Wealth Preservation, Trusts and Estates

I know that the title to this article: “Resources for Building and Protecting Your Estate and Your Estate Plan” is both long (imagine that, a long winded lawyer) and apparently silly.

How do I know that it sounded silly?

This is a suggestion for a resource sent to me by one of my sons when he read the draft of the title-

“Get a battle team then when hordes of marauding lawyers attempt to raid your party you can fight them with karate and such techniques.”

Well Josh, true enough. But I really do have some great resources for the readers that don’t maintain “battle teams.” but who want to avoid financial fraud and marauding hoards of lawyers.

I have always maintained, that an estate plan that focuses only on what happens to your assets when you die is, while important, a boring estate plan and one not likely to be of much help to you and your family while you’re alive.

For that reason, many of the resources and ideas we provide are designed not only to help you with your will and trust, but also to help you to build, protect and to maintain your assets and your lifestyle.

In that vein, I recently came across a new government blog site that seems to have some great information for consumers.

In this installment, I have selected a few resources for you related to avoiding financial fraud.

Just click the links below for more on each topic related to protecting yourself from financial fraud:

Notices and information about types of fraud

Protecting yourself from identity fraud

Protecting Yourself from tax fraud and other types of fraud

How to report fraud

Keep an eye out for more installments of resources to build and protect your assets and your estate plan right now.

David M Frees III is an attorney with law offices in Phoenixville, Malvern, and West Chester Pennsylvania serving the communities of the Main Line as well as the West Chester, Exton, Downingtown and surrounding areas.

Frees is a partner of and Chairs the Trust, Estate, and Wealth Preservation Section of Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees – Telephone and in person consultations are available by calling 610-933-8069.

No Will? That’s Called Intestacy.
But Don’t Worry.
The State Of Pennsylvania Has Done One For You.
How Do You Think That Will Work?

If you have a will and it’s more than a few years old, you may have to have it reviewed because of the volatile situation with the estate tax. However, if you have never done a will it may be time. Most people don’t realize, that when they fail to create and to properly execute a will, that the state of Pennsylvania will do one for you.

The failure to have a properly executed and legal will at the time of death makes you INTESTATE under Pennsylvania law. And, if you die intestate, the state automatically answers the following questions:

1) Who gets your estate – it may not be who you think.

2) When kids get the assets. Answer: 18. That doesn’t sound good does it?

3) Who takes care of the kids – a court appointed guardian chosen by the judge (think legal fees too); and

4) Who manages the kids money – again, a court appointed guardian but only until age 18;

5) Who gets to be the administrator (the executor under a will) – and there are classes of people who may not be qualified and who might fight about who gets to do it (again, think legal fees and administrator fees).

If you’d rather be in control of these and many other issues, thn completing and executing a valid will and/or will and trust is essential.

That process can be easy and inexpensive when compared to the high costs that often result from intestacy.

For a limited time, Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees are offering a free will review or, if you have never had a valid will or trust, a free will consultation. And while there would be fees for completing an estate plan (including a will, power -of – attorney and medical power as well as a living will) there is no charge for the review or consult and there is no obligation on your part while this offer lasts.

To claim a free will review or a free will consult call 610-933-8069 and mention offer code: DaveFreesWillReview. Donna, Beth, or Denise will be happy to schedule you. (more…)

Need a quick overview of the federal estate tax to make this crazy situation make sense? I found a good overview that just takes a few minutes. Since you’re probably from Pennsylvania (most of our clients are from South Eastern Pennsylvania) just ignore the last fifteen seconds on the Ohio inheritance tax. I’ll write a little overview for you on the Pennsylvania Inheritance tax down below.

But for now, click here for more on the current state of the federal estate tax.

The Pennsylvania inheritance tax overview: By: David M. Frees III, Esquire

Transfers on death to a spouse in Pennsylvania are taxed at a zero percent tax rate.

Transfers to children, grandchildren and linear descendants are taxed at 4.5% for Pennsylvania inheritance tax purposes.

Transfers to brothers and sisters are taxed at 12%.

Transfers to charities are taxed at a zero percent rate.

Transfers to all others are taxed at 15%.

