The Law of Unintended Consequences – and Failure to Plan.

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According to a recent story in the Boston Globe, Marcelle Harrison’s family has lived in a three-story home in Cambridge, Massachusetts for almost 40 years, during which time four generations of her family have lived. She and her family (two generations worth) may have to vacate the home because her stepfather died intestate (without a will) in 2011 after the passing of her mother two years earlier, meaning that legally her stepfather’s blood relatives back in his native country of Barbados have a stronger legal claim to her childhood home than she.

The home was purchased by her mother and step-father in 1980 for $23,000. It is now worth over $1 million. When her mother died in 2009, her step-father continued as the sole owner of the property. When he died in 2011, without naming a beneficiary for the property, Massachusetts law allows his blood relatives to claim the house over Marcelle, a stepchild.

According to Marcelle and those close to the family, her stepfather, Noel Aimes, always wanted the house to stay in the family, and in the 1990s he built additions to accommodate his growing family.

Marcelle received the news in a letter delivered to her shortly before the end of last year. “Since you were not an heir-at-law, your appointment is in jeopardy of being set aside,” wrote the state public administrator. It appears that Mr. Aimes’s relatives in Barbados plan to sell the property as soon as the estate is settled. Marcelle is terrified and unsure where her family will live if forced out of the Cambridge property.

This story illustrates the importance of having a will. Without one, it doesn’t matter what you desire to happen with your assets. The laws of the state in which you reside will dictate the disposition of your assets. This is especially relevant in second-marriage situations. Marcelle’s stepfather may have wanted the property to pass on to her and her family, but without a will that said so, Massachusetts laws dictates it go to his distant relatives in Barbados. A sad outcome to be sure.

All it takes is a bit of planning to avoid disaster. If you don’t have an estate plan in place, hopefully what’s happening to Marcelle will motivate you to take action!

You can read the entire article here.

If your estate planning house isn’t in order, give me a call, I can help. While you won’t have to live with the oftentimes disastrous consequences of dying without an estate plan, your family will.

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Should Have Put A Ring On It.

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Pellie was in a long term relationship with Tony that lasted over 40 years. They never married. Pellie became Tony’s caretaker when his health began to fail. Tony died in 2015. Pellie had received about $300,000 in assets from Tony up to and after his death. But Pellie believed she was entitled to much, much more. After Tony’s death, Pellie filed a claim against Tony’s trust for over $2,700,000 based upon Tony’s purported promises to take care of her. The trustee disallowed the claim. Pellie sued the trust in probate court, claiming that she and Tony had an agreement that he would take care of her after his death.

At the trial, the evidence showed that over the course of their relationship, Tony had often told here that he wanted her to take care of him and in return he would take care of her needs. Tony had verbally told Pellie that she would share in his estate. Tony’s estate plan did provide some stock and other assets to Pellie, including four bank accounts owned jointly with Pellie.

The county probate court dismissed Pellie’s lawsuit. The probate court reasoned that Tony’s promises were, in effect, a contract to make a will, and since it wasn’t in writing, the “agreement” wasn’t enforceable. Pellie appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the probate court decision.

Under Michigan law, a contract to make a will or devise, not to revoke a will or devise, or to die without a will (intestate) may only be established by either: a) provisions in a will stating the material terms of the contract; b) an express reference in a will to such a contract with extrinsic evidence proving the terms of the contract; or c) a writing signed by the deceased establishing the contract.

A party seeking to enforce such a contract must prove an actual express agreement and not merely a statement of intentions. Since Pellie could not produce a writing evidencing Tony’s agreement to provide her financial security after his death or to compensate her for caretaking services, she could not prevail.

It is pretty clear from the evidence that Tony made promises of care and support to Pellie. We don’t know why Tony didn’t adjust his estate plan to fulfill those promises; Nor do we know to whom Tony left the bulk of his assets.

Their’s was a 40 year relationship. However, without the benefit of marriage or a some type of written agreement, Pellie didn’t have a leg to stand on. Purely moral obligations are not enforceable. Had they been married, Pellie may have had claims to Tony’s assets.

