Arizona is a state perfect for snowbirds because of the warm weather all year round. Many older adults from cold weather states flock to Arizona for the winter months, and tend to own property (i.e., pay taxes) in both states they reside in. Being an older taxpayer in two states is an especially strong reason to be on top of your estate plan. Read this article explaining everything you need to know on the topic.

BOSTON (CBS) – Being a snowbird like my Juncos, six months south and six months north, could be a great life style in retirement but one place will need to be your legal residence. Basically, where are you from? Or even easier, where do you have the right to vote?

And it’s the laws of that state which will dictate your estate planning. If you have lots of money you will want to decide which state would be advantageous to die in.

The Federal exemption, the amount you can give away without incurring federal estate taxes this year, is $5,450,000. So most individuals dying between now and December need only worry about state estate taxes.

Check the estate tax laws of the state you are considering moving to. Many states do implement an estate tax or an inheritance tax upon the death of their wealthy residents.

Massachusetts changed their estate laws several years ago and the exemption is now $1 million. So if your estate is larger than $1 million you could owe Massachusetts estate taxes.

Florida, always wanting to lure more residents from the north, does not have an estate tax per say. They do, however, have other taxes due upon your death. New Hampshire has no estate tax.

You may own property and pay real estate taxes in both states, have bank accounts in both states, register cars in both states, buy insurance in both states but you really only live in one state and you are visiting the other state.

Owning property in different states may require your heirs to go through the probate process upon your death in more than one state. Setting up a trust and having the trust own the real estate may make the transfer of property easier upon your death.

Snowbirds should also consider executing a Durable Power of Attorney for each state so if they do need legal or financial decisions made by another the documents are in place to help. This is a must do if you have property or bank accounts in both states.

………………..

You can hear Dee Lee’s expert financial advice on WBZ NewsRadio 1030 each weekday at 1:55 p.m., 3:55 p.m., and 7:55 p.m.

Subscribe to Dee’s Money Matters newsletter here.

Source: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/10/14/snowbirds-protecting-your-estate-while-living-in-two-states/

If you are getting older in age and think it is time to start laying out your estate, there is never a wrong time. This article discusses five mistakes people make when organizing their estate and ways to avoid those mistakes. For those who are unfamiliar with estate planning in general it might be easier than not to make at least one of these mistakes. Be sure to read the full article to be an estate planning pro!

Here are five of the most common estate-planning mistakes that can jeopardize your potential for leaving bequests in line with your desires:

1. Not having a will. A 2016 survey by Harris Poll for Rocket Lawyer found that 64 percent of American adults don’t have a will. Nearly half of these people either said they didn’t need one or just haven’t gotten around to it.

Depending on what state you live in and your personal situation, failure to have a will can deliver assets to people other than those you intend. Moreover, the special needs of loved ones that you’re concerned about may not be addressed. The point of a will is to document your wishes.

2. Failing to update your will. Among those who have a will, this is extremely common. All too often, people act as though their wills are set-it-and-forget-it documents that never need to be changed — even though their lives change. Let’s say that when you make your will, you leave everything to your spouse, confident that he or she will eventually bequeath what’s left of your estate to the children you’ve had together.

Years later you get divorced but neglect to update your will. As a result, depending on the wording in the document and the state you live in, your estate may not go to your children from your first marriage, who by this time may be grown and have children of their own (who might be deserving beneficiaries themselves).

If you remarry and have more children, the estate division gets even more complicated. As your life circumstances change, your will should, too. A good rule of thumb is to review your will every two years. Take it out of the file and read it carefully.

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/13/dont-drop-the-ball-when-planning-your-estate.html

In the process of estate planning you may assign a few loved ones to be your trustees and beneficiaries. However, if those people ever disagree on anything it might be useful to have a trust protector provision. Your trust protector will be the decision maker in that case. Read more about this role in this article:

Most people know that revocable trusts allow you to plan ahead of time, so upon your death your property may be distributed as you want. This is preferred to using a will that must go through the probate process which is overseen by a judge. However, I often get the question, “If there is no court involvement, who oversees the administration of my trust upon my death?” I respond by reminding them that “Trust” is the key term; hence they need to have total confidence in the individuals they are naming to handle their affairs. However, it is possible that two (or three or four) well meaning, honest individuals can have a different opinion about how to interpret and execute the instructions you leave. For this reason, it is also a good idea to have a trust protector provision in the trust.

The trust protector provision (sometimes referred to as the “special co-trustee provision”) allows you to name someone to interpret the trust in case of disagreements between trustees (managers of the trust) and beneficiaries (those who will receive the benefit of the planning). For example, if you become disabled, the trustee will be in charge of managing your affairs for your benefit. When you die, the trustee will take the role of distributing your assets as you have directed. If a beneficiary disagrees with how your trustee is managing the trust, it is useful to have a neutral person designated to consider the position of the trustee and the beneficiary and determine whose position is consistent with the purpose and intent of the trust.

