Estate Planning, or More Accurately, Milestone Planning

Foster Buick • May 8, 2019

Estate planning is an ongoing personalized process that evolves as your life changes. It’s not a one-stop shop or a one-size-fits-all plan. What works for you may not work for someone else. Why?

Your estate plan is created for you, for your life, at that time. It is designed around your life, existing tax laws at that time, and what could be anticipated to change. However, most of us are aware of how fast life can change and how the unexpected becomes the new norm.

Maintaining an estate plan has been compared to maintaining an automobile. If you ignore the mileage checkpoints, catastrophe is quite possible. There is a myriad of circumstances that would require you to review your estate plan and make necessary changes. Generally, any significant change in your personal, family, financial, or health situation, or a change in the tax laws should prompt an estate plan review.

This is a checklist for you; however, remember that it isn’t ever really marked complete…just maintained as necessary.

Personal and family changes:

  • You marry, separate, or divorce;

  • Your or your spouse’s health declines;

  • Your spouse dies;

  • Birth or adoption of a child;

  • Marriage or divorce of a beneficiary;

  • Family member develops special needs or requires extra care;

  • Minor becomes an adult;

  • Beneficiary’s attitude toward you changes;

  • Beneficiary develops a substance abuse problem;

  • Beneficiary displays poor financial management skills;

  • Parent’s or other beneficiary’s health declines;

  • Family member dies.

Family finances changes:

  • Value of your assets changes significantly;

  • You anticipate a sale or transfer of a family business;

  • You buy real estate;

  • Value of a family member’s assets changes dramatically;

  • Beneficiary gets into financial difficulties;

  • Parent or other relative becomes financially dependent upon you.

Other Changes:

  • Federal or state tax laws change;

  • You move to a different state;

  • Successor trustee, guardian, or administrator moves, becomes ill, or changes their mind about serving;

  • You change your mind about who you want to be your trustee, guardian, or administrator.

Did anything catch your eye? Here comes another incomplete checklist; however, this one is more for us to help guide you.

  • When you begin to have a family, you will need to name a guardian for your minor children and plan for their future. If you don’t, the court could name who will raise them, and your children will receive their inheritance at age 18.

  • You may want to add, drop, or change beneficiary designations, especially for IRAs and other tax-deferred plans.

  • You may want to set up a special trust to provide for a family member (child, parent, irresponsible adult) without jeopardizing their eligibility for valuable government benefits.

  • You may want to change a trustee, successor trustee, guardian, or executor.

  • Once you own your own home or have other significant assets, you may want to change from a will-based plan to a living trust-based plan.

  • You may want to establish a gifting program so you can see the results of your gifts while you are living.

  • You may decide to keep a beneficiary’s inheritance in a trust to protect the assets from creditors, ex-spouses, irresponsible spending, and future estate taxes.

  • Your health care power of attorney, living will, and other health care documents may need to be updated.

  • You may want to add a charitable beneficiary, such as your church or synagogue, hospital, university, or other favorite cause.

  • You may want to create a business succession plan.

We are not here to overwhelm you, but to provide you with information so that you can be as prepared as possible for whatever life may throw at you. We are ready and able to guide you through each milestone, curve-ball, and hurdle that you encounter along the way.

Foster, Buick, Conklin & Lundgren, LLC is a general practice law firm. Each attorney within the firm focuses their practice areas to give our clients full-service access to legal counsel. To learn more, visit www.fosterbuick.com.

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Home Inspections: Deal Breakers & Deal Makers

By Jessica A. Harrill • May 8, 2019
With temperatures finally rising above freezing, it’s time to get out there and start house-hunting. To help you with your home-buying journey, we’d like to offer some advice on how to use one of the most valuable aspects of the contract, the home inspection, to your advantage. For home-buyers, the home inspection is one of the most crucial parts of the process of buying a new residence. It is the perfect opportunity to make yourself aware of what you’re getting yourself into with the condition of your new home, and it gives you a chance to discover any flaws that you might perceive as “deal-breakers,” allowing you to negotiate with the seller or back out of the sale if necessary. While the contract does allow you to ask the sellers to make certain repairs on the property before you become the owner, it is important to keep in mind that a home inspection is not meant as an opportunity to upgrade the house. Look at the inspection and what information you get from it as a “new owner’s manual” for your home, giving you some knowledge and extra tips for maintaining the property. Be present for the inspection; it is the perfect opportunity to get familiar with the house you are about to live in and really get a feel for what it will be like to maintain it. As the buyer, you are limited in the types of requests you may make upon the seller. A real estate contract does not cover cosmetic repairs; it only covers repairs that relate to health and safety and the functional flaws of equipment or structural elements. The major components that may require a request for repair include the cooling, heating, water, and electrical units, and the walls, roof, windows, floors, appliances, and foundation. Even if the inspector finds an issue with one of the major components, remember that under a real estate contract, items are considered to be in proper condition if they perform their intended functions and do not otherwise pose a threat to the health and safety of the residents. Age and the remaining life of the major component does not matter as long as it is in proper working order on the day of closing. Remember that all houses have problems; nothing is perfect. There will be minor wear and tear on the house and appliances and equipment inside. Stay realistic in your requests for repairs, and you will be much more likely to reach a comfortable agreement with the sellers that will allow everyone to leave the transaction happy. Purchasing a new home or selling your current one is always a stressful time, and we recommend contacting an attorney to help in this process. We are happy to help make this time a smooth experience for everyone. Be sure to contact our office once a contract for sale/purchase is prepared (or if you would like our help preparing the contract), and we will help you all the way up to and through the closing.