ABA's New Wills and Estate Administration book

Straightforward and to-the-point, Wills and Estate Administration provides step-by-step guidance that firms can use to handle all aspects of an estates practice, from initial client intake to closing the file. Topics are defined in six parts for ease of use: Preparation for Wills/Estate Planning Interviews Interviewing Clients Additional Estate Planning Issues Estate Administration Guardianship of Disabled or Incompetent Parents Marketing Your Wills and Estate Administration Practice Making this an essential resource for solo and small firm practitioners, the author includes numerous forms for each topic, and they are also available for download online. The book is basic and written to help new and transitional attorneys. In addition, tips on practice management will help seasoned attorneys. Author(s): Kenneth A Vercammen Sponsor(s): Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division Publisher(s): ABA Book Publishing List Price: $79.95 ABA Price: $69.95 ISBN: 978-1-63425-380-2 Product Code: 5150484 2015, 290 pages, 7 x 10, Paperback Additional Information Table of Contents: Wills and Estate Administration About the Author: Kenneth Vercammen Preface: By the Author Sample Chapter: Part I Preparing for Wills/Estate Planning Interviews How to order http://shop.americanbar.org/eBus/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?productId=224827061 ABA Service Hotline 800-285-2221 312-988-5000 Have just finished Ken Vercammens excellent book on wills, estate administration, and guardianship. It is a very practical book that examines the business of an estate and trust practice. This step-by-step analysis is complete with forms and helps even the seasoned practitioner streamline his practice. -Thomas D. Begley, Jr., Esq., Begley Law Office, NJ About the Author: Kenneth A. Vercammen is a trial attorney in Edison, NJ. He is co-chair of the ABA Probate & Estate Planning Law Committee of the American Bar Association Solo Small Firm Division. The is the author of the ABA book Wills and Estate Administration, available at http://shop.americanbar.org/. He is a speaker for the NJ State Bar Association at the annual Nuts & Bolts of Elder Law & Estate Administration program. He was Editor of the ABA Estate Planning Probate Committee Newsletter. Mr. Vercammen has published over 150 legal articles in national and New Jersey publications on Wills, litigation, estates, probate law and trial topics. He is a highly regarded lecturer on litigation and probate law for the American Bar Association, NJ ICLE, New Jersey State Bar Association and Middlesex County Bar Association. His articles have been published in noted publications included New Jersey Law Journal, ABA Law Practice Management Magazine, and New Jersey Lawyer. He established the NJlaws websitewww.njlaws.com which includes many articles on Estate Planning, Probate and Wills. KENNETH VERCAMMEN & ASSOCIATES, PC ATTORNEY AT LAW 2053 Woodbridge Ave. Edison, NJ 08817 (Phone) 732-572-0500 (Fax) 732-572-0030 www.njlaws.com http://www.njwillsprobatelaw.com Table of Contents ABA’s new book “Wills and Estate Administration” Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi PART 1 Preparation for Wills/Estate Planning Interviews . . . . . . . . . . 1 Handling Telephone Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Initial Responses to Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Calls from New Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Subject Matter of Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Reminder Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Telephone Consultations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Rejected Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Referrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Estate Planning Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Exhibit 1-1: Will Appointment Cover Letter . . . . . . . . . . 7 Exhibit 1-2: Estate Planning Appointment Cover Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Exhibit 1-3: New Client Cover Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Exhibit 1-4: New Client Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Exhibit 1-5: Confidential Will Questionnaire . . . . . . . . 14 Exhibit 1-6: Estate Planning Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . 21 Exhibit 1-7: Power of Attorney Questionnaire . . . . . . . 26 Exhibit 1-8: Will Estate Planning Consult Bill . . . . . . . 29 Exhibit 1-9: Agreement to Provide Estate Planning Legal Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 PART 2 Interviewing Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Initial Appointments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Wills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Importance of Wills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Will Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Will Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 IV Wills and Estate Administration Preparing Drafts of Estate Planning Documents . . . . . . . . . 40 Guardianship of Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Need for Periodic Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Cost Reductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Revisions in Wills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Children from Prior Marriages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Separated or Divorced Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Gay and Lesbian Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Referring Cases Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Explaining Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Will Preparation Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Power of Attorney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Importance of Power of Attorney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Gift-Giving Clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Going into Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Living Wills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Statute Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Health Care Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Advance Directives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Organ Donor Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Estate Planning for Alzheimer’s Patients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 The Missing Client—Be Wary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Tax Matters and Credit Shelter Trust Preparations . . . . . . . . . . . 64 What Is a Credit Shelter Trust? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 State Estate Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Document Signings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Wills Signings Outside Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Follow-up after Signing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Newsletter to Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Referrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Uniform Probate Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Exhibit 2-1: Will—Husband to Wife with Trust for Minor Children and Guardians Selection . . . . . . . . 83 Exhibit 2-2: Will—Widow/Widower Spouse with Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Exhibit 2-3: Will—Unmarried Couple with No Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Exhibit 2-4: Will—Basic to Spouse and Children with No Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Contents v Exhibit 2-5: Will—Unified Credit Trust to Reduce Estate Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Exhibit 2-6: Will Revision Services Bill . