In this weeks’s “Tuesday with Tom”, Tom discusses how to reject an inheritance by using Disclaimers…What they are…how they work…what they are used for.
Just Say “No” – How To Reject an Inheritance by Using a Disclaimer
Tom
– Ways to Say Goodbye to a Loved One Who is Dying
In this recent episode of “Tuesday with Tom”, Tom talks about ways to say goodbye to a loved one who is dying; and writing a goodbye letter that will be given to loved ones after your death
Listen to Tom’s Interview of Steve Peckham, Certified Funeral Planner
Tom interviews Steve Peckam, Certified Funeral Consultant, and owner of Mid-Michigan Funeral Consulting.
Steve talks about:
– Pre-planning your funeral
– Creating a funeral planning checklist
– Involving your family in your planning
– Whether you should pre-pay for your funeral
– Things to know when planning a traditional funeral
– Whether you have to buy your casket from the funeral home
– Things to know about cremation
– The Importance of shopping around
– and much more
Report Shows Electronic Health Records Fail to Let Doctors Obtain Advance Directives
You enrolled in the DocuBank electronic registry for advance directives to make sure your advance directives (i.e. Health Care Powers of Attorney) are always available at the hospital. Now there are new reasons why you need this instant access.
Doctors cannot easily get hold of their patients’ advance directives at the hospital, even in an emergency, and, Electronic Health Records (EHRs) don’t help solve this availability problem, according to a news report in USA Today/Kaiser Health News.
Advance directives, as you may recall, are the documents that give you control over your medical care if you’re unable to speak for yourself. We helped you create these documents as part of your estate plan. In your advance directive you designated someone to make health care decisions for you if you can’t and also gave guidance on the types of treatments you would or would not want.
Ironically, electronic medical records, which are supposed to help find patient information, create their own problems, the article explains. One problem is that different medical records are incompatible, meaning that hospitals usually can’t share your advance directive among them or even, more surprisingly, between different departments of the same hospital. As a result, you could be admitted to an Emergency Department, which may have one EHR, and it might not be able to get hold of your advance directive in the hospital’s main EHR.
Another problem is that it takes too long to find your advance directive because most EHRs aren’t set up to store one. “If [medical staff are] not able to access the advance directive quickly and easily, they’re honestly likely not to use it,” says Torrie Fields, senior program manager for palliative care at Blue Shield of California.
In addition, the article affirms what we already know: patients frequently (and understandably) forget to bring their advance directives with them.
Lack of availability of your advance directive can be an especially big problem in the ER, where it’s extremely important that your doctors and loved ones have instant access to these documents and therefore to your wishes. A survey of ER doctors last year found that 93% are “less frustrated” when advance directives are “easily accessible,” and the vast majority of them said the documents let them provide better care and that family members are more satisfied.
New Michigan Legislation Affecting Estate Planning
Last week Gov. Snyder signed 2 new pieces of legislation that can affect an estate plan.
Senate Bill 551 contains several amendments to Michigan’s Probate Code (EPIC) allowing you to designate a “Funeral Representative” who will have the power to make decisions about your funeral arrangements. Before enactment of these amendments, Michigan law established an order of priority for who had authority to plan your funeral, and you could not change it. Now, you can designate a person who will have that authority.
The second piece of legislation is the “Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act”. Among other things, this legislation creates the procedures for how you can give legal authority to an individual to access your digital assets (i.e. email, Facebook, twitter, etc.) in the event of your incapacity or death. The legislation overcomes many of the limitations on access to your digital assets created by Terms of Service Agreements. The legislation, also, establishes what you need to do if you do not want a fiduciary to have access to your digital assets.
New Estate Planning & Settlement Internet Radio Program
We just launched our new weekly Internet radio program called “Tuesday with Tom”. New episodes will be available on Tuesday mornings by 8am.
Is Your Health Care Power of Attorney Available?
According to a recent American Academy of Estate Planning Attorney’s article, when emergency medicine physicians were surveyed about the availability of advanced directives (i.e. Health Care Powers of Attorney):
•93% reported less frustration in situations where advance directives are easily accessible
•88% said having an advance directive helped ensure better quality patient care
•85% indicated that families were more we’re more comfortable with how doctors cared for their love ones when they patient had an advance directive
•and 55% were relieved upon learning that a patient already had an advance directive.
If you do not already have an advance directive, you should make getting one prepared a priority. Moreover, if you have one, you need to make sure that it is readily available when it is needed. One author suggests taping a copy to your refrigerator or carrying one in your glove box. An alternative that we are now making available to our clients is to enroll in DocuBank, a service that makes your advance directive available 24/7 through a simple phone call to DocuBank.
More information on DocuBank and how to enroll is here.
How Long Is A Will Valid?
Passage of time has no effect on the validity of a Will. So, even though your family needs likely have changed over the past 10 or 20 years, that long ago prepared Will is still controlling. Tax laws, and laws concerning Wills might have changed as well.
To be sure your estate plan is up to date, it should be reviewed by you annually. Have there been major life change such as a death in the family, the birth or adoption of a child, a divorce or marriage, or a significant change in assets.
New Tax Benefit of Charitable Contribution From Your IRA
The recently passed Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015 made Charitable IRA rollover legislation permanent for 2015 and future years.
With the Charitable Rollover IRA, you can make a contribution to a public charity directly from your IRA (or Roth IRA). To qualify:
- you must be at least age 70 ½ on the date of the contribution
- the contribution may not exceed $100,000
- the contribution has to be made directly by the IRA custodian to the charity.
To take advantage, simply direct the custodian of your IRA to make the charitable contribution. The portion of the IRA so contributed (up to $100,000) never comes into your income.
Please note, a 401k or other retirement plan is not eligible unless it is first rolled into an IRA.
Privacy Breach? The FTC Wants to Help
Did a company share your personal information without your knowledge or consent? The FTC wants to know, and has made it easier for you to report privacy-related complaints.
Just go to the FTC’s Complaint Assistant and click the banner that says: “Concerned about how a company is handling your personal information? Click here to report privacy concerns.”