Gerry Beyer has an article on a Trustee’s Duty to Disclose and the rise in Surcharge Litigation. Dana G. Fitzsimons Jr. recently published an article – Navigating the Trustee’s Duty to Disclose, Prob. & Prop., Jan/Feb 2009, at 40.
If you are managing wealth for your children, this should be a concern for you. As a Florida Trustee, it is important to avoid potential liability to your children.
One should be careful when leaving assets to someone who is in prison. They often have fines assessed against them and the assets can be taken for these fines. Sometimes it is beneficial to leave assets to the incarcerated persons heirs. While many trusts can be created to provide for creditor protection, these trusts usually fail when the government tries to take the assets. Often this happens with the IRS but it is logical to assume that the state could also take money from a trust offering asset protection.
As with most instances of Florida Estate Planning it is important to look at each families unique circumstances and dynamics to design aFlorida Estate Plan that addresses each families goals and objectives.
Forbes.com has an article on where not to die.
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia (shaded in red) impose their own estate taxes. The dollar amount exempted from tax (in black) and the top tax rate (in yellow) vary by state. Eight states (shaded in orange) levy an inheritance tax, meaning the tax rate (in black) depends on who gets the money. New Jersey and Maryland levy both types of tax.
Bad will articles popping up all over the place
Seems like everywhere you turn these days there is another article on how Quicken and other online estate planning tools are a bad idea. I will begin to compile a list of other articles on this topic below my examples.
Some other examples of Do it your self wills and bad news are covered in my articles listed below
Do it Yourself Wills? More bad news and Do it Yourself Wills? a Good Idea or Not?
First there were Amber Alerts, now Florida along with a dozen other states have adopted the Silver Alert. A Silver Alert is circulated when a person 60 or older who suffers from Alzheimer’s, dementia, or another cognitive impairment goes missing.There is legislation creating a national program that is pending in Congress. So far Florida has issued 19 bulletins and all 19 have been found. One feature of the Florida program is an automated phone call to every residence within a one-mile radius of the missing person’s home.
The Wills, Trusts, and Estates Prof Blog had a posting from someone looking for interesting WIll issues. I thought some of my readers may be interested in contacting this person.
Hello,
I’m a researcher working on a documentary series about people’s first-hand experiences with a family will. The project is being produced for a major US broadcaster.
The following fifteen common assets and applicable beneficiary designations should be reviewed to make sure they will not be paid (or given) directly to the special needs child:
(1) IRA, 401(k) and other retirement benefits.
(2) Life insurance (including employer-provided life insurance) benefits.
A third-party created and funded SNT can have a trust protector. At a minimum, the trust protector should can have the power to: (i) direct the trustee’s actions; (ii) receive financial-investment statements and accountings; (iii) terminate the trust (and have the assets be distributed to the remainder beneficiaries), (iv) remove and replace a trustee, and (v) direct or approve the reformation or amendment of the trust to reflect changes in the law and in order to comply with the settlor’s intent and purpose.
For tax reasons, a trust protector should not be “related or subordinate” to the settlor or the trust beneficiaries, within the meaning of IRC section 672(c).
The thirteen benefits of an inter-vivos stand alone third-party created and funded SNT are:
(1) The trust can be established by the parents (or by any third party, such as the grandparents) for the benefit of the special needs child.
(2) The trust provides for the investment and management of the special needs child’s inheritance by a third party – the trustee.
The principal purpose of a third-party created and funded SNT is to provide an inheritance for the special needs child without risking the loss of important government benefits such as SSI, Medicaid, etc. Consequently, it is important that grandparents and other relatives (including the siblings of the special needs child) not leave an inheritance outright to a special needs loved one.
Fortunately a parent’s stand alone inter-vivos third-party created and funded SNT can be structured to receive gifts, bequests, and inheritances from grandparents (and other relatives/friends) for the benefit of the special needs child. This avoids the grandparents (or other relatives/friends) having to prepare a separate third-party created and funded SNT.
There Are Many Ways A Special Needs Child Can Receive An Outright Inheritance and Lose Means-Tested Government Benefits. A special needs child can receive an outright inheritance in indirect ways. For example, if the grandparent’s will leaves his or her estate to “my descendants, by right of representation,” and the parent of the special needs child predeceases the grandparent, actually or presumptively under the requirement for survival (typically 120 hours (or 90 days for GST tax purposes)), a portion of the deceased parent’s share of the grandparent’s estate will pass outright to special needs child, and possibly disqualify the child from receiving certain government benefits.
