E309 Limited Powers of Attorney for Solo Agers
If you’re a solo ager and you must use a power of attorney (POA), make it as limited as possible.
E307 End of Life Decisions for Solo Agers
How do you find a trustworthy fiduciary to make end of life decisions for you if you’re a solo ager? We get these questions often from our solo ager clients and followers:
“What provisions may be made if someone has no healthcare proxy?“
“When there is no one to take care of you as you age and you become ill, how can you ever find a fiduciary you can trust?”
We’ll review the problem, the lack of options, and if/when we’re able to help.
Solo agers’ problem
This end-of-life fiduciary problem is very similar to the executor problem, but more intimate.
Typically, solo agers do not have the traditional spouse or adult kids to fill the role. Some solo agers don’t want to burden (or are not comfortable asking) more distant relatives or friends to fill the role. An end-of-life fiduciary is not just a money or estate administration role, but rather extremely personal medical role. This means asking someone to make important end-of-life decisions for you and even be present at your death bed.
The bottom line is that you do NOT want a random court-appointed stranger to fill this role. A court-appointed fiduciary wouldn’t know you or your wishes at all.
Not many options
With executors, you have the option of choosing professional executors , as well as banks, trust companies, and in some states, there are certified professional executors. There is a small, but developed industry around professional executorship. But there are far fewer options for someone to be your hired health care proxy/agent.
In the case where a health care agent is hired, it is usually an attorney. This isn’t always a great option either. One of our followers said that she talked to an attorney and didn’t feel comfortable with her because all she talked about was the hourly fee. The attorney quoted over $800.00 just to “sign her up.”
Another said that the attorney “refused to have an initial meeting with me because she’s a ‘busy person’ and I’d have to hire her before she’d see me.”
Obviously, an attorney won’t provide these services for free, but the attorneys can be more tactful about it. For example, when we are asked to serve as a professional executor, we meet with the person to make sure we are a good fit. It’s hard to imagine someone would want name a health care agent without meeting them first.
How (and when) we‘ll be your health care proxy
We do not accept this role capriciously. I won’t do it unless I am your nominated executor/trustee or otherwise known you for at least several years.
Again, I want to make sure we have a good working relationship. This includes annual calls and check-ins (which we have discussed in other episodes). I want to be sure that I have a directional sense of your personality and wishes before I commit to making medical decisions. When the end-of-life period comes, it is a stressful time both for the client and me. I need to feel confident I can faithfully carry out your wishes.
My book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan,” can help you prepare for end-of-life decisions. Click the link below to receive a free copy.
As always, keep your questions coming!
Free copy of “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”
Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”
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E299 When do Solo Agers Need a Revocable Trust?
Sometimes a revocable trust makes great sense for a solo ager estate plan. Generally, revocable trusts aren’t so great in New York, because they can be hard to fully fund. The main goal of a revocable trust is to avoid probate. Since revocable trusts are hard to fully fund, the goal of avoiding probate is not usually met. Here are a few reasons a revocable trust may nonetheless work for a solo ager.
E290 Professional Executor vs Beneficiary Designations for Solo Agers
A few Solo Agers have asked if they can use beneficiary designations instead of a traditional estate plan. We’ll explain some pros and cons of beneficiary designations, and why a professional executor may work better.
Why traditional estate planning doesn’t work for Solo Agers
Most traditional estate plans are centered around a friend or family acting as your executor to manage probate. Solo Agers often don’t have an assumed family member to serve in this role. Sometimes a Solo Ager has a friend or sibling, but for several reasons, it wouldn’t work out for those loved ones to serve. For example, friends and siblings may be the same age or older than the Solo Ager. There also may not be the same level of trust that one would have with a spouse. Or maybe the relationships are estranged.
For the reasons above, Solo Agers seek to avoid the need for an executor altogether. It’s not hard to blame them. For example, we had a Solo Ager client (no kids, no family, no close friends) who could not get it through to other attorneys that she had no one to appoint. She became so frustrated with their standard advice that she wanted to avoid appointing an executor altogether.
Why Solo Agers like the idea of beneficiary designations
Beneficiary designations go directly to the heirs and “avoid probate.” This is common with life insurance and retirement plans. When someone dies, the beneficiary just fills out and submits claim forms. There is no need to go through probate for that particular asset.
Sounds easy and great, right? But in most cases, using only beneficiary designations does not work. Sure, it would work for a particular account, but realistically, you are probably not avoiding probate altogether. In order to completely avoid probate, you need a 100% perfect beneficiary designation plan. This means you cannot leave any assets out of your plan (zero assets left in probate, zero lingering debts or taxes). This becomes highly unlikely.
