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When you establish a trust, you name someone to be the trustee. A trustee does what you do right now with your financial affairs - collect income, pay bills and taxes, save and invest for the future, buy and sell assets, provide for your loved ones, keep accurate records, and generally keep things organized and in good order.  The Key Takeaways ● You can be trustee of your revocable living trust. If you are married, your spouse can be co-trustee. ● You can also choose an adult child, trusted friend or a professional or corporate trustee. ● Naming someone else to be co-trustee with you helps them become familiar with your trust, allows them to learn firsthand how you want the trust to operate, and lets you evaluate the co-trustee's abilities. Who Can Be Your Trustee If you have a revocable living trust , you can be your own trustee. If you are married, your spouse can be trustee with you. This way, if either of you become incapacitated or die, the other can continue to handle your financial affairs without interruption. Most married couples who own assets together, especially those who have been married for some time, are usually co-trustees. You don't have to be your own trustee. Some people choose an adult son or daughter, a trusted friend or another relative. Some like having the experience and investment skills of a professional or corporate trustee (e.g., a bank trust department or trust company). Naming someone else as trustee or co-trustee with you does not mean you lose control. The trustee you name must follow the instructions in your trust and report to you. You can even replace your trustee should you change your mind. When to Consider a Professional or Corporate Trustee You may be elderly, widowed, and/or in declining health and have no children or other trusted relatives living nearby. Or your candidates may not have the time or ability to manage your trust. You may simply not have the time, desire or experience to manage your investments by yourself. Also, certain irrevocable trusts will not allow you to be trustee due to restrictions in the tax laws. In these situations, a professional or corporate trustee may be exactly what you need: they have the experience, time and resources to manage your trust and help you meet your investment goals. What You Need to Know Professional or corporate trustees will charge a fee to manage your trust, but generally the fee is quite reasonable, especially when you consider their experience, the services provided, and the investment returns that a professional trustee can deliver. Actions to Consider ● Honestly evaluate if you are the best choice to be your own trustee. Someone else may truly do a better job than you, especially in investing your assets. ● Evaluate your trustee candidates carefully and realistically. ● If you are considering a professional or corporate trustee, talk to several. Compare their services, investment returns, and fees. We can help you select, educate, and advise your successor trustees so they will have support and know what to do next to carry out your wishes. Give us a call today .

As poet Robert Burns mused centuries ago, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Despite thoughtful effort and a concerted strategy, you cannot prepare for every emergency. A car accident, sudden illness, workplace injury or chronic medical condition can force you to re-evaluate the core assumptions you used to plan your future and set up your legacy. Frustratingly, you can’t turn back the clock. However, you can take meaningful actions to protect your legacy and estate in the wake of your newfound limitations. Here are some insights to that end: Work with a qualified estate planning attorney to ensure that: There’s an authorized person to make financial and healthcare decisions for you if you become mentally or physically unable to do so yourself. There’s also an authorized person to manage your property, pay your bills, file your taxes and handle similar business if you’re unable to do these tasks. Your wishes about health care decisions, such as end of life care instructions, have been communicated in a legally valid and binding manner. Get a recommendation from your estate planning attorney Texas or your financial advisor, who can help you take additional actions, such as: Ensuring that you have appropriate insurance. Reassessing your investment options and portfolio in light of your new limitations and constraints on your ability to generate income. Making sure that you have a budget that works and that your bills will all get paid on time. Mind this important distinction: Be advised that “disability” for legal purposes is different than “disability” for financial planning purposes. For example, disability for financial purposes might mean you can’t work gainfully anymore because of cancer or a workplace injury. On the other hand, “incapacity” in an estate planning context typically means that a person is no longer capable of making sound decisions, often due to systemic illness or injury. In other words, you can be “disabled” for financial/insurance purposes and be non-disabled for legal purposes. However, almost anyone who is disabled for legal purposes would also be considered disabled for financial purposes. Either way, it’s important for us to work together with your financial advisor to make sure you and your family are fully protected. Take these actions on your own: Pay attention to where your money is going as well as to your long term planning strategy. Your estate planning attorney can help you assess whether your current plans are still realistic and, if not, what alternative options you have. Maintain a healthy lifestyle. For instance, cut down on added sugars and refined vegetable oils and be sure to eat enough vegetables, protein, and healthy fats.  Get the help you need from trusted professionals. Now is the time to tap your friends and family and network for assistance with the heavy lifting. No single advisor will have all the answers. But your team can work in concert to reduce the anxiety and uncertainty and keep you focused on what really matters. Please reach out to us to assess your long term plans and documents and make sure you are as secure as possible in light of your new challenges.

