MEDICAL DIRECTIVES: YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
August 2023. Q: Do I need a MOLST? A: The MOLST (the Maryland Medical Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment) is a way you can indicate your preferences and intentions about end-of-life care and treatment. For example, you can make it clear that you want, or do not want, CPR. You can be very detailed about your intentions, for example, that you don't want intubation for ventilation, but that you would be OK with the CPAP or BiPAP mask, but not for longer than 2 weeks. These decisions should be thoughtful and reflective, not reflexive. A friend of mine was on "life support" for 8 years before he died, but that "life support" enabled him to fly out to California to visit his son and get to know and to baptize his grandson, to fly to Vancouver...
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED – JULY ’23
July 2023. Q: I'm worried about getting dementia. Do I need to protect myself from my future self? A: That's a good thought. Some of my clients worry about their power of attorney being misused, so they don't want to sign it. But it's really risky to wait until just before you have dementia to sign your power of attorney. You might forget! If you do suffer from dementia, one of the symptoms is often paranoia, and if you were convinced that everybody is out to get you, the last thing you would want to do is sign a power of attorney to let them do it legally! And if your judgment is impaired, you might pick the wrong person - we all have heard stories of frail elders who have appointed exploitive caregivers or manipulative children in their...
BEREAVEMENT: YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
June 2023. Q: My Mom just died this morning. I have no idea what to do next. Can you help? A: I’m so sorry. Thank you for calling. The first thing to do is arrange the funeral and lay her to rest. If she left prearrangements or instructions, that makes things easier; otherwise, think about how she laid your father to rest – maybe that would help understand what she would want. If you already have access to her funds as a beneficiary or joint owner, you can use those funds for her final expenses, but you might have to complete paperwork first. Talk to the bank or broker. Sometimes you can assign life insurance to the funeral home to pay for their services. Some funeral homes will let you pay after the estate is opened. And sometimes, you...
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED – MAY ’23
May 2023. I’m making my daughter my executor and power of attorney. How do I make things easy for her? Make a list of your assets and liabilities like credit cards and mortgage, your accounts and their custodians – banks, brokers, benefits department – and your other relevant professionals – lawyer, accountant, financial planner, insurance agent. If you have online access to your accounts, make sure the passwords are available to her. Sit down with her now and go over your bills, your accounts, your assets and debts. I know that feels like you’re letting her invade your private life, but how else is she going to be able to take care of things when you’re unable? How can she pay your bills if she doesn’t know where your money is? It’s even...
THE POWER OF ATTORNEY GURU. PART 3
April 2023. Comment: “This long power of attorney form doesn’t apply to me. I just have a bank account and a car!” In Maryland, estate planning powers of attorney are long. They have to be! That’s because your power of attorney only gives your “agent” – the person acting for you – the powers you have specifically listed. The power of attorney that simply states that “my agent may do anything I could do” doesn’t work. Put differently, if you don’t specifically enumerate, you don’t effectively delegate. And a power of attorney isn’t just about writing checks and paying bills. It’s about selling your car or your home if you’ve had to move; terminating your cable or satellite contract; getting information about your financial matters and...
THE POWER OF ATTORNEY GURU. PART 2
March 2023. Comment: “I’m not letting anybody take control over me! I’m not signing that paper!” It’s great to keep control of our lives as long as possible, but not at the expense of your wallet, your dignity and your loved ones’ quality of life if you become incompetent. If you have no power of attorney, the only way your loved ones can take care of your needs is to ask the Court be appointed your guardian. That takes months and costs thousands of dollars, and ensures that the Court intrudes on the family for years to come. A power of attorney isn’t about giving up control; it’s about deciding who will be in control when we can’t. It’s hard for some folks to imagine a world that they don’t control, but sometimes it’s out there waiting....
THE POWER OF ATTORNEY GURU. PART 1
February 2023. Comment: “I don’t need a power of attorney. My spouse and I own everything jointly.” It’s true, if you and your spouse own your bank account jointly, either one of you can sign a check or make a deposit, no questions asked. But that’s not all you might need to do for each other. It takes both signatures to sell your car or your mutual funds, or to sell or refinance your house. Just because it’s owned jointly doesn’t mean that either one of you can act without the other. If your spouse has dementia and you need to initiate or change distributions from his or her retirement plan, you have to sign your spouse’s name, and you can’t do that without a power of attorney. Just because you’re the beneficiary doesn’t mean you can...
NEW YEAR’S PLANNING – PART 2
January 2023. Are your parents or your spouse starting to show signs of dementia? Do they have an updated power of attorney for medical and financial decisions? If not, you might need to consider guardianship. Do you have your own business? Have you made provisions for probate avoidance in the transfer of your business interests – stock or LLC membership interests – and assets? Does your power of attorney include the power to handle your business accounts and assets? Be sure to include a list of updated beneficiary and fiduciary addresses, telephone numbers and other contact information with your documents. Include a list of your assets, including custodians, account numbers and contact information. Add digital assets – user names,...
NEW YEAR’S PLANNING – PART 1
December 2022. Because we are time-bound mortals, the change of seasons reminds us of changes in our lives and of their fragility. With the opening of each year comes a new opportunity to consider your estate plan and make sure it is up-to-date – or to make one if you don’t have on already! Have you ever drafted documents at all? If not, you should know that the State’s choices on your behalf are not usually the best ones for you or your loved ones. That should not come as a surprise, but if you fail to plan, you have made the government's decisions your own. Can you find the originals of your documents? Could your family find them? If the originals of your documents cannot be found upon your incapacity or after your death, your well-laid...
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED – NOV ’22
November 2022. Q: My Dad died and his will says I get everything. Can I just go to the Register of Wills to get his bank accounts and car? Can I go to the courthouse to change the deed? A: For better or worse, it’s not that easy. This isn’t like the MVA, where you go and change title. You have to fill out lots of paperwork for the Register of Wills, and for the house, an attorney needs to draw up a new deed. Your Dad’s stuff all belongs to his “estate,” and the only person who can sign deeds or get into his bank account, or sign the title to his car, is the “Personal Representative” of the estate, appointed by the Orphan’s Court. Even after you submit all the paperwork to open the estate, you have to get values on all assets – the house,...
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED – OCT ’22
October 2022. Q: Don’t I need a will to avoid probate? A: Thanks for asking! But wills don’t avoid probate; they CONTROL probate. Anything just in your name when you die, that doesn’t have a living joint owner or beneficiary, passes through probate. Probate is the orderly way we get the stuff deceased people leave behind to living people. If you don’t have a will, your stuff will pass by “intestacy” (a Latin word for “without a will”) to the people the State assumes you’d want to have it. The State’s assumption is sometimes a problem. I’m working on an estate now where the person died without a will, and the house where he and his wife lived was just in his name. The intestate law gives part of the house to his kids, so his wife is having...
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED – SEPT ’22
September 2022. Q: My spouse just died. I want to put my children on my house to protect it, so there’s someone there in case something happens to me. What do I need to do? A: There are several ways to set up the title of your home so that it will pass to your children when you die without probate. We want to be careful that your house doesn’t become available to your children’s creditors, though, so we don’t just want to make your children joint owners. I suggest that we draft a “life estate deed with power of sale” so you have control of the property, with “remainder to your children,” so title passes to them when you die, without the complication, costs and delays of probate. It’s complex, but not complicated; we can make it simple and...