New York Estate Planning Lawyer Blog

March 11, 2011

Surviving Spouse’s Use of the Home in Second Marriages

A common provision in wills and trusts, where one of the couple in a second marriage owns the marital home, goes something like this “My surviving spouse shall have the right to reside in the home for so long as he/she desires, provided he/she pays all taxes and insurance premiums thereon and shall maintain the premises in good order and repair. Upon his/her vacating the premises, the same shall be sold and the net sale proceeds distributed to my children in equal shares, per stirpes.”

Sounds fair, doesn’t it? After all, the surviving husband or wife gets to live in the house as long as they like, rent-free, subject only to payment of the carrying charges. In practice, however, the plan carries a significant defect. It puts the surviving spouse in a “Catch 22”. If they find the house is too large, too difficult or too expensive to maintain they have the choice to leave, but then face the prospect of a significant expense to purchase another residence out of their own funds or, in the alternative, the cost of rental which may add thousands of dollars in monthly outlay.

For this reason, we recommend that the surviving spouse gets not only the use and enjoyment of the home for life, but also the use and enjoyment of the proceeds of sale of the home for life, to either purchase a smaller home or condo or use the income from the sale of the home to pay for a rental apartment. In our view, the children of the previous marriage lose nothing. The surviving spouse could have lived in the house for life so why not give him or her the flexibility to trade down as they get older? If there are excess sale proceeds, these can be invested to provide additional income to the surviving spouse. The co-trustee, perhaps the attorney as previously suggested in these pages, makes sure the funds stay intact for the deceased spouse’s children after the second spouse dies.

March 1, 2011

Prenuptial Agreements

by Ettinger Law Firm

by Michael Ettinger, Esq.

Prenuptial agreements (“prenups”) are contracts entered into by a couple before marriage setting out the rights of the parties in the event of divorce or death. Less common is the postnuptial agreement, with similar terms, but executed by the parties after marriage.

Who signs these types of agreements and why? Often couples marrying for the second or more time will have children and/or substantial assets at the time of remarriage. They may wish to insure that all or some of their assets go to their children and not to the new spouse, who may have children and assets of their own. Even with a will which leaves everything to one’s children, without a prenup the surviving spouse is legally entitled to claim about half of the deceased spouse’s estate. Having been married before, these couples know that sometimes things do not work out and wish to simplify matters in the event of a divorce, including whether or not alimony will be payable.

February 21, 2011

Life Insurance Audits

by Ettinger Law Firm

by Michael Ettinger, Esq.

Let’s face it, life insurance is a mystery to most people. Few know whether they have the best insurance for the money.

Here are some changes that may require you to review what you have.

February 11, 2011

“Nice” Lawyer Costs Family $300,000.00

by Ettinger Law Firm

by Michael Ettinger, Esq.

A couple came in to see me today for the husband’s 88 year old father who is a nursing home in Florida. They now wish to bring him up to New York to be nearer to the family. He has about $600,000 in assets, including his home.

They told me about the very nice lawyer he has down on the west coast of Florida, who set up a revocable living trust for Dad and for Mom who died last year, in February of 2006, and amended it in March of 2010.

January 27, 2011

1585 Points of Contact

by Ettinger Law Firm

by Michael Ettinger, Esq.

We were thinking the other day about what typically happens when a client signs a will. After the will signing, the client often fails to ever look at the will again and the lawyer may never contact the client again either.

Now, let’s say this particular client dies thirty years later. The old will is trotted out and, lo and behold, the executor is some very elderly or deceased sibling and the beneficiaries are quite different from what the deceased would have wanted thirty years later. Not to mention that by only having a will, not being a plan for disability or nursing home protection, this client may have died penniless, having spent down all of their assets to pay for long term care.

January 21, 2011

Recent article in Investor’s Business Daily, provides 10 steps for picking a financial adviser.

by Ettinger Law Firm

Investor Business Daily reports, “Choosing a financial adviser can be akin to a stroll through a minefield. If you don’t prepare, your wealth could get blown up by a Bernie Madoff or wounded by someone whose skills are mediocre or simply not suited to your needs. But with proper preparation, chances are you’ll find one of thousands of advisers who can help you set and achieve your goals.”

