Iowa Estate Plan

"Probate" is a term that is often mentioned (well, maybe not often) but many people don't understand what it really involves. Probate is the legal process where, through a court-supervised system: (1) a deceased individual's assets are transferred to their rightful heirs/beneficiaries; (2) taxes are paid; and (3) debts/claims are handled. The probate process also includes the validation of a will.  (How else can you prove it is the last will of the decedent.)  Probate also determines the rightful heirs and beneficiaries.  Quite the tool that probate. It is not necessary to have the attorney who drafted the will handle the process. The "administrator" or "executor" can select whatever attorney they choose.  The "administrator" or "executor" is the individual appointed by the court to handle the various steps in probating an estate.  If there is a will, they are called the executor.  If there is no will, they are called the admin...

In a ruling issued today by the Iowa Supreme Court , the Court provided some clarity on undue influence cases in Iowa. Family patriarch, Louis Burkhalter, had at least two sons, William and Steven.  Louis' revocable trust initially provided that son William, then his wife and son, would be the beneficiaries of the trust. After the death of William, his wife and his son, the trust would be distributed to Louis' heirs.  As Louis, who was now 98 years young, become to decline in health, his other son, Steven, traveled back from California and talked to dad about his trust.  Following their conversation, the trust officer and attorney jumped into play and a new trust was signed dividing the trust assets equally between William and Steven.  Good thing for Steven as dear ole dad then died 6 days later. Half wasn't enough for William, so the attorney-gloves came out and the challenges for undue influence and interference with an inheritance were made by William.  Th...

This question has been raised before in meeting with me after a death: "Since dad had a will when he died, why is it necessary that we go through probate?"  Answer: basically, because the law requires it.   Even though someone has a will when they die, the probate process is necessary for several reasons and just having a will isn't sufficient by itself to deal the process.  For example: Probate establishes that it is a valid will of the deceased .  If there are questions about whether the individual had sufficient mental capacity, or was unduly influenced, or if they followed the legal requirements of executing a will.  (witnesses, etc.)  Probate establishes the will as legally valid. Probate establishes and identifies the assets of the decedent.  If you are a beneficiary of an estate, how do you know what you are entitled to receive (I.e, 40% of the estate) if you don't know about all of the assets. Probate requires an inventory to be filed...

A common question that frequently comes up, in an effort to avoid the "evil" world of probate, is the use of joint ownership to transfer property.  I'm sure you all know that jointly owned property will automatically pass to the surviving joint owner after one dies.  For example, mom and daughter are joint owner on bank account, mom dies, daughter automatically becomes new owner of account immediately.  Simple and easy. Right? Sometimes it works.  But, let's play some "what if" scenarios: What if the daughter has creditor problems - her creditors can go after and garnish the joint account and take the money away from mom. What if the daughter has tax liens and garnishment? What if there are other intended beneficiaries and the daughter decides she doesn't want to share with the others.  She has no legal obligation to divide the money out. What if there are bills for mom that need to be paid after her death? What if the daughter decides to "...

A common question that I get is "when do I need a will?"  Not everyone needs a will, but there are a few situations where a will becomes pretty important in allowing your friends and family to handle your final affairs.  Some examples of key situations: Young children - Your will can indicate your preference as to who will be raising your kids.  This issue can be ripe with conflict if there are multiple individuals that love your children and want the job.  That love can lead to competition.  A Will can calm that storm, or at least help.  Real estate - If you own real estate, your will provides directions on how it is handled and distributed, but it also allows your personal representative to handle its disposition easier and without court involvement.   Second marriage with children from prior marriage- you love your current spouse, and you love your children from a prior relationship, but that doesn't mean your spouse and kids will always ...

The masses have demanded it, so finally, the top ten questions about the probate process in Iowa (hold your applause until the end): Can an out-of-state person be an executor? Yes, despite what many attorneys tell their clients.  However, there is an Iowa statute that provides an Iowa resident should be appointed with a non-Iowa resident who is serving as a personal representative.  However, I have routinely had judges approve a non-Iowa resident to serve alone, under certain conditions.  (Property of the decedent stays in Iowa; use Iowa bank for the account; etc.) Do we have to go through full probate?   Ready for the classical legal answer?  Maybe.  (7 years of college for that answer.)  The first step is an analysis of how assets are owned and whether there were any named beneficiaries.  If everything is owned jointly or has a beneficiary, it may not be necessary to go through the probate process.  If there are other assets, as long...