There are many nuances, discounts, deductions, and specifics that cannot be covered here. If you’re an executor, make sure to get good advice before filing a form 1500 Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Form.

P.S. Here’s another view on the federal estate tax and the problems created by congressional inaction.

David M. Frees III, Esquire practices law with Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees with offices in Phoenixville, Malvern and West Chester, Pennsylvania. Mr Frees Chairs the Trust and Estate Section of the firm with clients throughout the Main Line, Devon, Wayne, Exton, and surrounding areas.

610-933-8069
dfrees@utbf.com

P.P.S. Want the estate tax and inheritance tax secrets that they don’t want you to know? Do you know the pros and cons of using joint accounts in estate planning? Call for a complimentary consultation or for a free will update. Mention this code avidFrees for the free consult. with David or one of the attorneys at Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees.

What You Don’t Know About Insurance Can Hurt You

Get Your copy for free.

Attorney David Frees and his brother Robb Frees, a Pennsylvania insurance agent and insurance coverage expert, have teamed up to write a new book on the insurance coverage that most agents and insurance companies seem to ignore but your failure to have this coverage could be catastrophic for you or your family.

Most agents make sure that you at least know about a liability umbrella policy. And, both David and Robb agree that you should have an umbrella policy. But, your failure to have this inexpensive coverage might mean the total inability to recover in the event you’re in an accident with an uninsured driver.

This brief and easy to read book walks you through the coverage, and how to make sure that you get the right amount of coverage for you and your family. It is available from www.amazon.com for $16.95 and it’s worth every cent. However, if you’re a reader of our blog, or a client of the firm, you can receive a free copy by visiting www.PAEstatePlanners.com.

If you or a family member find that you have only limited coverage, both David and Robb want to make sure that you contact your agent right away and increase this very affordable and essential coverage under your policy.

So order your copy of the book right now: What You Don’t Know About Car Insurance Can Hurt You – The Pennsylvania Edition.

You can also call 610-933-8069 and request your copy of the book for free while this offer is still available.

When Do I Show My Estate Planning Documents To My Family?
By: David M. Frees III

The question of when, or even whether or not, to show adult or mature children your will or estate planning documents has no easy answer.

The best answer is that it depends.

In this, and a series of brief up coming posts, we’ll explore that question and the pros and cons of each option. In my experience (over 25 years of drafting estate planning documents for families and advising families at all levels of affluence), the answer varies depending on your personal circumstances and the particular documents. My answer, for example about when and how to share a broad durable power of attorney may be different than my answer about sharing and discussing a living will and medical power of attorney.

We will examine when to share the will, when to give an agent a copy of a medical or durable power of attorney, and when to share trusts and other documents.

Today we start with your question about when to share a will with family members.

In the case of wills, many clients never share the particulars of the will. They realize, that this document may change trough time and that who gets what assets may also change. Since no one really needs to see the document before your death, it may be enough to make sure that the family knows how to get your original will if you pass away. If you have only one or two children, and they are both appointed as co-executors, sharing that fact with them may also be prudent.

My clients who do not share the specifics of their wills, or copies of the documents, usually have a memo, or a binder. This documents contains copis of the necessary documents (in case of emergency) as well as instructions, locations or originals, passwords, and related information such as who the accountants, lawyers, insurance and financial advisers are and how to contact them.

More on these issues to come.

David M. Frees III is a lawyer with over 24 years of advising clients in the areas of trusts, estates, estate planning, and related legal matters. He has law offices in Malvern, Phoenixville, and West Chester and serves clients throughout Pennsylvania including Exton, Devon, Wayne, Chester Springs, Ardmore, Berwyn and many surrounding communities.

For a complimentary consultation call 610-933-8069 and mention PAESTATEPLANNERS as the code for your free consult.

What Is A Trust Protector and Why You Might Need One ?
By: David M. Frees III Esq.
Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees

There is a new sheriff in town and the sheriff’s name is the “Trust Protector.” By naming a trust protector, you can select a person, in advance, who can make hard decisions, change the terms of the trust (within certain preset limits and for certain purposes), and who can hire and fire trustees.

The job of the trust protector varies significantly depending on the nature and purpose of the trust. However, there are certain jobs that you may not want to assign to a trustee or a beneficiary and they can instead be assigned to a specific person named as the protector.

