Recently, the Georgia Institute of Technology took a look at the concept of a “senior moment” and found a striking conclusion: Their minds have trouble sifting through much of what is absorbed, leading to trouble recalling information when needed. This ultimately leads to less confidence in one’s memory, which has adverse effects. Per their press release:

Researchers looked at brain activity from EEG sensors and saw that older participants wandered into a brief “mental time travel” when trying to recall details.

We all have senior moments, from teenagers to those enjoying retirement. And as the methodology shows, college students have their troubles, too:

Researchers showed older adults (60 years and up) and college students a series of pictures of everyday objects while EEG sensors were connected to their heads. Each photo was accompanied by a color and scene (e.g., living room). Participants were told to focus on one and ignore the other. An hour later, they were asked if the object was new or old, and if it matched the color and the scene.

Neither age group was very good at recalling what they were told to ignore.

However, the college students were more confident in their answers when answering questions from the researchers afterwards, an interesting difference.

We found this fascinating to read, and we hope you do as well!

When many people hear the phrase “asset protection” they immediately tune out, because they think it relates to business owners or those who own property. However, it’s a much wider-ranging phrase than it may initially seem to be.

Do you own a checking account? What about a savings account? Have a retirement plan? Any sort of mutual fund, stocks, bond investments? What about a house – or even a car?

If you said yes to any of the above questions (or many others), you have assets.

Assets are defined by Investopedia as “a resource with economic value that an individual, corporation or country owns or controls with the expectation that it will provide future benefit.”

In other words, it’s something that has value. And for estate planning, that value can be measured in different ways. From a hilarious family story behind a trinket to an expensive work of art, you value things differently – and it’s up to you what happens to these valuables.

There are a few areas where our asset protection expertise is invaluable.

Creditors are always looking to get what they believe is rightfully theirs. And though a person’s death does end claims for some companies, others can still go after a person’s assets. A good estate plan can dictate how people and companies are compensated, but it can also include ways to limit the amount of assets taken away from your estate.

An estate plan also reduces the strain of decision making on your loved ones. It’s hard enough to deal with the passing of a family member or trusted friend. Having to sort through a person’s things and determine what to do with them becomes a difficult part of the process, but it can be easier having a plan set in place so everyone knows what to do.

There are also ways to defer or even avoid taxes on many assets! This keeps more of what’s yours in the family and going to charities or other places you want your assets to go. And that’s why taking the time to consult an expert estate planning attorney like us makes sense, because we protect your family from undue financial and emotional stress.

If you’re unsure, we offer free two-hour workshops on a monthly basis – a great place to bring your questions!

While often an unfortunate and uncomfortable topic to address, your estate plan typically needs an update if you’ve experienced a major life change – and a change in marital status would certainly qualify as such an occasion.

There are many complicating factors that stem from divorce. For example, often when a married couple creates a will, they list the other as one of the beneficiaries. Often (though not always), that person is also named as the executor. If you get a divorce, then you’ll certainly want to change who receives your items – and who is in charge of distributing them and making sure your wishes are kept.

In addition, we think through other related documents, such as your life insurance, retirement accounts, and more. The beneficiaries on these need to be re-examined and often changed, especially because there are laws in place that will distribute assets to your ex if they’re listed.

If you have children, then thinking for them also changes. And for those under the age of 18, there are ways to ensure your assets will best support them without being subjected to undue taxes or someone else’s creditors – and keep those in charge of helping your children liable to best support your kids.

Other documents requiring a thorough examination range from durable powers of attorney to healthcare directives. While it may have been the logical choice to have your then-spouse be the one deciding how to best care for you when you were married, now it can create an incredibly awkward – and potentially dangerous – situation. A high-profile example of this occurred in 2015, when celebrity basketball player Lamar Odom was in a coma and his ex-wife was the one tasked with making the decisions for his health.

If you’ve experienced a divorce, you have plenty to deal with already. That’s why experts like us make it easy to protect yourself and your loved ones no matter the changing situation.

Occasionally, we like sharing information we believe is important or of interest to us and our clients. Recently, The New York Times published an article focusing on a Harvard University study into the status of a person’s brain after fighting off an infection.