When it comes to the distribution of a deceased person’s assets, oral promises or intentions aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. The moral of this story is that if you are in a relationship with another — without the benefit of marriage — you need to make sure to get any promises of financial support or security from your partner in writing.

The case is Norton-Cantrell v Anthony Bzura Trust Agreement.

You can read the Court of Appeals decision here.

The Pitfalls of DIY Estate Planning, Part ?

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According to an article at news.com.au, a woman from Queensland, Australia died of cancer in 2015. In an apparent effort to save money on her estate plan, she chose to use a cheap do-it-yourself will kit. The four page document had numerous hand-written attachments and contained multiple changes. It is likely to end up costing her estate tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and costs to sift through the numerous errors and ambiguities contained in the document.

“‘No one should attempt their own will. It is very dangerous,’’’ barrister Caite Brewer, who represented the named executors of the will. “‘This case is a good example of someone trying to save a few hundred dollars, doing their own will, which ends up costing their estate potentially twenty thousand dollars. They should see a solicitor who specialises in estate planning.’”

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Will kits are advertised as the low cost estate planning alternative to using an attorney. The will-kit publishers advertise that you will end up with a will that is legal, but never advertise that it will be right. And that’s what you pay an attorney to do, to make sure the will is right – that it accurately expresses your intentions concerning the disposition of your estate. Yes, it costs more up front, but the extra money spent to make sure your estate plan is drafted correctly will save thousands in the long run.

Read the entire article here.

Struggling with your own estate planning? Contact me, I can help.

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What “Cause” is “Good Cause” to Remove a Conservator?

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A “conservator” is a person appointed by a probate court to manage the assets or affairs of another (the “protected individual”) who, by reason of physical or mental disability, is incapable of controlling or managing their assets or affairs on their own. The conservator acts as a “fiduciary,” meaning that the conservator must manage the assets and affairs of the protected individual always and solely for the benefit of the protected individual.  Decisions the conservator may make regarding the protected individual’s assets or affairs must be made solely in the best interest of the protected individual; the conservator must subordinate their own wishes or preferences in their decision making.

In Michigan, a conservator may be removed for “good cause.” The Michigan statute addressing the removal of a conservator does not define the term “good cause.”  A recent case decided by the Michigan Court of Appeals addresses the issue of what is “good cause” to remove a conservator .

In 2013, Marian was appointed conservator for her mother, Mary, who was 86 years old and had begun to exhibit symptoms of dementia. Mary had eight children at the time the conservatorship was established. In 2015, one of Marian’s siblings, Rita, filed a petition to remove Marian as Mary’s conservator based upon Marian’s conduct managing Mary’s assets and affairs.

After a lengthy hearing, the local probate court found that Mary continued to require a conservator, but despite their good intentions, neither Marian, nor any of her siblings was suitable to act as Mary’s conservator. The probate court found that based upon the deep emotional connection between Mary and Marian, Marian was not capable of acting in Mary’s best interest and separating Marian’s wants from Mary’s needs. In addition, based upon the ongoing conflict among Mary’s children, the best interest of Mary required the appointment of a public administrator as Mary’s conservator.

On appeal, Marian argued that the probate court should not have removed her as conservator because she had not mismanaged Mary’s assets or affairs, or failed to perform any duty required of her as Mary’s conservator. The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the probate court’s decision, saying that the statutory “good cause” standard for removal does not require any particular misconduct. “‘Good cause simply means a satisfactory, sound or valid reason’” for removal. The court stated that, due to Marian’s inability to remove her emotions and personal wishes form decisions pertaining to Mary’s assets and affair, she was incapable of making decisions solely in Mary’s best interest and was reason enough to warrant her removal.

Every conservatorship is different, but the duty of every conservator is the same: To act in the best interest of the protected individual. The typical person appointed as conservator for another is usually a close family member — a spouse, child, or grandchild. In such cases it is often extremely difficult to separate one’s emotions from the decision-making process. In addition, siblings or other close family members may have their own ideas what should be done with respect to the protected individual’s assets and affairs. Family in-fighting is a common occurrence and can justify a probate court to look outside the family for a suitable person to act as conservator.

