interestingly, those patients who have advanced education or who have used their brains the most during their careers who are most successful at hiding their disease the longest.
• Loss of friends. In another blog we talked about a New York woman who was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s, and her therapist advised her not to tell her friends for fear they would abandon her. Her solution? She stopped going to that therapist, told her friends and, indeed, did lose a few friends who did not have the capacity to provide the support she would need.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s are becoming common among the elderly and, unfortunately, the incidence will increase as our baby boomer generation ages. An estimated 80% of us can expect to experience at least some degree of dementia in our lifetimes.

Being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s creates immediacy

If someone in your family has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, it is critical to move quickly to create or update a Living Trust and other estate-planning documents before the person deteriorates and is unable make decisions or sign legal documents.

Those suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia can often still make legally valid decisions for themselves. It may be necessary, however, to get a doctor’s letter attesting to the patient’s ability to understand what he/she is signing. It’s important to make sure that all of the legal documents are in place, including the Will, Living Trust, Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. At California Document Preparers, our comprehensive Living Trust package includes a Power of Attorney and an Advanced Healthcare Directive.

Creating a Power of Attorney to manage income and assets

The Power of Attorney, called an agent, is usually a trusted family member, domestic partner or friend, who will make financial and other decisions when the person with dementia (the principal) is no longer able. Power of attorney documents should be written so that they are durable–valid even after the principal is incapacitated and can no longer make decisions. The agent is authorized to manage and make decisions about the income and assets, according to the instructions, and in the best interests, of the principal.

An Advanced Healthcare Directive to make decisions about care

An Advanced Healthcare Directive empowers a trusted friend or family member to make healthcare decisions for the principal when he/she no longer can. This includes choosing doctors and other providers, including hospice care. It also includes treatment and care facilities. For a person in the later stages of dementia, the healthcare agent also may make end-of-life decisions, such as giving do not resuscitate (DNR) instructions to healthcare providers. For the person with dementia, it’s important to talk through his/her wishes early on to make sure the agent not only understands but agrees to act on his/her behalf.

A final caveat . . .

When a person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease signs new estate-planning documents after the disease has progressed, it greatly increases the chances that someone in the family may contest the validity of the documents in court. Getting these end-of-life documents in place as soon as possible after the disease’s diagnosis helps assure that they will not be challenged.

Call the California Document Preparers team today to schedule an appointment for your Living Trust. We help you through every step of the process.

Gray Divorce: Facing the Economic Challenges

A few months ago, we wrote a blog about a new trend they’re calling gray divorce—late-life divorce. These days, one out of every four people experiencing divorce in the United States is 50 or older; nearly one in ten is 65 or older. The reasons vary, but may include empty-nest syndrome, the increased number of women in the workforce, the desire for a better quality of life and higher rates of remarriage.

The emotional distress and challenges of gray divorce are similar to those of divorce at any age, but older couples face additional obstacles that magnify the difficulties. They often face a limited number of years in which they can generate income, have complicated assets and adult children who may get involved. There is another depressing statistic: for those on their second or third marriage, the rates of divorce are even higher.

Customize a team of advisers customized for your needs

If you’re an older couple facing divorce, many experts recommend identifying a team of professionals to guide you through the process. Depending on your emotional needs and the complexities of your financial landscape, this team may include a mediator, financial planner, accountant and/or therapist. If the divorce is uncontested—if you’re in agreement about the division of assets–California Document Preparers can help you get your divorce. Our team of family law specialists prepares and files all of the legal documents and is sensitive to the emotional needs of our divorce clients; we’re available by phone and email to respond to questions throughout the entire process.

In a gray divorce, working with a financial expert becomes more important because most couples have built up a lifetime’s worth of assets that must be valued and split. There’s the family home, pensions, 401k’s, brokerage accounts and life insurance policies to be taken into consideration. There may be the family business or investments in other ventures, expensive artwork, antiques, vehicles and valuable collections that also must be assessed as part of the estate. Valuing these complex assets and income streams requires time and expertise.

Who gets to keep the family home?

The family home is often a point of contention, especially with older couples. We all can understand not wanting to leave 20 or more years’ worth of memories. This was where you raised your children, where the family gathered to celebrate holidays and important events. There is the familiarity of the neighborhood and good friends. Given the uncertainties that lie ahead, the family home’s appeal can become amplified, as it represents familiarity and a connection to a former, happier life.

