Blog & Resources

While it is not a requirement, naming alternative beneficiaries in your will and in your beneficiary designation forms is a good idea.

Estate planning is the process of making a plan from today until your death, and if done correctly, makes plans that can benefit your heirs long after your death.

Many people mistakenly believe estate planning only involves having a will drafted by a Philadelphia estate planning attorney. While having a will is an important step, a will by itself might not be able to address all of your unique tax and family issues. A proper estate plan involves an examination of your family, any other persons or charities that you may want to benefit at your death, as well as all your assets.

If you have life insurance, you likely have determined that if you die there is a financial need that must be addressed by your absence. Because of this determination, you pay a small amount each year in premium to the life insurance company for the guarantee that if you die a larger sum of money will be delivered to the named beneficiary.

All wills filed with the Philadelphia Register of Wills are public records. The Philadelphia Register of Wills has records going back to 1924, and all records in the Philadelphia Register of Wills office are open and available to the public.

Case included in selected Pennsylvania cases involving trusts and decedent’s estates

One of Attorney Glen Ridenour’s estate litigation cases has been selected for publication by the Pennsylvania Fiduciary Reporter. The case, in the Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County, deals with the Estate of Robert T. Fawley, Sr., deceased.

Read the full case in PDF or Word format.

As the “Boomer Generation” ages, the United States’ elderly population has become the most rapidly growing segment of our population. In 2010, the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) reported that the population of people age 65 and older in the United States had reached 40.3 million, or 13% of the total population. This number will only continue to rise and the NCEA has projected that by 2050, this population will grow to 20%.

As the elderly population continues to increase, the concerns for interest and asset protection have increased as well. According to the Elder Law Advisory, 48% of nursing home residents have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and the NCEA reports that approximately 5.1 million American elders have some type of dementia. Because their conditions can leave them with symptoms of confusion, they become more susceptible to manipulation and can be more vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and neglect. Unfortunately, approximately 90% of these abusers are family members.

Crafting an estate plan for a client means listening to what the client wants, explaining options to the client and then drafting a plan to meet the option selected. At times, a client’s circumstances require imaginative ideas. Here are some examples of imaginative estate planning that Klenk Law has utilized recently.

1. Protectors:
It remains a mystery to me why more estate planning attorneys do not use Protectors. A Protector is a person or persons you appoint to oversee a trustee with the power to fire and replace the trustee without the need of an attorney or a court hearing. No court hearing or attorney is necessary? Perhaps that is the reason why estate planning lawyers don’t use them? I use them in almost every trust. Even the most trusted person or bank can have problems, and if these problems negatively affect the trust, the Protector can “protect” the beneficiary without months of litigation.

Decades ago, when I started my practice as an estate-planning attorney, there were rumblings about how modern medicine was changing the way people died. For most of human existence death came quickly from an illness or injury about which physicians could do nothing. Now, advances in medical knowledge allow us to battle death, giving us more time with our loved ones. But this same gift often makes the dying process a long, slow struggle against an incurable disease or untreatable injury. Sometimes, after a long struggle with illness and with full knowledge that death is certain and the future holds nothing but suffering, a person will decide to voluntarily stop eating and drinking (“VSED”), which hastens the inevitable end.

Every modern medical advance to make our lives better brings with it new challenges and problems we must address.

Rightfully so, much emphasis is being put on utilizing Gift Giving strategies that are scheduled to disappear on January 1, 2013. But when considering these strategies, don’t forget gift strategies that have worked in the past and continue to be cornerstones of most estate plans.

Take Advantage of The Annual Gift Exemption: When congress created the Gift Tax to plug loopholes that existed in the Federal Estate Tax, they created several categories of gifts that were considered “good gifts”, not subject to the gift tax. One of these exemptions is an annual gift to any number of persons. That rate is now adjusted for inflation, and for 2013 is a maximum of $13,000. Couples can lend each other the exemption so together can give $26,000 to any number of individuals. These gifts are then excluded from the estate and pass Gift and Estate Tax free to the recipient.¹

If you are an art collector interested in giving a piece of art to a charity, what factors should you consider in order to maximize your income tax deduction?

Short Answer: If a person as a collector contributes highly appreciated art purchased and held over one year to a qualified public charity and reports the contribution along with a supporting appraisal (if the art exceeds $5,000.00 in value) the person will avoid recognizing the built in capital gains, avoid paying inheritance and estate taxes and the person will be able to deduct the full fair market value of the donation as of the date of the contribution.

Long Answer: The Tax Code encourages the contribution of art to tax exempt organizations by allowing deductions against income for the gift. The size of the deduction will depend on several factors.