A scary health diagnosis can be emotionally and logistically challenging for many reasons. For instance, how can you take care of your family if you’re physically incapacitated? In addition to working closely with your medical providers, consider these three legal tips:

1.Review your estate plan with your attorney to make sure it is up to date.
If you have an estate plan, review it. Maybe one of your heirs got married or died. Maybe you’d like to add or remove people from your plan. Or perhaps your personal representative is no longer capable of handling your estate. Make sure you have designated alternates for your personal representative, legal guardian, or trustee.
You should also review your estate’s assets. If you live in one of the states that allows for the inclusion of a personal property memorandum, you may be able to revise the distribution of personal property by simply revising your list without amending your plan. If you maintain a separate record of account information and essential documents, take steps to update this as well.

2.Consider passing control to your successor trustee/agent so you can focus on your health.
If you find yourself overwhelmed by having to split your focus between managing your health and managing day-to-day responsibilities, consider relying on your successor trustee. By granting your successor trustee the authority to manage the assets in your trust, you can alleviate significant stress and save time. Remember that you trusted this person enough to manage your assets in your absence, you should be able to trust them to manage your assets while you are alive. Keep in mind that you can always take control back if you want in the future.
If you do not have a trust, but other financial matters are consuming your time, consider appointing an agent under a financial power of attorney to assist with managing your finances.

3.Make sure your current assets are properly coordinated with your estate plan and/or funded trust.
Evaluate your assets to make sure nothing is forgotten. Consult with your estate planning attorney and tax professional to make sure you’re avoiding the common mistake of assets not being properly titled. In order for the trust to be funded, the assets need to be titled in the name of the trust. Also, review any beneficiary designations to ensure they match up with your overall estate plan. Because the distribution will be made according to who is listed on the beneficiary designation form, you want to make sure that this does not conflict with your estate plan.
Managing your health should be your top priority. Now is the time to lean on those you trust. If you need any assistance with ensuring your affairs are in order, please contact us to arrange a meeting.

We often think of retirement accounts as monolithic resources. It is easy to see why – we spend our working years socking away money for our future. Unfortunately, though, the rising cost of healthcare can quickly deplete even the largest of retirement funds. Because retirement accounts tend to be the largest assets in a person’s estate, it is crucial that proper planning is done to handle one’s retirement fund.

The first thing you need to do is ensure you have the assets you need to take care of yourself and your family. With the increased costs of healthcare, it is crucial you have what you need after you retire and can manage your medical expenses on a fixed income. While we would all hope for a quiet retirement, finances can be unexpectedly stressful. In addition to budgeting out a financial strategy to keep you comfortable during retirement, we can also work with your financial advisor to help you develop a strategy for distributing any leftover funds upon your death.

In addition, the rules surrounding the taxation of retirement accounts can be difficult to understand, further complicating a potentially stressful retirement experience. Upon retiring, you will have to take a required minimum distribution, which will be subject to income tax. Most people are used to having income tax withheld from their paychecks, but sometimes overlook that they will still have a similar tax liability for their retirement account.

It is also important that your strategy for passing on the account takes into consideration the tax consequences. As mentioned above, because these accounts are created with pre-tax contributions, the required minimum distributions made to the owner are subject to income tax. When these funds are distributed to a designated beneficiary after the owner’s death, there are still income tax concerns regardless of who is named as the designated beneficiary. It’s why working with a trusted financial advisor and attorney is so important to enjoying your golden years. With these experts on your side, you’ll rest easy knowing you’ve taken care of your family in the present and future.

Ultimately, you will benefit most from ensuring your retirement plan and estate plan align. By working with your trusted financial advisor and us, you can ensure the goals you have for your retirement and for your estate do not contradict one another. For example, you may have designated one beneficiary for your account when you signed up for your 401k but may now wish to change who or how the beneficiary will receive your assets upon your death. Or, you may have originally anticipated the excess funds from your retirement account being used to care for an aging loved one, but due to the market, you may need to find additional sources to cover these anticipated expenses. Meeting with your financial advisor and us is crucial to making sure your family and loved ones are not stuck in financial hardship after you have passed.

When it comes to retirement, it can be difficult to know what you do not know. If you are concerned about the state of your retirement account, assets and estate plan, schedule a meeting with your financial advisor and us today. With so much on the line, it pays to do your homework, connect with professionals and ensure your final wishes are documented and respected.

