The Estate of The Union Season 2 premiere – Millennials’ Mysteries Uncovered Part 2

May 18, 2022

The Estate of The Union Season 2 premiere – Millennials’ Mysteries Uncovered Part 2 is out now!

Millennials are often seen as a mysterious generation that frustrates those from older groups with their unique thoughts and habits. This generation is made up of people born between 1981 and 1996, and grew up at a time of tremendous change and advancement in technology and culture. They see the world very differently than their parents; and that is reflected in how they live, how they love and how they vote. As Millennials advance into adulthood, and begin to take a larger role in shaping society, it is time to take a look at how they tick.

In this episode of The Estate of the Union, Brad Wiewel and his son, Sam Wiewel, who is 31 years old and a confirmed Millennial, discuss many of the differences between Brad’s Boomer generation and Sam’s Millennials, as highlighted in their differing views on the same movie! They have a very entertaining discussion on how movies affect Millennials and what Millennials want to see in movies. If you’ve noticed a much large emphasis on Super Heroes in films, this answer lies in listening to this!

It proves to be a lively – and at times hilarious – conversation. If you Listen, you will Learn.

In each episode of The Estate of The Union podcast, host and lawyer Brad Wiewel will give valuable insights into the confusing world of estate planning, making an often daunting subject easier to understand. It is Estate Planning Made Simple! The Estate of The Union Season 2 premiere -Millennials’ Mysteries Uncovered Part 2 can be found on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts. If you would prefer to watch the video version, please visit our YouTube page. Please click on the link below to listen to the new installment of The Estate of The Union podcast. We hope you enjoy it.

Texas Trust Law focuses its practice exclusively in the area of wills, probate, estate planning, asset protection, and special needs planning. Brad Wiewel is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. We provide estate planning services, asset protection planning, business planning, and retirement exit strategies.

Inheriting a Home with a Mortgage

May 17, 2022

Inheriting a home with a mortgage adds another layer of complexity to settling the estate, as explained in a recent article from Investopedia titled “Inheriting a House With a Mortgage.” The lender needs to be notified right away of the owner’s passing and the estate must continue to make regular payments on the existing mortgage. Depending on how the estate was set up, it may be a struggle to make monthly payments, especially if the estate must first go through probate.

Probate is the process where the court reviews the will to ensure that it is valid and establish the executor as the person empowered to manage the estate. The executor will need to provide the mortgage holder with a copy of the death certificate and a document affirming their role as executor to be able to speak with the lending company on behalf of the estate.

If multiple people have inherited a portion of the house, some tough decisions will need to be made. The simplest solution is often to sell the home, pay off the mortgage and split the proceeds evenly.

If some of the heirs wish to keep the home as a residence or a rental property, those who wish to keep the home need to buy out the interest of those who don’t want the house. When the house has a mortgage, the math can get complicated. An estate planning attorney will be able to map out a way forward to keep the sale of the shares from getting tangled up in the emotions of grieving family members.

If one heir has invested time and resources into the property and others have not, it gets even more complex. Family members may take the position that the person who invested so much in the property was also living there rent free, and things can get ugly. The involvement of an estate planning attorney can keep the transfer focused as a business transaction.

What if the house has a reverse mortgage? In this case, the reverse mortgage company needs to be notified. You’ll need to find out the existing balance due on the reverse mortgage. If the estate does not have the funds to pay the balance, there is the option of refinancing the property to pay off the balance due, if the wish is to keep the house. If there’s not enough equity or the heirs can’t refinance, they typically sell the house to pay off the reverse mortgage.

Can heirs take over the existing loan? Your estate planning attorney will be able to advise the family of their rights, which are different than rights of homeowners. Lenders in some circumstances may allow heirs to be added to the existing mortgage without going through a full loan application and verifying credit history, income, etc. However, if you chose to refinance or take out a home equity loan, you’ll have to go through the usual process.

Inheriting a home with a mortgage or a reverse mortgage can be a stressful process during an already difficult time. An experienced estate planning attorney will be able to guide the family through their options and help with the rest of the estate. If you would like to learn more about inheriting real property, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Investopedia (April 12, 2022) “Inheriting a House With a Mortgage”

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LLCs can Reduce Estate Taxes

May 16, 2022

Family LLCs can be used to protect assets, reduce estate taxes and more efficiently shift income to family members, reports the article “Handling Estates Like An LLC Can Reduce Taxes” from Financial Advisor. The qualified business income and pass-through entity tax deductions may add significant benefits to the family.

