Most people assume the phrase "estate planning" involves having wealth. That assumption couldn’t be any further from the truth. Estate planning simply means that you are preparing for the unexpected and inevitable. Death does not discriminate according to income level, age, or social status. Face the reality, death is certain for everyone.
If you don’t care about the following, then we highly encourage you to NOT do estate planning:
- Being able to make the choice about where your “stuff“ goes after your death. Do you own a car? Do you have a wedding ring? If the answer is yes to either of these questions, then you have an estate.
- Deciding for yourself who you would want to make your financial or health care decisions if you aren’t physically, mentally, or emotionally able to do so. Do you have the ability to telepath your wishes to a physician or banker if you are unconscious, mentally ill, or have severe dementia? Do you think your spouse or children are just automatically allowed to make those decisions? Think again.
- Choosing who you would want to care for your minor children, disabled adult child, or pets after you die. Do you really want a stranger in the probate court to make these decisions for you?
- Designating where you want your money to go if you need full-time healthcare from a family member, facility, or healthcare agency. If you are okay with your life savings going to a nursing home and the government obtaining the proceeds of the sale of your home after you die, then by all means, do not do any estate planning!
- Deciding which family members, charities, and loved ones get the money in your bank account after you die.
- Making the decision yourself about who will be your legal representative and decision-maker for your estate after you die.
- Having peace of mind knowing that you have your affairs in order in the event of an unforeseen death or disability.
A main reason for not doing proper estate planning is because many people think that they are allergic to lawyers, so they actually attempt “Do It Yourself” (DIY) estate planning without knowing the law in order to save money and avoid having to call a lawyer. You wouldn’t perform your own heart surgery, so why would you perform a task that requires many years of college and continuing education in order to effectively do the task? Yes, estate planning is an investment; it’s no different than buying insurance. But like the cost of not having insurance, the cost of not doing estate planning, or DIY planning, usually far outweighs the initial investment of getting your affairs in order. The messes our firm has to clean up because of improper planning, or not planning at all, far outweigh the cost of having your estate planning documents prepared by a lawyer who is a state-certified specialist in estate planning.
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On June 26, 2019, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the list of the 400 under-performing nursing home facilities in the United States. The surveys were conducted to assess the performance of the facility and were conducted without being announced to the facility in advance; surveys were permitted to be performed at any hour of the day and on any day of the week.
Below is a list of the nursing home facilities in Ohio that were considered by the CMS to be under performing last month:
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- Rolling Hills Rehab and Care Center
- Scioto Pointe
- Crystal Care Center of Franklin
- Logan Care and Rehabilitation
- Beavercreek Health and Rehab
- The Laurels of Hilliard
- Hudson Elms Nursing Home
- Whetstone Gardens and Care Center
- Holzer Senior Care Center
- Carriage Inn of Cadiz, Inc.
- Premier Estates of Cincinnati-Riverside
- Crystal Care of Coal Grove
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- Canton Christian Home
- Columbus Colony Elderly Care
- Eliza Bryant Center
- Continuing Healthcare at Forest Hill
- Stow Glen Health Care Center
- Newark Care and Rehabilitation
- Fairlawn Rehab and Nursing Center
- Marietta Center
- Uptown Westerville Healthcare
- Portsmouth Health and Rehab
- Isabelle Ridgway Post Acute Care Campus, LLC
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For a full list of all the under-performing nursing home facilities in the United States,
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Is A Cotrustee Really Necessary?
By Nancy A. Roberson, Attorney and President
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I recently finished an emergency job requiring a quick amendment to a trust to enable a client's children to sign checks for her because Client had a debilitating stroke. Client signed her trust about 15 years ago when she was 70ish and quite capable of handling things herself. I wish that Client had come in for periodic reviews so that we could have suggested her adding cotrustees with her.
Let's face it...as we age, we need help. Admittedly, many of us need help despite not having aged!
One of my usual suggestions when an aging client comes in for an estate planning review is to suggest that the client name a cotrustee to serve with the client if he or she has someone trustworthy to name. Typically, we revise the trust so that the new cotrustee has independent authority to act. Usually this is a relative who is already named as a successor trustee.
There are several benefits to naming a cotrustee now:
- The cotrustee acts like an agent under a power of attorney for trust assets.
- If the cotrustee never needs to act during your life (as was the case with my mother and me), there is no downtime when the cotrustee can act.
- A doctor's certificate does not have to be obtained during your life to enable a successor trustee to act. I always want to avoid statements that infer that you no longer have your mental capacity to act.
The downside to this arrangement is that a cotrustee with independent authority to act could overstep his or her boundaries and steal from you or mismanage your money. That is why naming someone absolutely trustworthy is vital.