Money may be the most talked about wealth contained within a person’s estate, but the riches of their experience and wisdom can mean even more to family members down the line. Reinforcement of family traditions can be built into your estate plan alongside your wishes regarding your money, property, and belongings. After all, what really makes a family a family is its values and traditions — not the way its finances read on paper. It's an excellent idea to hold a family meeting in which you discuss the sorts of things that matter to you most. In addition to the value of sharing your wisdom, you can also make it more likely that your heirs will handle their inheritance correctly if they understand the reasons behind your choices. This is just one of the many reasons to have a family discussion about your legacy and your estate plan. How to tell your story through your estate plan It’s a delight to get to hear your elders’ stories of their fondest memories and wildest adventures, as well as the struggles they overcame to get the family where it is today. This wisdom provides meaning for a financial legacy that otherwise might just be viewed as a windfall. As part of your estate and legacy planning, you can decide to record your own personal history. Here are a few ways: Audio files: With the broad range of audio formats available today, you can record in the way that’s easiest for you - anything from a handheld cassette recorder to the Voice Memos app on your iPhone. There are some easy-to-use digitizing services that can compile your stories into audio files to make available to your family and descendants. Video files: The same goes for home movies and other video recordings. Older film formats can be easily digitized and organized along with the videos from your phone. Today’s technology also makes it easier than ever to add narration (and context) to a video, making the story all the richer. Photo albums: Many families have prized photo collections that catalog generations. It’s a tragedy when something like this is lost in a fire or extreme weather event, or even misplaced in a move. Creating a digital database is a favor to your family in more ways than one: Not only will they have access to these memories at any time, they can also feel secure knowing that these family treasures won’t be lost anytime soon and that multiple copies can be made for the different branches of the family. Letters and other writings: If you enjoy writing, you can also include handwritten or typed letters or stories to your family members in your legacy plan to be received and read at the time of your choosing. You can also include past letters and postcards that might be tucked away in the attic. It’s not only a personal delight to relive the memories of the past by reviewing your old letters and postcards, but it's also a great way for younger generations to get to know and sincerely appreciate your life journey and legacy. Passing your values to the next generation Some estate planning strategies blend your finances and personal values. For example, we might have a discussion on some of your core values in life. Whether you feel most passionate about the need for your beneficiaries to travel and gain worldly experience, continue a unique family tradition like sailing or astronomy, or support meaningful charitable or spiritual work, we can draft trusts that contain funds specifically set aside for these endeavors. Educational trusts: If you value education, you might want to set up a trust to fund undergraduate and graduate degrees, med school, study abroad, or even community classes for your family’s future generations. Because of sharp increases in educational costs within the U.S., your grandchildren will likely stand to benefit immensely from an educational trust. Incentive trusts: Similar to the way educational trusts set aside wealth for the purpose of funding a beneficiary’s schooling, incentive trusts can also help steer the course of your descendants’ lives be encouraging some paths while discouraging others. For example, an incentive trust could contain instructions for disbursements to be released when the beneficiary is working a part or full-time job. Or if family vacations were an important part of your upbringing, you could set aside funds specifically for your grandchildren to experience the same wonderful tradition you enjoyed. Charitable trusts or foundations: Charitable trusts or foundations establish a family legacy of supporting a particular cause, but they also have the added financial benefit of reducing income and estate taxes. They are an excellent way to help a charitable organization that’s central to your core values and make your name associated with that philanthropic effort for generations to come. Are you curious about exploring a few of these options in your estate and legacy plan? Give us a call today, and we can schedule an appointment to go over your many options for showcasing your memories and values in a long-lasting way that truly benefits your heirs.

Planning for what happens after you die is essential for you and your family, but this is only one piece of the estate planning puzzle. It is just as important to make a plan for what happens if you become mentally incapacitated. What If I do not have an Incapacity Plan? In the event you become unable to make coherent choices, you will need to appoint someone to intervene on your behalf. Without a comprehensive incapacity plan, a judge can appoint an agent (known as a guardian or a conservator) to take control of your assets and make all personal and medical decisions for you under a court-supervised guardianship or conservatorship. The guardian or conservator must report all financial transactions to the court either on an annual basis or at least every few years. The guardian or conservator is also typically required to obtain court permission before entering into certain types of financial transactions (such as mortgaging or selling your real estate) or making life-sustaining or life-ending medical decisions. The court-supervised guardianship or conservatorship will then continue until you either regain capacity or die. Who Should You Choose as Your Financial Agent and Health Care Agent? A guardian or conservator has an important and involved role if you become incapacitated. Creating an Incapacity Planning in Texas can help you avoid a court-supervised guardianship or conservatorship. Rather than having a judge decide, your incapacity plan will have you appoint one or more agents to carry out your wishes. There are two very important decisions you must make when putting together your plan: Who will be in charge of managing your finances if you become incapacitated (your financial agent). Who will be in charge of making medical decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated? (your health care agent). Factors to consider when deciding who to name as your financial agent and health care agent (who do not have to be the same people) include: Where does the agent live? With modern technology, the distance between you and your agent should not matter. Nonetheless, someone who lives nearby may be a better choice than someone who lives in another state or country. How organized is the agent? The agent will need to be well organized to manage your health care needs, keep track of your assets, pay your bills, balance your checkbook and manage their own finances and family obligations. How busy is the agent? If the agent has a demanding job or travels frequently for work, then the agent may not have the time required to take care of your finances and medical needs. Does the agent have expertise in managing finances or the health care field? An agent with work experience in finances or medicine may be a better choice than an agent without it. If you choose the wrong person to serve as your financial agent or health care agent, your incapacity plan may fail and land you and your assets in a court-supervised guardianship or conservatorship. In order to create an incapacity plan that will work the way you expect it to work, you should carefully consider who to choose as your agent and then discuss your decision with that person. The Kamilah Henderson Law Firm is ready to answer your questions about incapacity planning and assist you with choosing the right agents for your plan.

