5 Things Dog Owners Should Consider When Doing An Estate Plan

5 Things Dog Owners Should Consider When Doing An Estate Plan

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

March 23, 2023 

Prepare yourself for a cuteness overload on your social media accounts today; it's National Puppy Day!  Established to encourage people to adopt a dog from a shelter or rescue dog, National Puppy Day is the perfect time to review 5 things dog owners should consider when creating or updating an estate plan.  According to the ASPCA, approximately 3.1 million dogs a year are surrendered to animal shelters.  Of those surrenders, two of the top reasons cited are lifestyle change (such as a chronic illness) or a move to a home that does not allow for a dog (for example, moving to assisted living).  With a small amount of planning in advance you may be able to provide continuity of care for your beloved companion if you were to become ill or pass away.

1. Wallet Alert Card -- create a simple card to keep in your wallet that would alert EMTs or other emergency personnel to the fact you are a dog owner.  If you were incapacitated and unable to return home for the evening feeding or walk with your dog, who should be contacted?  Include a name, phone number, email and other information to facilitate back up being called.  Unlike cats, dogs cannot be home alone for too long without care;
2. Authorization Form at Your Veterinarian's Office -- contact your vet's office to see if they have an authorization form that allows you to nominate an alternative person to obtain care for your dog if you are unavailable.  Alert the person(s) you list on the form that you have given them this permission.  Make certain they know who to contact the vet's office.
3. Create a Power of Attorney for Finances with Animal Care Provisions -- review your Power of Attorney for Finances to see if it includes language granting your agent authority to secure medical or boarding care for your dog if you are unable to do so yourself. If you were facing a weeks or months long illness, it would be easier for all involved if your documents clearly stated your agent had the authority to make critical decisions about your dog(s).
4. Make a Plan for Long-Term Care -- you may have thoughts on where you would prefer to receive long-term care, but what about your dog?  Where would your pup go if you were no longer able to live independently?  Are there family members or friends who can open their home and hearts to your dog?  Is there a rescue organization that could provide foster care for the long-term?
5. Leave Your Dog to a Caring Home in Your Will -- perhaps all you need is to make a simple gift of your dog and some money to a trusted person or rescue organization via your will, or you may have a situation that calls for a pet trust to be created to care for your dog after your death.  There are several options available for you to use, talk with an attorney licensed in your state of residence to find the best fit for your situation. 

Thanks for reading.  Leave a comment if you have additional tips or suggestions unique to dog owners creating or updating an estate plan.  Remember that a blog is meant to spark conversation and is not legal advice.  Be well and thank you for reading. 

Estate Planning and the Recipes We Love

Estate Planning and the Recipes We Love

Written by Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

March 14, 2023

March 14th marks Pi Day (3.14159265359)  Celebrated each March 14th, the day allows math fans to challenge one another on who can receite Pi the longest, play math games, and of course, eat pie.  My house is home to three math enthusiats, so it stands out in my life.  Today also seemed like a logical day to share with you the wisdom bestowed in the Scholastic book, Pie, by Sarah Weeks.  

Like many children's books, Pie begins with a child experiencing the death of a loved one.  In this case 10 year old Alice suffers from the sudden death of her beloved Aunt Polly, the Queen of Pie in Ipswitch, Pennsylvania where she operated the bakery PIE.  Having won 13 consecutive Blueberry Awards (a national pie contest), Aunt Polly was quite famous for her wonderful pies.  Wisely, Aunt Polly also embraced her own mortality and completed a will in which she left her famous pie crust recipe to her cat Lardo, and the cat to her niece, Alice.  And so the mystery begins -- how does one leave a recipe to a cat?

The reader follows Alice and her buddy Charlie on a quest to unravel the mystery.  To my delight the story takes an unexpected path, one I won't ruin for those planning to read the book.  I can say that the adventure is a sound reminder of how it is important to make plans for the things you hold dear, such as beloved family recipes.  

Set in the 1950s, the story involves how one writes down a recipe that will live beyond them.  At one point a character in the story suspects that Aunt Polly had tatooted the recipe on Lardo's stomach.  In today's modern world you have options for preserving and passing on recipes that hopefully will avoid the drama and grief displayed in Pie. 

