Author Archives: Tom Packer

Beneficiary Designations (Part 2)

In some situations, naming an individual as a Beneficiary does make sense.

Last month, we discussed the reason for naming your Estate as the beneficiary on IRA’s, life insurance policies, mutual funds, bank accounts, and annuities. Naming your estate as the beneficiary of these accounts provides funds to pay your debts and final expenses. Your Personal Representative will then transfer the remaining property in your estate to those persons or charities you have named in your Will.

However, in some situations designating an individual instead of your Estate, as your Beneficiary, does make sense. If you have a small estate consisting only of insurance and a bank account, naming an individual as the beneficiary of the insurance and setting up a Pay-on-Death on the bank account, avoids the need to probate. Payments from the insurance company and the bank are made directly to the individuals that you have designated.

In another example, if you receive Medicaid to pay for your care in an assisted-living facility, when you pass away, Estate Recovery will file a claim against your estate for the cost of your care that was paid for by Medicaid. Insurance proceeds are not subject to Estate Recovery, so you would want to designate an individual, not your Estate, as the beneficiary of your insurance policy.

Finally, if your spouse’s care is being paid for by Medicaid, you don’t want to name your spouse as the beneficiary of your insurance policy. If your spouse receives insurance proceeds while on Medicaid, it may jeopardize his or her eligibility for Medicaid—if your spouse’s assets at the end of any given month exceed $2,000, he or she will become ineligible for Medicaid.

In conclusion, each individual circumstance is unique, making it difficult for a one-size-fits all answer as to whom you should name as a beneficiary. If you have questions, it may be worthwhile to review your specific situation with an attorney.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

Beneficiary Designations (Part 1)

It is a good idea to review your beneficiaries and POD designations regularly.

Ringing in the New Year for many people includes setting goals and getting organized. As a result of this, my law practice has been busy the last couple of months helping our clients with estate planning.

One often overlooked area of estate planning is that of reviewing the beneficiaries of your life insurance policies and annuities, and the Pay-on-Death (POD) designations on IRAs, mutual funds and bank accounts. If your designations are out-of-date, when you pass away your assets could go to an unintended person, such as a former spouse, for example, no matter what your Will says. As your life changes, it is wise to periodically review all your designations and bring them up-to-date.

Knowing who to name as a beneficiary or POD designee depends on your circumstances and objectives. If your objective is to fund your Estate and make sure there are sufficient assets to pay creditors and carry out your estate plan, naming your Estate as your beneficiary insures that the proceeds are used to pay funeral expenses and debts, with the balance passing to your heirs as directed in your Will.

When naming individuals as beneficiaries or POD designees, some parents make the mistake of naming their oldest child as the sole recipient, with the idea that the oldest child will settle their affairs and share the wealth with their siblings. These same parents often direct in their Will that their estate is to be divided equally among all of their children. If the life insurance proceeds and financial accounts represent the bulk of the estate, and the oldest child does not share the proceeds with their other siblings, the parents may have unwittingly disinherited their other children.

Having said this, there are situations where designating individuals to receive the proceeds of a financial account or life insurance policy does make sense. This will be the subject of our next Senior Tip.

In conclusion, a good time to review your beneficiary designations is in March, as you receive your 1099 Tax Forms from the financial institutions holding your assets. Give your financial institutions and insurance policy holders a call and make sure your beneficiary designations are current and in keeping with your wishes.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

Tangible Personal Property List

Use a tangible personal property list to clearly specify who you want to receive your personal property.

