IAJ Law, LLC

Month: March 2023

  • Downsizing For Future Trustees

    Downsizing For Future Trustees

    Downsizing

    Downsizing can help your future trustee. However, doing so can be a challenging process. This is especially true when deciding what to keep and what to throw away.

    Here are some tips to help you and your future trustee determine what to throw away when downsizing:

    1. Duplicate items: Get rid of items that you have more than one of, especially if they serve the same purpose. For example, if you have two sets of dishes, consider keeping only one.
    2. Outdated or Unused Items: If you haven’t used an item in a year or more, or if it’s no longer relevant or useful to you, it’s time to let it go. This can include clothes, electronics, and other items that have been collecting dust.
    3. Broken or Damaged Items: Items that are broken or damaged beyond repair are taking up space and serve no purpose. It’s better to let them go rather than holding onto them. Might I suggest making a donation?
    4. Sentimental Items: While it can be tough to part with sentimental items, it’s important to assess their true value. Unfortunately, the sentimental weight you assigned to an item might not be the same value assigned by a future trustee. If you have multiple items with sentimental value, consider choosing one or two to keep and take pictures of the rest. Speaking of pictures, let’s talk about digital downsizing in a future post.
    5. Excess Furniture: Furniture can take up a lot of space, so consider whether you really need all the pieces you have. If you’re moving to a smaller space, you may need to downsize your furniture as well.

    Remember, downsizing doesn’t mean you have to get rid of everything. It’s about making intentional choices and keeping only the items that are truly important or useful to you.

  • Spring Cleaning Your Estate Plan

    Spring Cleaning Your Estate Plan

    Spring Cleaning

    Spring cleaning applies to our estates too. As we approach Spring, now more than ever is a great time to revisit, review, and perhaps revise your estate plan.

    Just like spring cleaning a home or cabin, refreshing and organizing our planning documents helps others help us.

    Even more so, it offers assurance to our children and grandchildren. So, let’s take a look at a checklist.

    Spring Cleaning Checklist

    A spring clean-up checklist from an estate planning perspective looks something like this:

    • Revisit and Review. As we age, our plans and needs change. Take 15 minutes and reflect on your current plan, wishes, and circumstances.
    • Beneficiary Designations. Review every beneficiary designation. This includes any forms associated with bank accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, annuities, motor vehicles, and other assets to ensure they are up-to-date and aligned with estate planning goals. Even more so, if you do not have a hard copy of each form, you have a problem that needs immediate attention.
    • Tax Changes. Evaluate any (Federal and State) changes in tax laws that may negatively impact an estate plan. Then, consider necessary adjustments to account for such matters.
    • Ancillary Documents. Review and update powers of attorney documents (both financial and HIPAA). Also, look at your healthcare directives to ensure wishes are being accurately represented. Have you made any changes based on our experiences from COVID-19? Certainly being locked behind glass doors isn’t appealing for you or your loved ones.
    • Family Dynamics. Consider any changes to your family, that may impact an estate plan, such as the birth of a child, marriage, divorce, substance abuse issues, and or mental impairments.
    • Trust Funding. Incorrectly funded trusts is a chronic problem or flaw with many estate plans. Spring is the perfect time to readdress whether an asset was included or purposely excluded from a trust. If you do not know, this issue must be addressed.
    • Lost and Found. Organize estate planning documents and ensure loved ones know where to find them in case of an emergency. For those with a safe deposit box, there is added risk.

    All this said, spring cleanup requires action. Thus, start right now.

  • Richfield Community Education

    Richfield Community Education welcomed attorney Jasper Berg and a presentation called “Pre-Planning Do’s and Dont’s”. If you attended, please tell others.

    For those curious about future classes, visit Richfield’s site or herein under the Events Tab.

    In the meantime, here is a brief list of the matters addressed.

    Planning Do’s

    • Identifying and Naming Key People who can serve in variable roles
    • Assess future monetary values of assets and insurance
    • Pros and cons of a Health Care Directive, POA, Trust, and Will
    • Communication with Key People
    • Review, Revisit, and Revise

    Planning Don’ts

    • Beneficiary Form Mistakes
    • Banking and Combined Accounts
    • Birth certificates, Marriage Licenses, and Divorce Records
    • Usernames, Passwords, Photos on Phones, and Entry Codes

    Again, thank you supporting Richfield Community Education.