One of the benefits of creating an estate plan is that you get to determine who inherits your property after you die. If you don’t take this step your property might, like that of New York real estate developer Roman Blum, be inherited by your state. In Mr. Blum’s case, it appears as if the man’s entire $40 million estate is going to be inherited by his home state of New York.

Roman Blum died in 2012 at the age of 97. He and his wife, who died in 1992, left behind no children or any identifiable relatives. Mr. Blum was a Holocaust survivor and after his death a state administrator, who had been assigned to handling the case, found no surviving relatives anywhere in the world. Under New York law, if no relatives can be found within three years after person’s death, the entire estate will be inherited by the state of New York.

While such cases where states actually inherit the property of the deceased residents are rare, all states have laws that allow for this process. When you die without a last will and testament, your closest family members will inherit your property under the laws of intestacy. State intestacy laws determine who stands to inherit under such circumstances, and in the event when no relatives survive you, the state itself will become your legal heir under a law known as escheat.

Unless a living relative can be found, the Blum estate will become the largest single intestate estate in New York history to transfer to the state.

You can learn a lot more about ensuring you leave an inheritance by attending our next free legacy wealth planning seminar. Contact our office for registration details.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Many estate planning attorneys will tell you that one of the most underutilized estate planning tools available to a lot of people is the giving away of lifetime gifts. Like inheritances, giving lifetime gifts is subject to key tax provisions that, once you understand, you can devise a plan to take advantage of. If you haven’t already talked to your attorney about developing a gift strategy you should do so soon, but here are three tips you’ll want to keep in mind.

Tip 1: Understand your limits.

A lifetime gift strategy needs to be based on current gift and estate tax laws. Your attorney will tell you what the current laws are, and once you know the limits of what you can, or should, give you can make an appropriate plan.

Tip 2: Identify recipients.

The gift tax laws allow you to give a maximum amount of lifetime gifts to individuals. However, you shouldn’t feel compelled to give the maximum, especially if there are a lot of people you want to give gifts to. It’s best to come up with a list of people who you want to give lifetime gifts to and then determine the appropriate amount to give to each.

Tip 3: Maximize gift giving.

The lifetime gift rules apply to individuals, meaning that both you and your spouse can give gifts and still meet the exemption limit. If you have a lot of assets you will want to ensure that your gift giving plan takes a consideration both the amount you can give, as well as the amount your spouse can give.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

While there are many people who have taken the time to create an estate plan and devote time every year to keeping it current, others are not so conscientious. Some people created their estate plan years ago and have not taken any time to review it since.

While reviewing your plan usually isn’t on the top of your year’s to-do list, if you haven’t updated it recently you will want to do so as soon as possible.

If you don’t remember, the early part of 2013 saw some fairly important changes in estate planning, especially when it comes to the federal estate and gift tax rules. While Congress and the president argued, they eventually came to an agreement that has a long-lasting impact on estate planning. In 2013, it’s now possible for individual married couples to protect $10.5 million in assets from estate or gift taxes, or even more if you plan properly.  However, many states, including New York, allow you to protect far less.

So, if you created an estate plan years ago when the federal estate and gift tax exemptions were much lower, or if your assets have changed or increased in value, it’s time to review your plan and see if you can take advantage of the new higher exemption.

Additionally, the top estate tax rate was also changed to 40%. Though this is not as high as some prior years, it is higher than it has been recently. If you created a plan that was using a higher or lower level as a factor in your calculations, you’ll also want to speak to your estate planning lawyer to see if there any benefits you can derive by planning around the new rate.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If you grew up in the United States during the 50s and 60s, especially if you were an adolescent boy, the name Annette Funicello conjures up immediate images of a fresh-faced, lively girl who appeared on your television set every weekday as one of the original members of the Mickey Mouse Club. Ms. Funicello, after spending the last several decades suffering from multiple sclerosis, passed away in on April 8 at the age of 70.