Today, I want to tackle two very important questions I receive often: “What is a Healthcare Agent?” and “How do I choose the right person for the job?”
Yet, before I answer these questions, let me start by saying that as an estate planning attorney, I work with families all the time who are literally barred from making medical decisions on their loved one’s behalf because they didn’t have the proper documentation in place when an accident or incapacity occurred.
It’s a devastating situation and, unfortunately, one we are seeing more and more of as strict privacy and HIPAA laws are put into place.
For that reason, I always advise every adult (including 18-year-olds who can no longer rely on mom or dad for help!) to educate themselves on this important subject and ultimately put a healthcare directive in place so someone always has legal permission to act on your behalf in an emergency.
What Does a Healthcare Agent Do?
If you’re not familiar with the role of a healthcare agent, this is essentially the person who will carry out your wishes regarding things like life-support, resuscitation, and feeding tubes if you are incapacitated and unable to speak for yourself. Your healthcare agent will also handle the day-to-day decision making regarding your medical care including (but not limited to):
Medication administration
Blood and blood products
Diagnostic tests
Dialysis
Surgery
Long-term care (e.g., nursing home assistance, home healthcare)
Hiring and firing medical personnel
Determining who can (and cannot) visit you during your hospital stay
Getting court authorization to obtain or withhold treatment if your wishes are not honored by a doctor or other healthcare professionals
How to Choose a Healthcare Agent
The choice of a healthcare agent requires very serious consideration. While it may initially seem like an easy choice, this is actually one of the most common areas people get stuck on when trying to complete their estate plan.
Remember, your healthcare agent could be called on to make some of the most difficult and heart-wrenching decisions they’ve ever faced in their life. The job could also be time-consuming, stressful, and emotionally draining depending on the nature of the emergency.
For these reasons, I would advise you to really take your time and thoroughly evaluate all possible candidates for the job. Here are the top three qualifications I ask my clients to consider when narrowing their search:
1. Location — In a true medical emergency, your healthcare agent may be called upon to make round-the-clock decisions until you are stable. If that occurs, you’ll want someone who lives close enough to meet with doctors and visit the hospital whenever necessary (which of course may also mean excluding people who travel a lot on business or have demanding jobs).
2. Medical Understanding — While your healthcare agent certainly doesn’t need a Ph.D. in science, you do want someone who is capable of understanding your medical condition and the choices presented to him or her by the doctors overseeing your care. That may also require you to weed out candidates who are overly squeamish or emotional about medical subjects to ensure the best decisions are made on your behalf.
3. Loyalty — The person you choose as healthcare agent should feel a sense of loyalty to you and your wishes to ensure your preferences are fully carried out in the face of emotional stress, personal disagreement, or pressure from other family members to make decisions contrary to those you have specified.
Of course, if after going through this brief checklist you still have questions about how to choose a healthcare agent, what an agent can do for you, or even how to limit the scope of your agent’s power during a medical emergency, I invite you to call our office to schedule a planning session. During this session, we can discuss your options and make sure you truly have the right documentation in place to protect your medical wishes if the unthinkable occurs.

It can be difficult to predict how much you will receive from Social Security, especially if you are more than a few years away from retirement. But familiarizing yourself with how your benefit will be calculated can help you budget for retirement and even boost your future Social Security payments.

Here’s how to estimate how much you will get from Social Security in retirement.

Consider the averages. The average Social Security benefit was $1,413.37 per month in June 2018. The maximum possible Social Security benefit for someone who retires at full retirement age is $2,788 in 2018. However, a worker would need to earn the maximum taxable amount, currently $128,400 for 2018, over a 35-year career to get this Social Security payment.

Familiarize yourself with the calculation. Social Security payments are calculated using the 35 highest earning years of your career, and are adjusted for inflation. If you work for more than 35 years, your lowest earning years are dropped from the calculation, which results in a higher payment. Those who don’t work for 35 years have zeros averaged into the Social Security calculation and get smaller payments.

Factor in your retirement age. Your age when you start Social Security plays a big role in your payment amount. Your monthly Social Security benefit is reduced if you claim payments before your full retirement age, which is typically age 66 or 67, depending on your birth year. You can boost your monthly payments for each month you delay claiming between your full retirement age and age 70.

Subtract Medicare premiums. Many retirees have their Medicare Part B premiums deducted from their Social Security checks. The standard Medicare Part B premium is $134 per month in 2018, although some retirees pay a different amount. Medicare Part B payments are prohibited by law from decreasing Social Security payments for existing beneficiaries, so a Medicare Part B premium hike can’t be more than your annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.

Factor in income tax withholding. Many retirees have to pay income tax on their Social Security payments, especially if they have other sources of retirement income.

