Did you know that a home can’t pass to your spouse with an ‘or’ clause?

Many people are not aware that their interest in their home—unlike their bank account—does not automatically transfer to their spouse when they pass away. Similarly, most of us know that if you title your car in your name “or” in your spouse’s name, then either spouse may transfer the title to the vehicle to another person, even after one of them has passed away. However, for your home, to automatically transfer to a surviving spouse, there are specific requirements that must be met.

Idaho is a community property state. Under the law, each spouse has a 50% ownership interest in their home. When a spouse dies, his or her interest in their home passes to their estate—not to the other spouse. However, in 2008, the Idaho Legislature passed Idaho Code Section § 15-6-401 (Community Property with Right of Survivorship in Real Property). To create a right of survivorship in real property, you must have a deed prepared that states that the transfer creates an estate in “community property with right of survivorship.” If a husband and wife already own real property, they may deed the property to themselves, to be an estate in community property with right of survivorship.

Real property is your home, farm, or land. When real property is held by a husband and wife as community property with right of survivorship, it will automatically transfer and belong to the surviving spouse, upon the death of one spouse.

The practical effect of doing this is that when the first spouse passes away, rather than having to go through probate to transfer the deceased spouse’s interest in the home to the surviving spouse, all that has to be done is to record a Death Certificate at the courthouse to transfer the interest to the surviving spouse.

It’s a good idea if a husband and wife own a home, to prepare a Community Spouse Deed, which deeds the property back to themselves as an estate in community property with right of survivorship.

Getting a Community Spouse Deed in place can be part of a well-planned future that will make your life simpler in the long run.

View our “Senior’s Guide to a Well-Planned Future” on our website! Packer Elder Care Law-with you for life!

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

March 2021

Our motto: “Even the oldest tree some fruit may bear.” Longfellow

We have been connecting with you for 9 years, by sending you monthly, Senior Tips—and this is our 100^th! We are an Elder Law Firm that specializes in helping Seniors with their legal, financial, and healthcare needs. To keep you informed on these key issues, we write tips in each of these three areas.

Our Elder Law practice is different by design. For example, if you need help finding long-term care, we can help with placement and can ensure that you get the quality care you deserve; if you need assistance paying for care, we help you apply for Medicaid; if you need to get your legal affairs in order, we make sure you have the right, legal documents in place.

We encourage all Seniors to have a well-planned future. As you grow older, you enter a new stage of life with new challenges. You are the one who knows best what you want your future to be. Because your loved ones may not know your desires, it’s important that you communicate with them and put written documents in place to give them the authority to act on your behalf if needed. Too often people put this off—sometimes until incapacity sets in—and then it may be too late. This can lead to the Courts stepping in and appointing a guardian or conservator. Planning prevents someone else from deciding for you! By having the best plan in place for your individual needs, life goes more smoothly, giving you more time to focus on what brings you joy.

There is still much that Seniors can do during this time in their lives. This is illustrated in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

“What then? Shall we sit idly down and say

The night hath come; it is no longer day?

The night hath not yet come; we are not quite

Cut off from labor by failing light;

Something remains for us to do or dare;

Even the oldest tree some fruit may bear;

For age is opportunity no less

Than youth itself, though another dress,

And as the evening twilight fades away

The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.”

Our challenge to you in our 100^th Senior Tip is for you to realize you still have much to offer. Make your life the best it can be—you only have one life to live. Enjoy it!

View our “Senior’s Guide to a Well-Planned Future” on our website! Packer Elder Care Law-with you for life!

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

February 2021

If you have been asked to be a Personal Representative, there are some things you should know. 

Being asked to be a Personal Representative indicates someone’s trust in you. You do not need special financial or legal knowledge to be a good Personal Representative. Common sense, conscientiousness and honesty are the main requirements.

If you have been nominated to be a Personal Representative, you are not obligated to serve. When the time comes, you may decide if you want to accept the responsibility. If you decide not to serve, or if you resign, an alternate named in the Will can take over.

As Personal Representative, your duties may include the following:

• Consulting with an attorney to decide whether probate proceedings are needed. You may need to probate, even if you do not have a Will.
• Filing the Will in the local probate court, asking the court to appoint you as Personal Representative and then shepherding the estate through probate.
• Deciding whether at least some assets can be transferred immediately, such as personal belongings to the people named in a tangible personal property list.
• Locating, inventorying, and securing estate assets and then sensibly managing them during the probate process. During this time, you may need to manage investments, pay bills, and sell items of estate property.
• Paying continuing expenses that are necessary to keep estate property secure—for example, mortgage payments, utility bills and homeowner’s insurance premiums.
• Handling day-to-day details, such as terminating leases and other outstanding contracts, and notifying banks and government agencies—such as the Social Security Administration, the Post Office, Medicare and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs—of the death, and the fact that you are winding up the affairs.
• Sending notice of the probate proceeding to the beneficiaries named in the Will.
• Paying any debts that the estate is legally required to pay. As part of this process, you may want to notify creditors of the probate proceeding. Creditors then have four months to file a claim for payment of any bills or other obligations incurred by the deceased person. If you do not file a notice, the debts are not cut off.
• You may have to file a final income tax return for the year in which the deceased person died.
• Finally, after debts and taxes have been paid you may distribute the remaining residuary estate to the persons named in the Will or to the heirs at law if there is no Will.