When she joined the Mickey Mouse Club in the 1950s she was only 12 years old, but as the years went on America watched her grow up. The popular program became a huge hit with adolescents and, after it ended, lead to Funicello signing a contract with Disney studios. After that, she became an even bigger star.

She had two top 10 singles, one in 1959 and one in 1960, and her film career quickly took off once she began making “beach” movies, often with popular costar Frankie Avalon. The two appeared in several movies together, such as Beach Blanket Bingo and Bikini Beach.

She also had sucess in television, but by the mid-60s her more humble goals saw her get married and raise a family of three children with her then husband and former agent Jack Gilardi.

Funicello and Gilardi divorced in the early 80s, and in 1986 she married Glen Holt. Then, in 1987, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and revealed the diagnosis publicly in 1992.

Annette Funicello is survived by her three adult children, her husband Glenn Holt, and her former husband Jack Gilardi.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Obtaining and maintaining long-term care insurance is an expensive undertaking, so be sure you gather as much information as possible before you commit to a plan. The following paragraphs contain three things that you should know about long-term care insurance.

First, while purchasing this insurance is not right for everyone, you should know how your care will be paid for if you forgo purchasing insurance but wind up needing long-term care. If this occurs, you will be paying for your care out of your own pocket, for as long as your personal money tree bears fruit. Then, after you’ve dwindled your assets down to $14,000 (although your house isn’t part of this tabulation), you may qualify for Medicaid; if you do, the government will begin to pick up the tab for your care.

Second, the costs associated with this insurance are high; therefore, if you have waited until the last moment to begin building your retirement, or you’re just not sure whether not you can afford even a moderately healthy retirement, then this is one cost that you cannot afford to bear. How expensive is it? If you and your spouse are around 55-years-old, long-term care insurance will cost you anywhere between $2,000 to $6,000 a year, every year, until you either lose or use your coverage.

Third, this is not like ordinary insurance. This insurance requires you to pick a specific amount of coverage, then once the plan pays out that amount, the golden egg disappears and you’re left to pay for care the same way as anyone else would.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Life insurance has many varieties of policies, and each variety has its pros and cons. This flexibility makes life insurance an ideal form of estate planning. Some of the different varieties and uses of life insurance are:

1) Term life insurance is a short-term policy, generally 5 to 10 years. Term life insurance offers a low monthly premium, although it does not accumulate a cash value, even though the premiums typically increase each year.

2) Whole life insurance has a death benefit for the life of the insured, and it accumulates a cash value you can borrow against. The premiums are initially higher than term insurance, but they become comparable as the insured ages.

3) Survivorship life insurance policies insure two lives, usually a husband and wife, and benefits are paid out after both insured persons die.  The premiums are usually lower than a single-insured’s life insurance policy, and can be variable, universal or whole life insurance.

4) Universal life insurance has flexible premiums, an adjustable death benefit, and accumulates a cash value.  Although the accumulation value can fluctuate over time, the policy offers significant tax advantages for the beneficiaries.

5) Variable life insurance policies accumulate cash value, but they are much riskier. The policyholder invests the cash value accumulated by the policy into an investment account of their choice.  Although it can have a high return, it bears the risks of the market.

It is best to discuss your estate planning goals with a licensed broker to determine which type of policy best meets your needs to establish a plan for your beneficiaries.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The first step in deciding to make an estate plan isn’t necessarily calling up the first lawyer you find on the Internet and asking him or her to help you create a plan. The attorney you select should be someone with whom you feel comfortable, especially when you consider that the estate planning process will often require you to think about some fairly personal issues. To find the attorney that best suits you, your needs, and your individual circumstances, you should develop a plan. Here’s what you can do.

Step 1: Make a list of lawyers.

You should find a number of attorneys in your area who have experience with estate planning issues. Call their offices and schedule a meeting where you can go in and speak to the attorney in person.

Step 2: Make a list of questions.

