In honor of pride month, we are sharing weekly estate planning tips and info that is specific for our LGBTQ community...

YOUR STUFF

Spelling out the distribution of your assets is one vital piece of your estate plan. Not just because you want to give your loved one’s important belongings but because often, when these details are not expressed in writing, families fight. No one intends to add to their family’s grief by not having a clear plan in place if something were to happen to you, but we see it every day.

This involves all of your property, from your beloved dog, Rambo, to the condo you own and rent out, as well as those (questionable) Japanese prints you “inherited” from your college roommate. Your stuff can easily fall into the hands of someone who is not your first choice if you fail to plan. If you have assets over $150,000 and no Trust, your family may end up in probate court. It’s the law. (Don’t panic, keep reading….)

After you are gone, if you do not have a Trust, those closest to you will likely have to initiate a Probate. They will be grieving and need to find a lawyer and wait months before they have access to your assets. God forbid there is a battle between two loved ones, it could be a year before they have access to your assets. On the other hand, a trust administration is relatively seamless (when the trust is done correctly), totally private and much less expensive.

For an estate plan to protect you, it must include:

1. An Advance Health Care Directive (AHCD) that specifies who can make medical decisions on your behalf and enumerates your wishes;

2. A HIPAA Waiver so that the medical community will speak to those you love;

3. A Durable Power of Attorney for Finance (DPOA) that names who can make financial and legal decisions on your behalf. (These two documents will avoid Conservatorship);

4. A Trust if you have assets such as a house or if you are leaving your estate to young people (your kids or if you don’t have any, the kids of others); and

5. A Will if you have special sentimental or financially valuable personal property items, kids or pets.

Both Conservatorship and Probate mean your loved one is in court and you DO NOT want them to end up there. They are expensive and intrusive processes that cause significant stress to those involved.

YAY ME, I ALREADY HAVE AN ESTATE PLAN!

If you have an existing estate plan, KUDDOS TO YOU! But before we uncork the Veuve Clicquot, when was the last time you updated it? (We know… sorry to be Debbie the Downerhere, but…)

? Was it done before or around 2004? HIPAA (the privacy law between the doctor and the patient) came into law in 2004 and AHCDs around that time or earlier do not include it. This means that your health care agent can make decisions, but the doctor isn’t allowed to provide any information, legally.

? Do you have a Durable Power of Attorney for Finance? It should also be updated to address online assets. Certain powers must be specifically stated, or your power of attorney may not be able to access everything to care for you.

? Do you have a trust that is more than five years old? The estate tax laws have significantly changed. You probably will not have to pay them (assuming you have less than $11.4M in 2019), but your trust may be structured to reduce estate taxes and be much more cumbersome and expensive to administer.

? In addition to people having children or changing who they want to be in charge, there are many more examples of what causes an estate plan to fail. Remember once you lose mental capacity (or of course die), you cannot update your documents.

Our rule of thumb is that every estate plan is should be reviewed every 5 years or with any major life change (marriage, divorce, births, deaths, etc.).

Stay tuned for next week’s post…

Link in comments to our LGBTQ page https://www.goldfarbluu.com/estate-planning/lgbtq-estate-planning/?

#EstatePlanning #Attorney #Tarzana #Lawyer #California #LosAngeles #LA #law #lawfirm #plaintiff #californialaw #inspiration #victory #legaldocumentary #Pride2022 #lgbt #pridemonth #loveislove #lgbtq #weareallinthistogether #family #realestate????????????????????