Redkey Gordon P.C.

Really? Captain obvious

http://blogs.findlaw.com/legally_weird/2012/05/naked-unicyclist-arrested-for-distracting-tx-drivers.html

Stats on Causes of Death in America

See where boating accidents, law enforcement intervention, firearms and other unexpected events caused deaths at abnormally high rates. Lesson? Get your estate planning in order; you never know when your time will come to an end.

Death comes in many variations. It’s hard to know how one will meet their own demise.

A recent issue of Time magazine discussed cause of death statistics in an article titled, "The Surprising Ways Americans Die in all 50 States."

For example, in Michigan, coronary artery disease killed 35 out of 100,000 people, while nationwide only 20 of 100,000 people die from this.

The article says that flu mortality rate was abnormally high in colder states like Maine, Wyoming and the Dakotas, but the coldest state–Alaska–had unusually high deaths from boat and motor transportation accidents. HIV killed 35 out of 100,000 people in DC, which is more than eight times the national rate of four.

Included in the last category are thousands of deaths of unknown cause, listed by the CDC as “unspecified events of undetermined intent.” These were unusually common in six states, like Maryland with 6,588 mystery deaths.

You can take at least some of the mystery out of this by planning your estate with Robert A. Gordon of Redkey Gordon Law Corp, an experienced estate planning attorney. Although we don’t know exactly how the end will come, you can give some comfort to your loved ones in knowing that they will be cared for and that your assets will be distributed according to your wishes.

Reference: Time (May 18, 2015) "The Surprising Ways Americans Die in all 50 States"

Failing to Update Beneficiaries May Benefit Your Ex

Fran had just learned that her deceased husband Ed’s life insurance proceeds were going to be paid to his ex-wife Sally. As Fran found out from her lawyer, beneficiary designations can be the trump card of estate planning.

You heard that right. The ex-wife Sally will get the life insurance proceeds. It doesn’t matter what the will says in these circumstances. With certain financial instruments the beneficiary designations have authority to control the asset disposition regardless of other provisions.

A recent WMUR article, titled “Money Matters: The trump card of estate planning,”sets out a handful of good pointers to remember.

As we’ve just read, assigning and frequently reviewing your beneficiary designations is a critical part of estate planning. Those assets whose beneficiary designations “trump” any wills or estate directives include the following:

• Individual and group life insurance
• Traditional and Roth IRA’s
• Qualified retirement plans, such as 401k’s
• ESOPs (Employee Stock Option Plans)
• Contractual rights under deferred compensation plans
• Employment contracts

Remember that making a change in your will or your trust doesn’t automatically make changes to all of your assets listed in those documents. Talk with an estate planning lawyer to cover all of the bases. You want to make sure that your beneficiary designations are updated and in sync with your overall estate planning strategy and its documents.

Here are a couple of other thoughts: always name primary and contingent beneficiaries, and when you make any changes to these documents, get a confirmation from the receiving institution that the changes were actually made and reflect your wishes.

Finally, retain copies of your beneficiary documentation, as it might be some time before these materials are needed. You want to make sure that the paperwork can be found easily.

Again, it’s wise to speak to Robert A. Gordon of Redkey Gordon Law Corp, an experienced estate planning attorney with your questions regarding beneficiary designations and to get sound advice on your estate planning.

Reference: WMUR (May 21, 2015) “Money Matters: The trump card of estate planning”

Senate Approves Bill to Ensure Veterans Have Easier Access to Medical Care

The bill relaxes a rule that makes getting specialized care from local doctors difficult for some veterans in rural areas.

The Associated Press investigated this new legislation in a recent article titled “Senate tweaks health law to boost specialized care.”

If this bill is passed by the House and signed into law, it would mark the second change in 2015 to the so-called “40-mile Rule.” That designation is the boundary requiring veterans to demonstrate that they live at least 40 miles from a VA health site in order to obtain private care.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., thinks that the VA was deliberately interpreting the 40-mile Rule to deny veterans needed care; however, the VA recently tweaked the rule. It now measures the 40 miles by driving distance, rather than in a straight line. Moran, who’s the sponsor of the Senate bill, said it "puts the veteran first and provides the fix the VA says they need to make certain that veterans are not dismissed or forgotten just because of where they live."