Idaho Code Section 15-2-513 expressly permits the use of a statement separate from your Will to dispose of non-business, tangible personal property upon your death. If you want to use such a separate written statement rather than itemize the disposition of tangible personal property in your Will, you should know and follow the requirements set forth below:

  1. No duplication. The separate written statement should not include items already specifically disposed of by you in your Will.
  2. Assets that may be disposed of by written statement. Common examples of property that may be disposed of include personal effects, jewelry, family heirlooms, furniture, antiques, art work, books, household items, sporting equipment, automobiles, etc.
  3. Assets that may not be disposed of by written statement. A separate written statement cannot be used to dispose of money, evidence of indebtedness, documents of title, interests in real property, securities or property used in a trade or business.
  4. Date and sign written statement. Each page of the statement should be dated and must be signed by you.
  5. Clearly describe each item. Clearly describe each item so that it is easily identified and not confused with another similar item.
  6. Designation of beneficiary (devisee). Each beneficiary (also referred to as a “devisee”) should be identified by his or her proper name and relationship to you. The address of the beneficiary should be added if the beneficiary is not closely related to you so that proper identification is assured.
  7. Alternate Beneficiary. You may wish to consider providing for an alternative beneficiary if the first-named beneficiary does not survive you, although this is not necessary.
  8. Change in designation of beneficiary or property. You may change the devisees or property designated in the separate written statement from time to time or revise or revoke the entire statement. Changes should be made only by preparing a new statement patterned after the original form. The old statement should be destroyed. Changes should never be made by alternation on the face of an executed statement; your intent will inevitably be unclear.
  9. Retain written statement in safe place. The separate written statement should be kept in a safe place where it can be easily found, preferable with your original Will.
  10. Notice to Personal Representative. We recommend that you notify the personal representative named in your Will regarding the location of the written statement.
  11. Periodic review. The written statement should be reviewed periodically and kept current.

Families often fight more over mom’s wedding ring or dad’s hunting rifle than they do over the distribution of a 401K. A tangible personal property list is often overlooked, but is an important document to prevent disputes between family members when settling an estate.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity.  If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

Medicare and You

Your responsibility to Medicare if you are involved in an accident

Winter driving conditions here in Idaho can be difficult at times and can lead to accidents. In a situation where a person on Medicare sustains injuries that are caused by someone else, Medicare becomes a secondary payer and the no-fault or liability insurance becomes the primary payer. When an individual who is covered by Medicare is injured in an accident, Medicare requires that person to notify Medicare of the accident.

While the process of obtaining treatment for injuries is the same, payment of the medical bills is very different. Medicare makes conditional payments to healthcare providers for their services, but Medicare is entitled to repayment from the third party responsible for the accident. This is the case whether the injury happens at work or in an automobile accident. If a person on Medicare recovers an insurance settlement for his injuries, Medicare will automatically have a lien against the settlement for any medical bills it has paid on behalf of the insured. Therefore, if a Medicare beneficiary receives a settlement from a primary payer, that person will need to reimburse Medicare for the amount of medical bills that Medicare paid.

For example, we know of one man who had an accident and settled with the liability insurance company for $1,500 and then had back surgery paid for by Medicare. When Medicare became aware that he had been in an accident, they sent the man a letter demanding reimbursement for the total cost of the surgery.

Consequently, if you are on Medicare and you are injured in an accident, make sure you or your attorney contacts Medicare before making any kind of settlement with an insurance company.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

Battling Alzheimer’s Disease

Things you can do to improve your chances of not getting Alzheimer’s.

According to Dr. Maria Norton of Utah State University, there are at least 15 million people in the U. S. who suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease, and someone develops AD every 68 seconds or roughly every minute of the day.

At a Seminar Dr. Norton recently presented in Idaho Falls, she indicated that we can improve our chances of not getting Alzheimer’s. Like many other health conditions, there are things we can change in our lives and things we cannot. For example we can’t control our increasing age, our genes or our family history of AD. However, we can control our knowledge of the subject, our nutrition, our exercise and our stress level, to name a few. Dr. Norton hypothesized that only 1/3 of the total Alzheimer’s risk factors come from genetics, leaving 2/3 that we can control.

