Blog & Resources

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My caregiver has been with me for over two years and is a saint. I want to give her a gift in my will, but I am worried my children will think that this was her idea and try to stop the gift. What do you suggest?

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My father has been diagnosed with the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s. He is having some memory issues, but is still doing very well on his own with one exception. My brother has always been the black sheep of the family. He has never held a steady job. He recently declared bankruptcy and has been pressuring my father to give him money and to change his will to give my brother more money. My father and my deceased mother’s wills have always divided their estate equally between the four children. My father has told me that he does not want to change his will, but that he is worried that as the Alzheimer’s progresses, he may give into the pressure my brother is putting on him. How do I protect my father from my brother’s undue influence?

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My adult daughter is a Special Needs Child who has always lived in Burlington County, New Jersey. She will likely always live here and always need care. She is currently eligible for and using Medicaid. When I die, I want to leave her some money, but I don’t want to disqualify her for Medicaid. What can I do?

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: Last year, my mother died in Chester County and named me as beneficiary of her life insurance. As my children were the contingent beneficiaries, I decided to disclaim the inheritance, so the insurance money passed to my children. I was recently in a car accident. If I am sued, can they claim that life insurance money?

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My only asset is a large individual retirement account (IRA). I am 79 years old and am worried that, in the next few years, I may have to move into assisted living or a nursing home. Can I move my IRA into an Irrevocable Trust to shelter it from creditors?

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My wife’s and my estates are worth about $3,000,000, including a one million dollar life insurance policy on my life. At my death, my wife will receive the benefits from that policy. Upon both of our deaths, our assets pass to my son. Now that the federal estate taxexemption is over five million dollars, does an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust provide me any benefit?

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My partner is much older than I and I am worried about the costs of carrying for him in his old age. Would long term care Insurance be a good idea?

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: I want to loan my son some money at a low rate, but I do not want to create a fight between him and my other children at my death. What do you suggest?

Interfamily loans can become the source of much conflict between the children of a deceased parent. I find the best way to defuse the situation is to document everything very clearly, to keep the family informed about the loan, and to address the loan in your will.

Documenting the loan can be very straightforward and the loan terms can be written out on one or two pages.

If you have named your children as beneficiaries of your individual retirement account (IRA), you have likely made a mistake that exposes the IRA to your children’s spouses, to their creditors and to easily avoidable future inheritance and estate taxes. Forming and naming an IRA Trust for your child as the beneficiary easily corrects this mistake.

Congress requires that all qualified retirement plans—including IRAs, SEP-IRAs, 401(k) plans, and 403(b) plans—must allow an IRA Trust to be named as a beneficiary. By doing so, Congress allows you to form an IRA Trust for your child that allows the Inherited plan to remain tax-deferred.

At Klenk Law, we are often asked to incorporate our clients’ religious principles into their estate plans. Recently, we have noticed a significant increase of inquiries regarding Sharia Compliant Wills, which is an excellent topic for discussion.

Source of Principles

The four sources for the principles that guide Sharia Compliant Wills are:

the Qur’an,
Sunnah,
Ijma, and
the Qiyas.