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Upcoming Speaking Events
As you have read about in this newsletter, one of our passions is educating the community about the importance of planning for death and disability.
This past spring was busy for our attorneys who represent the firm by speaking at educational events around the Miami Valley. We especially thank all of the Alzheimer's support groups in Dayton who have invited Nancy Roberson to present on the unique legal issues affecting people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Our firm is honored to have been used as a legal resource to the Alzheimer's Association for the past 20 years.
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If you would like one of our experienced estate planning, elder law, and probate attorneys, Nancy Roberson or Kristina Rainer, to speak at your next event, please call 937.643.2000 or email Amy Cary at
acary@dayton-attorney.com
to book your event. In addition, if you would like to know where Nancy's or Kristina's next speaking engagement is being held, please email Amy, and she will provide the details for the upcoming event.
As always, we do not charge a fee for our professional speaking services as long as you confirm that at least ten people will attend. If fewer than ten people attend the event, then we request that a tax-deductible donation be made to the Miami Valley Widows' Support Groups. You may also go to our speaking engagements page on our website to read some testimonials from past attendees and to obtain more information about speaking topics.
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*NEW*
We have just agreed to participate in the
Retirement Transitions Series
for the Kettering Health Network (KHN). Our firm has partnered with KHN and their Years Ahead Health Cente
r
to serve as the attorney adviser for the new series that is expected to be offered every quarter.
The new KHN Years Ahead Health Center just opened this year and is located at 6661 Clyo Road in Centerville. The Center is designed to provide both the best healthcare and educational events for the 50+ age group.
The list of the upcoming topics being presented at the Center are:
- July 18th at 3:00 p.m., “Identity Theft and Digital Asset Planning,” which includes a pre-recorded video of Nancy speaking on the topic.
- August 13th at 6:00 p.m. and August 15th at 3:00 p.m., "Healthcare & Financial Decision Making for Loved Ones," which includes a pre-recorded video of Nancy speaking on the topic.
- September 10th at 6:00 p.m. and October 17th at 3:00 p.m.,"Changing Housing Needs as we Age"
- September 16th at 6:00 p.m., "Social Security Strategies," presented by Keith Davis and Dianne Steineman
- September 23rd at 6:00 p.m., "Long Term Care Planning," presented by Randy Gallas
- September 30th at 6:00 p.m., "Elder Law and Estate Planning," presented by Nancy Roberson
- October 7th at 6:00 p.m., "Medicare 101," presented by Kevin Lowden
- October 14th at 6:00 p.m., "Tax Strategies for Retirement Income," by Keith Davis and Jeff Woeste
- November 12th at 6:00 p.m. and November 21st at 3:00 p.m., "Tax Efficiency, Wealth Accumulation & the Importance of Tax Diversification"
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Register to Attend Sinclair College's popular SEEK Conference:
This is an annual event that brings over 800 attendees to downtown Dayton to learn about a myriad of topics that are of interest to senior adults. This year, Kristina will be presenting on Medicaid and Asset Protection Planning. Our firm will also have a booth set up at the event with free goodies for everyone who visits our table.
Date:
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Time:
8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Campus:
Dayton
Location:
Building 12, Smith Auditorium/Great Hall
RSVP date:
Monday, July 29 by contacting the College for Lifelong Learning Office at (937) 512.2372. The cost to attend is only $5.00, which includes lunch and parking.
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The death of a husband is overwhelming and life-changing. The Young Widows and Widows’ Support Groups were founded by several widows who survived this shattering, painful experience and offers emotional support, guidance, friendship, and hope to women of all ages whose husbands have died.
The death of a husband, at any age, can be an overwhelming loss, but the loss for a young widow in her twenties, thirties, and forties is different. Issues involving children, unfulfilled dreams, finances, and loneliness just aren’t the same.
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In addition, a young widow rarely knows other widowed women her age. It is for that reason why there are two different support groups: one for young widows and one for widows who are over the age of fifty.
The Young Widows' Support Group (under age 50) usually meets on the first Thursday of each month from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and the Widows' Support Group (over age 50) meets on the Friday after the first Thursday of each month from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
However,
due to the July 4 Holiday, the meetings are one week later than usual. Both groups meet at Normandy United Methodist Church, located at 450 West Alex-Bell Road, Centerville, Ohio. There is no cost to attend.
The Upcoming Meeting Topics Are:
- July 11, 2019, program consists of a panel of 3 former young widows who will share their personal stories, along with insights about what they did “right” in their grief process and what they might have done differently (program for under age 50).