Hanging on to the family home may not make sense financially

Divorcing couples need to understand that when they were living together as a married couple, in many cases, they had two incomes. In their new single lives, there will be just one. It’s a time to get very realistic about finances and think pragmatically about how you will support yourself on one income. Be open to alternatives that will leave you in a better financial position. Selling a home or opting for other assets may provide the income you will need in the years ahead. That large family home with a swimming pool and extensive landscaping can quickly become a burden. Many divorcing midlife couples find that downsizing can dramatically help manage costs as they create new lives for themselves.

Call the California Document Preparers team today to schedule an appointment to talk about your divorce. We help you through every step of the process.

Probate Case Study: Siblings Lose Family Home

A man recently came into our Walnut Creek office with a Probate case. His father and stepmother had owned the family home as joint tenants. When his father died a few years earlier, his stepmother became the property owner. But now the stepmother had died and the ownership of the estate was in question because neither the father nor the stepmother had created a Living Trust.

Our client’s father had married his stepmother when he was just 14, and this kind woman with no children of her own had helped raise him. They remained close through the years, and after his father died, he became her caregiver, running errands, taking her to doctor appointments and making her final years as comfortable as possible.

There were four children in this family, and though their children all encouraged him, their father had never created a Living Trust. Their stepmother often spoke about how the home should go to these siblings when she died, but along with her husband, she failed to put anything into writing. When she died, her only blood relative was her sister, who lived in France. According to the law, if someone dies without a Living Trust to identify the distribution of assets, the estate goes into Probate.

The stepson took the case to Probate court

This was an emotional case for our client, as the bulk of the estate was the family home in which they had grown up. This was the place where they had gathered to celebrate holidays and family events. This wasn’t just a house to this family, there was a lifetime of memories living within its walls. In addition, he and his siblings had all been very close to their stepmother—they had lost their own mother at an early age, and they were all delighted when their father remarried. They also knew that their stepmother had a strained relationship with her sister, and they’d not seen each other for many years.

While they understood that there were laws governing the distribution of assets when someone dies without a Living Trust, they were hoping there could be compromise, such as splitting the estate between the families—the four siblings would receive half of the estate and the sister would get the other half.

The judge made his ruling based on the letter of the law—not emotions

The Probate judge well may have been sympathetic to our client’s situation—the logic of this scenario is very compelling. The father and stepmother had been happily married for more than 40 years and would surely have wanted their children to be their beneficiaries. Unfortunately, neither the father nor the stepmother had created a Will or Living Trust, so the court was forced to make a decision based on the law, which is that the estate goes to the next of kin, based on bloodlines—in this case, the sister in France, who ended up with 100% of an estate valued at an estimated $600,000.

This is a situation that we see all too often . . .

Fortunately, it’s easily preventable by creating a Living Trust—and keeping it updated with important life events.

Call the California Document Preparers team today to schedule an appointment. We help you through every step of the process.

End of Life Option Act: Only for the Privileged?

California's End of Life Option Act took effect in June 2016. One of the biggest concerns from the bill’s opponents was that masses of people, particularly the disadvantaged, would be targeted and coerced into dying if physicians were allowed to prescribe a lethal dose of medicine for those who were terminally ill. But if we take a look at those states where the law has been in effect long enough to provide meaningful metrics (Oregon passed its law nearly 20 years ago), those fears have not been realized. A recent Los Angeles Times op-ed article by Ann Neumann discusses the realities of who is actually using this law.

Who will use the new law?

It’s been just a few months since the law went into effect here in California, so it’s too soon to know its full implications here at home, but in those states where aid in dying is legal--Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont--the number of people choosing to use this law is fewer than 1% of those who die each year. Based on 18 years of data from Oregon, whose Death with Dignity Act was the first such law in the nation, the majority of those who use the law are older, white and well-educated.

End of Life Option Act: a matter of insurance coverage and economics

When demographics such as education level and insurance type are analyzed along with race, Oregon's data tell us that it is the privileged who use aid in dying. Nearly 72% had at least some college and private insurance.

