NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Warren, Ohio/USA, April 6, 2012—On Monday, April 9, 2012, at
6:30 pm the Nordonia Hills Branch Library welcomes Warren, Ohio Attorney and
Family Wealth Counselor, Jack Alpern, as its guest presenter.  Alpern will address the topic, “How to Make an Inheritance Meaningful and Significant.” The local attorney is no stranger to this subject.  With the impending release of Alpern’s latest book, How to
Leave a Legacy of Meaning, the attorney presents the material for which he is nationally renowned.

Participants will learn the how-to’s in creating an inheritance which is built to last, that
which is properly protected from being squandered by heirs.  Many inheritances are spent or otherwise wasted within one year.  Alpern will further explain how to make that long-lasting inheritance into one of meaning and significance, posing questions to his audience, such as, “how do you wish to be remembered when you die?”

The second of two books Attorney Alpern has co-authored, Legacy Wealth Planning: A
Guide to Preserving Your Family Wealth, scheduled for release by April 20.

Monday’s presentation is set to take place at the Nordonia Hills Branch of the Akron-Summit County Public Library system, located at 60 South High Street, Akron, Ohio  44326.  For further information or to register for the event, please call 330.467.8595
or e-mail nhweb20@akronlibrary.org.

Attorney Alpern is the founder and owner of The Alpern Law Firm, located at 103 West Market Street, Suite #202, in downtown Warren, Ohio. The firm also has offices in Boardman, East Liverpool and Middlefield, Ohio.  For further information,
to register for The Alpern Law Firm’s online reports or free seminars, to
schedule an appointment or book Attorney Alpern to speak on behalf of your
organization, please call (954) 594-7985 or 1-(800)-307-5544, and ask for
extension 115, or please visit www.alpernlaw.com and www.lifeandlegacy.tv.

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The Alpern Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

After 40 years in the practice of estate planning law, these are the four words which frighten me the most when I hear them from my clients:  “I know my kids.”

That is usually followed by, “If I give them my assets now, they’ll keep them and give them back if I need them,” or “I won’t need to go to a nursing home; my kids will take care of me.”

Really?  Even if children are loving, caring individuals who would give back the assets you gave to them, children get divorced or sued.  In that case, what you were counting on them giving back to you may disappear to strangers.  In addition, children have busy lives of their own, often attending to job(s), children and all of their activities and many other responsibilities—leaving them unable to care for you even if they wanted to.

Thus, a decision as to whether or not to make gifts to children or to count on them to take care of you should be made carefully and with the help of an experienced estate planning attorney.  Don’t utter those four words without careful consideration as to all of the consequences.

The Alpern Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Congress has afforded all of us an unprecedented—and probably never to be seen again—opportunity to make significant gifts to our children (and grandchildren), thereby reducing the estate taxes which could hit our families when we die. For the remainder of 2012, each of us is permitted to make gifts totaling up to $5.0 million to our offspring without any federal gift taxes.  That amount will fall to $1.0 million for each of us on January 1, 2013.  On paper, it appears that making significant gifts this year makes sense, if we are concerned that our estates will exceed $1.0 million in 2013 and thereafter.  However, does such a strategy make sense for you and your family?

First, it is important to remember that you must keep enough assets in your name so that you can provide for yourself as you age.  In doing that, remember that a change in your health could dramatically increase your cost of living.  Relying on children to take care of you if you run out of money carries with it great risk.  Some children can barely afford their own living expenses; others simply don’t care about their parents.

Secondly, any gift can also affect your ability to have your nursing home costs paid by the state in which you live if you run out of money.  Ohio has a 5-year “look-back”rule, which provides that you are not eligible for Medicaid (the State funds which pay the nursing home costs for those who run out of money) if you make a gift within five years of applying for Medicaid.  The period of your ineligibility depends upon the size of the gift.  So, while making gifts to reduce your estate may seem like the right thing to do, it could have bad consequences for you if you end up in a nursing home.

The conclusion:  it is really important to get competent advice from an Estate Planning and Elderlaw attorney before beginning any type of gifting strategy.

Jack N. Alpern, Esq.

The Alpern Law Firm

The Alpern Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Why is it that when you enter a hospital they always ask if you have a Living Will or Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care?  Those documents, referred to Advance Health Care Directives, give to the health care providers and your loved ones your wishes regarding the termination of life support under the proper circumstances. Those circumstances vary from state to state.  Under Ohio law, they may be executed if two physicians have indicated in writing that you are either (1) terminally ill (going to pass away soon) or (2) permanently unconscious (as in a coma).

The Living Will is self-executing:  if you sign it and the circumstances described above exist, your wishes will be carried out, without anyone else required to act (although the persons you designate will be notified by the providers).  The Power of Attorney for Health Care requires the decisions of both the two physicians plus the individual you select before your wishes may be carried out.  In the event that you have signed both of those documents, the Living Will trumps.

Which of those alternatives is right for you?  This should be carefully discussed with your
estate planning attorney.  However, failure to have either or both of those documents could result in you being kept alive when there is no hope of recovery.

The Alpern Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Many parents agonize over which household items (e.g., collections, antiques, family heirlooms, jewelry, etc.) they should leave to certain of their children when the parents pass away.  They spend hours trying to decide what would be an equal distribution of such items.

Here are some important concepts to remember:

1.  “Fair” does not necessarily mean “equal”.  Some children may be more deserving of certain items, in light of their continuing care and devotion to the parents.  Although we parents are seized with the age-old proposition that we must treat our children equally, nowhere in the Old or New Testaments does it say that.  I’ve looked, and it’s not there.  Do your best to be fair, not equal.

