Oak Lawn Estate Planning | Did your old attorney really do a good job?

Problem: Your old attorney gave you your estate planning documents and sent you on your way. You have no plan for when you die, just some documents that state who your property goes to upon your death.

Needs: What you needed was a comprehensive plan that includes both a property distribution plan and the methods that that plan can be implemented.

Solution: You need to find an attorney that focuses on more than just a document "pump and dump".

It has been an unfortunate problem that attorneys, particularly older attorneys, have asked some basic questions of clients and then pumped out a will or trust for the client. They have the client come into the office and sing the documents and send them on their way. Often, the client is confused about what this document does and how anyone will be able to use it after their death. Additionally, the attorney doesn't care to help these individuals because she hopes that she will do the probate in the event of your death. What I always tell the Executors of an estate is, "The more disorganized the estate is, the more money I make." This may be why old attorneys simply dump the documents on the client and provide no instruction later. This pump and dump method was par for the course in the old days. Now, clients should expect more. The proper instruction can make the passing of a loved one a manageable process from property standpoint.

You may be asking, what things should my attorney have told me?

 This question is very specific to your situation. People have so many different types of assets and family situations, it would be wrong to try and give a cookie cutter answer. There are some pieces of information that he should have discussed with you which are almost universal to everyone. This type of information makes administrating your estate much easier. I always advocate creating a critical information sheet with your attorney that will be given to the executor that will make their life much easier. This critical information sheet will contain things that would take a good deal of manpower to find and, in some cases, may never be found. A sampling of things that should be included on this sheet would include: passwords to emails, passwords to Facebook, passwords to a blog, passwords to finacial institution accounts, location of keys to lock boxes, listing of all certificate of deposits, listing of all savings/checking accounts, names of brokerage firms, names and numbers of insurance companies, instructions for care of pets, lists of credit cards, etc.

Most Estate Planning lawyers don't even include these things with their documents. This type of estate planning is simply unacceptable. A good estate planning attorney should ensure that they are counselors and not simply a document manufacturer. There is no doubt that a good will or trust makes all the difference in the word in regards to the property going to the proper party and with the least governmental hassle. Why not choose an attorney who makes the hassle on loved ones as small as it possibly can be. After all, is that who you had the trust drafted for anyways.

For more information on getting your Will or Trust, call,

Law Office of Jonathan W. Cole
5013 W. 95th St.
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
708-529-7794
Jonathan@JWColeLaw.com

Oak Lawn Estate Planning | Elder Law - Planning for Sickness

I know that I have done a Medicaid post previously, but I have received so many calls lately that I thought it would be helpful to add another post with some additional information. If there is more you would like to know about Elder Law, I would encourage you to call and ask your question specifically, or post a comment to the blog if it is of a more general nature. I will start out the advice in this post with the most essential advice I can provide.

PLAN EARLY, DON'T SUFFER, IF YOU WAIT, IT WILL COST YOU

I wish that there was a mountain top I could shout this from. I know that your future poor health is not something that you want to think about, but without proper planning you will pay much more and perhaps receive inferior care. This brings you to the question, what is proper planning? In my humble opinion, proper planning is completing the following tasks long before you are sick.

1. Have a Power of Attorney for Property and a Power of Attorney for Healthcare drafted. These documents will be explained in a future post in more detail, but they are the best first step to take when you are healthy in the event of an emergency.

2. Have a Will drafted that acts as a Pour-Over-Will. A Pour-Over-Will is best described as a back up plan. A Pour-Over-Will does just as the name sounds, it transfers all property into another disposition vehicle. In most cases this is a Trust, which you would have set up in the past. 

3. Have a Trust drafted to hold your assets. There are generally two types of trusts. An Irrevocable Trust is like its own legal entity. This type of trust is to remove assets from your name so that you qualify for governmental benefits. A Revocable Trust is an instrument that will transfer property outside of probate after death. Probate avoidance is critical to speed disposition of property after death, especially is both spouses are ill. 

4. Complete a Medicaid application if you are eligible. I would recommend that you speak to an elder law attorney to help you determine if you are eligible, and if you are not, what steps you can take to become eligible. To find out more on Medicaid, check out my post here on Medicaid Eligibility. 

5. Speak to an Insurance Agent who is knowledgeable in Long Term Care Insurance. I will link to my two previous posts on long term care insurance here. Long Term Care Insurance part 1 and Long Term Care Insurance part 2. I can not stress enough how important it is that you speak to an agent who is very knowledgeable in this unique type of insurance. I would be happy to recommend one if you do not know an agent who handles this type of insurance. The reason you need a specialist in this type of field is because most agents sell very few of these policies and will just read to you the brochure. They have no idea if you are the type of person who can benefit from this policy. They are simply selling what they were told to sell. They have no idea when the product is useful and appropriate. 

6. Draft a Critical Document/ Information List. This is a document that includes all the critical information that loved ones will need in the event of your illness. An attorney with your best interest at heart will provide a comprehensive list of information that you should include in your Critical Document List. Before you decide on an attorney, find out how comprehensive they intend to be. There is more to Illness Planning than just legal documents. 

These six planning tools are important to have completed long in advance of getting sick. My recommendation is to have these tools in place before you turn fifty years old. The likelihood of needing some or all of these tools after fifty is much greater than before fifty. In the case of medicaid planning, you need to have your documents drafted, in some cases, five years before you need care. This is why I stress that proper planning be done well in advance of problems. Better to have things prepared in advance than have their benefit be diminished by waiting until the last minute. 

If you would like to speak to me about these issues, contact me at:

The Law Office of Jonathan W. Cole

5013 W. 95h St.

Oak Lawn, IL 60453

(708) 529-7794

www.jwcolelaw.com