Irrevocable Living Trusts

Do you know what an Irrevocable Living Trust is? Well, maybe you should at least investigate it. Because, for some people, it’s a useful estate planning tool.

I’ve previously written about revocable living trusts…describing them as a box with an open top, in which you can add or pull things out. In an irrevocable living trust, you can’t pull anything out, however; once it’s in there – financial plans, assets, etc. – it’s in there. So if you piled all of your assets into an irrevocable living trust, and you needed to get some of them out so you can make some changes…tough luck!

Why, then, do I say it’s a useful estate planning tool for some people? Simple. A revocable trust offers no asset protection. And if you can get your hands on it anytime you want, so can Medicaid or creditors.

But some people don’t care if they can’t get to at least some of their assets…because that means creditors or Medicaid can’t get to them, either. They want a special-purpose trust that effectively locks out anyone trying to get a slice of what’s theirs. And these people add irrevocable trusts to their estate plan – because that’s exactly what they offer. Asset protection, plain and simple.

Most of us, though, want to have some control over our assets. And that’s why many people have a revocable living trust, for flexibility, and also an irrevocable trust – into which they can place specific assets – for protection.

Many of our clients are concerned about losing the assets they’ve worked so hard to accumulate, if they end up in a nursing home. With a special-purpose trust, though, such as a Medicaid Retained Income Trust, you can be assured your assets will still be income-producing…but only for you…not Medicaid or creditors!

Confusing? That’s why we’re here?

At The Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld & Associates, we’ve been designing customized estate plans (every type of will and trust you can think of!) for South Florida families for 33 years. In addition, we’ve also designed asset protection plans, long-term care plans, and protocols for assistance when dealing with Medicaid or trying for veterans’ benefits. We’re elder law attorneys. And our sole interest is to protect our clients and their assets.

We can help you, too. But only if you pick up the phone.

Why You Should Protect Yourself From Guardianships In Florida

There are plenty of assets payable when someone dies. But not when someone becomes disabled. It always saddens me when one spouse becomes disabled, and the other one often doesn’t have the power to make decisions about their assets. Then they have to file a guardianship to prove that they’re capable of handling the finances.

If your loved one becomes disabled, and doesn’t have the right documents in place, your family will soon find itself in court, filing for a guardianship or conservatorship (in which a person appointed by the judge becomes “conservator” of your family’s assets). It’s messy. It’s time-consuming. And it’s a drain on the entire family.

A judge – a stranger – is going to end up overseeing every cent the family spends. In a guardianship or conservatorship, a judge becomes involved (intimately) in your family’s private affairs. And your expenses often become part of the public record!

Legal fees for drafting Powers of Attorney – which can help you avoid scenarios like this one - are relatively low. But legal fees for representation in guardianship or conservatorship hearings, on the other hand, can be very costly.

Tragic, isn’t it…when you consider that a few hours with an Elder Law attorney could spare these families the trauma.

Powers of Attorney give you the “power.” You need one for your property and your finances, for sure. But what about your health? Do you want a stranger making those decisions for your family, also? If not, you also need a power of attorney for healthcare decisions…so a stranger won’t be the one deciding what steps should be taken to care for you.

When someone has Durable Powers of Attorney for both financial and healthcare decisions, his/her family has the power to decide what’s best. And he/she demonstrated the foresight to make life much easier for the family.

I’m Alice Reiter Feld. I’ve been practicing Elder Law here in South Florida for 33 years. And, sad to say, I’ve seen far too many families raked over the coals because they didn’t take the time to protect themselves, and to protect their assets, with items such as powers of attorney, trusts, long-term care planning, and asset protection.

At The Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld & Associates, our mission is to save our clients from this long, dark road.

We can save you from it, too. And we’re just a phone call away.

Revocable Living Trusts: The Open-Top Box

Imagine a senior named Jack.

He’s worked hard, raised a family, and accumulated some assets, which are all in his name. Which means, of course, that he’s the only one who can touch them. But Jack’s getting older. What if he has a stroke one day?

If he dies, it’s fairly straightforward – everything goes to his wife. But what if he lives? He’s incapacitated, and can’t touch the money…and neither can his wife or anyone else in the family, in most cases.

You see, Jack never took the time to draft powers of attorney for healthcare or property, or to do some trust planning. So, in order to access Jack’s assets to pay for his long-term care, Jack’s family will need lawyers, will have to pay for court costs, and may end up with a potentially-troublesome mechanism called a guardianship.

Had Jack done proper estate planning, his wife wouldn’t have had to go to court to beg strangers for permission to use her husband’s money for his own health care. And Jack would have had a revocable living trust, into which you can deposit things and take them out.

A revocable living trust is like a box with an open top. It includes instructions to your successor trustee. And it guarantees that your family will never face the horrible prospect of living probate (guardianship) or probate at the time of death.

This box with an open top should be at the core of every estate plan. However, it doesn’t have any real asset protection. So you may need to do it in conjunction with other Elder Law mechanisms that can protect your family. (There are a couple of types of trusts that allow you to keep some of your assets!)

At the Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld & Associates, our clients will never find themselves in Jack’s family’s situation. We’re Elder Law attorneys. And we build comprehensive, effective estate plans for our clients, protecting both their rights and their assets. We’ve been doing this for South Florida families for 33 years. And we know that an effective estate plan is a puzzle with many pieces – wills, trusts, long-term care planning, assistance with Medicaid or the VA, asset protection, etc. - all of which fit together to offer the most protection.

You don’t have to be in the same situation as Jack’s family. We’re just a phone call away.

Is Your Elder Law Attorney REALLY An Elder Law Attorney?

No one knows elder law like an Elder Law attorney.

As Elder Law attorneys, we specialize in estate and longevity planning, Medicaid, special needs trusts, and VA benefits for people over 65. Our education is geared to that. Our training is geared to that. And our experience – in my case, 33 years – is geared to that.

Recently, while perusing a bar association list of “Elder Law” attorneys, I was surprised to see that many of them were, in actuality, general practitioners. I was a bit disturbed, because drafting simple wills and trusts does not really qualify an attorney as an Elder Law specialist.

Wills, in my opinion, are “death planning.” But today’s seniors need so much more. Powers of Attorney. Long-term care planning. Asset protection (even if a senior needs long-term care). Special Needs Trusts. Caregiver support. Living wills. Assistance with government agencies such as the VA or Medicaid or Social Security. And longevity – not only death – planning.

So…will the real Elder Law attorney please stand up?

A traditional estate plan is designed to do three things:

1. Minimize estate taxes

2. Avoid probate court

3. Distribute the deceased’s assets to his/her heirs

On the other hand, Elder Law is truly “longevity planning.” Elder Law attorneys help you plan for all the things you – or your spouse - might need while you’re still alive! Our job is to improve the lives of our clients…not just to figure out who-gets-what when someone passes away.

So how do you find a real Elder Law attorney? Ask these questions:

How many Medicaid applications does your firm do in a year?

How many veterans does your firm assist with the VA aid and attendance benefits each year?

How many Elder Law-oriented estate plans has your firm done this year?

In my 33 years of Elder Law practice, my office has helped thousands of South Floridians navigate the elder-care journey. We’ve done it with professionalism. With compassion. And, when necessary, with a soft shoulder.

At the Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld & Associates, we practice Elder Law – and only Elder Law. We know the ropes. And we’ll walk you through…every step of the way.

We’re just a phone call away.