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rather than your other already tax-free funds, and also to reduce the children’s or grandchildren’s estate Especially in this case, estate planning for your charitable bequests through an IRA needs to be done by an experienced estate planning attorney.

Long-term care planning is something most Americans fail to do for themselves or for their loved ones Reference: WIVB (May 4, 2016) “The cost of caring for aging parents: How to plan for long-term care”

Kiplinger (April 29, 2016) “5 Things ‘The Golden Girls’ Can Teach Boomers About Retirement” #ElderLaw #PlanningfortheFuture

But in “8 Financial Decisions You’ll Regret Forever” Kiplinger asked financial planners and personal-finance No one plans to go broke in retirement, but it can happen by not saving enough to begin with. Kiplinger (March 2016) “8 Financial Decisions You’ll Regret Forever” #AssetProtection #SocialSecurity #PlanningforRetirement

If you want to remain anonymous but didn’t purchase the winning ticket in one of those states, you have to leverage strategies and legal entities to help you remain more private when you strike it rich. There are two different strategies that are described in Forbes article entitled “How to Remain Anonymous If You Win The $1.5 Billion Powerball.” (1) Blind Trusts. The term “blind trust” has morphed to include a trust or entity that attempts to hide the true ownership from the public and asset searches. Here you create an entity (a trust or LLC) and name it something other than your name. You have 100% control of the trust, assets, and decisions. It doesn’t completely cloak the account, but it can make tying the trust to you more difficult in an asset search. (2) A Trust within a Trust. High profile lottery winners who want even greater anonymity may consider a trust within a trust structure. It’s an advanced strategy that should only be created with a qualified trust attorney. The trust within a trust requires two trusts: First, create a Claiming Trust. It’s called the Claiming Trust because this is the entity that claims the prize. As the winner, you assign the ticket to the trust. This is a short-term trust that simply claims the prize and then distributes the win to the Bridge Trust (see below). The Claiming Trust should have a unique title not related or traceable to you. Although most revocable trusts use the Social Security Number of the grantor (i.e., you – the person setting up the trust), you want to avoid this because state lottery commissions are state agencies, and their records are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. That makes it easy for a reporter (or anyone else!) to request these documents and trace the Social Security Number back to you. For greater anonymity, depending on the state lottery commission’s rules, you may be able to have a limited liability company (LLC) act as the grantor. In that scenario, the winning lottery ticket would be owned by the LLC, and it would be the grantor of the Claiming Trust. If a reporter gets a hold of the Claiming Trust, they wouldn’t see your name—just the name of the LLC. That catch is that some states have requirements when forming an LLC that would identify the name of the person who owns the LLC. So you can see how important it is to work with an attorney who is well versed in the laws of your state. Second, create a Bridge Trust. In this strategy, the lottery proceeds are paid into the Claiming Trust and then almost immediately transferred into the Bridge Trust. The Claiming Trust helps shield the true identity of the winner and makes it hard to determine the true owner. The details of this trust aren’t subject to Freedom of Information Act requests, so your name can be listed as grantor and trustee. However, because the trust name will be listed as beneficiary of the Claiming Trust—and is subject to FOIA requests—don’t name the Bridge Trust with personal information. Reference: Forbes (January 12, 2016) “How to Remain Anonymous If You Win the $1.5 Billion Powerball” #AssetProtection #HoustonEstatePlanning #BridgeTrust #HoustonTrusts #ClaimingTrust #LivingTrust #TaxPlanning #BlindTrust

The judge believes the resolution is in the teen’s best interests. Kira told the judge that she did not object to the settlement but needed more information than what has been given her by her guardian ad litem, Michael Augustine, who was appointed last September to advocate for the teen’s interests. Augustine denied the claim that he did not keep Kira informed about the settlement. He said he was pleased that the settlement was approved. He filed the will contest petition on behalf of the teenager and argued that when Kirk’s will was created, its beneficiaries “knew or should have known (Kirk Kerkorian’s) health was failing, that he was dependent on the persons surrounding him for his daily living needs and that he was highly susceptible to the influence of the persons on whom he depended.” Augustine’s petition also claimed that the will’s beneficiaries took advantage of the trust and confidence that Kirk placed in them and “suggested and dictated the contents of the document, arranged for the document to be drafted, arranged for execution of the document and caused (Kirk Kerkorian) to execute the document.” Kirk Kerkorian was obligated to provide $7 million to a trust created on Kira’s behalf based on his marital settlement agreement with ex-wife Lisa, the teen’s mother. Under the will contest settlement, another $1.5 million will be given to the teen’s trust. Lisa Bonder Kerkorian was married to Kirk for less than a month in 1999, and he denied during his lifetime that he was Kira’s father. However, he grew fond of the girl and decided to provide for her nonetheless. Kerkorian died last June at age 98. He developed numerous properties on the Las Vegas Strip, such as the MGM and MGM Grand. Kerkorian also invested in and operated businesses in a number of industries—including airlines, automakers, Chrysler Corp., General Motors and film studios. He bought MGM Studios three times, bought United Artists and tried to acquire Columbia Pictures. Reference: myLAnews.com (March 1, 2016) “I am my rich father’s child! Teen gets $8.5M as bio daughter of Kirk Kerkorian” #WillChanges #HoustonWills #Probate #ProbateCourt #Inheritance #LeagueCityProbateAttorney #HoustonEstatePlanningLawyer #Trusts

Once a gift is given to someone as part of the estate administration process, it is theirs to do with prevent a gift from being re-gifted or sold out of the family is to place a condition on the gift in your estate plan.

Before someone reaches the point where total personal care is required for his or her activities of daily An elder care and estate planning attorney can help with strategies to help fund this care.

Review your assets and financial plan. Those who are nearly retired should examine their financial plan at least annually, and retirees should on the federal and state health exchanges, January 15 is the deadline to enroll in or change health plans October 15: Open enrollment begins for private Medicare Part D prescription drug plans and Advantage plans.

If you have planned for the inevitable downturns, you should have enough in cash and cash-like investments

Plan Ahead When Possible Obviously, it is not always possible to plan in advance for nursing home care When possible, however, planning ahead is one of the best things you can do to ensure you receive the If you plan earlier, when you are healthy, you can have so much more say in how the situation plays out

below $25,000 and you file taxes as single or head of household (or less than $32,000 if you file a joint