1. Hand write and laminate -- take the old school route and write down a recipe, but add lamination to control for the fragility of ink and paper;
2. Use online tools to make a book of your favorite recipes, even including pictures.  Everyone can be a publisher with a few simple clicks;
3. Become a director and make your own video while you prepare your recipes.  This is a great way to capture those little techniques that are not written down;
4. Go with a Google Docs to type up your recipes and use the SHARE function to allow easy access to your loved ones; and
5. Explore online recipe organizers.  This aritlce from The Kitchen Chalk Board offers 10 different options.  I could not easily determine if any of these sites allow for your file to be accessed by loved ones after you die.  Additionally, web sites may be out of operation ten, twenty or thiry years down the road when your eathly time has ended.

If you have a favorite way to share recipes with your loved ones that is not noted here, please leave a comment and spread the wisdom!  Thanks for reading, and remember that a blog is meant to spark thought and reflection.  It is not a substitute for an attorney.  It is best to seek counsel from an attorney licensed in your state of residence.  Be well and thank you for readhing. 

And the Oscar Goes To.....The Descendants (2011)

And the Oscar Goes To......The Descendants

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

March 10, 2023

Nominated for five Oscars during the 84th Academy Awards, The Descendants won for best-adapted screenplay, thrusting a movie about estate planning into the mainstream.  Based on the 2007 novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings the story follows Hawaiian attorney Matthew King and his daughters' journey following the traumatic brain-injury suffered by his wife in a boating accident.  While the majority of the movie explores the emotions and workings of end-of-life decisions, removing medical support, and processing grief, there is a sub-plot; one involving a land trust.

King, and a host of his cousins, are descendants of Hawaiian Roylaty.  He is the sole trustee of a land trust holding hunderds of untouched land on Kauai.  Under the Rule Against Purpetuities, the trust must end in 7 years.  Rather than have the trust end and the land distributed in shares to an assortment of descendants, the family plans to sell the land while it is in the trust, setting up a distribution of hundreds of millions of dollars in cash rather than land.  Matthew is the sole trustee and the ultimate decision of which developer to sell to is his and his alone.  Without giving away the end, I will say that Matthew's ultimate decision is not well-received by this cousins.  One cousin, Hugh, played by Beau Bridges, lashes out saying something to the extent of "you may be a lawyer and our cousin, but don't think we won't come after you!"

This line hit me with a lot of emotion; while I am an estate planning and probate attorney, I am also a mother. Taking care of our families is often a primary motivation for creating an estate plan in the first place.  As such, it is important to think about whether nominating a family member in an administrative role is wise.

In the story, Matthew explains that he has always lived off of his lawyer salary, while other cousins made risky decisions and are desparate for money.  It is not uncommon for heirs to have inflated expectations about an inheritance.  When those expectations are not met with the reality of the situation, the heirs may lash out at the one person in control.  In this case it is their cousin Matthew. Many people's default answer to who should be a trustee is a trusted family member.  However, naming a financial instution may have many benefits.  One of which would be preservation of family harmony.  Going after the "banker" is far different than alienting your cousin.

Thank you for reading.  Remember that a blog is not legal advice, but rather a way to spark discussion and reflection.  It is best for you to seek counsel from an attorney in your state of residence for help with your estate planning needs. 

A Final Note: An Estate Planning Love Letter

A Final Note: An Estate Planning Love Letter

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

February 14, 2023

Happy Valentine's Day!  Today we pause to send messages of love and affection to our soul mates as well as treasured family and friends.  According to Britannica, the custom of sending missives of love and affection dates back to the 1500s.  The first commercially produced Valentines began to hit store shelves in the 1800s.  Today we can purchase them in bulk at our grocery store, send electronic cards via Hallmark, or post a gif on our social media tagging our beloveds.  Time has changed the medium, but the expression of love remains. 

On this day set aside for love, it is with fond memory I recall reading a letter a client had written to their spouse.  It was to be a final letter, and in my mind, a love letter for the ages.  The words were not dripping with love and passion, but were a pragmatic list of items the reader would need to address when the author had passed.  From where I sit at my estate planning and probate desk, I know how meaningful and loving a letter can be that addresses the daily ins and outs of life.  For example:

• the age of household appliances and the quirks of getting them to work;
• instructions on how to drain the backyard pond along with a notation to insert a blank of wood for the critters to crawl to safety;
• an itemized list of professional and or hobby equipment that is valuable and should be sold, by whom, or what should be donated and where; and
• details on the maintenance of a car, boat or other forms of transport.

These are just a few ideas.  What elements of your life might benefit from being written down and left behind for your loved ones.  Perhaps slipping some of those candy hearts into the envelope might be a touching gesture as well.

Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi, 2023

Thanks for reading.  Remember that a blog is not a substitute for an attorney; it is intended to spark thoughts and conversations.  It is best to seek counsel from a licensed attorney in your home state.

Write It Down: Elevating Your Estate Plan

Write It Down: Elevating Your Estate Plan

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

January 31, 2023

The month of January coincides with a fresh start for many people.  Whether it be joining a new gym to going "dry" by not drinking any alcohol for the month to finally getting your estate plan drafted (or updated), many of us resolve to improve our condition at the start of a new calendar year.  For those of you focused on creating or improving your estate plan, I suggest the following quote as a guiding light:

“Paper is to write things down that we need to remember. Our brains are used to think.”  ― Albert Einstein

Specifically, when managing your powers of attorney consider making a list of each person or entity that you provided a copy of the form to.  For example, my power of attorney for health care is on file with: my hospital, my primary care doctor's office, my spouse, and each of my alternate agents.  Rather than remember this list, I have a notation in my estate planning binder.  This will aid me down the road when I update my document to make certain the updated form is given to all of the same entities and ensure the old form is shredded or properly negated. 

American productivity consultant David Allen summarizes it best with the following quote;

“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” ― David Allen

Thank you for reading.  Remember, a blog post is not indicated to convey legal advice but rather to cause thought and reflection.  It is best to consult with a lawyer in your home state for advice specific to your unique situation. 

Tidying Up -- Subtle Tips for Improving Your Estate Plan

Tidying Up -- Subtle Tips for Improving Your Estate Plan

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

January 17, 2023

Mid-January in my home means it is time to take the Christmas tree down (we use an artificial tree because I am severely allergic to real Christmas trees).  As the twinkle lights come down and the furniture is restored back to its normal position in the living room, I use this time to tend to my estate plan in three subtle ways:

1. I print out a hard copy of my holiday card mailing list with the thinking that "if I care enough about this person to mail a holiday card, I want the address easily accessible should the person need to learn of my illness or passing".  The print out is kept with my estate planning binder.  It's never more than a year out of date; 
2. I purge holiday décor that is broken, went unused, or no longer brings us joy.  My 17 years as an estate planning and probate attorney make me aware that one day I will either move or die.  One way or another the closet that holds all of our holiday decorations will need to be packed up.  This motivates me to keep what we treasure, and the rest can be donated, gifted, or recycled.  Doing this annually is a gift to my future self, and one day my loved ones; and
3. I organize my recipes.  The holiday dinner table is a wonderful way to honor and recognize your late loved ones by serving a favorite dish.  Sadly, those foods may not be easy to replicate if the recipes were never written down, were tossed when the kitchen contents were quickly purged following an untimely death, or the ink on the recipe card is faded beyond recognition.  Sadly a Swedish cookie recipe of my mother's has faded beyond comprehension and the Sicilian rice ball recipe of my husband's late aunt died with her as it was never written down.  

An estate plan is much more than a will and powers of attorney.  It is the practice of tidying up your life so that those precious and dear mementos or practices can easily be shared with the loved ones who carry on after you are gone.

Book Review: Inheriting Clutter: How to Calm the Chaos Your Parents Leave Behind by Julie Hall

 

Book Review: Inheriting Clutter: How to Calm the Chaos Your Parents Leave Behind by Julie Hall

January 12, 2022

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Julie Hall's book, Inheriting Clutter: How to Calm the Chaos Your Parents Leave Behind, consists of 16 chapters along with several resources in the appendix.   From the book's title, I anticipated a more narrowly focused discussion of how to handle the physical "stuff" that makes up an estate.  However, Hall spent significant time exploring more general estate planning and probate concepts: what is a will, how powers of attorney work, what is probate, etc.  

Overall, the book provides the reader with some excellent suggestions on how to locate and secure a qualified appraiser for personal possessions, options for distributing tangible property from an estate, and where to look for hidden money of valuables in a home (i.e. check inside all the shoes).  The appendices offer some useful questions and forms as well for those faced with the daunting task of administering an estate.

As a estate planning and probate attorney of 15+ years I did find the book to make several unsettling assumptions.  One, the assumption that "families" are comprised of a mom, dad, several children, all of whom are on good terms and have a family home.  That is a minority of households in modern day America.  Two, the assumption that the adult child should be in the driver's seat of his or her parents' estate plan.  In reality, the parent is the client and the one making the decisions even if an adult child disagrees.  And lastly, third the book does not speak enough to the situations in which a "family" has dysfunction, blended families, estrangements, or no marriages or children.