Could it be that Alzheimer’s disease stems from the toxic remnants of the brain’s attempt to fight off infection?

Provocative new research by a team of investigators at Harvard leads to this startling hypothesis, which could explain the origins of plaque, the mysterious hard little balls that pockmark the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.

You can read more on the Times site by clicking here.

Life insurance policies offer the option to designate beneficiaries in the event you pass away – in other words, you get to name who gets the benefits from the life insurance plan. Most people with these policies do have at least one beneficiary named, which ensures a smoother process when it comes to those benefits being paid out.

However, as this 2013 article by Insure.com for Nasdaq states, there are many common mistakes to make when it comes to beneficiaries. For example:

4. Falling into a tax trap

Life insurance death benefits are generally tax-free — except when three different people play the roles of policy owner, the insured and the beneficiary. In that case, the death benefit could count as a taxable gift to the beneficiary, says Amy Rose Herrick, a Chartered Financial Consultant and life insurance agent with offices in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Tecumseh, Kan.

Say, for instance, a wife owns a life insurance policy on her husband’s life and names their adult daughter as beneficiary. The wife effectively is creating a gift of the policy proceeds to her daughter, Herrick says. The person who makes the gift — the wife — is the one who would be subject to the tax, if the amount of the gift exceeds federal limits.

The problem could be avoided in most cases by having the husband own the policy, insuring himself. However the situation can get tricky in community-property states. Consult a financial adviser to decide the best way to structure the policy.

We recommend a full review of your portfolio every three years, which keeps all aspects – including your insurance policies and listed beneficiaries – as up to date as possible. Life changes, such as new grandkids or the passing of family that had been previously listed on the policy, demand the most up-to-date directions for any probate proceedings.

Questions or comments? Contact us today!

When setting up an estate plan, one aspect to consider for those with disabled family members is this: What benefits are they getting?

There’s a great reason to ask the question.

If you leave a large lump sum for a disabled family member, it could disqualify them from receiving particular benefits, such as Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, and more, because the income impacts eligibility for the government benefits.

An example of this would be someone who receives a lump sum of an inheritance. That could cause assets to rise all at once, which would preclude your loved one from gaining access to the programs and funds necessary because the government thinks he/she is more well off than they actually are.

That’s where a special needs trust comes in handy. These trusts are in your control – not the one to whom you’re giving it to – and thus, don’t count against them when it comes to being eligible for government benefits. These are typically referred to as special needs trusts, because they’re intended to help those with disabilities.

It takes excellent planning to think through details like these – but we specialize in trusts, especially special needs trusts. You can read more information about special needs planning here.

It’s one of the most stunning biological facts: Women, throughout the world and regardless of factor, tend to outlive men. As the BBC’s David Robson writes:

In 1800, life expectancy at birth was 33 years for women and 31 years for men; today it is 83.5 years and 79.5 years, respectively. In both cases, women live about 5% longer than men.

You can explore the potential scientific and biological reasons for this in Robson’s article, but from a will planning and estate planning standpoint, it brings up an important point: Women, on average, are the ones who have to more often work through the details of an estate plan.

But incredibly, according to this 2014 Forbes article, 51% of Americans ages 51 to 64 don’t have a will. That’s a lot of potential heartbreak if state laws have to determine what happens to everything the deceased leaves behind (and what everyone has to work through – including probate – in the absence of a will).

Put the two numbers together, and the notion of women having a bit more of a vested interest in checking “Create estate plan” off the family’s to-do list makes perfect sense.

Many people have had the unfortunate experience of struggling to take care of a parent who has lost a spouse. But without proper planning, it can be made more stressful – and lonely – for those involved when there is no provision spelled out. With changes to the tax code, brackets, and maximum limits on the rise, having an estate planning attorney take a look through any needed changes on your documents – or create your initial plan – is the safest best you can make.

Before you sell any real estate, you should contact us. Why? Because we can often help you avoid all of the tax on the sale!