According to Dr. Norton, there are six behavioral domains in which we can make wise choices each day that can decrease our likelihood of getting AD. They are the following:

  1. Healthy food choices
  2. Physical activity
  3. Stress management
  4. Cognitive / mental activities
  5. Social engagement
  6. Sleep quality

There is a new app called “Gray Matters, “The Alzheimer’s Prevention App”, to help remind us of the importance of doing the things we can control. Studies show that this smart phone app motivated better engagement in each of the six areas mentioned above by well over 50% in each domain. You can download the app and visit the demo at graymatters.org@graymattersapp.

Quality of life is so important. When trying to avoid a disease as devastating as Alzheimer’s, doing something is always better than doing nothing.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

Provide for your pet in your will or trust

“I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals”. Winston Churchill

If you have ever loved a pet, you understand the question that many of my clients ask: when I pass away, who will care for my pet? Pets offer companionship and bring joy into our lives, and in return we want to make sure they go to a good home.

There are several options for the placing of pets, including family members, friends and adoption programs with organizations like the Idaho Humane Society. If you plan to leave your pet with an individual, you should discuss with the prospective caretaker if they are willing to care for your pet. If they accept, you can leave your pet in your Will to that person. You may also want to leave some money or other pet care items to that person, asking the person to use the money and items to care for your pet. Your request gives guidance to the caretaker, but is nonbinding. You cannot leave money or other property directly to an animal.

A more complex and expensive method to provide for your pet is to set up a Pet Trust. Idaho Code § 15-7-601 allows for a Trust to be set up for a pet. Funds can be put into the Trust with instructions that are binding, as to how the money is to be used and how your pet is to be cared for.

If providing for your pet’s future when you are gone is important to you, consider leaving specific instructions in your Will concerning with whom you want your pet placed. This brings peace of mind, knowing your pet will be in a good home.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

Intestate Succession: passing away without a Will

For your family’s sake, have a Will.

I have a brother-in-law who comes up to me each year at our family reunion and says: “I have never been to an attorney’s office, and I am never going to go to one.” Finally, after hearing his chide for several years, I replied: “That’s great for you, but you’re going to leave your children a big mess.”

It is a common scenario for a parent to pass away without doing any planning. They may have one child on their bank account and another on the title to their car. They haven’t designated anyone to act as their personal representative, and they haven’t indicated to whom they want items of personal property to go to. Frequently, they have a mortgage on their house, credit card bills and have not done anything to pay for a funeral, leaving the burden on their children to figure all of this out.

When a person dies without a Will, it is known as intestate succession. If he or she is the last surviving parent, each of the children has an equal right to serve as the personal representative of their parent’s estate. The personal representative has the duty to inventory their parent’s property, to pay all creditors and to divide the remaining estate—according to the intestate laws, not the person’s wishes—equally among the heirs.

In this process, things do not always go smoothly. For example, children frequently say that Mom had verbally told them they could have an item of personal property. However, since it was not written in the Will in the Tangible Personal Property List, Mom’s verbal commitment is unenforceable. The children are left trying to negotiate what is a fair division of family heirlooms and other items of personal property.

Additionally, the daughter with her name on the bank account can withdraw the money in the account since she was a joint tenant on the account with a right of survivorship. A son, with his name on the car title can transfer the title to himself. Was that the parent’s intent?

Finally, are there sufficient assets in the estate to pay off Mom’s debts and are the kids, who may be struggling financially themselves, able to pay for the funeral? All this leads to unnecessary argument between the siblings. Perhaps one sibling is overbearing, making it difficult for each to receive things that were intended for him or her.

Having a Will does not mean you don’t have to probate your estate, but in Idaho, it is usually quick and painless. With a Will you have named your personal representative, you have indicated in writing to whom personal property items go and you have indicated how you want your estate to be divided.

Having peace in families is a desirable goal. A little planning can make life much easier for those left to settle your affairs.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho . As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

Caregiver Stress and Burnout

Tip: Consider the benefits of attending a caregiver support group.

In my Elder Law Practice I meet regularly with families who are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia. The families I meet with come to me with legal, financial and healthcare problems that have arisen. I have a social worker who assesses the needs of these families, and the stress of caring for a loved one becomes very apparent.

