August 2019 - K.T. Williams Law

Preparing For The Unexpected… Sickness, Death, Or Expense: What Should You Do – Part 2.

August 23, 2019/in Asset Preservation, Estate Planning/by KT Williams

The benefits of preparing for the unexpected are wide ranging. Avoiding delay, saving money, and earlier care in a health crisis are just a few. In Part 1 of this series, we talked about important first steps to prepare for the unexpected. These steps included making lists of important information such as your bank accounts, investment and retirement accounts, insurance policies, real estate and other assets. Also, you were encouraged to compile a list of all of your electronic login credentials with the corresponding password. Our electronic footprint and widespread use of electronic media, accounts, and storage (our photos in the cloud for example) makes it necessary for us to keep our account login credentials handy for our use and for use by those who may need to help us one day.

Now What? You compiled all the information. What do you do next? In this, Part 2 of the series, let’s cover what you should do after gathering the information.

Keep the information current and updated. You spent valuable time locating, sorting, and compiling the information. Make sure your efforts pay off. Keep the information handy, easily accessible, and up to date. Otherwise, your efforts could end up wasted if the information can’t be found when needed or if it isn’t updated regularly. None of us want to waste our effort. You should check the accuracy of the information every six (6) months or sooner if you get a new electronic account or if your login ID or password changes for any account.

Build Your Professional Advisor Team and Use It. Most people rely on trusted professionals to guide them. Each advisor plays a vital role. And just like other teams that have players with unique skill sets, the members of this team have unique skill sets that serve an important purpose. Leaving a member out of this team could leave you unprepared. If you don’t have a full team, build it. It’s easy. It only takes a call, email, or message. And if you aren’t sure who should be on your team, get suggestions from the other advisors you use.

Financial Advisor, Insurance Agent, CPA, And Estate Planning/Elder Law Attorney. This is your team, and they should work together for you. We each have unique skills and experience, and we use these skills and experience to help you and those who matter to you. When you talk to your team members, tell each one you want them working together.

Preparing for the unexpected in your life justifies spending a little time with these professionals who see the unexpected every day. Your financial advisor, insurance agent, CPA, and estate planning/elder law attorney have seen unexpected and surprising life experiences in their clients and friends and have learned from them. We use that learning to better advise you so that you can avoid the problems others have faced so that you can take advantage of opportunities others have missed. Preparing ahead and being proactive about your future is time, effort, and money well spent. It’s the kind of investment that pays off for a lifetime.

Inform Your Spouse or Power of Attorney. If you are married, you and your spouse may have worked together in gathering all of this information. That’s good. It’s easy to forget in our busy life to tell our spouse something they should know, such as details about retirement options, beneficiary designations, and insurance elections that we may have available. Gathering the information together can help bridge the gap and make sure each of you are aware of your property, accounts, insurance, and retirement benefits. Even if you didn’t gather the information together, you should tell your spouse how to find the information if you intend your spouse to use it one day. If you aren’t married or if you don’t intend for your spouse to access the information, make sure your Attorney-in-Fact (that is the person you named as your agent in your Durable Power of Attorney) can access it. They may need it to help you.

Make Sure You Can Answer These Questions. There are several questions that you should be able to answer. They help determine if you are well prepared for the unexpected. If you can’t answer these questions or if you aren’t certain of the answer, contact your team and get to work. It’s not OK to simply say “some of these questions don’t apply to me because I’m too old or because I’m young and I have plenty of time to worry about it later.” These questions are too important to ignore. Here are a few of them.

1. How are you going to pay for nursing home care? Statistics show that at least 70% of adults will need nursing home care. Nursing home care costs approximately $7,000 per month in our region, and the cost is increasing rapidly. You could use all of your savings and hard-earned assets. That doesn’t sound good to me, and it probably doesn’t sound good to you either. There are plenty of other options. The other options may not be available if you don’t plan ahead.

2. Who is going to assist you and make decisions for you if you become incapacitated? You need a capable, trustworthy person who will take care of your financial and health care needs.