We use techniques that can allow you to sell the real estate and either defer the tax or eliminate the tax altogether. We are your Tax Lawyers.

Whenever you sell real estate, you may have gain on the sale. This gain can result from selling the property for more than you bought it for because the property has appreciated in value. However, you can also have gain even if the property value has not increased in value or has even gone down in value. For example: Rental property, both residential and commercial, provide gain because you are taking depreciation deductions.

The gain on the sale can be taxed as capital gains income with a rate of about 25%, federal and state, or some of the gain can be taxed at ordinary income rates as high as 45% federal and state.

This tax is the bad news.

The good news is you can do proper planning and avoid the tax altogether – because we can help you avoid it!

We use tools that can allow you to sell the property without tax and invest in other real estate you control and manage.  But even if you are selling partly because you are tired of managing real estate, there are still tools that allow you to defer or avoid tax and escape the hassles of real estate management altogether.

The planning to avoid tax on sale of real estate is part of a careful estate plan to make sure the tax savings are preserved for your spouse and other family members.

If you have already sold your estate, we cannot help.  But we can help avoid that tax if you contact us before the sale.

So, if you are planning on selling real estate – contact us early!  We can help you keep those taxes rather than pay them to Uncle Sam.

Your pets are a part of the family. There’s fond memories, laughs, lots of time spent talking back and forth – and you have a soft spot for them, whether a cat, dog, fish, horse, lizard, or other pet.

What happens to them after you pass away?

It’s up to you.

You can designate specific caretakers – such as a family member, friend, or trusted no-kill shelter that can find them loving homes – and provide funds to ensure they are provided for long after you’re gone through pet trusts and other means.

Many people don’t, however. And with so many details to take care of upon someone’s passing, it can be very easy to forget about the pets, leaving their future in limbo. Leaving the decisions as a matter of probate puts undue pressure on the rest of your family or other beneficiaries, and many times, they simply don’t have the means to take in another animal or two.

Post-Gazette.com featured an article on the subject in October, which provides excellent illustration of the need to think for your pets – and how it’s not an uncommon question for those engaging in estate planning and thinking through their wills!

“If someone elderly ends up in a nursing home, their dog or cat often goes to a shelter and hasn’t been provided for,” says Marianna Schenk, a Bala Cynwyd estate lawyer.

“A lot of people just die without a will. Whoever settles their affairs may not want the animals. That’s very sad. It’s better to make a provision in your estate for your pets.

“Friends or children may not want your dogs – even though they may want everything else.”

If you want to ensure your pets are thought for, contact us – and feel free to ask about our pets, too. We love talking about them, just like you!

You’ve likely heard the phrase power of attorney before, especially if you’ve had any experience with estate planning. But there are some nuances of what a durable power of attorney (DPA) can actually provide – and making sure all of the needed documents are in place for you is what’s essential.

For instance, we write a DPA for property management. This specifies who’s allowed to maintain your finances if you become incapacitated. These finances can range from paying the mortgage and other bills to directing how your savings should be used if medical expenses arise. Ultimately, that person should be great with their own finances and someone you’d trust with your life.

Without a DPA in place for property, the courts have to decide who handles the finances, and it can be expensive – plus, takes time you may not have. Just because you may be married also doesn’t cover it, because his/her name may not be on an account or legal jurisdiction prevents access to certain finances.

Similarly, there is a medical-focused DPA that aims to identify the primary decision-maker for your medical care, should you become unable to make those choices yourself. This advanced health care directive can also provide your desired instructions on what you would like to be done for your own care. Your stated point person – often referred to as an agent or surrogate – follows those directions as much as possible.

Both durable power of attorney types are important to fully provide direction and avoid costly delays in decision-making processes. We as estate planning lawyers in Aiken and Augusta have experience in both, and are happy to answer any questions you may have.

*Note: If you’ve had a power of attorney written by another law firm, or had a document related to it signed before 2012, it is likely in your best interests to contact us for a review. Laws have changed in the past few years, and your documents need to be in compliance.

Alternatively, you can also sign up for one of our free workshops and bring your questions there – we’re more than happy to be of service in any way we can!