What is a Family LLC? They are holding companies owned by two or more individuals, with two classes of owners: general partners (typically the parents) and limited partners (heirs). Contributed assets of the general partners are no longer considered part of their estate, and future appreciation on the assets are not counted as part of their taxable estate.

Consider the LLC as three separate pieces: control, equity and cash flow. Because of the separation, you can maintain control of the personal/business assets, while at the same time transferring non-controlling equity of the assets to someone else via a gift, a sale, or a combination of the two.

An added benefit—transfers of non-controlling equity can qualify for a discount on the value for tax reporting, minimizing any gift or estate tax consequences of the transfer. Discounting business entities with very liquid assets is generally not advisable. However, illiquid assets could warrant a discount as high as 40%.

These types of structures are complicated. Therefore, you’ll need an estate planning attorney with experience in how Family LLCs interact with estate planning. The LLC must be properly structured and have a legitimate business purpose.

It’s important to note that if a real estate or operating business is put into an LLC and taxed as a pass-through entity instead of a sole proprietorship, they may be eligible for the 20% discount under Section 199A, or for the pass—through entity tax workaround for the limitation of the deductibility of state taxes for individuals and trusts.

Every state has its own rules about income qualifying for a state income tax deduction on the federal level. If you have an entity in place, you’ll want to speak with your attorney to determine if a pass-through entity on the state level will be advantageous. If so, this election may allow for a state income tax deduction on the federal level.

Your estate planning attorney will help you get a qualified appraisal of the assets, since the IRS will require an accurate value of the transfer for reporting purposes, especially if a discount is being contemplated. LLCs can reduce estate taxes and protect your assets, but this is a complex matter. The estate planning and tax advantages to be gained make it worthwhile for families with a certain level of assets to protect. If you would like to learn more about LLCs and how they can benefit your estate planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Financial Advisor (April 4, 2022) “Handling Estates Like An LLC Can Reduce Taxes”

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Portability can be used to Protect Farm

May 10, 2022

When one of the spouses dies, the surviving spouse can make what is known as a portability election. This means that any unused federal gift or estate tax exemption can be transferred from the deceased spouse to the surviving spouse. Portability can be used to protect the family farm.

Ag Web’s recent article entitled “It’s So Important to Elect ‘Portability’ for Your Farm Estate” explains that this is an election that has to be made proactively, after the death of the first spouse.

You’ll have to file a Form 706 federal estate tax return within two years of death at the latest, even though there’s no tax owed. Under current federal law, portability is available for farm couples to implement through the end of 2025. This the opportunity then “sunsets,” and the provision will no longer be available.

This could really be a multi-million-dollar mistake, if it’s not elected.

Even after two years, the surviving spouse can elect portability (through the end of 2025). However, he or she will incur considerable expense in the process.

You can still file for it, but you’ll pay a user fee that costs about $12,000. You’ll then have to pay an attorney to prepare the paperwork, and that’s probably another $10,000 to $15,000.

As a result, you’re going to pay between $25,000 and $50,000. However, if you’d just filed it within two years of your spouse’s death, you could have avoided those expenses.

Before portability was an option, it was common for husbands and wives to each own about the same amount of assets, or at least the amount of assets that could fully soak up and use each person’s exemption.

Therefore, many farm families are used to seeing farms titled one-half with the husband, one-half to the wife – as tenants in common not husband and wife jointly. That is because in the old days, if you didn’t use the wife’s exemption to cover her assets (if she died first), it would just expire.

Now, with portability, all the assets can flow through to the surviving spouse.

At the first spouse’s death, the survivor files that portability election and then has two exemptions to cover assets. Speak with an estate planning attorney to decide if portability can be used by your family to protect the farm for generations. If you would like to learn more about portability, and other strategies to protect the family farm or ranch, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Ag Web (April 18, 2022) “It’s So Important to Elect ‘Portability’ for Your Farm Estate”

Safeguard your Inheritance from Divorce

May 9, 2022

Even if divorce is the last thing on your mind, when an inheritance is received, its wise to treat it differently from your joint assets, advises a recent article “Revocable Inheritance Trust: Inexpensive Divorce Protection” from Forbes. After all, most people don’t expect to be divorced. However, the numbers have to be considered—many do divorce, even those who least expect it. There are a few ways to safeguard your inheritance from divorce.

Maintaining separate property is the most important step to take. If you deposit a spouse’s paycheck into the account with your inheritance, even if it was by accident, you’ve now commingled the funds.