The attorney should be willing to answer questions you have, but don’t expect lengthy advice about your legal situation. The questions you should ask include such topics as how the attorney works, what you will be expected to do, and, of course, how much you can expect pay.

Step 3: Take notes.

After meeting with each lawyer you should write down notes about how you felt about the interaction. Would the lawyer be someone with whom you feel comfortable enough to discuss personal issues? If not, perhaps you need to look elsewhere.

On the other hand, if you feel comfortable with someone, you should go ahead and plan another meeting so you can get started on creating your plan as soon as possible.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Estate planning often includes legacy planning, the practice of leaving behind not only assets for your family members, loved ones, or charities, but also creating a plan that will allow other people to remember you and your life in a positive way. Legacy plans seek to instill your values and leave behind something that’s often far more important than money or property.

Legacy planning can take many forms, but perhaps no legacy plan in recent memory has been as unique as the one created by Santa Fe art dealer Forest Fenn. His story recently came into the media spotlight after Mr. Fenn self-published a book in which he revealed that he took about $1 million worth of gold and historic artifacts, placed them in a 40-pound chest, and buried the chest somewhere in the wilderness.

In his self-published book, Mr. Fenn wrote a poem that leaves clues about the location of the chest, guaranteeing that anyone who finds it will be the rightful owner.

Mr. Fenn had been a very successful art dealer in Santa Fe when he was diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer. The diagnosis changed his outlook on life and, realizing that he wanted to be remembered, he came up with a plan to bury the treasure and let people know about it so he could teach them not only the thrill of the hunt but also teach them about enjoying the natural beauty of the wild places in the country.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Some people going into the estate planning process know a little about inheritances. Some of these people believe that as long as they make a last will and testament and state how they want their children to inherit property, that’s all they really need to do.

While creating a will is one way to leave your adult children inheritances, it isn’t always the best way. There are several options you may want to consider if you’re planning on passing on your property after you die.

Create a trust.

If you choose to create a trust, you effectively give the inheritance that would’ve gone to your children to the trust instead. This means the trust becomes the legal owner, and not the children, even though the children still get to benefit from the property the trust owns. There are many kinds of trusts you can create, some of which have some significant tax, financial planning, and asset protection benefits.

Distribute through installments.

One popular inheritance method is leaving children a lump sum of cash or assets. While this is commonly done, you might also want to consider giving installments. Providing regular gifts every year, every several years, or at other intervals could be far more beneficial and help ensure that inheritances are not squandered.

Give living gifts.

Living gifts—property you give to your children while you and they are still alive—also have some significant benefits, especially if you have an estate that is large enough to be subject to the estate tax. There are specific limits on the amount you can give each year and not be subject to additional taxation, so you’ll need to speak with your estate planning lawyer about details.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Estate planning lawyers are very good at telling their clients what they can do to accomplish their goals and how best to take advantage of the legal opportunities available to them. But your attorney will only be able to advise you about your options. It’s up to you to determine what you want.

For people creating an estate plan, your choices will often include concerns other than the legal or the financial. In short, it means developing a legacy plan.

Legacy Planning

Do you have strong beliefs or convictions? Do you want to do everything you can to ensure that your children, grandchildren, and other family members live a life of value and worth? Do you want to be remembered as a positive influence?

Legacy planning requires that you think about these questions and, if you choose to, develop a plan that will pass your values along to others. It can include a wide range of strategies, such as creating charitable trusts or other estate planning tools, but it begins with you and your own values.

Outcomes, Not Methods

You want your children and grandchildren to be financially stable. But is that all? Isn’t the goal of providing wealth to make their lives easier and allow them to become productive, happy people? Legacy planning focuses on these value based questions, not just on the fine details of finances, estate taxes, and legal protections. By leaving a strong legacy, either with your family, the community, or both, legacy planning seeks not only to ensure happiness, but to also provide others with a strong example.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.