A LEGAL GUIDE ON LIVING WILLS

The information below describes your legal rights concerning health care decisions and living wills. It explains your legal right to make decisions about your own health care under New Jersey law, and it tells you how to plan ahead for your health care if you become unable to decide for yourself because of an illness or accident.

1. Why should I consider writing a living will?
A serious injury, illness or a mental incapacity may make it impossible for you to make any health care decisions for yourself. In these real life situations, those responsible for your care will be forced to make these decisions for you. A living will is simply a legal document that which provides information for your treatment preferences to those caring for you, helping to insure that your wishes are respected even when you can't make decisions yourself ......

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A Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document giving another person or institution the right to do certain legal acts or tasks for another person (the Principal).  This document may be one of the most important in an Estate Planning.  It will save significant time and money if circumstances necessitate its use.  A person giving another Power of Attorney can make it very broad (General POA) or can limit it to certain acts ( Limited POA). The person giving another a Power of Attorney does not

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Beneficiary Forms

Forgetting Your Beneficiary Forms May Defeat Your Estate Plan

The failure to correctly complete the forms that designate the beneficiaries of your life insurance policies and retirement plan accounts may undermine your entire estate plan. Here are a few tips on doing it right....

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Death Tax Planning In New Jersey

As of this writing, we are in a period of uncertainty regarding the future of the federal estate tax. Although the House of Representatives has repeatedly voted to end the tax, the Senate has repeatedly voted to continue the tax. Many individuals have their own ideas about what will happen, but the truth is that nobody knows. If tax planning is an issue, flexibility is the key to a successful tax reduction strategy. Even if both houses of Congress and the President agree to end the federal tax, planning to reduce New Jersey Estate and Inheritance taxes must be considered...

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Irrevocable Life Insurance

CONSIDER AN IRREVOCABLE LIFE INSURANCE TRUST (ILIT)
TO REDUCE ESTATE TAXES

Insurance on your life will be included in your taxable estate if either (1) Your estate is the beneficiary of the insurance proceeds, or (2) You possessed certain "incidents of ownership" in the policy within three years of your death...

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Planned Giving Techniques

Supporting your house of worship or favorite charity (exempt entity) through gifts is a great way to reduce income and death taxes. Gifts may include cash and cash equivalents, securities, insurance policies, retirement plan assets, personal property and real property. Subject to rather liberal restrictions, you may deduct annual donations of money and short-term capital gain property to charity, up to 50% of adjusted gross income (AGI). Long-term capital-gain property is limited to 30% of AGI. In subsequent years, you may deduct the value of gifts in excess of these limitations.

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Durable Power Attorney

Use A Durable Power of Attorney To Avoid Problems

Although it does happen, it is a rare event when I suggest that a client not sign a Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA), a document that creates a legal, enforceable relationship between the person who signs it (known as the "principal") and the person who acts for the principal (known as the "agent," "attorney-in-fact," or "personal representative"). It is important to note that a DPOA is freely revocable at any time before you become incapacitated. After that, a judge who finds cause may revoke the authority granted in the DPOA.

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WILLS AND TRUSTS PROTECT YOUR FAMILY

WILLS AND TRUSTS PROTECT YOUR FAMILY

The primary purpose of Wills and Trusts created in your Will, but not funded until after your death, is protecting your beneficiaries from themselves and creditors. Trusts created in your Will are called Testamentary Trusts.

A By-Pass Trust is a great way to reduce estate taxes but it can also provide a surviving spouse with income while preserving trust principal for children of the current or a prior marriage. The By-Pass Trust may also be used to assure that wealth is responsibly used for the benefit of minor and adult children. The family, spendthrift, asset protection and special needs provisions described in the following paragraphs may be included in your by-pass trust.

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Trusts – Questions and Answers Introduction

Question 1: What is a trust?

Answer: A trust is a legal relationship among persons that requires: (1) a person who creates and funds the trust (trustor), (2) a person who benefits from the income and principal in the trust (beneficiary), and (3) a person who manages the property in the trust and distributes income and principal according to the terms of the trust (trustee). Think of it as a contract. The governing instrument is the writing that contains the relevant provisions.

Question 2: What is the purpose of a trust?

Answer: There are many purposes for trusts. Each trust is different. Primarily, the purpose of the trust depends on what the trustor wants to accomplish. The goals of the trustor dictate the way a trust is drafted, i.e. the drafter will write provisions designed to accomplish the trustor’s goals within the limits of the applicable law.

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Probate F.A.Q.'s

What is Probate?

Probate is the process by which your last Will is determined to be your final statement and confirms the appointment of the person or institution you have named to administer your estate. The term probate is also used in the larger sense of probating your estate. In this sense, probate means the process by which assets are gathered and applied to pay debts, taxes and expenses of administration, and distributed to those designated as beneficiaries in your Will.

The following is a simplified outline of the general probate process: .....

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Are there different types of Wills?

There are many types of Wills:

Holographic Wills are entirely handwritten, dated, and signed by the testator. A Living Will, Medical Directive or Health Care Directive is one that authorizes the continuance or cessation of life-sustaining medical treatments from an individual who is incapable of making that decision due to debilitating circumstances.

Who should make a Will?

Every adult person should consider making a Will. Each year a large number of people die

without   Wills, leaving major decisions in the hands of the states of New Jersey or New York.....

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How does a Trust work?

Trusts are the process by which the grantor transfers legal ownership to a person or institution (called the trustee) to manage the property for the benefit of another person (called the beneficiary).

Trusts create a fiduciary relationship between the trustee and the beneficiary.

The trusteemust act solely in the best interests of the beneficiary when dealing with the trust property. If a trustee does not live up to this duty, the trustee is legally accountable to the beneficiary for any damage to his or her interests. .....

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