As we saw with Marian, her conduct was not malicious, nor had she mismanaged Mary’s assets or affairs. She broke no laws. But when a conservator’s decisions, like Marian’s, are colored by emotion or personal desire, or may be affected by family in-fighting, those decisions may not be in the protected individual’s best interest, warranting their removal.

The case is In re Conservatorship of Mary Louise Montgomery. You can read the entire opinion here.

Are you struggling with managing the assets or affairs of another as their conservator? Give me a call, I can help.

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Three Things Your College Bound Child Needs to Leave Behind

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Do you have a child getting ready to head off to college?  Whether your child goes away to school or commutes from home, don’t let them start the school year without leaving behind these three documents:

Medical Power of Attorney.  If your child is over the age of 18, you no longer have the right to speak to their physicians, or make medical decisions for them.  If your child has an accident or becomes seriously ill at school and is hospitalized, medical personnel will not discuss your child’s medical condition or treatment with you without authorization. Have your child sign a medical power of attorney. Commonly referred to as a “patient advocate designation,” your child can appoint you to speak with doctors and make medical treatment decisions for them in the event they cannot do so themselves.

HIPAA Authorization.  Have your child sign a separate HIPAA authorization.   A medical power of attorney will only help you and your child if your child is incapacitated AND in a hospital or similar facility.  There may be situations where your child is either not incapacitated or is not hospitalized, but you still need to speak to medical providers on your child’s behalf regarding treatment he or she is receiving.  A HIPAA authorization will enable you to talk to them or obtain medical records and other information regarding your child’s medical condition.  You may not be able to make treatment decisions for your child, but you can at least monitor their care.  Remember, even though you are the parent, medical providers will not speak or release information to you without your child’s prior consent, regardless of your child’s medical condition.

Durable Power of Attorney. Finally, have your child sign a durable power of attorney. Parents of college students have all heard the privacy speech from school administrators – “Due to federal privacy regulations, we cannot discuss anything regarding your student without prior written authorization” – and they mean it. In order for you to discuss a tuition or dorm bill, dispute a lab fee, or discuss any of your child’s financial or other affairs with any third party, you need written authorization. That’s where the durable power of attorney comes in to play.

Under a durable power of attorney, your child can appoint you as their agent to handle their personal and financial and other non-medical affairs, whether they are incapacitated or not. Everything from banking and bill paying to tuition or room and board issues can be handled by you as your child’s agent. If your child becomes ill or has an accident while at school, as your child’s agent you will be able to keep their affairs in order until they regain the ability to do so.

Make sure you and your child are prepared for the coming school year by making sure they leave behind a medical power of attorney, HIPAA authorization, and durable power of attorney.  Good luck!

Does your student need these documents?  Give me a call.  I can help.

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The Pitfalls of Do-It-Yourself Planning

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Ed owned a bank account at First State Bank. Two months before he died, he went to the bank and named one of his five children, daughter Ann, as a joint owner of the account. He specifically selected an account with rights of survivorship, which, under Michigan law, meant that the balance of funds in the account would become Ann’s property when Ed died. After Ed’s death, Ann asserted that the money was hers and did not have to be shared with her siblings. Ed’s other four children filed a petition with the local probate court claiming that Ed had added Ann’s name solely for convenience and that he actually intended for the account proceeds to be shared equally among all of his children. The probate court held a hearing and ruled that the evidence was sufficient to establish that Ed had indeed added Ann’s name to the account merely for convenience to assist with his bill paying should he die, and that he wanted the proceeds shared among all of his children after his death.  The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling of the probate court.

Under Michigan law, when you add a child or other person’s name to a bank account, a legal presumption arises that you intend that funds in the account belong to the survivor when you die.  Even if you intend that the account balance be shared after your death, the law presumes otherwise. This presumption can be overcome, but only if it can be proved in a court of law, by “reasonably clear and persuasive proof,” that you did not intend that the account funds vest in the survivor.  This type of proceeding can cost a fortune in legal fees. What gets less attention is the emotional cost.   Battles like this, pitting sibling against sibling, wreak havoc within a family. While Ed thought he was doing good, the actual effect of his actions was quite the opposite.