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Exhibit 2-7: Codicil to Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Exhibit 2-8: Will Services Bill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Exhibit 2-9: General Durable Power of Attorney Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Exhibit 2-10: Revocation of Previous Wills and Powers of Attorney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Exhibit 2-11: Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Exhibit 2-12: Power of Attorney Taking Effect . . . . . 119 Exhibit 2-13: Will Draft Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Exhibit 2-14: Will Signings Outside Office . . . . . . . . . 123 Exhibit 2-15: Post-Will Signing Letter to Clients . . . . 125 Exhibit 2-16: Client End-of-Case Questionnaire . . . . 128 Exhibit 2-17: Brochure Request Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Exhibit 2-18: Referral Thank You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 PART 3 Additional Estate Planning Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Preparation of Letters of Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Content of Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Confidentiality of Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment . . . . . . . 138 Patient Information Disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Prenuptial Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Problems of Probate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Revocable Living Trusts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Transferring Property into the Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Irrevocable Trusts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Marital Tax Deductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Special Needs Trusts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Qualified Terminable Interest Property Trust . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Medicaid Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Impact of Divorce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Medicaid Spend-Down and the Mentally Incompetent . . 151 Long-Term Care Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Questions to Ask about Long-Term Coverage . . . . . . . . . 152 VI Wills and Estate Administration Signing House Over to Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Providing for Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Unexpected Illness/Disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Exhibit 3-1: Letter of Last Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Exhibit 3-2: Confidentiality of Files/Requests for Copies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Exhibit 3-3: Acknowledgment of Receipt of Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Exhibit 3-4: HIPAA Authorization to Disclose Patient Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Exhibit 3-5: Irrevocable Trust [Wife to Husband] . . . 167 PART 4 Estate Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Filing a Probate Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Qualifying the Executor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Probate Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Inheritance Renunciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Assets That Do Not Pass under a Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Tax Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 Finalizing the Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 Testamentary Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Consulting Fees for Probate Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Intestacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Elective Share of Spouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Undue Influence Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Caveat to Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Removing an Executor of an Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Complaint for Accounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Executor’s Commissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Unsold Real Estate and Other Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Exhibit 4-1: Condolence/Will Revision Letter . . . . . . 202 Exhibit 4-2: Probate/Inheritance/Estate Administration Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Exhibit 4-3: Retainer Cover Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Exhibit 4-4: Agreement to Provide Probate Legal Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Exhibit 4-5: Executor Duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Contents vii Exhibit 4-6: Notice of Probate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Exhibit 4-7: Certificate of Mailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Exhibit 4-8: Transfer Inheritance Tax Bureau Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Exhibit 4-9: Release and Refunding Bond Letter/Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Exhibit 4-10: Real Estate Waiver Filing . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 Exhibit 4-11: Agreement to Provide Legal Services—Probate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Exhibit 4-12: Will/Estate Consultation Bill . . . . . . . . . 231 Exhibit 4-13: Renunciation for Administration . . . . . . 232 Exhibit 4-14: Complaint to Remove Executor, Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Exhibit 4-15: Complaint to Replace Executor . . . . . . 245 PART 5 Guardianship of Disabled or Incompetent Parents . . . . . . . 249 Exhibit 5-1: Guardianship Interview Form . . . . . . . . . 252 Exhibit 5-2: Guardianship Legal Services Fees . . . . . 257 Exhibit 5-3: Complaint for Guardianship . . . . . . . . . . 260 Exhibit 5-4: Affidavit of Next of Kin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Exhibit 5-5: Letters to Doctors to Be Delivered by Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 Exhibit 5-6: Affidavit of Doctor 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 PART 6 Marketing Your Wills and Estate Administration Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Seminars Sponsored by Community Organizations . . . . . . . . 265 Hosting Seminars in Your Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Seminar Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Seminar Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 American Association of Retired Persons Membership . . . . . 267 Happy Hour Networking with Professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Marketing via Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Setting up a Blog on Wills and Probate for Free . . . . . . . . 268 Gift Certificates for Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Maintaining Client Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 viii Wills and Estate Administration Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Exhibit 6-1: Sample Letter to Senior Groups . . . . . . . 271 Exhibit 6-2: Confirm Will Seminar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Exhibit 6-3: Sample Flyer for Will Seminar . . . . . . . . 275 Exhibit 6-4: Items to Bring to Wills and Elder Law Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Exhibit 6-5: Law Office Seminar Promotional Flyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Exhibit 6-6: Wills and Estate Administration Seminar Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279