In other words, a trust protector is someone the trust creator (you) chooses to make decisions regarding the trust, after you are no longer able to make those decisions. In a vast majority of the cases, the trust protector does not need to play any role in the trust. It is only when the intent of the trust needs to be more clearly defined that the trust protector may be called upon to act.

The amount of authority given to the trust protector is up to you. You may limit the trust protector’s powers to only certain areas, such as resolving disputes between trustees and beneficiaries. Or you may broaden them to include the ability to amend the trust in the event there has been a change in the law or your circumstances since the trust was formed that would cause strict observance of the trust to be in contradiction to the intent of the trust.

For example, if your trust was written during a time when the estate taxes were a big issue for individuals with smaller estates, your trust may require that many unnecessary and complicated steps be taken to minimize the tax burden upon your death. A trust protector would have the authority to modify the trust so your objective and having your property distributed with as little fuss as possible could be accomplished.

Look at your trust protector as your own personal bodyguard. He or she is there to make sure that your intentions are not disregarded. It goes without saying that anyone that has the ability to amend your trust should have the knowledge and experience required to only do it when necessary. Choosing a trust protector and the powers granted to them should be done with the assistance of a qualified estate planning attorney.

Shawn Garner is a Yuma attorney with Deason Garner Law Firm. Learn more at the seminar at 9:30 a.m. or 6:30 p.m. Thursday. To RSVP, call 783-4466 or visit their website at www.deasongarnerlaw.com.

Source: http://www.yumasun.com/features/estate-planning-who-oversees-a-trust-administration/article_0eba45ac-5db4-11e6-8dfc-736bb6d631b4.html

Elderly people are some of our most vulnerable citizens as their health is often not very good and they are very trusting of people who remain current on their respective industries. Although elderly people are some of the most wise individuals in our society, they need to be protected from swindlers, especially in the financial planning district.

PrintEmailReprintsShareShare on”
}
,

“twitter”: {

“title”: “Advisers may get new tools to combat elder financial abuse”,
“caption”: “”,
“description”: “”,
“linkText” : “twitter”
}
,

“facebook”: {
“appId”: “948048028649511”,
“title”: “”,
“caption”: “”,
“description”: “”,
“linkText” : “facebook”
}
,

“google”: {

“title”: “”,
“caption”: “”,
“description”: “”,
“linkText” : “google”
}

},
“sharingClass” : “share-link”,
“serviceClassBefore” : “”
}’>

Help – and a shield against liability – may be on the way for advisers plagued with the dilemma of whether or not to report suspected elder abuse to authorities at the risk of breaching clients’ privacy.

The House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday aimed at protecting elderly investors, and industry trade groups moved swiftly to urge the Senate to “quickly follow suit.”

The Senior Safe Act would extend civil and administrative liability protection to advisers, broker-dealers and other financial professionals who report suspected abuse to a so-called covered agency, a designation that includes Adult Protective Services, law enforcement authorities and state and federal regulators.

Under the bill, compliance officers and other firm supervisors would be shielded from liability on the condition that those individuals have received training on how to spot signs of elder abuse.

FSI CEO Dale Brown hailed the legislation as “a big step forward in the prevention of elder financial abuse across the country.”

“By providing civil and administrative immunity to financial services firms and advisers, the legislation would allow financial professionals to report potential abuse to government organizations, without violating privacy laws,” Brown says in a statement.

The Insured Retirement Institute offered a similar assessment, calling for Senate consideration of a bill that it says will “help foster better communication between financial professionals, who are often the first to detect an issue, with Adult Protective Services and regulatory agencies.”

Cathy Weatherford, IRI’s CEO, notes that millions of baby boomers are retiring, and “this will only necessitate more concerted efforts to protect the nation’s most vulnerable.”

‘A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION’

The legislation is a companion bill to the Senate version, authored by Susan Collins (R-Maine), which is awaiting consideration by the Senate Banking Committee.

Carolyn McClanahan, director of financial planning at Life Planning Partners, calls the bill a “step in the right direction,” but notes that she has some reservations about the reporting measures in the legislation.

Specifically, she notes the provision that the shield from liability under privacy laws applies only to situations in which advisers report abuse to covered agencies, when often the most effective route to curbing financial exploitation can be to alert the victim’s family.

“Often, fraud occurs through people outside the family, and all it takes to stop it is to have the family step in,” McClanahan says. “Reporting to these agencies can open up a hornet’s nest for the family. Although I am happy for government oversight, a requirement to involve the government may have unintended consequences. Time will tell.”

A handful of states – Alabama, Indiana and Vermont – have recently enacted laws that would go a step farther and actually require advisers to report suspected abuse, rather than just providing legal cover in the event they opted to do so.

“States are starting to move in this direction,” McClanahan says, though she cautions that she has concerns “about the unintended consequences of required reporting, also.”

Kenneth Corbin is a Financial Planning contributing writer in Washington.

Source: http://www.financial-planning.com/news/advisers-may-get-new-tools-to-combat-elder-financial-abuse