Comprehensive estate planning is more than your legacy after death and avoiding probate. Good estate planning includes a plan in place to manage your affairs if you become incapacitated during your life and can no longer make decisions for yourself. What happens without an incapacity plan?. Without a comprehensive incapacity plan in place, your family will have to go to court to get a judge to appoint a guardian or conservator to take control of your assets and health care decisions. This guardian or conservator will make all personal and medical decisions on your behalf as part of a court-supervised guardianship or conservatorship. Until you regain capacity or die, you and your loved ones will be faced with an expensive and time-consuming guardianship or conservatorship proceeding. There are two dimensions to decision making that need to be considered: financial decisions and healthcare decisions. ● Finances During Incapacity If you are incapacitated, you are legally unable to make financial, investment, or tax decisions for yourself. Of course, bills still need to be paid, tax returns still need to be filed, and investments still need to be managed. ● Healthcare During Incapacity If you become legally incapacitated, you won’t be able to make healthcare decisions for yourself. Because of patient privacy laws, your loved ones may even be denied access to medical information during a crisis and end up in court fighting over what medical treatment you should, or should not, receive. It is recommended that you have these five essential legal documents in place before becoming incapacitated so that your family is empowered to make decisions for you: 1. Financial Power of Attorney: This legal document gives your agent the authority to pay bills, make financial decisions, manage investments, file tax returns, mortgage and sell real estate, and address other financial matters that are described in the document. Financial Powers of Attorney come in two forms: “durable” and “springing.” A durable power of attorney goes into effect as soon as it is signed, while a springing power of attorney only goes into effect after you have been declared mentally incapacitated. There are advantages and disadvantages to each type, and we can help you decide which is best for your situation. 2. Texas Revocable Living Trust: This legal document has three parties to it: the person who creates the trust (you might see this written as “trustmaker,” “grantor,” or “settlor” — they all mean the same thing); the person who legally owns and manages the assets transferred into the trust (the “trustee”); and the person who benefits from the assets transferred into the trust (the “beneficiary”). In the typical situation, you will be the trustmaker, the trustee, and the beneficiary of your own revocable living trust. But if you ever become incapacitated, your designated successor trustee will step in to manage the trust assets for your benefit. Since the trust controls how your property is used, you can specify how your assets are to be used if you become incapacitated (for example, you can authorize the trustee to continue to make gifts or pay tuition for your grandchildren). 3. Texas Medical Power of Attorney: This legal document, also called a medical or health care proxy, gives your agent the authority to make healthcare decisions if you become incapacitated. 4. Texas Living Wills: This legal document shares your wishes regarding end of life care if you become incapacitated. Although a Texas living wills isn’t necessarily enforceable in all states, it can provide meaningful information about your desires even if it isn’t strictly enforceable. 5. HIPAA Authorization: This legal document gives your doctor authority to disclose medical information to an agent selected by you. This is important because health privacy laws may make it very difficult for your agents or family to learn about your condition without this release. Is your incapacity plan up to date? Once you get all of these legal documents for your incapacity plan in place, you cannot simply stick them in a drawer and forget about them. Instead, your incapacity plan must be reviewed and updated periodically and when certain life events occur such as moving to a new state or going through a divorce. If you keep your incapacity plan up to date and make the documents available to your loved ones and trusted helpers, it should work the way you expect it to if needed.

Kamilah Henderson, an esteemed estate planning attorney in Texas, specializes in wills, trusts, and incapacity planning, offering personalized & purposeful services.

Estate planning is vital for everyone, not just the wealthy. Learn how to create a revocable living trust that safeguards your assets and loved ones. Contact us!