A popular blog post that I had on a different site in my pre-solo days dealt with an overview of the probate process in Iowa.  As it has been a few years since that post, and I'd like to have this post under this blog "roof", I'm going to recycle it here. The probate process in Iowa can be broken down into essentially 5 general steps: Initial opening of the estate - this is the filing of the initial paperwork to get a docket number and the formal appointment of a personal representative. Notification period - legal publication in the newspaper is arranged, heirs/beneficiaries are given notice, and creditors are given notice of probate. Report and Inventory - Within 90 days of opening the estate, the personal representative is required to file a document with the court listing the decedent's assets and their values, in addition to the information on the heirs/beneficiaries. Tax Filings - The other sure thing in life, besides death, is taxes and it doesn...

Gardner Law Firm, P.C. has its fully completed website up and operational at this point.  Want to know more about me?  Now you can find out.  Thanks to LawPromo for their good work!

A local news story helps provide another sad example of why it is important to establish some basic estate planning, regardless of your age.  A young lady was involved in an automobile accident that has left her in a coma and unable to deal with her personal affairs.  As a result, her friends and family are struggling with the financial restrictions of getting access to her accounts to deal with various matters. Two relatively simple documents- Financial Power of Attorney and Medical Power of Attorney -would have made this job much easier and cheaper.  The cost for getting these basic and essential documents in place is minuscule when compared to having to go to court to establish a guardianship and/or conservatorship for someone in this situation.  Commonly younger individuals don't realize the need or importance for such documents as they are young and immortal, or believed to be less likely to have a need for these provisions.  Unfortunately,...

Cemetery of Chettle parish church ( Johan Doe ) / CC BY-SA 3.0 The Iowa Supreme Court issued an interesting ruling today on the disposition of one's bodily remains.  Short summary: Wife dies.  Husband and wife were "on a long break" after 43 years of marriage, but had never formally divorced or filed for a legal separation.  Wife had given instructions in her Last Will as to where she wanted to be buried, verbally told her family members (10 kids!!) and wrote a letter to her son, that was shared with her sister, the executor and the kids about her final wishes.  Husband didn't want wife to be buried in Montana, as she desired and expressed to everyone, so he went ahead and buried her here in Heaven  a/k/a Iowa.  Royal rumble in the courts ensued. Think you have the right to determine what happens to your body after you have "departed planet Earth"?  Unless you take your body with you, guess again.  In the Court's ruling, you have no right...

powered by Fotopedia With today's medical bio-technology, it is not unusual for a couple to "store an embryo", or other "genetic material" for future use.  Perhaps they had multiple embryo's created, or they are going through a medical treatment which may affect their reproductive capabilities, or heading to war.  Regardless of the reason, the legal issues that can be raised with such foundations of life are interesting. For example, if a baby is eventually born as a result of the "stored genetic material" and the parent dies before they are born, what rights as a child/heir do they have? The Iowa Code was modified  in 2011 to provide a window of opportunity for an unborn to have rights of inheritance following the death of the parent.  Essentially, if a child is born within two (2) years after the death of a parent, they can inherit from that parent just as if they had been born prior to the parent's death.  If a deceased has left any gen...

" Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase ."    Martin Luther King, Jr. Well, it was 15 years in the making but the time has come...Gardner Law Firm, PC, located in Urbandale, Iowa, is created, established and the doors open (except I close for lunch and occasional golf).  While the struggles that I will likely have as a solo attorney pale in comparison to those of Martin Luther King, Jr., I find his quote inspirational as I open the door on the day we celebrate his birthday.  I will be doing the same work that I did previously at my previous firm: estate planning (wills/trusts), probate administration (handling final matters for deceased people), real estate, and business planning (setting up business entities, helping individuals buy or sell businesses, succession planning, etc.)  Check out www.gardnerlawpc.com for more information (when the site is completed).  

Almost exactly 2 years ago, I blogged on the updated federal estate taxes for 2011 and 2012 and noted that the rules put in place then were just punted down the road.  That "punt" finally landed when the "Fiscal Cliff" doomsday of 1-1-13 approached. Finally , today we received some updated rules on the federal estate tax system for 2013 and beyond.  (Can I say "permanent"?).  I'll update more on the details of the statute after it is digested, but essentially most of the rules from 2012 will remain in place.  (Slightly more than $5 million exemption per person and continued portability options for spouses.) The Iowa Academy of Trust and Estate Counsel have a quick summary of the tax bill here . I expected this to happen, but I'm often wrong when it comes to predicting what Congress will do.  At least we have a better set of rules to work with and estate planners will know what to tell clients for the future.