For example, it may not be desirable for a child (even an adult child) to be able to fire and replace trustees. However, if a trustee is not performing, it may be important for them to be discharged and replaced without the need and expense of court petitions. So what can you do? If you plan in advance, in steps the trust protector who can make these decisions.

In many cases, you can draft a trust to create the role of trust protector and then give that person the right to review financial transactions, to discharge and replace trustees, to resolve disputes, and more.
This can save money, protect your beneficiaries, limit court intervention, and make sure that the assets are not taxed again in a child’s estate because he or she had too much power over the trust. Trust protectors can also make sure that a corporate trustee’s fees are reasonable and their performance is effective.

For more information on trust protectors and specifically:

How, when and why to create a trust protector,
Who should act as a trust protector, (often lawyers, CPAs and other independent and trusted advisers)
The pros and cons of a trust protector, and
Why the trust protector is more important than ever in a changing tax environment,

please come back to this blog or sign up for our RSS feed to be automatically notified when we publish new articles on this topic.

And, for more information on trusts and trust planning please click here to order our Enhanced Estate Planning workbook.

David M. Frees III
Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees has law offices of it’s Trust, Estate, and Wealth Preservation Section in Malvern, West Chester and Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

These offices provide legal services to clients in the greater Philadelphia area including Wayne, Devon, Berwyn, Malvern, Phoenixville, Exton, and many other local communities.

For a complimentary consultation please call 610-933-8069 and mention PAESTAEPLANNERS for your free estate planning materials and resources.

By: David M Frees III One of the best planning techniques for those with estates of 1 million dollars or more, and especially those with appreciating assets, Short term GRATs, might be a thing of the past soon. House Bill 4849 just passed the US house of representatives on March 24th and would make the minimum term for Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts a minimum of ten years. However, short term GRATs are one of the most powerful and effective estate planning techniques currently available for American Families.

So, if this bill, or a similar bill passes the Senate, a very powerful technique for moving assets from one generation to another without estate or gift taxes will be lost to the American tax payer and to all Pennsylvania residents doing federal estate tax planning.

If you’re interested in GRATs, just search our site for the many articles and information that we have published on this topic. But, as a brief review, GRATs allow you to move a higly appreciating asset out of your estate without paying gift taxes. However, if you die during the GRAT term (which currently can be as little as two years) the assets come back into your estate and get taxed at their current value.

Congress believes that this technique is so effective for tax payers, that if they eliminate short term GRATs, that it could result in significant revenue generation through higher estate taxes.

According to a group called Citizens for Tax Justice, this provision of the bill would raise an estimated $4.5 billion in 10 years…” This group is a lobbying organization that describes its mission as “requiring the wealthy to pay their fair share.”

So, be aware that 2010 may be the last year for the short term GRAT.

If you need assistance in setting up a GRAT, or want to know more about the many advantages of a short term GRAT before they are eliminated by Congress, please feel free to visit this site or to call David M. Frees III at 610-933-8069 or by email at dfrees@utbf.com.

For a free book on GRAT techniques, from Bernstein’s research group, click here.
For a free telephone consultation or appointment for estate planning including GRATs call Donna, Denise or Beth to set up the appointment and mention offer code: GRAT

David Frees and Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees maintain law offices in Malvern, Phoenixville, and West Chester Pennsylvania and serve many surrounding communities including Wayne, Devon, Berwyn, Radnor, Exton, Chester Springs, and others.

By: David M. Frees III, Esquire
Federal Estate Tax Uncertainty

The life insurance industry has a vested interest in how the federal government resolves the current estate tax issues. And as tax payers and consumers so do we. If you’re a Pennsylvania resident with assets including life insurance of over 1 million dollars, how this estate tax issue gets resolved may matter to you and your family. So, I thought that you might find this article published by the life insurance sales industry on estate taxes and the current uncertainty to be interesting. Click here to read more about these uncertain times in estate tax planning and what the insurance industry is saying.

