Checklist

Your Post-Honeymoon Legal Checklist

June 27, 2022 By Gratia P. Schoemakers, Esq. Leave a Comment

Your wedding is over, and the day was absolutely perfect. You went away on your honeymoon with your new spouse and had the time of your lives. Now you are back and can breathe a sigh of relief and watch the rest of the years ahead unfold before your eyes. Well, not so fast. Now that your honeymoon is over, there are several things you should be mindful of to make sure that the legal and financial parts of your life properly reflect your newly married status.

What To Do After the Honeymoon

As you start living happily ever after, make sure to attend to these post-honeymoon to-dos during the first few days (or even weeks) after your wedding. This will help you enjoy the memories of your wedding and honeymoon for years to come. The following checklist can serve as a reminder of some, but not all, of the tasks to which you should give your immediate attention:

In addition to the above, if you decide to legally change your name make sure to notify the following institutions:

Meet with a knowledgeable estate planning attorney to discuss the creation of a will or trust, or to update one from before you got married;
Review and update your medical proxy documents and provide copies to your necessary doctors’ offices;
Check and update beneficiary designations on any life insurance policies, 401(k)s, IRAs, annuities, and other investment accounts;
Seek advice from your tax preparer about whether or not you should adjust your with holdings to reflect your new marital status;
Obtain life insurance, if you do not already have coverage, and designate a beneficiary and a contingent beneficiary;
If you have or are planning to move, notify your auto insurer, banks, employer, and anyone else of your new address;
Add your spouse to your group health and/or dental insurance policy, if necessary; and
Change ownership of real property, if you choose to, to reflect your marital status;

Schools;
Employer(s);
Department of Motor Vehicles;
Creditors and debtors;
Social Security Administration;
Passport office;
Insurance agencies;
State taxing authorities;
Telephone and utility companies;
Banks and financial institutions;
Government benefit office.

Contact an Experienced Estate Planning Attorney

We are here to help guide you through the estate planning process and to make sure that the financial and legal aspects of your life correctly match your new marital status. Call or contact us today to learn about how we can help you enjoy your wedded bliss with financial and legal security.

Your Vacation Checklist

June 12, 2019 By Gratia P. Schoemakers, Esq.

You’ve packed sunblock and a beach novel. You’ve planned your itinerary and bought plane tickets. But have you ensured that your estate plan is up to date?

Don’t leave home without making sure your financial health and the future of your loved ones is provided for. It’s even more crucial than getting a pet sitter and locking the front door.

Creating an Estate Plan

If you don’t have an estate plan yet, don’t panic. Now is a great time to connect with a qualified estate planning attorney who can sit down with you and get you started with an appropriate plan for your financial future.

Here are some questions to begin the process:

Do you have a will? An attorney can help you create an accurate and intentional will if you do not already have one.
Have you considered using a trust? Trusts have considerable benefits, from keeping assets safe from creditors to dividing an estate equally without worrying about the status of individual assets.
Are your children protected? An attorney can help you designate a guardian to care for your minor child in the event you are unable to. An attorney can also help you name an adult who will manage your minor child’s inherited property if you pass away. These may or may not be the same people.
Have you considered life insurance? If you anticipate leaving behind significant debt or hefty estate taxes, or if you have small children, you may want to consider a life insurance policy. Knowing your dependents are provided for will give you peace of mind.
Is your business protected? If you own a business, have you named a proxy to manage your interest if you cannot? Do you have a business succession plan? If you co-own a business, have you drawn up a buyout agreement? An attorney can help with that as well.

Pour-Over Wills: A Useful Tool

Considering a trust-based estate plan? It’s a great way to ensure that your assets are divided and protected in exactly the way you want. It can also help your beneficiaries avoid the expensive and lengthy process of probate, when an estate must be organized and distributed through a probate court. But as you may know, gathering the needed documents may be time-consuming.

If you need to complete an estate plan before leaving on a vacation and are unable to fully fund your trust, you may want to consider using a pour-over will in the interim.