- July 12, 2019, program is titled, “Show & Tell: Keepsakes & Mementos.” Attendees are encouraged to bring and talk about an item that holds memories of their husband (program for over age 50).
- August 2, 3, 2019, both programs will discuss "The Many Facets of Grief."
For more information about the Young Widows' Support Group, visit the
website
, call Pam Walker at 937.672.8810, or email
DaytonYWSG@gmail.com
.
For further information about the Widows' Support Group, call Sherry Matsel at 937.878.9707 or email
imboo25@yahoo.com
.
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Roberson Law Partners With Dayton Christian School And Cedarville University
Roberson Law has been a longtime supporter of schools in our community. Some of the schools to whom we have provided support include Alter, Incarnation, St. Charles, St. Alberts, Sinclair College, The University of Dayton, Fairmont High School, and several clubs out of Centerville High School. In addition, we have employed homeschool students for work-study programs at our office. This year, we are trying something new in support of Dayton Christian School (DCS) and Cedarville University (CU).
First, DCS has needed a gym for a long time. When DCS moved to the old NCR building on Washington Church Road, they didn’t have a gym, so they “borrowed“ gyms from schools in the community for sporting events. After many years of obtaining funding for a new gym, DCS finally has a new top-notch gym facility onsite to call their own! Because so many DCS staff and families are Roberson Law clients, the Athletic Director of DCS reached out to Roberson Law to help fund the school’s new state-of-the-art digital scoreboard. Starting this summer, you will see Roberson Law represented on the scoreboard for all of the DCS sporting events.
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Second, we decided to partner with Cedarville University (CU) by becoming a sponsor for some of their winter and fall sporting events. We also have many clients who are employed by, and are alumni of CU, so we are honored to be able to partner with such a reputable university.
Be on the lookout for our Roberson Law logo on the back of CU T-shirts and our newly produced video on the DCS digital scoreboard (c
heck out the short video
here.)
We are honored to support such outstanding schools who support our mission and values statement.
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The definition of sincerity is: Doing what is right with transparent motives.
"When we are transparent and sincere in our personal and professional lives, we build a reputation that makes it easier for others to trust us."--Character First Magazine
Plan of Action:
- Check your motives.
- Mean what you say.
- Walk the talk.
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What You Missed From Our Weekly Facebook Posts
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Our awesome clients strike again! The lovely lady who sent us this 4th of July bouquet said it was to thank everyone in the office, but it was especially to show gratitude to Cheryl Lail, our Legal Documents Manager, for being so great.
While we are showcasing stars and stripes, we also take this time to wish everyone a wonderful Independence Day. May we never take our amazing country for granted. God bless America!
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Were you alive before women were allowed to vote? Do you remember when the traffic light was invented? Chances are, you don't. It's quite a feat to have actually experienced these great events in American history, and we have a client who has done just that! Last week we celebrated the 100th birthday of a dear woman who has remained a loyal client to our office for many years. What a privilege it was to honor this lovely lady!
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Our attorneys had a nice time at the Dayton Foundation "Patios, Partners, and Philanthropy" event last night. Roberson Law is a proud supporter of the Dayton Foundation and the wonderful causes for which the organization provides funding.
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If you have not seen any of these posts, then you must not be our friend on Facebook! We usually post to Facebook at least twice a week so that everyone knows what is going on at our office more frequently. If you would like to keep up with the happenings at our office every week instead of every three or four months when this newsletter is delivered, then click on any of the post pictures above, or on the icon below, and become our fan today!
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Lift Chair For Sale -
$700
(Originally $1249 + tax)
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Do physical limitations make getting in and out of a chair very difficult and strenuous? Whether you’re looking for a lift chair to assist with mobility, or you’re looking for a chair that will rejuvenate you after a long day at work, look no further than the MaxiComfort Cloud Cirrus.
One of our fiduciary clients for whom we served purchased this chair brand new last month, and then died unexpectedly eight days later. As a result, we have a brand new lift chair to sell. For more details, contact Trisha Webb, Fiduciary Services Manager, at our office. You may either call 937.643.2000 or email Trisha at twebb@dayton-attorney.com.
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- Overstuffed, biscuit back design
- Features Golden’s exclusive bucket seat with “perfect posture” guidance
- Unique Bucket Seat and chaise pad design cradles your lower body in comfort
- Features our patented MaxiComfort Ultimate Recline Technology
- Generously filled, wide armrests for enhanced arm support when sitting or reclining
- Proudly made by Americans (with domestic & imported materials)
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model pictured above only
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model pictured above only
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model pictured above only
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model pictured above only
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model pictured above only
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