|
FIVE COMMON ESTATE PLANNING ERRORS
1. Lack
of Updated Wills: Your
estate plan should be updated every
five years--or more often as circumstances
may warrant.
2. Do
It Yourself Documents: As
people have more access to the internet, more are electing to download
wills, trusts, living wills, and powers of attorney from these
sources. This may appear
initially to result in a savings of several hundred dollars. The
problem is mistakes are not usually found until after a person dies
and then it too late to fix them.
A person came to our office with a generic will, power of
attorney and living will that he down-loaded.
Not one of these documents was properly drafted or executed
pursuant to NJ practice and procedure.
Additionally, when we
reviewed these instruments with the individual, it was found that his
intentions were not truly reflected within the downloaded instruments.
3. Lack
of Coordination of Benefits:
The Will is only effective if assets are in an
individual's name alone. Jointly
owned assets, life insurance policies, retirement plans, annuities,
and other assets pass outside a Will. The titling of assets and beneficiary
designations must be synchronized with the individual's estate
planning intentions.
4. Lack
of Anticipation of Long Term Care Needs:
Most estate plans address
the issue of death and thus are
powerless in addressing the issue of Medicaid
in event an individual requires long-term care. Unless estate planning
instruments are drafted with Medicaid planning
in mind, a family may find itself paying $75-$80,000 for
Nursing Home Care.
5. Existence
of an Anemic Power of Attorney:
Many Powers of Attorney
we review are incredibly
inadequate. In essence,
they consist of one or two
pages which declare that the agent can do "anything I could
do". Although the
intention may seem obvious, the outside
world (banks, financial institutions, the IRS, Medicaid) can
refuse to accept them on the grounds that they are not specific
or detailed enough to warrant the action which the agent
attempts to take.
|