2.  Those items may mean more to the parents than they ever will to the children.  How do you know?  Ask them!  Have a frank discussion with your children which might begin with, “When we’re gone, are there any items from our home which would mean a great deal to
you?”  You might just be surprised with the responses you get.

3.  A possible solution to the dilemma is to have the children draw straws at the appropriate time and then choose one item of your belongings, rotating the selection process until no items are left or until no one wants any more of the items.  After that selection process,
they might just agree to swap some items.  In any event, no one should feel that they were treated unfairly with such a system.  It is, however, to define what an “item” is.  Does an item mean a dining room suite or just one piece of that furniture?  This should all be spelled out in your last
will or trust.

Resolving such matters now can reduce or eliminate friction among family members.

The Alpern Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Parents often believe that their children will come to an agreement over the division and distribution of the household goods, family memorabilia and personal effects which they have accumulated over the years when the parents are gone.  However, many families find themselves embroiled in arguments over those very items. “Grandma’s pie plate was promised to me!” one family member will argue. “No, Mom always told me that would go to me,” another chimes in.

These situations are preventable with good estate planning.  Some parents will discuss these matters with their children (and grandchildren) before they have an estate plan prepared, and those conversations can be very telling. Parents often tell me that they were astonished at how much the “little stuff” around the house meant to their offspring.  The economic value of the items doesn’t matter as much as the sentimental or emotional attachment to those items, in many cases.

Spelling out specifically what items will pass to which child may ward off such arguments and save the family time, expense and anxiety when the parents are gone.

The Alpern Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

After a recent speaking engagement where I had been talking  about how to make an inheritance mean something to the inheritors, a man
related a story to me:

Many years ago, he had been a new car salesman.  A man, wife and children came into his dealership and said they HAD to purchase one of the most expensive cars on my lot, since “we just inherited a lot of money.”  We completed the transaction, and they drove off in their new car.

Several months later, they came back and said they HAD to  sell that same car back to me.  I pointed out that I could only offer them considerably less than they had paid for it, since it was now a used car (and in bad condition).  They said they understood, and we completed that transaction.  As they were leaving I said, “Do you mind if I ask why you purchased such an expensive car and then came back so soon to sell it back to me at such a loss?”  The husband explained that after they had spent their entire inheritance, they needed to sell the car so that they could “get back on welfare.”

What a shame!  That same inheritance could have been used for so many positive purposes – to purchase a new, affordable, home, start a small business, get an education to improve the quality of life, etc.  Why does this happen so often?

My conclusion is that the heirs so often squander their inheritance because they were unprepared to receive it.  If we spend more time teaching our children and grandchildren about what it takes to accumulate an estate –hard work, determination, focus—perhaps what they receive from us will actually mean something.  Demonstrating  NOW the true value of wealth, being able to help others less fortunate, can also give meaning and significance to the inheritance our loved ones receive.

Is it time to revisit your estate plan?

The Alpern Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The cost of long-term care, particularly skilled nursing care, is devastating to many estates. That cost, averaging $7000 per month in northeast Ohio, can erode or completely eliminate the assets which you have accumulated over a lifetime of work. One of the more devastating aspects of this cost for American families is not leaving enough behind to pay for funeral and burial expenses. Under Ohio law, if you prepay your funeral and burial costs in a manner such that you cannot get the money back, that money is not a “countable resource” for Medicaid qualification purposes.

That means that the money which you have prepaid for funeral and burial costs does not have to be spent down for in order for your family to pay for the cost of a nursing home. That relieves your family from the pressure of having to scramble to find enough money to pay for the final expenses. Paying for a funeral in advance can be accomplished in two ways: first, you can prepay it at a funeral home. Secondly, you can prepay it using a “funeral trust”, thereby setting aside the money in a safe way for the payment of these very necessary expenses.

The bottom line is, paying in advance for funeral and burial—an expense which is inevitable for all of us—is just one more way to give you and your family peace of mind.

The Alpern Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

We all need to think about prepaying our funerals.

Prepayment insures that those funds will be there for family when the need arises, even if we end up in a nursing home.

The Alpern Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

FROM THE DESK OF:

Attorney Jack Alpern

After practicing estate planning law for 40 years and having dealt with many families after loved ones have passed away, I continue to be stunned by the amount of family conflict which arises about “who gets what”
when it comes to household goods and personal belongings.  Many of us do not realize that the division of so-called little things – jewelry, collections, paintings, pictures, tools – can fracture families when parents pass away.  Arguments often erupt even before the departed loved one is buried. Many times, families never speak to each other
after the dust settles.  How sad!

All of this can be avoided by clearly spelling out in your estate planning documents – wills or trusts – how these specific things should be disposed of.  The expression “fair does not necessarily mean equal” often comes to mind for me in advising clients how these items should be divided.  Can’t decide who should get what?  Well, one solution is to let the children draw straws to see who gets to select an item first, followed by a selection of one item at a time by each person.  It is important to remember that you must define an “item”; that is, does an item mean just one piece or does it apply to a set of pieces (for example, a dining room table and chairs)?  Another way to handle the situation is to
hold an auction among family members, with each person bidding, and the highest bidder wins.

In any event, it is also important to spell out in your will or trust whether or not the value of the item selected by an heir gets subtracted from his or her share.

When it comes to disposing of personal possessions at death, the worst thing we can do…is nothing!

The Alpern Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.