Create a My Social Security account. You can get a personalized estimate of your future Social Security benefits at various claiming ages by creating a my Social Security account. These estimates are based on your actual earning history and tend to be most accurate for those approaching retirement age. Your estimates might change from year to year, especially if you have a significant salary change or gaps in your earnings history.

 At The Levin Law Firm, we do not just draft documents; we ensure that you make informed and empowered decisions for yourself and the people you love.It can be difficult to predict how much you will receive from Social Security, especially if you are more than a few years away from retirement. But familiarizing yourself with how your benefit will be calculated can help you budget for retirement and even boost your future Social Security payments.

Here’s how to estimate how much you will get from Social Security in retirement.

Consider the averages. The average Social Security benefit was $1,413.37 per month in June 2018. The maximum possible Social Security benefit for someone who retires at full retirement age is $2,788 in 2018. However, a worker would need to earn the maximum taxable amount, currently $128,400 for 2018, over a 35-year career to get this Social Security payment.

Familiarize yourself with the calculation. Social Security payments are calculated using the 35 highest earning years of your career, and are adjusted for inflation. If you work for more than 35 years, your lowest earning years are dropped from the calculation, which results in a higher payment. Those who don’t work for 35 years have zeros averaged into the Social Security calculation and get smaller payments.

Factor in your retirement age. Your age when you start Social Security plays a big role in your payment amount. Your monthly Social Security benefit is reduced if you claim payments before your full retirement age, which is typically age 66 or 67, depending on your birth year. You can boost your monthly payments for each month you delay claiming between your full retirement age and age 70.

Subtract Medicare premiums. Many retirees have their Medicare Part B premiums deducted from their Social Security checks. The standard Medicare Part B premium is $134 per month in 2018, although some retirees pay a different amount. Medicare Part B payments are prohibited by law from decreasing Social Security payments for existing beneficiaries, so a Medicare Part B premium hike can’t be more than your annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.

Factor in income tax withholding. Many retirees have to pay income tax on their Social Security payments, especially if they have other sources of retirement income.

Create a My Social Security account. You can get a personalized estimate of your future Social Security benefits at various claiming ages by creating a my Social Security account. These estimates are based on your actual earning history and tend to be most accurate for those approaching retirement age. Your estimates might change from year to year, especially if you have a significant salary change or gaps in your earnings history.

 At The Levin Law Firm, we do not just draft documents; we ensure that you make informed and empowered decisions for yourself and the people you love.It can be difficult to predict how much you will receive from Social Security, especially if you are more than a few years away from retirement. But familiarizing yourself with how your benefit will be calculated can help you budget for retirement and even boost your future Social Security payments.

Here’s how to estimate how much you will get from Social Security in retirement.

Consider the averages. The average Social Security benefit was $1,413.37 per month in June 2018. The maximum possible Social Security benefit for someone who retires at full retirement age is $2,788 in 2018. However, a worker would need to earn the maximum taxable amount, currently $128,400 for 2018, over a 35-year career to get this Social Security payment.

Familiarize yourself with the calculation. Social Security payments are calculated using the 35 highest earning years of your career, and are adjusted for inflation. If you work for more than 35 years, your lowest earning years are dropped from the calculation, which results in a higher payment. Those who don’t work for 35 years have zeros averaged into the Social Security calculation and get smaller payments.

Factor in your retirement age. Your age when you start Social Security plays a big role in your payment amount. Your monthly Social Security benefit is reduced if you claim payments before your full retirement age, which is typically age 66 or 67, depending on your birth year. You can boost your monthly payments for each month you delay claiming between your full retirement age and age 70.

Subtract Medicare premiums. Many retirees have their Medicare Part B premiums deducted from their Social Security checks. The standard Medicare Part B premium is $134 per month in 2018, although some retirees pay a different amount. Medicare Part B payments are prohibited by law from decreasing Social Security payments for existing beneficiaries, so a Medicare Part B premium hike can’t be more than your annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.

Factor in income tax withholding. Many retirees have to pay income tax on their Social Security payments, especially if they have other sources of retirement income.

Create a My Social Security account. You can get a personalized estimate of your future Social Security benefits at various claiming ages by creating a my Social Security account. These estimates are based on your actual earning history and tend to be most accurate for those approaching retirement age. Your estimates might change from year to year, especially if you have a significant salary change or gaps in your earnings history.

 At The Levin Law Firm, we do not just draft documents; we ensure that you make informed and empowered decisions for yourself and the people you love.