You might get lucky and have a forensic accountant who can dissect that amount and make the argument it was a mistake, as long as it only happened once, but the Court might not agree.

Long before the Court gets to consider this point, if your ex-spouse’s attorney is aggressively pursuing this one act of commingling as enough to make the property jointly owned, you could lose half of your inheritance in a divorce.

You might also try to mount a defense of the particular account or asset being separate property, by identifying the means of transfer. Was there a deed for real estate gifted to you from a parent or a wire transfer for securities? This information will need to be carefully identified and safeguarded as soon as the inheritance comes to you, in case of any future upheavals.

To spare yourself any of this grief, there are steps to be taken now to avoid commingling. Document the source of wealth involved as a gift or inheritance, maintain the property in a wholly separate account and consider keeping it in a different financial institution than any other accounts to avoid commingling.

Another way to safeguard your inheritance, such as gifts and inherited property, against a 50% divorce rate is to use a revocable trust. Creating a revocable trust to own this separate property allows you to make changes to it any time but maintains its separate nature, by serving as a wholly separate accounting entity. The trust will own the property, while you as grantor (creator of the trust) and trustee (responsible for managing the trust) maintain control.

For a turbo-charged version of this concept, you could go with a self-settled domestic asset protection trust. This is a more complex trust and may not be necessary. Your estate planning attorney will be able to explain the difference between this trust and a revocable trust.

One clear warning: if you have already created a revocable trust to protect your estate and it is not funded, you may feel like it would be most convenient to use this already-existing trust for your inheritance. That would not be wise. You should have a completely different trust created for the inherited property, and this would also be a wise time to remember to fund the existing trust.

Using a revocable trust this way will also require customized language in your Last Will, as you’ll want standard language in the Last Will to reflect the trust being separate from your other marital property. If you would like to read more about divorce protection, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Forbes (April 13, 2022) “Revocable Inheritance Trust: Inexpensive Divorce Protection”

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What Do You Need to Age in Place?

April 27, 2022

Many Americans prefer the idea of living out their gold years at home and “age in place”, rather than relying on family or assisted living. So what do you need to age in place? Home modification is the official term (from the Americans with Disabilities Act) for renovations and remodels aimed for use by the elderly or the impaired. It means physically changing your home, removing potential hazards and making it more accessible, so you can continue living in it independently.

Bankrate’s recent article entitled “The best home modifications for aging in place” reports that home modifications can be pricey—typically ranging from $3,000 to $15,000, with the average national spend being $9,500. However, it can be a worthwhile investment. You can save money by doing the right home modifications. That is because the longer you can safely live in your home, the less you will need to pay for assisted living care.

The best aging-in-place home modifications align with “universal design,” an architectural term for features that are easy for all to use and adaptable, as needs dictate. This includes additions and changes to the exterior and interior of a home. Some of the simplest home modifications include DIY jobs:

Adding easy-grip knobs and pulls, swapping knobs for levers
Installing adjustable handheld shower heads
Rearranging furniture for better movement
Removing trip hazards; and
Installing mats and non-slip floor coverings.

Next, are some more complex home modifications. These probably would need a professional contractor, especially if you want them up to code standards:

Installing handrails
Adding automatic outdoor lighting
Installing automatic push-button doors
Leveling flooring; and
Installing doorway ramps

There are also home modifications that can be done by room:

In the bathroom, installing grab bars and railing, a roll- or walk-in shower/tub, or a shower bench
In the kitchen: adding higher countertops, lever or touchless faucets and cabinet pull-out shelves
For the bedroom, use a less-high bed, non-slip floor, walk-in closets and motion-activated lights
Outside, you can add ramps, a porch or stair lifts, and automatic push button doors.

Finally, throughout the house, keep things well-lit and widen hallways and doorways; add a first-level master suite, elevators or chair lifts, “smart” window shades/thermostats/lighting and simpler windows.

Note that some home modifications may qualify as medical expenses. As a result, they are eligible for an itemized deduction on your income tax return. A home modification may be tax-deductible as a medical expense, if it has made to accommodate the disabilities (preferably documented by a physician or other health care provider) of someone who lives in the home, according to the IRS. Home modifications may not be the only thing you need to age in place. Speak with an experienced elder law attorney who will be familiar with many of the types of assistance available to keep you in your home. If you would like to learn more about elder care, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Bankrate (March 30, 2022) “The best home modifications for aging in place”

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Succession Planning can Protect Family Legacy

April 25, 2022

Failing to have a succession plan is often the reason family businesses do not survive across the generations. Succession planning can protect the family legacy, according to the article “Planning for Success: How to Create a Suggestion Plan” from Westchester & Fairfield County Business Journals.