Meeting with a prospective adviser to understand how they get compensated for their services as well as determine your comfort level with that individual is essential. Addition insight into an adviser can be found in promotional materials, websites and professional certifications. You may also look up an adviser’s Form ADV, which lists complaints and disciplinary actions, online with the Securities and Exchange Commission or your state regulators.

A New York Estate Planning attorney would be a good referral source for a qualified financial adviser.

December 20, 2010

How Disclaimer Trusts Work

by Ettinger Law Firm

by Michael Ettinger, Esq.

Commonly used in estate planning today, disclaimer trusts allow the surviving spouse great flexibility in optimizing estate tax savings.

Here’s how they work. Each spouse sets up their revocable living trust. Husband and wife are co-trustees of his trust, using his social security number and, similarly, they are both co-trustees of her trust with her social security number. Let’s say husband dies first. His trust says “leave everything to my wife except that, whatever she disclaims, i.e. refuses to take, will remain in my trust. The disclaimer is a legal document that lists the assets disclaimed and their value. Wife remains as trustee on husband’s trust after he dies and may use the funds in his trust for her health, maintenance and support. She may also remove 5% of the trust every year for any reason or $5,000, whichever is greater.

December 13, 2010

10 Tips for Helping Families with Special Needs

by Ettinger Law Firm

by Peter Lennington, Esq.

This post by American Association of Trust, Elder Law and Estate member, attorney Peter Lennington, examines the unique planning requirements of families with children, grandchildren or other family members with special needs including the establishment of Special Needs Trusts.

COSTLY MISTAKE #1: Disinheriting the child.

November 3, 2010

The IRA Contract

by Ettinger Law Firm

Pioneered by Ettinger Law Firm, the IRA Contract solves a technical problem that arises when a spouse in a second marriage wishes to leave their IRA, or other qualified plan, to the husband or wife but also wants the unused funds to go to their children from a previous marriage after the spouse dies.

Many lawyers recommend a trust for this purpose. For example, husband dies and leaves the IRA to a trust which names the wife as beneficiary for her lifetime and, after her death, to his children from the previous marriage. Although leaving an IRA to a trust is perfectly legitimate and solves the problem, it has one major drawback. Since a trust has no “life expectancy” on which the IRS can calculate the required minimum distribution (RMD), when you leave an IRA to a trust, the Service looks through the trust to find the oldest trust beneficiary. They then calculate the RMD based on the life expectancy of that person, usually the second wife. The first issue is that even if the wife is under 70 1/2, the age at which you are required to start withdrawals, she cannot wait until then. Since the IRA was left to a trust, it is not a spousal rollover and does not become the wife’s IRA. As such, she cannot defer taxes until 70 1/2 but must start withdrawing the year following her husband’s death. The larger problem is that the IRS will establish a “term certain” for the payout based on her life expectancy which may be two decades or more less than the husband’s children. In other words, when she dies, his children must continue to withdraw based on her life expectancy, instead of based on their own life expectancies. Two decades or more of deferred taxes on the IRA are lost.

To solve this problem, we prepare a fairly simple contract. Wife agrees, in consideration of husband’s naming her as beneficiary on his IRA, to name husband’s children irrevocably as her beneficiary when the IRA rolls over to her. She also agrees not to take any more than the RMD, except on consent of the attorneys appointed by the husband. This prevents someone perhaps unduly influencing the wife in her later years to simply withdraw all the funds and give them to her children or others.

October 25, 2010

The Race to the Courthouse

by Ettinger Law Firm

We received a call last Friday from a woman who said that her father had died but her stepmother was claiming that he did not have a will. The daughter was certain that he did, in fact, have a will.

What happens in such a case? Regardless what the daughter believes, unless a will can be produced there is no will. A check of the county probate court would be in order as some clients traditionally filed their wills in court for safekeeping, but this is rarely done today. There is also the possibility that the father destroyed the will he had, for whatever reason.

Another possibility is that all of the assets may have been made joint with the father’s second wife and that she was also named beneficiary of any other assets, such as IRA’s, annuities and insurance policies. In this case, all of the assets pass to the surviving spouse without any court proceeding and there is no need for a will or, if there is a will, there is no need to file it.