Although not too many Virginians have expansive Vineyards, many Virginians do have significant Timber property.  One of the key areas of concern over these properties is how to best pass the property to the next generation.  Another concern, particularly with timber property, is how to keep the owner’s non-property assets insulated from liability resulting from the property.  If you are interested in learning more about planning and preservation options, please take a look at the following article in Private Wealth Magazine, or call our office. 

http://www.fa-mag.com/component/content/article/38-features/10898.html?Itemid=180

- Spencer

Now that 2011 taxes are done, what should we do with the piles of paper left over?

Kiplingers has a helpful article on how long we should hold on to various financial papers:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/long-keep-tax-records-080000094.html

P.S.- Toss your old (revoked and replaced) Wills and Powers of Attorney as well.  Avoid having your family confused by finding both current and old documents!

- Dan

JGB is proud to announce that Jeremy C. Johnson has been elected to the postion of 1st Vice President of the Virginia Peninsula Estate Planning Council for 2012-2013.  Please visit the VPEPC website to learn more about this and the organization.

http://www.peninsulaepc.org/

This is a very informative article by MARILYN GEEWAX on NPR.org

Walk through any nursing home, and your first thought might be: "I need to take care of Mom myself."  Few people want to turn over a loved one to institutional care. No matter how good the nursing home, it may seem cold and impersonal — and very expensive. But making the choice to provide care yourself is fraught with financial risks and personal sacrifices...

One of the most important decisions anyone can make when creating an estate plan is the selection of their successor Trustee(s).  In a revocable living trust (RLT), these are the people who will take over your financial/business affairs upon your disability and/or death.  Unfortunately, I feel that many individuals approach this decision from the wrong direction.  Too much weight is often placed on a candidate’s personal business success and/or technical ‘smarts.’  Although these things are important, I advise clients that there are three inherent qualities that you want in your successor trustee that are not as much a learned skill; but instead, a hard wired part of their being.  These three are as follows: 1) absolute honesty; 2) dependability; 3) and the ability to take counsel from others.  All of the technical skills and information required to administer your trust can be learned (or purchased in the form of professional assistance of CPAs, Financial Advisors and Attorneys); however, if your successor trustee does not have the three inherent qualities I described, all of the technical prowess in the world may not be enough to protect your beneficiaries from mismanagement of trust assets.  At JGB, we take the time to help each client work through their respective choices for successor trustees so that they can intelligently select the appropriate command and control system within their estate plan.

- Jeremy

Under the Garn-St. Germain Deposity Institution’s Act of 1982 a mortgage lender may not exercise a due on transfer option when a mortgaged property is transferred to a Revocable Living Trust.  Unfortunately, many mortgage lenders have interpreted this act to only apply to a primary residence, and not other mortgaged properties like vacation homes.  One option, although not preferable, is to leave the property outside the Trust.  The property is then subject to probate, and not controlled by the terms of the trust.  Another common option for dealing with a troublesome mortgage lender is to utilize a “Pocket Deed”.  This is a standard deed transferring property to the Revocable Living Trust, which simply has not been recorded at the courthouse after execution.  The property transfer is effective upon execution, but since it is not recorded with the court, the due on transfer option with the mortgage institution is not triggered.  Careful consideration should be given to using any of these options on a mortgaged property.

-Spencer 

It’s sometimes very difficult for my clients to figure out which beneficiaries will get their “stuff”? I have seen clients paralyzed to the point of doing nothing by the analysis of which daughter gets their engagement ring or the whether to give their prized Quail shotgun to their best friend or to their child who doesn’t hunt.  Thankfully, my client’s feelings and indecisiveness regarding their funerals are typically not as much of a quandary.  Just like everything else with estate planning, my clients just want to ensure their last wishes are carried out to their specifications. 

Written instructions are usually the best way to carry out one’s wishes.  Instructions can be as simple as wanting to be buried in a military cemetery, to as complex as the type of flowers, hymns and Bible verses for the service.  Another step in ensuring one’s wishes are carried out is to prepay funeral and disposition services.  In Virginia Code § 54.1-2825 it states someone can authorize a specific person to make the disposition of remains decisions on their behalf.  This is especially important if it’s likely that family members will fight over things.  It’s always a better idea to get it written down, rather than leave things up to chance.

- Spencer

I was recently asked by a financial advisor if I had any suggestions on how they could approach their own parents about Elderlaw and the need  for estate planning.  As we continued to discuss this issue, he informed me that many of his clients/peers were expressing similar concerns and a common frustration that they did not have useful information available on this topic.  This spurned me to look at the public resource information available to all on the Virginia Peninsula Estate Planning Council website.  I found a number of useful blogs and articles including this one on topic (see link).  Enjoy!

Addressing parents’ elder-care issues

- Jeremy

The Partners of JGB are all proud to be members of the Virginia Peninsula Estate Planning Council (VPEPC).  There is useful information and tools available to the public on the VPEPC's website.  Please take a moment to review the website and the dedicated professionals from various disciplines who have dedicated themselves to the field of estate planning.

http://www.peninsulaepc.org/

- Jeremy