Iowa Estate Plan

A common question that arises in some estate administration is "whether the beneficiaries of the decedent are responsible for any unpaid debts?" Short answer: generally, no. Barring any issues such as fraudulent activities by the beneficiaries, if the estate is a bankrupt estate and insufficient assets to pay the debts, that will be the end of the story on the debts. The court may determine which creditors are paid and how much of their claims are paid, but that unpaid amount of the debt will not pass to the beneficiaries. Thus, when a client signs their will and jokes that their kids won't get anything except their unpaid bills, that isn't entirely accurate. Image: scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Apparently Congress was following my posts and decided to wait until the last minute to make changes to the federal estate tax system. Three significant changes to be aware of from the TRA 2010: Exemption Amount Change - While $1 million was scheduled for the exemption amount for 2011 the new act implements a $5 million exemption per person. Thus, a married couple could pass on $10 million without worrying about federal estate taxes. With these type of numbers, there will be very few estates that will have any federal estate liability. In addition, for those individuals that passed in 2010, their estate can choose either the old 2010 "no estate tax - carryover basis" rules or the new "$5 million exemption - stepped-up basis". Portability - In somewhat of a surprise, one of the bigger changes was the addition of the idea of portability. The idea is essentially if your spouse doesn't "utilize" their exemption amount, the surviving spouse can take ...

With plenty of time left in 2010 (insert sarcasm tone), Congress is moving towards modifying the federal estate tax system. Here is a quick summary of where we are currently, where will be if they don't pass anything, and what the current bill (" Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, And Job Creation Act Of 2010") would provide. (Disclaimer: this is the quick and dirty summary for discussions at holiday parties and should not be relied upon as an extensive analysis.) What we had in 2009 - $3.5 million exemption per person, 45% tax rate What we had in 2010 - No federal estate tax. "Carryover basis" on inherited assets, with limits. What we will have in 2011 with no change - Federal estate tax for estates greater than $1 million, with a rate of up to 55%. Under the current proposed bill - $5 million exemption, 35% tax rate above that. One of the more interesting items in the proposed bill includes a "portability" provision. Historica...

I recently attended the Farm Estate and Business Planning Seminar in Ames, Iowa , which is put on by the Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation with Roger McEowen as the Director. Each year I'm impressed with the materials and speakers presented. One of the speakers this year, Wayne Reames, discussed utilizing trust protectors. I have used trust protectors in the past for substantially-sized estates, but Mr. Reames further highlighted some of the benefits in even modest estates. A common problem is who is to serve as trustee. A trustee is responsible for investing and managing trust assets, which can be substantial, preparation and filing tax returns, preparing and providing accounting reports and dealing with distribution requests from beneficiaries. This can be a daunting task for many people. Rather than having friends or family members serve as trustee, and potentially be in over their head, naming a bank as a trustee may be a better solutio...

Another guardianship proceeding in Iowa is getting some notoriety lately after another one recently was in the news. The Des Moines Register has been following a story involving a 16 year old mom's battle to get her 1 year old daughter back from the 16 year old's family members. Unfortunately, the story highlights some legitimate concerns over the guardianship process in general: (1) Publicity - This is open record for the whole world to watch your life on stage. Like all court proceedings, they are open proceedings for the public or the media. The Des Moines Register brought in their legal counsel to prevent/"urge" Associate Probate Judge Klotz from closing the proceedings and requests to keep the reporter out of the courtroom. (2) Delay - The time involved in getting the facts before the court and for the court to review the evidence can take months. The challenge is do you take the child away from the parent for safety concerns or do you return the child ...

Parents, grandparents and others wanting to benefit family members with special needs should act carefully in providing for lifetime gifts or testamentary gifts. The primary options when it comes to planning for gifts with special needs children in Iowa include: Gift to Disabled child. The problem with a gift is the impact it may have on eligibility for public assistance benefits. It may even disqualify the child from getting those benefits until the funds from the gift are completely exhausted, at which time the child will need to reapply for benefits. Disinherit the disabled child . To avoid the issue of disqualification from public assistance, a simple route is to disinherit the special needs child altogether. There is no legal requirement that one must provide for a child under their estate plan. Distribute to a Another Person for Disabled Child's Benefit. Another option is to distribute the funds to someone (a sibling for example) for that person to manage and distribute...

Despite a noticeable absence from this blog, Mr. "Life and Death Lawyer" is back at it. I have a posting on the Iowa Law Blog about a recent Iowa Court of Appeals case dealing with trustee removal and trustee fees.

Looking forward to beautiful weather tomorrow for a 5k run. A local 501(c)(3) charitable organization 5kfor5charities that I have had the pleasure of working with is sponsoring their inaugural 5k charity run at the Blank Park Zoo tomorrow, April 17th.

The North Carolina Estate Planning Blog has a good reminder post that summarizes the state of current affairs about (1) the importance of updating your estate plan, (2) the coming estate tax changes, and (3) the limitations of D-I-Y wills/trusts, as I have previously commented on .

A new survey by the Harris Poll for Lawyers.com recently reported that even fewer Americans have estate plans in place . According to the poll, only 35% of Americans have a will in place. This is down from 45% only 2 years earlier. Apparently, individuals are focusing on their short-term needs as the economy continues to lag and job security continues to be an issue. While keeping food on the table is critical, putting your estate plan matters in place is also important. With young children, second marriages, children from prior marriages and beneficiaries with creditor problems, the lack of an estate plan can create significant emotional and financial hardship on a family. When looking for an attorney to handle your estate planning when cost is an issue, look at attorneys that offer flexible payments or those that allow you to pay by credit card (not that increasing your credit card balance is good, but it does offer some ability to pay over time.) Hint: contact me.