Lawmakers have been working to make changes in recent months. Many far fewer veterans were receiving treatment offered under the Veterans Choice law than were originally anticipated. As you know, this law was adopted last year after the VA scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking health care and falsified records covering up delays.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, was quoted by the AP as saying that the approved change would "ensure veterans can receive care outside of the VA health care system if they face geographic or travel burdens, have a medical condition that would impact their ability to travel or for other factors that may be determined by the VA."

VA Benefit paperwork can sometimes be hard to figure out. Contact Robert A. Gordon of Redkey Gordon Law Corp, an experienced elder law attorney who understands these issues and can help.

Reference: The Associated Press (May 22, 2015) “Senate tweaks health law to boost specialized care”

Life Event Checklist for Updating Your Estate Plan

At some point, everyone needs to consider estate planning. It’s time to create an up-to-date estate plan when you experience one of these life events.

Think estate planning isn’t for you? Think again! And it’s not just a one-time deal; changes in your life should result in changes to your plan, so be ready to make some updates.

The Richland Source notes in a recent article, titled “Do you need an estate plan?”, that it’s time to create an up-to-date estate plan when you have one of these life events:

• Marriage, divorce, or you re-marry;
• You adopt or have a child;
• There’s substantial change in the value of your assets;
• You and your family move to another state;
• You want to change the executor or administrator of your will;
• An heir dies;
• An appointed guardian is no longer able to assume those responsibilities;
• New estate planning or tax laws become effective;
• You’d like to make a bequest in your will to a charity or organization;
• You have more than $1 million in assets; or
• You have a business you’d like to protect.

The article emphasizes that a successful estate plan will have a will, power of attorney, a plan for minors (such as trusts and guardianship designations), life insurance, other trusts, and plans for charitable giving.

Get in touch with Robert A. Gordon of Redkey Gordon Law Corp, an experienced estate planning attorney to help with creating (or updating) your estate plan right away!

Reference: Richland Source (Mansfield, OH) (May 20, 2015) “Do you need an estate plan?”

Retiring Soon? 5 Pre-Retirement To-Do’s

Don’t wait until the very last minute to make sure you are prepared, says Michael H. Milarski, a partner and senior financial advisor with Signature Financial Planning.

Are you sure you’re ready to retire? You may have a few items to address before your golden years can begin.

A recent Fox Business article, titled “5 Things to Do Now if You’re Near Retirement,”says that these are the five important things to work on in the five years before you retire.

Calculate Your Post-Retirement Expenses. In addition to calculating how your monthly bills will line up with your projected income, you also should include all of the things you want to do once you stop working. Things like travel, hobbies, and spending more time with family are probably on many future retirees’ lists. Many things like these will cost money.

Create a Plan to Avoid a Potential Lapse in Medical Coverage. Medical insurance is critical and only becomes more important as we get older. The Affordable Care Act dictates that if you lose your coverage for any reason other than a qualifying event, you won’t be able to get health insurance until the next annual open enrollment period. The article cautions you to make sure you don’t have a gap in medical coverage between your date of planned retirement and when you become eligible for Medicare.

Create a Plan for When to Tap Into Your Retirement Income. Calculate how and when to access your retirement savings to create an income stream that will last the rest of your life.  This will include examining your monthly retirement budget and funding that budget with your available retirement income sources, such as Social Security, pension, retirement investments, savings, and so on. The article suggests you develop a plan to initiate all of your retirement income sources in the best possible way.

Update All of Your Estate Planning Documents. A will, living will, and power of attorney are essential and must be reviewed for changes in your situation, like if your children are now grown and/or you have accumulated more assets. An attorney can help create or update your estate plan so that your assets pass to your beneficiaries exactly as you want and in the most tax-efficient manner possible.

Look into Tinkering with Your Life Insurance Portfolio. When your kids are grown with families of their own, there may be less of a need to continue paying your life insurance premiums. The article says that if you have an existing life insurance portfolio that was created some time ago, make sure it’s still the right solution for you and your family.

Speak with Robert A. Gordon of Redkey Gordon Law Corp, an estate planning attorney to get more help with your retirement plans.

Reference: Fox Business (May 22, 2015) “5 Things to Do Now if You’re Near Retirement”