According to a National Public Radio report, the cost of a lethal dose of the most commonly prescribed aid-in-dying drug — the sleeping pill Seconal — rose from $1,500 to more than $3,000. Even a less expensive drug cocktail costs about $400. Insurance may cover at least some of the cost; it is up to each plan. State Medicaid funds are available in Oregon and California, but federal funds cannot be used for aid-in-dying drugs.

Aid in dying protocol a complex process

Given the nature of death with dignity laws, it isn't surprising that only a small number of people choose to make use of the right to die--it's a complex process. To get a prescription for lethal drugs, patients must be adults, and they must be deemed by two doctors to have six months or fewer to live. Patients must request a lethal prescription verbally and in writing, with a waiting period in between. If their mental competence is questioned, a psychiatrist must be consulted. Once patients obtain a prescription, they choose when to fill it and when to self-administer the drugs.

Oregon data provides a profile of who uses aid in dying

From 1998 through 2015, a total of 991 Oregonians died from ingesting DWDA drugs.

• A majority were over the age of 65 (nearly 70%).
• Slightly more were male (51%) than female.
• Most were diagnosed with terminal cancer (77%).
• Almost all were enrolled in hospice care (90%) and died at home (94%).

Racial and socioeconomic demographics of Oregon’s law

Nearly 97% of those who have exercised the right to die in Oregon were white. Keep in mind that Oregon has a relatively small minority population, but even where the percentages are higher, it's probable minorities will make use of the law in lower numbers. California’s population is much more diverse, so the numbers may be distributed more evenly across all demographic groups, though it’s too early to identify trends.

Data raises question whether aid in dying is working

If the premise of aid in dying is to prevent pain and suffering among terminally ill patients — something people of all races and from all walks of life experience — the narrow pattern of use that shows up in the data is a cause for concern. The availability of choice may be the primary factor behind the predominance of white, privileged patients seeking and using aid in dying.

Those with means always have more choices

Unfortunately, this law may represent another example of the growing disparity not just in American lives, but in the healthcare choices of its citizens.

Are you still thinking about creating a Living Trust in 2016? The California Document Preparers team can help you. Call today to schedule an appointment.

September Kicks Off the New Divorce Season

Another summer is drawing to a close and it always comes too soon. Our vacations were invariably too short, the time with our friends and family too brief. Now we find ourselves shivering in the mornings as we get ready for work and evenings on our decks and patios have turned cool. We’re packing the kids off to college or back to school. September is also the time when an increasing number of couples file for Divorce.

While there are no official statistics, divorce lawyers are noticing a new trend—a significant increase in the number of couples who are deciding to split up at the end of the summer. According to divorce lawyers and law professors, it’s a deferred decision that’s generally been made months earlier.

There is a variety of reasons triggering the September divorce trend

• Family vacations. Summer is the time for family vacations that many prefer not to disrupt, and summers can mean less stress on struggling marriages. Parents may be taking time off work, the kids are away at camp. For those with vacation homes, it may mean that couples have extended time away from each other, which provides some breathing room. When they return at the end of August, it’s time to once again face reality.
• Empty-nest syndrome. When the last child leaves for college or career, many couples find themselves staring at each other across the kitchen table and realize they have little reason to stay together. If they’re still young and healthy, there are many empty years stretching ahead of them. They may still want to be married--but they want a different spouse!
• Last-ditch effort. People are unhappy with their marriages, and their summer vacation represents an opportunity to give it one last shot. This effort is generally unsuccessful because the expectations are too high. Anyone who’s done any traveling understands the toll it can take on a relationship. Vacationing couples are faced with unstructured time, alone with each other 24/7, which rarely happens at home, where everyone is busy with work and activities. Rather than fixing things, this puts additional pressure on an already shaky relationship.
• Time for evaluating lives. For many people, September is a time for evaluation and catharsis. There is something psychological about September. It began back when we were in grade school. Even though we're not at school anymore, the memory of fresh beginnings, new clothes, school supplies, etc. is seared into us. We make New Year's resolutions at the start of the year, but for many people there's something equally, if not more profound, about September as the time for fresh new starts.

Are you thinking about Divorce? If yours is an uncontested Divorce, you don’t need an attorney, and the California Document Preparers team can help you. We’re especially sensitive to the needs of our family law clients. Call today to make an appointment.