Beginning in October, there is a new resource in Blackfoot available to caregivers. A caregiver support group is being offered for people who care for someone who suffers from Alzheimer’s. Laura Bingham, a social worker with Access Homecare and Hospice, is facilitating the group. She hopes to educate, share ideas, and support each other in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The first session is Wednesday, October 21, 2015. It will be held at 6 p.m. at the Gables Assisted Living, located at 2815 Hunters Loop, Blackfoot, Idaho . The class will be held every 3rd Wednesday of the month from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

You can learn more about caregiver programs and resources at Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho . As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

Older Adults Needing Financial Help

Tip: Consider the risks of putting a son or daughter on your bank account as a joint tenant.

Putting an adult son or daughter on a bank account is a common practice of older adults who need help paying bills and managing their finances. However, having a child as a joint tenant on an account may cause the following problems:

  1. The child sometimes withdraws money from the account for their personal use.
  2. If a parent asks the bank to remove the child’s name from the account, the bank requires the child’s signature to have his or her name removed. This often leads to a confrontation between the parent and child, which many parents will avoid.
  3. If there is a joint tenant on an account, and the parent passes away, the Personal Representative of the parent’s estate cannot withdraw money from or close the bank account.
  4. Most often, when the owner of a bank account passes away, the intent of the owner is to have the remaining balance go directly to his or her estate to be divided between all the children. However, Idaho Probate Code § 15-6-104 states that when a joint tenant is added to a bank account and the owner of the account passes away, the money in the account can go to the joint tenant if he or she can prove it was a gift. This leads to all kinds of proof problems concerning the owner’s intent, and the other children are at risk of the joint tenant taking it all.
  5. If a son or daughter is involved in a divorce or takes out bankruptcy, having their name on their parents’ account raises an issue of their ownership interest, and the money could be taken in the divorce or bankruptcy proceeding.

The easiest solution for older adults needing help with finances is for the parents to give a son or a daughter a Financial Power of Attorney (POA). With a POA, the child can assist the parents in paying bills and managing their financial affairs. The child has no ownership interest in the account and has a fiduciary duty to the parents to use the money for their benefit. The parents can revoke the Power of Attorney at any timec if a problem develops.

The parents can also set up a Pay-On-Death Agreement with the bank to pay the remaining balance in the account at their death to whomever they designate.

Remember, there are safer ways of getting help with your finances than putting your son or daughter on your bank account.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity.  If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

Age is a Quality of Mind

Wrinkles and gray hair are not the proof that the best of life is over.

I thought that since it was summer, it might be nice to have a tip on the lighter side. Recently I was reading a book written by Bryant S. Hinckley that had a thought about aging. It stated: “Some people are young a long time; they never seem to get old. Accomplishing this is a priceless achievement, and it is within the reach of most of us. ” An often quoted poem is entitled,

Age is a Quality of Mind
“Age is a quality of mind:
If your dreams you’ve left behind,
If hope is cold,
If you no longer look ahead,
If your ambition’s fires are dead,
Then you are old.
But if from life you take the best,
And if in life you keep the zest,
If love you hold;
No matter how the years go by,
No matter how the birthdays fly,
You are not old.”

Bryant S. Hinckley continues, saying, “The way to grow old with satisfaction and dignity is through the cultivation of our inner resources. Wrinkles and gray hair are not the proof that the best of life is finished… Most people who age before their time do so because their minds and not their muscles stiffen… We all need to cultivate kindness, human understanding, sympathy, tolerance for other people’s views, generosity and a sense of humor… These are the qualities of mind and heart that endure and enrich our lives forever. They do not diminish with the passing years. These are the panaceas for disillusionment and loneliness which so often embitter age…”

Each day can be a masterpiece if we let it. Don’t let what you can’t do keep you from doing what you can do! The popular saying, “Live, Love, Laugh” can be applied at any age. Why not start now to cultivate this frame of mind and enjoy life to the fullest?

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.