David M. Frees III

Frees maintains law offices in Phoenixville, Malvern, and West Chester. These offices serve clients in many surrounding communities including Exton, Berwyn, Devon, and Collegeville

To update your will, trust, or estate plan to adapt to the uncertain situation with federal estate taxes, call Donna, Denise, or Beth at 610-933-8069 for an appointment. Mention this article and code Spring2010 for a complimentary initial consultation, and free books and reports.

Has it been a while since you last completed or updated your will or trust?

Are you a Pennsylvania resident and would you like to get a complimentary review of your existing will, trust, living will, power of attorney and medical power of attorney?

There is no cost for this service and you have no obligation to hire the firm to make any changes or updates.

At Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees we are providing a Free Will And Trust Review for existing clients and for non clients who are area residents near our offices in Malvern, Phoenixville and West Chester.

If you are one of our clients simply call 610-933-8069 before March 30th 2010 to be scheduled for this complimentary service and mention this code: FREEWILLREVIEW. That is just something that we do for our clients.

If you are not a current client, call today and if you are one of the first twenty-five to call, you can get one of the remaining twenty-five appointments scheduled for our two Will and Trust Review days in April and May. Just mention this code : NONCLIENTWILLREVIEW to get your free appointment.

Why would a law firm provide this service for free?

Well, that’s a fair question. In the Trust, Estate, and Wealth Preservation Section of Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees, all we do is estate and trust planning, elder law, and we help executors and trustees who have had a loved one die.

And, we have local offices in Phoenixville, Malvern, and West Chester that serve many local communities. David Frees, Chairman of the Trust and Estate Section has been serving local communities for over 25 years and his partner Doulas L. Kaune, together with Jennifer Messa and our team of paralegals have been collectivly serving our local clients and families for over thirty years.
Our reputation is built on doing a great job and being well know for doing this work.

Many clients are in fact surprised that they can get estate planning work done by a firm that focuses on that work for less than some trust mills or general practice firms.

And, frankly, we think that many of our clients and others will need updates due to so many changes in the law and in their personal circumstances. So, when we do a will or trust review for free, many existing clients and new clients hire us or pass the word to friends and family memebers.

If you don’t need any changes we’ll tell you and you can rest easy, knowing that your plan is still good.

But, if you need changes, we are available to help and we always quote a fixed flat fee, in advance of any work you tell us to do for you or a family member.

If you don’t like the fee, there is no obligation. But, we think that you will.

Still not sure if you need this complimentary review?

Here are the five questions that you need to think about:

1) Is your will or trust older than five years old?

2) Have your circumstances changed since you last updated your will or trust ?
Do you have new children or grandchildren?
Your heirs are now old enough that they don’t need their inheritance in trust?
Are your assets worth much more or much less than they were when you did your planning?

3) Do you need to change your guardians for children, executors, or trustees?

4) Do you still need federal estate tax planning or can your documents be simplified? In the alternative, since the estate tax is set to drop back to a one million dollar exemption do you now need federal estate tax planning or a flexible disclaimer will or trust that works either way?

5) Was your will or trust prepared by a non lawyer or by a trust mill that has since been investigated by the attorney general for using lawyers that never saw the clients? These wills and trusts often look great and cost a great deal ($1,500 – $5,000) but are often too complex and not customized to your situation. These trusts can actually cost your heirs money but can often be reviked and/or repaired easily and can be replaced with amended trusts that actually do what you want and need without the extra costs and complexity of the older trusts.

After you review these questions if you feel that you want to take advantage of our complimentary will and trust review, call 610-933-8069 to get your spot before there are all booked.
If you’re a client, mention Code: FreeWillReview and if you’re not yet a client mention code: NonClientwillreview

Donna Brownback, Denise Fox and Beth McNulty are all available at 610-933-8069 to help get you one of the spots.

We look forward to seeing you and to reviewing your plan.

P.S. What will you get? When you call for an appointment, if you get one, you will also be sent an Estate Planning Questionnaire. In addition, clients will also receive a free report that helps them to choose executors and trustees. It is important to complete the questionnaire (as much as you can) and to bring it with you to your appointment. This will help the lawyers to make sure that your documents are coordinated with your assets (a common flaw in many plans) and that you have the right type of trusts or other techniques given your level of exposure to estate and inheritance taxes.