It is never a good planning move to add a child or other person’s name to a bank account or other asset without first carefully considering all of the ramifications. What Ed may have thought would be a simple way to make sure funds would be readily available to pay his bills turned out to be anything but. Ed could have given Ann his power of attorney to access the account, or created a trust to hold the account and named Ann a trustee. In either scenario Ann would have been able to pay Ed’s bills out of the account, and remainder of the account would have been shared by all of his children after his death. Sure, there may have been legal fees associated with employing those techniques. But, when one looks at the emotional and financial cost of this family’s battle, it would have been money well spent.

Many things people do in their DIY planning appear on the surface to achieve an intended goal, but end up creating serious problems that are very expensive to fix. Always, always, always, work with a competent professional. Get the peace of mind that your intentions will be fulfilled using techniques that are best suited to your individual situation. The cost to do so is pretty reasonable in the long run.

The case is: In re Estate of EDWARD SADORSKI, SR., Deceased. You can read it here.

Are you looking for solutions to your financial or estate planning problems?  Contact me, I can help.

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A New Estate Planning Tool – The Michigan Asset Protection Trust

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On February 5, 2017, Michigan became the 17th state (along with Delaware, Nevada, Ohio, and others) to permit residents to use asset protection trusts in their estate planning. Michigan’s new law, the Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act (the “Act”), allows an individual to create an irrevocable trust known as a domestic asset protection trust (DAPT) that, if set up correctly, will shield the trust’s assets from the claims of the individual’s creditors.

Until recently, asset protection trusts were available only in foreign (offshore) jurisdictions. The Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cook and Cayman Islands, Nevis, and several other jurisdictions developed highly favorable asset protection legal environments featuring sophisticated banking and trust services for clientele. Offshore asset protection statutes typically feature very short statutes of limitations periods for creditors to attack the trust, high burdens of proof for creditors, and require the creditor to challenge the trust in the jurisdiction of the trust’s location. However, with our federal government closely scrutinizing transfers of money away of the U.S., DAPTs are become more popular here in the states. In 1997, Alaska became the first state to enact a DAPT law for Alaska-based trusts.

Under the Act, a Michigan DAPT must be irrevocable, it must have a trustee located in Michigan, and, while the person who creates the trust (the “grantor”) may be a beneficiary of the trust, the grantor cannot have unrestricted access to the trust’s assets.

If a Michigan DAPT is set up correctly, a grantor’s creditors will be prohibited from reaching the trusts assets if the creditor brings a claim more than two years after the assets are placed into the trust. (A longer period applies to claims brought in bankruptcy.)  A Michigan DAPT cannot be created to defraud one’s existing creditors. Therefore, the trust must be created and funded before creditor claims arise.

The Michigan DAPT will be a useful planning tool for people with significant exposure to creditors, such as business owners and those engaged in high-risk professions, such as doctors and lawyers, where insurance may not offer adequate claim protection. A DAPT will not generally be suitable in a typical estate plan.

We Can Read Your Writing, We Can’t Read Your Mind

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Lyle and his son, Steven, purchased a house in 2007, which became Lyle’s personal residence. The title to the property was conveyed to: “Lyle, a single man, and Steven, a single man.” Lyle passed away several years later. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) filed a claim against Lyle’s probate estate for unpaid Medicaid bills in the amount of $48,084.95. DHHS sought to have the bills paid from Lyle’s share of the property.

Steven filed a petition to reform the deed to indicate a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, arguing that Lyle intended to create a joint tenancy so that his interest in the property would pass to Steven upon his death – avoiding DHHS’s claim. DHHS responded arguing that by law, the ownership estate created by the deed between Lyle and Steven was a tenancy in common because there was no express language in the deed declaring an intent to create a joint tenancy or an intent to grant a right of survivorship.

The trial court agreed with Steven’s argument and found that the deed created a tenancy in common, but that a latent ambiguity existed regarding the survivorship right. On the basis of the ambiguity, the trial court reformed the deed to comport with Lyle’s intent to own the property with Steven as joint tenants with a right of survivorship. Under the trial court’s ruling, DHHS could not satisfy Lyle’s unpaid bill from Lyle’s interest in the property, because Lyle’s interest automatically passed to Steven upon his death. DHHS appealed.