Any outstanding debts at the time of death need to be paid by the estate representative. Because of this, probate has to happen anyway to figure out pro-rata which accounts need to be reduced to pay your funeral bill or lingering medical bills, unsecured mortgage or credit card bills.
If all assets go to named beneficiaries, then the IRS goes directly after your beneficiaries. Your heirs will be harassed until the taxes and debts are paid. No one wants that for their loved ones. Additionally, it’s unlikely that someone will volunteer to act as your executor and deal with these issues.
Why Solo Agers like the idea of a professional executor
The main attraction is that you appoint someone (experienced) to handle everything. The worry is that it will be hard to find a professional executor and it will also be expensive to hire one.
Regarding the cost, the executor’s fee is set by state law. This fee is the same whether you hire your 19-year-old unemployed nephew, or the esteemed professional executor. It is more bang for your buck to go with the professional!
How do you find a professional executor? First, you know that we can fill that role! Second, you can go to a bank and see if they have a trust officer who can serve (even if you don’t have a trust). However, most banks have liquid minimum asset requirements of 2 million or more (meaning this cannot include your home).
How do you name a person as your executor? You don’t necessarily have to pay an estate attorney to draft your will. While it’s usually a better idea to hire an attorney to draft the will (especially in complex situations), there are plenty of good estate planning software programs you can use yourself.
If you find a professional executor, interview them before you commit to appointing them. To learn more about executors and estate planning, check out my book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan.” For a free E-copy, click the link below.
Free copy of “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”
Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”
Solo Ager Book v1
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E286 How Will My Executor Know I Died?
Many of our Solo Agers wonder “how will my executor know I died?” (Especially if they’ve chosen me as their professional executor, as opposed to someone they see daily). Solo Agers tend to live alone, so this is a very understandable and common question.
E277 Professional Successor Executor for Solo Agers
Many of our Solo Ager clients ask if I’ll serve as their successor (not primary) executor. The short answer is yes. We discuss why solo agers ask for successor executors.
Planning to be a future Solo Ager
They may not be Solo Agers at the moment, but they are planning for when they will could become a Solo Ager. It’s smart: planning two steps ahead.
Married, no kids
Mrs. M and her husband named each other as their executors in their wills, which is common. At some point, one of them will die first.
The husband named his brother as his successor executor (in case Mrs. M predeceases him).
Mrs. M doesn’t have siblings or other close family members. She doesn’t want her brother-in-law acting as her executor if her husband predeceases. Mrs. M needed a successor executor of her choosing.
That is why she reached out to our office, and we are happy to work with her.
Girlfriend, no kids, wants to disinherit
Mr. C named his girlfriend as his executor, since he wants to disinherit his family members and leave everything to his girlfriend.
He is also disinheriting his nieces and nephews (next-of-kin). If his girlfriend predeceases him, Mr. C is leaving his estate to charity.
If his girlfriend predeceases him, Mr. C needs someone like a professional executor to handle everything, since there is no one else. Also, since Mr. C is disinheriting family, a professional executor is a good choice.
Along those lines, even if his girlfriend is alive, she may not want to accept her role of executor. She probably won’t want to deal with a messy contest and engage in a court battle with the heirs. The girlfriend has the option to decline and let a professional executor to step-in to handle the mess. She will still get the inheritance check at the end, but she wouldn’t have to deal with the heirs.
Mr. C set up the will to give her options: she can serve as executor if she’s ok with the situation, or she can let the professional executor take over.
Sometimes we get calls asking us to act as successor executors, and we are happy to help.
If you want to learn more about Solo Ager situations, click the link below for a free copy of my book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan.”
Free copy of “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”
Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”
Solo Ager Book v1
"*" indicates required fields
E268 Professional Executor and Trustee for California Solo Agers
To my surprise, we keep getting calls from Solo Agers in California asking me to serve as their executor and trustee. Let’s explain why this is surprising.
E255 How Solo Agers Should Hide Cash and Jewels at Home
Lots of people like to keep cash and valuables hidden at home. But what if you do too good a job of hiding them that even your executor can’t find them? They could end up lost or thrown away. Let’s discuss how to avoid that.
E251 Should Solo Agers Tell Heirs About Inheritance?
Our Solo Ager clients often ask, “Do I have to tell an heir that I’ve named them in my will?” For one reason or another, you may not be sure what to do. We will discus the pros and cons of telling your heirs they have been named in your will.
E218 Bitcoin Letter of Instruction to Heirs
Every bitcoin estate plan must include a simple, easy-to-understand letter of instruction to your heirs or executor. If you don’t, all of your hard-hoarded bitcoin may disappear.
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