The White House has announced that Obamacare will cover breast cancer prevention drugs for women who have an increased risk of breast cancer due to age, family history or other factors. Such “chemoprevention” drugs will be covered without a co-pay or other out of pocket expense to the patient. This change has resulted from a recommendation from the U.S. Preventative Task Force, composed of independent volunteer physicians and academics, for the exact purpose of recommending which preventive services to offer patient. These preventive methods are much like estate planning, as risks are evaluated to determine what plan is necessary to mitigate or prevent an undesirable result. If you are at “risk” for sickness, incapacitation, or death, you will benefit from the following documents:

1. Living Trust – the best way to maintain control over all of your assets and distributions, while avoiding the hassle, expense, and lack of privacy associated with probate.

2. Assignment of Property – this is exactly that, assigning your property to your trust. In other words, placing your property into the trust. This includes both real & personal property. A trust does not do anything for you if there is no property in it.

3. Last Will & Testament – this is your traditional will that is used upon death to distribute property to beneficiaries, specify last wishes, and name guardians for minor children.

4. Durable Power of Attorney – this allows you to designate and authorize someone to legally act on your behalf, in the event that you become incapacitated.

5. Combination Living Will & Designation of Healthcare Surrogate – this outlines important healthcare decisions in advance, and appoints a healthcare surrogate to make healthcare decisions for you when you become unable to do so yourself.

While you often cannot prevent incapacitation or death, you can always be prepared for it! For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?S

According to statistics published by the University of Scranton, approximately 45% of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions, and the most popular goals are health related (approximately 38%). While weight loss books are flying off the shelves, and gym attendance is at an all time high, we should not forget to pre-plan for sickness as well as health. It is critical to have an asset protection plan in place in the event of a long-term care illness, such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, stroke, etc. A properly drafted irrevocable trust can be utilized to ensure future eligibility for Medicaid, in the event that you are in need of long-term care.

The first hurdle in Medicaid eligibility planning can be avoided by simply starting early. All transfers made subsequent to January 2010 have a five year look-back period. Any gift made within 5 years of the application results in a penalty period; effectively delaying your ability to receive Medicaid coverage. This can result in an unwelcome depletion of your assets, so it is important to plan ahead.

A medicaid trust effectively allows the Settlor (the creator of the trust) to make a transfer to the trust, while maintaining control over who will receive income from the trust principal. With an outright gift, the donor gives up complete control, and with it the ability to determine a successor beneficiary. An irrevocable trust, on the other hand, allows the settlor to name successor beneficiaries; whether it be a charity, a continuation in trust for the benefit of descendants. Furthermore, the Settlor can retain the right to receive income. This decision should be made with caution, as any interest the Settlor retains in the trusts income will be counted for Medicaid eligibility purposes. Even if the Trustee does not make distributions to the Settlor, the power alone is sufficient for inclusion when calculating the applicant’s income. There are a variety of factors that should be weighed when making decisions regarding distributions to the Settlor; thus, it is important to have the assistance of an attorney that can design the trust to enhance the benefits and mitigate the pitfalls in relation to your exact estate.

Ultimately, a Medicaid Trust allows you to maximize future eligibility for Medicaid, while protecting your assets,  mitigating the loss of control, and ensuring an inheritance for your beneficiaries. 

So Lose Weight, Lift Waits; but Don’t Wait to Plan Ahead! ! For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?SM

Tween heart-throb sensation, Justin Bieber, has announced that he will be officially settling down into retirement; and after 21 years of bieber-fever, can you blame him? Perhaps he’s merely taking a bow from wooing the pre-teens of the world with his angelic vocals, to try out his acting chops in the next Nicholas Sparks romance drama “I Belieb in Love.” Regardless of where his early retirement leads him, the same remains true: retirement is a life event that requires a reevaluation of your estate plan. An estate plan is a living entity; as factors in your life change, your plan should be altered accordingly. After settling into retirement, you may want to reconsider if the following documents are meeting your current needs and wishes.

• Living Trust & Assignment of Property – a living trust allows you to distribute your assets while ultimately avoiding probate (the legal process of determining whether a will is valid). Re-examine your income stream and how you will want your assets distributed after your death. This is a good time to look at your entire estate and determine if you will need additional tax planning.
• Last Will & Testament – this is your traditional will that is used upon death to distribute property to beneficiaries, specify last wishes, and name guardians for minor children. You may want to change who you have designated as a guardian, or burial requests.
• Durable Power of Attorney – this allows you to designate and authorize someone to legally act on your behalf, in the event that you become incapacitated. As time goes on, you may want to change who will have the power to make financial decisions on your behalf. Furthermore, you want to ensure that your power of attorney document provides “super powers” to allow the agent to make decisions regarding retirement accounts, public benefits, gift exemptions, disclaiming property, and similar provisions that have financial consequences to your estate.
• Combination Living Will & Designation of Healthcare Surrogate – this outlines important healthcare decisions in advance, and appoints a healthcare surrogate to make healthcare decisions for you when you become unable to do so yourself. You may decide that you will not want any life prolonging procedures in the event that you have one of the following conditions: (i) terminal condition (ii) end-state condition; or (iii) persistent vegetative state. In this case, you want to ensure that you have such wishes outlined in your living will.

Be a Belieber in planning ahead, and update your estate plan! For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?SM

A rescue operation of 90 U.S. Marines and sailors have joined the relief efforts in the Philippines in the wake of the massive typhoon that has left behind a death toll that is projected to reach approximately 10,000.