Start by establishing a vision for the future of the business and the family. What are the goals for the founder’s retirement? Will the business need to be sold to fund their retirement? One of the big questions concerns cash flow—do the founders need the business to operate to provide ongoing financial support?

Next, lay the groundwork regarding next generation management and the personal and professional goals of the various family members.

Several options for a successful exit plan include:

Family succession—Transferring the business to family members
Internal succession—Selling or transferring the business to one or more key employees or co-workers or selling the company to employees using an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
External succession—Selling the business to an outside third party, engaging in an Initial Public Offering (IPO), a strategic merger or investment by an outside party.

Once a succession exit path is selected, the family needs to identify successors and identify active and non-active roles and responsibilities for family members. Decisions need to be made about how to manage the company going forward.

Tax planning should be a part of the succession plan, which needs to be aligned with the founding member’s estate plan. How the business is structured and how it is to be transferred could either save the family from an onerous tax burden or generate a tax liability so large, as to shut the company down.

Many owners are busy with the day-to-day operations of the business and neglect to do any succession planning. Alternatively, a hastily created plan skipping goal setting or ignoring professional advice occurs. The results are bad either way: losing control over a business, having to sell the business for less than its true value or being subject to excessive taxes.

Every privately held, family-owned business should have a plan in place to establish what will happen if the owners die or become incapacitated.

An estate planning attorney who has experience working with business owners will be able to guide the creation of a succession plan and ensure that it works to complement the owner’s estate plan. With the right guidance, the business owner can work with their team of professional advisors to ensure that succession planning can protect the family legacy over generations. If you would like to learn more about succession planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Westchester & Fairfield County Business Journals (March 31, 2022) “Planning for Success: How to Create a Suggestion Plan”

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Keeping the Vacation Home for Generations

April 18, 2022

Many family traditions include gatherings at vacation homes. However, leaving these properties to the next generation is not always in the best interest of the family. Some people try to make a simple solution work for a complex problem, leading to more challenges, as explained in the article “Succession planning for the family lakehouse” from NH Business Review. Keeping the vacation home in the family for generations requires solid planning.

Joint ownership among siblings can lead to disputes about how the home is used, operated and maintained. Some children want to continue using the house, while others may see it as an income stream for a rental property. There may be siblings who cannot afford to participate in the house’s upkeep and need the cash more than the tradition. When joint ownership is presented as a surprise in a will, the adult children may find themselves fighting about the vacation home, with no parent around to tell them to knock it off.

Making matters more complicated, if the siblings live in different states and the house is in a neighboring state, ownership of the real estate at death may subject the decedent’s estate to estate taxes where the property is located. As a result, the property may need to go through probate in an additional state. Every state has its own tax rules, so the transfer of joint property will have to be analyzed by an estate planning attorney knowledgeable about the laws in each state involved.

A sensible alternative is creating a Limited Liability Corporation, ideally while the original owners—the parents—are still living. The organizational documents include a certificate of organization to file with the Secretary of State and an operating agreement. The LLC will need its own taxpayer identification number, or EIN.

The operating agreement governs the management of the property and addresses the operating expenses and maintenance of the property. It should also address the process for a child to cash in on their ownership to other children. LLC operating agreements often include these items:

Responsibilities for operating expenses
Process to transfer member units or interests
Duties for regular maintenance, budgeting and approval of property improvements
Development of a property use schedule
Establishing rules for the home’s use

There are some costs associated with creating an LLC, including annual filing requirements. However, these will be small, when compared to the cost of family fights and untangling joint ownership.

An LLC can also offer personal liability protection from lawsuits brought by renters, creditors, or any litigants. If there is an accident resulting from work being done on the property, the owners may be shielded from the liability because they do not personally own the property, the LLC does.

In the case of divorce, bankruptcy filing, or a large judgement being filed against one of the children, the LLC will protect their interest in the property.

The real estate owned by the LLC is not part of the owner’s probate estate. This avoids the need for a second probate in the state where the property is located. Some states have adopted the Uniform Transfer on Death Security Registration Act, and the LLC membership interest can be assigned along to the terms of the beneficiary designation.