3. Has your estate planning, including your Power of Attorney, been updated to comply with changes in the law and with advances in technology. For example, your Attorney-in-Fact should have authority to access the electronic accounts and memberships you’ve created. If that authority isn’t specifically stated in your Power of Attorney, your Power of Attorney should be updated.

4. Are you taking all of the tax deductions and income exclusions that are available to you? The tax code is complex, and its complexity continues to grow.

5. At what age will you retire and what will your retirement income be when you retire? These questions can be answered even if you are many years from retirement. Helpful tools exist to calculate these figures and to forecast important trends. And this isn’t only for people who are near retirement. If you are young, answering these questions will help you boost your income later and, perhaps, put you on the right track for higher income soon.

6. Do you have the insurance coverage that you need? Insurance is often overlooked, but it is an important part of preparing for the unexpected. The amount and type of health insurance, Medicare supplemental health policies, life insurance, long-term care insurance, or home and automobile coverage that we need varies from person to person and with our stage in life. Reviewing this regularly with your agent and professional team is important. You want the right coverage, not too much and not too little. Be proactive in managing your insurance coverage.

Planning ahead and preparing for the unexpected is time well spent. We never regret planning ahead. But we regret when we don’t. Time is available. Take action now. Don’t wait for the unexpected to happen. Contact us for help.

Preparing For The Unexpected. . . Sickness, Death, or Expense: What You Should Do – Part 1.

August 9, 2019/in Asset Preservation, Estate Planning/by KT Williams

It’s easy to be get caught up in everyday life. And when that happens, it’s easy to forget that life is more than what it happening to us at the moment. If we don’t prepare for what lies ahead, we may miss some important opportunities. Here is a list of steps you should take to be better prepared for some of life’s unexpected twists and turns.

Make a List of Your Accounts, Insurance, and Automatic Transactions

Make a list. That seems simple enough. But you would be surprised how few people do this. Nevertheless, it is one of the easiest ways to locate missing money and to identify unnecessary expenses. Here’s what you should do.

Gather the most recent monthly statement for each of the bank accounts and credit card accounts that you have. Print the newest statement for any accounts that only come electronically. Now, make a list of each account number, the account balance at the last statement date, the name of the account owner, the address, telephone number, and location of the financial institution holding the account, and the financial representatives who help you with the account. If you have a username and password to access an account electronically, make sure you have it listed in a safe place, too.

Follow a similar listing process for your investment accounts. Then, focus on your insurance. On the list for insurance, identify your insurance coverage and policies that are in force. Make a list of the type of insurance it is, the policy number, the agent, and the insurance company. If you have life insurance, include the amount of the death benefit, the identity of each designated beneficiary, and the cash value if the policy has cash value.

Finally, while you have your account statements handy, review them for automatic payments, such as monthly membership fees or premiums. Automatic payments that are deducted from our accounts usually stop when we cancel the service that generated the payment, but mistakes happen. If we’re not proactive about reviewing our monthly transactions, we might overlook a recurring withdrawal that shouldn’t occur any longer. So take a moment to review your statements for recurring charges that are in error. If you find any, immediately follow up with the vendor who charged your account and request a refund of over charges.

Make a List of Your Real Estate

If you don’t own any real estate or own very little real estate, this part of the list will be short. Include the owner’s name, property address, value, and mortgage amount. Include with this list a copy of the deed you received when you acquired the property and a copy of the mortgage, too. If you own multiple pieces of real estate, include all of them on the list.

Make a List of Your Personal Property

Yes. Make a list of your personal property, too. How detailed you make it is up to you, but the more detailed it is, the easier it will be to identify value. For example, items holding nostalgic value today may have seemed like junk just a few years ago. Vintage signs, dolls, toys, and action figures are just a few of the items that may have seemed worthless years ago, but may be nearly priceless today. I encourage you to keep a detailed list.

Include on this list any tools, equipment, and raw materials that you may have accumulated over the years. Whether as a job or a hobby, you might purchase special tools or equipment. And when your interest is highest, you might purchase extra raw materials or inventory for the activity. As your interest changes, it’s easy to forget about this equipment or material. But it’s value may remain or increase. So be certain to consider the hobbies and outside interests that you’ve pursued over the years. You could have quite a bit of value sitting on a shelf or resting in a storage building or warehouse.