It is events such as these where we are reminded of the unexpected nature of devastation, recognizing that you can never be too prepared for tomorrow. If you wish to aid the victims of the disaster stricken country, there are a variety of charities taking donations that will go directly to coordinating disaster relief. The Philippine Red Cross is accepting donations online, keeping donors updated on relief efforts through Facebook and Twitter. Save the Children has said that it will reserve 10% of donations received to help prepare for future emergencies. In this spirit of crisis mitigation, consider whether you are prepared for the unexpected. Do you have a health care surrogate in the event that you become incapacitated? Do you have a guardian for your children? Do you have a valid will that will distribute your assets specifically according to your wishes, while avoiding unnecessary taxes or the costs associated with probate? If any of these questions are answered with a “no,” you may want to consider created an estate plan with the following documents:

1. Living Trust – a living trust has become increasingly desirable due to its ability to avoid probate (the legal process of determining whether a will is valid). If you are married, you may want to designate yourself and your spouse as co-trustees, so that you have full control over the property while you are still alive. Side Note: such control does have tax consequences, so you will want to discuss this with your estate planning attorney.

2. Assignment of Property – this is exactly that, assigning your property to your trust. In other words, placing your property into the trust. This includes both real & personal property. A trust does not do anything for you if there is no property in it.

3. Last Will & Testament – this is your traditional will that is used upon death to distribute property to beneficiaries, specify last wishes, and name guardians for minor children.

4. Durable Power of Attorney – this allows you to designate and authorize someone to legally act on your behalf, in the event that you become incapacitated.

5. Combination Living Will & Designation of Healthcare Surrogate – this outlines important healthcare decisions in advance, and appoints a healthcare surrogate to make healthcare decisions for you when you become unable to do so yourself.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?SM

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation.

 SET YOUR EYES on a rare celestial sight this Sunday, as the sun is briefly blocked by a hybrid solar eclipse. This eclipse is a “hybrid” because it will start as an annular eclipse, creating a “ring of fire” around the sun, before it morphs into a total solar eclipse, completely blocking the sun. Although Kenya offers the best front row seats to view this hybrid solar eclipse, it can be seen on the East Coast of the U.S. at 6:30 a.m., or live online via the Slooh Space Camera.

Take a moment to visualize our beautiful South Florida sun completely blocked by the moon. The probate of your estate is much like such an eclipse. Although the suns rays are still effective through the moon, you lose your greatest benefit – light. In just the same way, probate can block the administration of your estate with delay, headache, and hefty expenses. Thus, you are not receiving the full benefits of your estate plan.

The best way to avoid a total, hybrid, or “ring of fire” estate plan eclipse is to incorporate a pour-over will and trust into your estate plan.  A will coupled with a trust effectively bypasses probate. The pour-over will takes all of the property that passes through the will, and funnels it into the trust. The property is then distributed to the trust beneficiaries pursuant to the terms of the trust.  Think of the pour-over will as a safety net that catches all of the assets that were not properly transferred into trust. This effectively removes all of the property from the Last Will & Testament, thereby leaving nothing to be administered through probate.

Don’t let the solar eclipse block your benefits, plan ahead! For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?SM

In the spirit of Halloween, and all that is frightening, let us take a look at some of infamous celebrity horror stories that have resulted from a lack of proper estate planning.

What better way to start this topic off than with a story of Jerry Garcia, leader of the band the Grateful Dead. Although Garcia had a Last Will & Testament in place, it’s provisions were ambiguous, leading to a series of challenges that were probably not resolved according to his intent. Furthermore, Garcia had named his third wife as both an executor of his estate and as a beneficiary, yet she was to look out for the interest of his second wife, and four of his children that he had with other women. This resulted in the second ex-wife suing the estate, and ultimately receiving only $1.5 million of the $5 million Garcia promised her. It is important to clearly express your intent in all of your estate planning documents. Furthermore, you do not want to name an executor of your estate who has any conflicting interest with other beneficiaries.

While the Elvis Presley costumes are running rampant during this Halloween season, let them be a reminder that a Last Will & Testament is not sufficient in itself for a complete estate plan. The King of Rock n’ Roll left a $10 million estate to his heirs, who ended up only receiving about 10% of it. The fees associated with probate alone cost his estate nearly $2 million. If Presley would have set up a pour-over will, that filtered all of his assets into a trust, he would have been able to avoid probate.

We are all familiar with the story of Anna Nicole Smith, the stunning hot-mess that married 89-year-old businessman, J. Howard Marshall. Marshall had executed his will just days before marrying Anna Nicole, and passed away the following year. The provisions of the will named only one beneficiary, and it wasn’t Anna Nicole. She challenged the will, but after a series of appeals, never received a dime (just this year, the court awarded sanctions to Smith’s daughter). When Anna Nicole died from an overdose (six months after her first son died and second child was born), she left behind a will that excluded her newborn daughter & left everything to her deceased son. Furthermore, the will stated that it would not include after born children. There are quite a few take-aways from this love-story: (1) if you do not want your spouse/child/etc. to be a beneficiary, you should specifically exclude them in your will (rather than merely failing to make any provisions for them); (2) if you have children from a previous marriage, you need to be very cautious in drafting an estate plan to ensure that they will be provided for; (3) if you experience any changes in your family relationships, you need to review and potentially change your estate plan immediately.

This Halloween, remember these techniques to avoid your own estate planning horror story! For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?SM