P.P.S. Want to get a child or grandchild to do their own will, trust, or estate planning? Learn more about our GOLD Client Plan.

If you do ever hire the firm, or if you’re an existing client, you can upgrade at anytime to our gold plan for a small fee. Being a Gold client allows you to get an additional ten percent discount on your own planning, and you will receive two $250.00 gift certificates that you can give to friends or family members for their own planning. These can be used separately by two people or can be combined and used by one family member or friend even if that discounts their planning to zero. Please note, that Pennsylvania lawyers are ethically restricted when one client is paying for another client’s legal fees. There must be full disclosure both on the gift certificate and at the time of the appointment, and that must be agreeable to the party.

P.P.P.S. What kind of lawyer will I get for free? Again, the free part is the will or trust review. And, you’ll get the help of very experienced lawyers. If you need any work and hire the firm you’ll get the same experienced lawyers. And, because we believe that our gift to the communities and people in the towns where we work, and our commitment to our clients is good for you and for us, (some of you might need revised or updated or new planning and might hire us) you’ll get our most experienced lawyers who practice in the areas of trusts, estates, elder law, and asset protection. Your appointment will be with David M. Frees III, Esquire, (David Frees has AVVO’s highest rating, he is a Superlawyer and has been the Top Trust and Estate Lawyer in Main Line Today Magazine), Douglas L. Kaune Esquire, (Douglas has focuses his practice on trust and estate planning and he is Chairman of the Elderlaw Section of Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees), or Jennifer Messa Esquire. Jennifer is a tax lawyer and an experienced lawyer in the areas of trust and estate planning.

Why Having A Trust Doesn’t Eliminate The Need For A Will In Pennsylvania

If you have used a lawyer to prepare your trust, you will also find that a well structured estate plan will also contain a pour over will.

Why?

Many people pay the extra legal fees for a living trust so that they can place all of their assets into that trust and escape the need to probate a will. However, the mere fact that you have a trust does not eliminate the need for a will. In fact, a plan without a pour over will is a disaster waiting to happen.

If you have created a trust, your will is still the document that will control assets remaining in your name at the date of death. And, even if you are meticulous in changing the title and account names of all of your assets over to the trust, you may 1) miss an asset, 2) inherit or otherwise receive assets which do not get titled into the trust before your death, or 3) become involved in an accident or other lawsuit that results in an award being paid to you (or your estate) rather than your trust.

If that happens, and you do not have a will, you will then have a partial intestacy and the courts will decide where those assets go based on the Pennsylvania intestate laws.

And if you’re the type of person who wants his or her affairs to be organized so that your heirs have lower costs and simplicity, that is not a desirable result.

So what is the solution?

Make sure that your lawyer prepares both a living trust, and a pour over will. The pour over will is a simple document that instructs your executor (only if needed) to take any assets which remain in your name, and which have not been transferred into your trust prior to death, to be added to and distributed under the trust.

Simple. Inexpensive. And, your plan works.

Trust Warning For Living Trusts Purchased in The Last Ten Years:

P.S. Be sure, that if you have a living trust, that was prepared by a non attorney in the last few years, to consider having it reviewed. It may be fine. However, the Pennsylvania attorney general pursued a number of “trust mills” over the last few years who used non-lawyers – or vague references to lawyers that the consumers never saw. These trusts are often presented in customized binders but the documents themselves are very standardized and may not actually state your true intentions. To make matters worse, many of these trust documents are way too complex and might actually cost your estate money rather than save dollars.

Finally, due to a number of changes in the federal estate tax laws, your trust may be able to be simplified to remove estate tax references and techniques that you might no longer need and which might make your estate and trust costs higher for your surviving spouse or children.

You can have your estate plan reviewed by calling 610-933-8069 and mentioning this discount code for a complimentary consultation – Code: Frees2010.

David M. Frees III is a trust, estate, and estate planning lawyer with offices located throughout Chester County including law offices in Phoenixville, West Chester and Malvern.

These offices serve clients in Devon, Berwyn, Wayne, Exton and Chester Spring as well as many other communities.

David Frees is also the Chairman of the Trust, Estate, and Wealth Preservation Section of Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees.
dfrees@utbf.com