Meet With Your Financial Advisor, CPA, and Attorney

Preparing for the unexpected in your life justifies spending a little time with the professionals who see the unexpected every day. Your financial advisor, CPA, and estate planning/elder law attorney have seen unexpected and surprising life experiences in their clients and friends and have learned from them. We use that learning to help us better advise you so that you can avoid the problems that others faced and so that you can take advantage of opportunities that others missed. Preparing ahead and being proactive about your future is time, effort, and money well spent. It’s the kind of investment that pays off for a lifetime. For help in preparing for the unexpected in your life, contact us, and stay tuned for Part 2 where we’ll explore other steps you should take.

You Know about Health Care Directives: Do you know the MOST?

August 2, 2019/in Health Care Planning/by KT Williams

Earlier this year, I wrote an article about health care decision making and many of the health care directives that everyone should consider. If you missed the article, you can find it here. It discusses common health care directives, such as the Living Will and Health Care Power of Attorney. You may be familiar with the Living Will and Health Care Power of Attorney, but do you know the MOST?

What is the MOST?

Those familiar with a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order should think of the MOST (Medical Order for Scope of Treatment) as a new and improved DNR. Rather than simply covering resuscitation like the DNR does, the MOST covers so much more. This means your care will more closely match your wishes. And that is why it is better than a DNR.

Like the DNR, the MOST is a medical record. That means it will be part of our your permanent health care record and easily transferred as you move from facility to facility for care.
Not every state has the MOST. But the majority of states have something similar. For example, Indiana’s version of the MOST is called POST (Physician Order for Scope of Treatment). It’s purpose and benefits are the same as the MOST, and it looks similar, too.

Does the MOST Replace Your Living Will or Health Care Power of Attorney?

The MOST doesn’t replace your advance directives, like your Living Will or your Health Care Power of Attorney. They remain as important as ever. The MOST can serve as an important supplement to them that further explains your wishes and moves with you throughout your health care journey.
Does the MOST Replace a DNR?

The MOST is not a replacement for the DNR. It may reach that status. But, for now, it does not. The MOST is new, and it takes time for hospitals and medical facilities to implement new programs. For example, not long ago, my grandmother was in the hospital. I asked the nurses about the hospital’s use of the MOST because I wanted my grandmother to have one in her medical file. My question was met with blank stares. After I explained what I was asking about, the nurses checked with hospital administrators who said the MOST had not been implemented at that facility. The point is, if you or a loved one have a DNR, don’t consider it obsolete. The MOST may not be available where you receive care. But you should check.

How Do You Get the MOST Into Your Medical Record?

The MOST must be signed by a physician. So you could wait until you are receiving medical care, then ask if one could be placed in your record. But if you wait until you are receiving care before you ask for the MOST, you might not have much time to consider the questions asked or be in the best frame of mind to answer them. Instead, you should review the MOST in advance of any medical need. A good time to consider the MOST is when working on your Living Will and Health Care Power of Attorney.

Where Can You Find the MOST?

Your health care providers should have them. If they don’t, you can also find the MOST under the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure website. You can print a copy of it and review the questions. Then, you should go over the MOST with your physician so that it will be placed in your medical record. If you want to make sure it agrees with your advance directives, such as your Living Will and Health Care Power of Attorney, consider giving a copy to your estate planning attorney. I want the people and families I serve to receive the care they desire. And if the MOST and the advance directives express different wishes, the result could be devastating. So be proactive in making your wishes known and consistent through your advance directives and medical records. If you have any questions about Estates, Wills, Trusts, Elder Law, Living Wills, Health Care Powers of Attorney, or the MOST, contact us. We’re happy to help.

Preparing For The Unexpected… Sickness, Death, Or Expense: What Should You Do – Part 2.

Preparing For The Unexpected. . . Sickness, Death, or Expense: What You Should Do – Part 1.

You Know about Health Care Directives: Do you know the MOST?

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