Keeping the vacation home for generations to come provides peace of mind for all in the family. Speak with an experienced estate planning attorney to ensure that the property and the family’s peace is preserved. If you would like to learn more about including property in your estate planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: NH Business Review (March 23, 2022) “Succession planning for the family lakehouse”

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Estate Planning complicated by Property in Two States

April 12, 2022

Estate planning can be complicated by property in two states. Cleveland Jewish News’ recent article titled “Use attorney when considering multi-state estate plan” says that if a person owns real estate or other tangible property (like a boat) in another state, they should think about creating a trust that can hold all their real estate. You don’t need one for each state. You can assign or deed their property to the trust, no matter where the property is located.

Some inherited assets require taxes be paid by the inheritors. Those taxes are determined by the laws of the state in which the asset is located.

A big mistake that people frequently make is not creating a trust. When a person fails to do this, their assets will go to probate. Some other common errors include improperly titling the property in their trust or failing to fund the trust. When those things occur, ancillary probate is required. This means a probate estate needs to be opened in the other state. As a result, there may be two probate estates going on in two different states, which can mean twice the work and expense, as well as twice the stress.

Having two estates going through probate simultaneously in two different states can delay the time it takes to close the probate estate.

There are some other options besides using a trust to avoid filing an ancillary estate. Most states let an estate holder file a “transfer on death affidavit,” also known as a “transfer on death deed” or “beneficiary deed” when the asset is real estate. This permits property to go directly to a beneficiary without needing to go through probate.

A real estate owner may also avoid probate by appointing a co-owner with survivorship rights on the deed. Do not attempt this without consulting an attorney.

If you have real estate, like a second home, in another state (and) you die owning that individually, you’re going to have to probate that in the state where it’s located. It is usually best to avoid probate in multiple jurisdictions, and also to avoid probate altogether.

A co-owner with survivorship is an option for avoiding probate. If there’s no surviving spouse, or after the first one dies, you could transfer the estate to their revocable trust.

Estate planning can be complicated by property in two states. Each state has different requirements. If you’re going to move to another state or have property in another state, you should consult with a local estate planning attorney. If you would like to learn more about managing real estate in your estate planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Cleveland Jewish News (March 21, 2022) “Use attorney when considering multi-state estate plan”

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Addressing Financial Issues in a Remarriage

April 7, 2022

When it comes to addressing financial issues in a remarriage, couples should look at the past. This should include the way in which each person handled finances, and their pre-marital liabilities and assets, along with the present (e.g., new benefit options) and the future. This means how they’ll handle finances as a unit or protect themselves and loved ones in case of death or divorce.

CNBC’s recent article entitled “Remarrying? Here are financial considerations to keep in mind before saying ‘I do’” says that it’s important to release any financial skeletons from the closet. Here are some smart financial moves for new parents:

It’s critical that blended families have similar talks with their children. The children were most likely brought up in different financial circumstances, so it’s important to talk as a family about new financial expectations.

After the prospective spouses identify their collective financial situation, there are a few topics to consider. For instance, if you were previously married for more than 10 years and collecting Social Security benefits on your ex-spouse’s account, you may forfeit those payments if you remarry. Your new combined income may also result in a higher tax bill. This is sometimes called a “marriage penalty.”

Moreover, financial communication is a crucial best practice to achieve financial success in a relationship. After you remarry, look at the impact on benefits.

Marriage is a recognized life event, so you may be allowed to change your insurance options outside the regular autumn time window.

You should also be aware that if you were previously divorced and getting substantially discounted insurance via the healthcare.gov exchange, when you remarry, your insurance costs may go up if your joint income goes up.

It’s also smart to consider protecting pre-marital assets that were in your name only. You should consult an experienced estate planning attorney prior to addressing financial issues in a remarriage. They may advise against commingling some or all assets, and suggest a trust, segregating pre-marital assets from marital assets, to protect you in the event of divorce.

Estate planning is vitally important, if you have a new family with children. These are the documents that will take care of the people you love. If you would like to learn more about remarriage issues in estate planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: CNBC (March 7, 2022) “Remarrying? Here are financial considerations to keep in mind before saying ‘I do’”

Photo by Irina Iriser

Category: Family

The Estate of The Union Season 2 premiere – Millennials’ Mysteries Uncovered Part 2

Inheriting a Home with a Mortgage

LLCs can Reduce Estate Taxes

Portability can be used to Protect Farm

Safeguard your Inheritance from Divorce

What Do You Need to Age in Place?

Succession Planning can Protect Family Legacy

Keeping the Vacation Home for Generations

Estate Planning complicated by Property in Two States

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