A pour-over will stipulates that all assets that have not yet been funded into your trust will be put there when you pass away. Your trust becomes the beneficiary of any assets that you may not have had time to transfer there. In a crunch, it can serve as a stop-gap measure while your trust-based plan is being funded.

Trust, but Verify

Have you already created an estate plan? That’s great! It’s still important to verify that all provisions made in the estate plan are exactly as you want them.

Here are some items to confirm before leaving town:

Are your assets accurately inventoried? Have you left out any important assets or neglected to report changes?
Are your beneficiary designations accurate? Are your assets going where you would like them to?
When was the last time you reviewed your selection of fiduciaries? Being named as someone’s Personal Representative, Successor Trustee, Agent under a Power of Attorney, etc. can be a time consuming job. It is important that you review your selections periodically to ensure that those people are still the best choice to act on your behalf.

Contact Us Today

Estate planning with a trusted attorney is an important part of ensuring your financial health and preserving the legacy you’d like to leave to your loved ones. As you’re preparing for summer travel, don’t neglect your estate plan. We can help you put a plan in place that will reassure you and your family. Contact us today to plan for your tomorrow.

Get In Touch

An Estate Planning Checklist to Facilitate Wealth Transfer

June 11, 2018 By Gratia P. Schoemakers, Esq.

Studies have shown that 70% of family wealth is lost by the end of the second generation and 90% by the end of the third.

Help your loved ones avoid becoming one of these statistics. You need to educate and update your heirs about your wealth transfer goals and the plan you have put in place to achieve these goals.

What Must You Communicate to Future Generations to Facilitate Transfer of Your Wealth?

You must communicate the following information to your family to ensure that they will have the information they need during a difficult time:

Net worth statement, or at the very minimum a broad overview of your wealth
Final wishes – burial or cremation, memorial services
Estate planning documents that have been created and what purpose they serve:
Durable Power of Attorney, Health Care Directive, Living Will – property management; avoiding guardianship; clarifying wishes regarding life-sustaining procedures
Revocable Living Trust – avoiding guardianship; keeping final wishes private; avoiding probate; minimizing delays, costs and bureaucracy
Last Will and Testament – a catch-all for assets not transferred into your Revocable Living Trust prior to death, or the primary means to transfer your wealth if you are not using a Revocable Living Trust
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust – removing life insurance from your taxable estate; providing immediate access to cash
Advanced Estate Planning – protecting assets from creditors, predators, outside influences, and ex-spouses; charitable giving; minimizing taxes; creating dynasty trusts
Who will be in charge if you become incapacitated or die – agent named in your Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care Directive; successor trustee of your Revocable Living Trust and other trusts you’ve created; personal representative named in your will
Benefits of lifetime discretionary trusts created for your heirs:

Fosters educational opportunities
Provides asset, divorce, and remarriage protection
Protects special needs beneficiaries (if properly drafted)
Allows for professional asset management
Minimizes estate taxes at each generation
Creates a lasting legacy for future generations

Overall goals and intentions for inheritance – what the money is, and is not, to be used for (in other words, education vs. charitable work vs. vacations vs. Ferraris vs. business opportunities vs. retirement), and who will be trustee of lifetime discretionary trusts created for your heirs and why you’ve selected them
Where important documents are located – this should include how to access your “digital” assets
Who your key advisors are and how to contact them

How Can Your Professional Advisors Help You Communicate Your Wealth Transfer Goals?

Your professional advisors are well-positioned to help you discover your wealth priorities, goals, and objectives and then communicate this information to your heirs. This, in turn, will prepare your heirs to receive your wealth instead of being left to figure it out on their own and, as statistics have shown, lose it all.

We are available to assist you with figuring out your wealth transfer goals, putting a plan in place to achieve these goals, and effectively communicating this information to your loved ones.

Call or contact our office now to set up an estate planning consultation appointment. We make tough topics manageable to discuss and talk about.