The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court, holding that although the trial court was correct in finding that the deed’s granting clause (to “Lyle, a single man, and Steven, a single man”) created a tenancy in common between Lyle and Steven, the language of the deed, on its face, was not ambiguous and, therefore, the deed could not be reformed. The Court of Appeals ruled that based upon the clear and unambiguous language in the deed, Lyle’s interest in the property did not pass to Steven automatically upon his death and, therefore, DHHS could satisfy Lyle’s unpaid Medicaid bills from Lyle’s interest in the property.

Under Michigan law, a deed conveying title to two or more persons is presumed to create a tenancy in common unless the deed language expressly declares an intention to create a joint tenancy or a right of survivorship. As happened in Lyle’s case, the death of one co-owner under a tenancy in common does not extinguish the deceased owner’s interest in the property. That interest survives to his probate estate where creditors, like DHHS, can seize it to satisfy their claims. And the courts are powerless to help.

With any legal document, what you meant to say matters little – what matters is what your document actually says.  Deeds and other documents must be carefully drafted to clearly express and carry out your intentions.  Poor drafting can have disastrous consequences. In Lyle’s case, not having the correct language in his deed cost Steven tens of thousands of dollars ($48,084.95 to pay the DHSS claim, plus legal fees).

Work with competent legal counsel to ensure your documents are properly drafted. It can save you and your family a fortune in the long run.

The case is Steiner v DHHS, and you can read the opinion of the Court of Appeals here.

Michigan Launches the MiABLE Account Program.

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Michigan’s ABLE account program (“MiABLE”) has gone into effect. The program launched November 1, 2016.

MiABLE program accounts are modeled after 529 college savings accounts, and are meant to help persons with disabilities save money in their own names and allow tax advantaged distributions for certain expenses including housing, transportation, health and wellness, education and more, while maintaining eligibility for federal and state aid. Like 529 college savings accounts, if funds distributed from a MiABLE account are not used for qualifying expenses, any investment growth will be taxed at ordinary income tax rates, plus a 10% penalty. MiABLE account funds can be rolled over tax-free from one MiABLE account to another and the designated beneficiary can be changed from one disabled person in a family to another in the same family.

Some details for Michigan MiABLE accounts:

  • Six investment portfolio options are available, from conservative to aggressive portfolios.
  • Debit cards will become available to account holders in early 2017. This will make it easier for an account holder to access funds in their account.
  • A major benefit to a MiABLE account holder is the ability to post their account online, like GoFundMe accounts, to make it easier for third parties (parents, grandparents, siblings, etc.) to donate directly to the account.
  • MiABLE accounts will be charged an annual fee of $45.

More MiABLE account information, as well as online enrollment is available at www.miable.org.

Are Your Passwords a Joke? Time To Do Something About It!

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Are you still using “password,” or “123456″ as your passwords of choice? You’re not alone. Those have been the most popular passwords for the past 5 years. If your passwords are weak, resolve to make your passwords strong this year. An excellent article over at the tech website, How-To Geek, tells you how.

Here are a few tips from the article, “Your Passwords Are Terrible, and It’s Time to Do Something About It,” on how to make your passwords stronger:

Good passwords are long. The longer the password, the harder it is to crack. You should always make your password longer than the minimum password length required by the website.

Complexity. Good passwords contain a combination of letters, numbers, and alpha numeric symbols. Avoid proper nouns, place names, and simple words.

Uniqueness. Don’t use the same password for every site. You can have a bomb-proof password but if a single site’s system is compromised and hackers get it, they can access any account you use it on.

Two-factor authorization. More and more websites are going to two-factor authorization, which requires two different types of authentication to log into a site. An account with two-factor authorization requires a password, and a separate PIN sent to your phone. Even if your password is compromised, hackers won’t be able to get into your account because they won’t have your phone.  Use two-factor authorization if the website offers it.

Use a password manager. It seems like every website requires a user name and password. How do you keep track of all of them?  This is where password management software can be helpful.  A typical password management program installs as a plug-in to handle password capture and replay. When you log in to a secure site, the password manager offers to save your credentials. When you return to that site, it offers to automatically fill in those credentials.  A few managers even have some provision to transfer your logins to a trusted individual in the event of your death or incapacity.

Read the whole article here.