A lawyer will help you to probate the estate. You will still be responsible for making decisions and administering the estate, but the lawyer will guide you through the process and file documents with the probate court. You may be reimbursed out of the estate for your services or any expenses you incurred.

The main reason for acting as Personal Representative is to honor the person who requested you to serve and to make sure his or her wishes are carried out.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability, and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial, or healthcare needs, please call us.

September 2020

Probate is not a 4-letter word! It’s a way to properly administer your estate and distribute your assets to your loved ones.

The word probate does not need to make you shutter with fear. You may have heard these probate myths:

• Probate is difficult and should be avoided at all cost.
• If you don’t have a Will, you don’t need to probate.
• If you don’t have a Will, the State will take all of your property.
• Probate is expensive and takes years to complete.

It is important to separate fact from fiction. First, probate is the process whereby the Court determines the validity of the Will and appoints a personal representative to settle the estate. The personal representative pays the claims and debts against the estate, identifies who is entitled to distribution of the assets, and ensures that the deceased’s wishes are carried out.

I have been asked on occasion, “Why must we probate?” Imagine for a moment what it would be like if you were playing in a basketball game and there were no rules or referees. Whether you are playing basketball or probating an estate, without rules there would be chaos! In basketball, we need referees to make sure the game is being played fairly and according to the rules. When probating an estate, the Court makes sure the process is fair to everyone and that the rules are being followed.

Let’s return to those probate myths. Probate is an efficient way to settle estates. In Idaho, the process usually can be completed within six months and often costs between $1,000 and $2,000. If you don’t have a Will, your property passes according to Idaho law—your family, not the state, would get your property.

However, not all estates have to be probated. For example, if there are bank accounts with a Pay-on-Death (POD) designation, they go directly to the named individual without probate. Insurance policies and financial investments with named beneficiaries do not need to be probated. Property held in joint tenancy with the right of survivorship is not probated. In addition, if you have a Trust your estate does not need to be probated. But buyer beware—putting property into a Trust can be expensive and difficult to manage, especially if you are buying and selling a lot of property, etc.

If you have a small estate, probate can probably be avoided with some planning. However, if you need to probate, in Idaho, it is simple, fast, and not that stressful.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity. If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

August 2020

A simple and inexpensive way to create a Trust.

There is a relatively unknown and unused law in Idaho known as the Uniform Custodial Trust Act. Setting up a trust under this Act provides for a more structured setting for managing assets than can be achieved by simply naming an agent to manage property under a financial power of attorney. Under the trust, you can track how the trustee is managing your property and direct him or her in the administration of the trust.

In some circumstances, this additional tool may be helpful in planning for your future. For instance, if you had concerns about your money being used to take care of you, you could put some money into a trust with specific instructions that the money is to be used for whatever needs you might have if you become incapacitated.

The comments to the Act state: “The objective of the statute is to provide a simple trust that is uncomplicated in its creation, administration, and termination.”

Having such a trust may avoid the necessity of a conservatorship if you become incapacitated. It also allows a parent to set up a trust for a disabled child.

Idaho Code §68-1318 provides a form that can be used to create a custodial trust. Signing the form and delivering it to the custodial trustee creates the custodial trust. You may want to seek legal advice to explain how custodial trusts work and how to set one up correctly.

If you have set up a trust for your own benefit, you are the beneficiary of the trust. As the beneficiary, you may terminate the custodial trust at any time; you may receive so much of the income and property of the trust that you request; and you may direct the investments and management of the property in the trust as long as you are not incapacitated. If you become incapacitated, the trustee will manage the property in the trust subject to the terms you have set up, and follow “the standard of care that would be observed by a prudent person dealing with the property of another.”

The Act outlines the general duties and powers of the trustee in managing trust property. The trustee keeps records of all transactions with respect to the trust property, provides information to the beneficiary upon request and makes an annual accounting.

Idaho Code § 68-1317 provides that on the termination of the trust, the unspent assets go to the beneficiary, to the estate of the beneficiary, or to the person or entity designated by the deceased beneficiary or designated in the original document creating the trust.

Thus, we can see that the Custodial Trust Act provides a simple way to set up a trust to manage property, which is especially useful in the event of incapacity. If you are considering a trust, take a look at the Custodial Trust Act.

Tom Packer is an Elder Law Attorney serving all of Southeast Idaho. As part of his law practice, Tom offers Life Care Planning to deal with the challenges created by long-term illness, disability and incapacity.

 If you have a question about a Senior’s legal, financial or healthcare needs, please call us.

June 2020