Vermont Estate Planning Blog

Freezing Credit: A new federal law effective 9/21/18 permits consumers to freeze their credit, free of charge.  For more information, visit:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/06/free-credit-freezes-are-coming-soon-0

Lawyer Joke

Q: What do you have when a lawyer is buried up to his neck in sand?

A: Not enough sand.

Games are usually a lot of fun, but you don’t really want to play hide and seek with your estate planning documents.  After you have signed and implemented your plan, you may want privacy, but you should not hide your documents from everyone.  If you excel at concealing, it may not be found when needed.  How and with whom you share will depend upon the document and your goals, but here are some considerations:

Will—while this document has no effect until after death, it has zero effect if never discovered; you can store the original:

¨ In a fire-proof safe at home. if someone else knows location and its key

¨ In a safe deposit box at a bank, if someone else has joint access and a key to the box; without a surviving joint owner, no one will be allowed in the safe deposit box after your death without Court authority; if the joint owner cannot locate a key, there will likely be additional procedures and costs involved in accessing the box

¨ At the Probate Court in the county in which you live, for a modest fee (currently $30); however, if you move out of the county or update your will, it will be necessary to either retrieve your original will or replace it with the updated version

Trust—a revocable living trust is effective during your lifetime, and the Trustee may need to produce a copy of it, or a Certificate of Trust, when managing its assets.
Read more . . .

Q: Why don’t lawyers play hide and seek?

A: Nobody wants to look for them.

New estate/transfer tax numbers for 2018:

Federal estate tax threshold:

$11,290,000

Vermont estate tax exclusion:

$2,750,000

Annual gift tax exclusion:

$15,000

Life insurance plays a vital role in many estate plans.  Proceeds can provide essential funds to replace lost earnings, pay debts, finance college tuition expenses, or even cover estate tax liabilities.  However, there is confusion about the taxation of these life insurance proceeds.  Contrary to common belief, insurance benefits are taxable to the estate of the insured.   For many Vermont estates, it is inconsequential because they total under $2,750,000.
Read more . . .

Can you remember what you had for breakfast yesterday morning? Or what you wore last Friday?  Details involving routine tasks elude many of us, but does that define our legal capacity?  While that may provide clues, it is not an absolute ingredient in the test for legal capacity.  In fact, there is no “bright line” test for capacity.  It is a grey area and does not equate to passing a memory test.

Accordingly, individuals suffering memory impairment or even diagnosed forms of dementia are not automatically deemed legally incapacitated.  While medical providers are generally concerned with diagnosis and treatment, a legal assessment of capacity focuses on a person’s functional ability to engage in and understand a particular transaction.
Read more . . .

According to national hospice utilization data, Vermonters appear to avail themselves of hospice services at a lower rate than residents of other states.  While there are likely many reasons, education should not be one.

Hospice is an end-of life care model of coordinated services and support for patients and their families.  The focus is on quality care, comfort, and pain management, not treatment.  Individuals enrolled in hospice receive compassionate care from an interdisciplinary team that may include medical providers, spiritual advisors, therapists, social workers, and volunteers.

This is a great article that Stephanie Choate wrote and it was published in the Vermont Maturity Magazine.  One of our partners, Glenn A. Jarrett, Esq. was quoted in the article.

The article is about Advance Health Care Directives and how important it is to have the discussions before it becomes too late to express your wishes.
Read more . . .

With Spider-Man and Wonder Woman demonstrating their superpowers in the summer box office, it seems like an appropriate time to review some “super” powers that should be found in a comprehensive Durable Power of Attorney.

Sometimes we find a great tip and like to share.  Here is our newest tip: Scam Alerts from the State