Family » Kris M. Boyd, P.A.

Planning For Your Future

Welcome to Planning For Your Future

Life can be unpredictable. We can help. Careful estate planning provides you with peace of mind, ensuring that your affairs are in order regardless of what life may bring. A proper estate plan allows your family to focus on important personal matters at a difficult time by minimizing the time and expense they would have to devote to legal matters. There is a wealth of information on this site. You can explore and learn, request more information in the form of a brochure and audio cd and even schedule your free estate planning consultation! Thank you for visiting!

Special Needs Trusts

Estate Planning, Trusts, children No Responses »

Sep 032010

If you care for a child or other loved one with a disability, you’ve no doubt thought about what will happen when you’re no longer able to give that care. There is a solution. You can leave property and funds to your disabled loved one in a special needs trust without jeopardizing their government benefits.

Problems can arise when disabled individuals inherit an estate. Their assets usually rise above the “limits” and benefits will cease until the inheritance is sold, spent and used up. The special needs trust allows you to protect your loved one’s benefits while supplementing their needs. The trust is merely a container used to hold property and money that will supplement your loved one’s government benefits-whether they are Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid or another program.

These programs have limits to what a disabled person’s income and total assets must be. A person must have less than $600-$800 of monthly income and less than $2,000 worth of total liquid assets. If a disabled person’s income or assets rises above those limits then their income and health care they receive from those government programs will cease. Fortunately, special needs trusts are a widely accepted and legal estate planning tool that will allow a disabled person to use their inheritance as a supplement for their special needs. The disabled person cannot be the trustee of the trust. I usually recommend a corporate trustee as following special needs trusts can be complicated. There are many rules to follow to ensure the trust operates properly and benefits are not lost.

Special needs trusts are very complicated to draft. It is a good idea to use your entire team of estate planning professionals (life insurance agents, financial planners, accountants, corporate trustees and attorneys) to ensure you are making the right decision. As always, please do not ever hesitate to contact me to discuss this and any other estate planning need or goal.

Kris Boyd; (501) 372-1616; kris@krismboyd.com

7 Estate Planning Mistakes You Do Not Want To Make

Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Wills, children No Responses »

Jul 312010

1! Ha, ha, ha...

I give out a lot of advice and pointers on what to plan for and what to include in your estate plan. I wanted to change it up a little and help families avoid the mistakes that can lead to disasters in the future. There is nothing worse than thinking you have your planning in place which takes care of everyone you love and then realizing it is worthless.

#1. The Total Package

The number one mistake planners make is having a will only and thinking that is all they need. A will is only one part of a complete estate plan. Trusts, power of attorneys, living wills and memorial plans round out a complete estate plan.

#2. The Do-It-Yourself Kit

I have re-written numerous estate plans for families after they paid money for a do-it-yourself kit bought off of the internet or at a bookstore only to realize it did not take care of their needs. Every state has different laws and these kits will not always create documents that will stand up to attack in your state. Furthermore, they are designed only to handle the simplest of estates. I have yet to see one take care of a situation in a blended family where both parents are divorced, have children together and children from a previous marriage.

#3. Hiring The Wrong Professional

You would not hire an electrician to handle your plumbing problems. Be sure you do your research and hire an attorney who focuses in estate planning. Estate planning laws are fluid. Bankruptcy laws are as well. You would NOT want to hire me as your bankruptcy attorney.

#4. One Trust Fits All

Trusts are very important estate planning tools. However, trusts are not appropriate for all families and situations. Avoid the estate planner who suggests a trust every time. Also, avoid the estate planner who charges a flat rate for trusts. Some trusts take an hour to create while others can take many, many hours.

#5. Trusts for Minor Children

Trusts are very appropriate for families with minor children and minor grandchildren. Minors cannot legally own anything. The guardian of the minor ends up “owning” the property and money. This can lead to problems in and of itself. Also, most families do not want to ”dump” a large amount of money on an 18 year old. I know I probably would not have saved much of it when I was 18 if several hundred thousand dollars fell into my lap. I would have driven a really cool Lamborgini, though.

#6. Not Declaring Guardians for Your Children

Most families do not realize that you can declare who you want to take care of your chidren if something were to happen to both parents. This is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. Do not exclude it from your planning.

#7. Designate Your Beneficiaries

All of your accounts (banking, investment, retirement and life insurance) have beneficiary designations that you need to complete. You state where you want your money to go to. These accounts will avoid probate if you take care of the beneficiary designations. You can even designate the money to go to your trust if you are leaving it to a minor child or grandchild.

This list could have been entitled “100 Estate Planning Mistakes You Do Not Want To Make”. That would have been a tough read, but it hammers the point home that you need to meet with the proper estate planning attorney to ensure that your plan is exactly what you need.

All About Guardianships

Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, children No Responses »

Jun 162010

A common question that I receive from clients is “I was told I need to get a guardianship. What is that?”

A guardianship is a court ordered relationship in which a guardian acts on behalf of an individual who cannot, due to a medical condition or a disability, cannot take care of themselves or their property. This individual is referred to as a ward. The guardianship may be for the estate only in the circumstance where the guardian cares for the ward’s assets. The guardianship may be for the person only when the guardian has responsibility to assure the personal needs of the ward are met. A guardianship may be established for both the person and estate of the ward.

Guardianships are necessary when individuals have a medical condition which leaves them in a state where they lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves and/or when they cannot care for themselves. Children often have to obtain guardianships over elderly parents. It is also necessary for parents to obtain guardian status over disabled children once that child has reached the age of 18.

A guardianship proceeding begins with the filing of a Petition. A Petition must be accompanied by an affidavit from the ward’s treating physician which describes the condition the ward has and, in the doctor’s opinion, the ward cannot care for themselves or make decisions for themselves. A guardianship proceeding can generally take 4-8 weeks to complete. However, in emergency situations, there is an exception which can be decided in three days.

Obtaining a guardianship over an individual can be a lengthy and expensive process. An easy way to avoid having to get a guardian appointed is to make sure the individual has a power of attorney in place. The individual must, of course, have the mental capacity to understand and sign the power of attorney. A power of attorney lets the individual appoint someone to care for them and make decisions for them in advance.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions about guardianships, power of attorneys or any other estate matter. A special thank you to Lori Sparkman photography for providing the wonderful pictures.