You can talk to any parent and they will tell you protecting their children is a significant priority. Making the decision to bring a child into this world or adopt marks a commitment and a privilege, and it makes sense to protect your child beyond just the time you are able to spend with them. Unfortunately, many families have not considered what can and will happen to their children when they are no longer able to care for them, especially young families. There is a belief that planning for incapacitation, death, or long-term travel is something only older parents need to be concerned about. In reality, all families should discuss choosing the right guardian for minor children. After all, we cannot predict when life will take a turn. Caring for Their Health Your minor children may face healthcare challenges. A guardian should be equipped to make the right healthcare decisions for your child when needed. Making healthcare decisions is one of the most important roles a guardian could potentially have in your child’s life. Your child’s physical safety may depend on the critical thinking and ability of your chosen guardian to make the right treatment decisions. When you designate a guardian, consider your preferences and which healthcare information will be relevant should you not be around to make those decisions yourself. Providing Stability and Organization These designations must guard your child against unexpected events and keep their lives on track so they can focus on their own growth, education, and experience. If a child is growing up in a chaotic environment with little stability there will be less room to grow and learn. That is why your guardian should ensure that all necessary documentation and other relevant information is in a safe and accessible place. Decisions must be made over time that will require a review of relevant information before proceeding. In choosing a guardian, consider how much you trust this person to make the right choices in an organized manner. Reflecting Your Plan and Preferences Despite what people may claim, there is no one secret to being a good parent. The truth in life is that there are numerous ways and practices to be a successful parent. The choices you make for your children may not be reflective of the decisions of those around you, and that is okay. A guardian for your children should understand and respect this. Your voice as a parent matters even after you are gone or are otherwise unavailable to express it. This is why we have a minor child plan that sets us apart. We give space for parents to dictate details surrounding the preferences of how their children are raised. Do you want them raised in a home of faith? Do you have a specific vision for their education? What medical treatments and options do you want to prioritize? These and other details should be covered in an estate plan and through the guardianship process. Contact Kamilah Henderson Law Firm , and we will ensure a thorough plan that provides peace of mind to you and your family.

Life is about building. The serotonin release of putting our own time and effort into creating something for our family and for future generations is hard to match. The perfect at-home DIY job keeps us busy and ideally ends in a unique satisfaction. So, why not try your hand at crafting an estate plan that covers your hard work and puts it in the hands of your heirs? You can do a simple Google search of “Do It Yourself (DIY) Estate Plan” and see numerous results. Websites claiming to provide the “new way” to create an estate plan and touting “universal” estate planning templates free of charge. There is No “One-Size Fits All” Estate Plan Websites claim to have DIY estate planning templates that can be used for Texas estate plans and beyond. You simply download the form, fill in the information, submit it to the relevant parties, and you are covered. This sounds great in theory, but the mere fact that different states have different estate planning laws and regulations leads to complexity and risks. Certain states do not recognize specific types of trusts or have different limits on how and how much of certain assets can be held within certain estate planning elements. Even if you are able to find plan elements that are “universal” across all 50 states, the form your family takes and the assets you hold may not follow that universal path. An experienced estate planning attorney will work with you to ensure you have the right estate plan specific to your family and circumstances. Estate Planning is Nuanced We frequently have clients come to our law firm with the idea that a will or a trust will cover all that is needed in an estate plan. This concept is supported by misleading information on these DIY estate planning websites. The truth is estate planning goes far beyond just a will or a trust to include guardianship for minor children , power of attorney designations, incapacity planning, and beyond. Failing to address the nuances of estate planning could leave you with an insufficient plan and headaches for your loved ones after you are gone. You expose yourself and your family to liability when you try to take estate planning shortcuts as these websites cannot be held liable for how you decide to employ their guidance. Your Texas estate planning attorney, however, acts in your best interest and provides high-level estate planning guidance. You May Be Throwing Money Away A thorough understanding of estate planning and how certain aspects of your plan could save you and your heirs significant money is important. An estate plan can be an extension of your financial plan by taking advantage of key tax-saving measures. There is a reason attorneys have to take years of coursework to become certified to practice law. You should not be expected to know how a thorough plan can serve more than just inheritance. These are just a few of the many reasons you should skip out on DIY estate planning and work with an attorney. Other possible problems include: Missing out on important changes to estate planning laws Failing to certify or provide proof of who drafted the documents and who/why modifications were necessary Exposing your children to unnecessary risk due to unclear or insufficient planning When you work with Kamilah Henderson Law Firm, you can rest assured that you will receive personalized, purposeful, and family-centric planning. We do not take a one-size fits all approach because we know just how unique Texas families can be. Contact our firm to get an accurate and thorough estate plan crafted with care.