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Dear Clients and Friends,
This summer is no doubt a little different for you just as it is for us. Although things have calmed down a bit in Massachusetts, things are less certain in the rest of the county. The COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic has had a dramatic effect on our lives. One thing that has come out of all of this is the reminder that life is fragile, and that we need to plan for the future because we don't know what it will bring.
So now more than ever, we are here to help you if you have questions, concerns or estate planning needs. Our goal as always is to help you in creating the right estate plan for your family.
We have a lot for you in this issue, including: The CARES Act Upends the Rules on Distributions from Retirement Accounts; Five Requirements of a Valid Will; Common Misunderstandings and Mistakes Family Members Make When Serving as Trustees; Important Information about our In-Office Meeting Protocols, some thank you's, and an update on what's new at the firm.
As if the passage of the SECURE Act on January 1st of this year did not create enough upheaval in the world of qualified retirement plans, along came the "Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security" Act (the CARES Act) on March 27, 2020 and added even more. The CARES Act upends the fundamental rules for who must, and who may, take distributions from qualified retirement plans such as IRAs, 401ks, 403(b)s and 457 plans in 2020.Learn more as Attorney Suzanne Sayward deconstructs these important developments.
Attorney Julia Abbott reviews the five requirements of a valid Last Will and Testament and explains whether or not a holographic (handwritten) Will is valid, even if it is written on the fender of a tractor using a pocket knife.
Congratulations! You've been named as a Trustee by a loving family member. Now what? Family members are often named to serve as Trustees, however they usually have no experience or knowledge about what that means. Steven Joshua Samuel takes a closer look at the pitfalls of having family members serve as trustees and some common mistakes family member Trustees make.
In Ask SSB we answer questions about documents that young adult children heading off to college should have in place. These include a HIPPA Authorization, and Health Care Proxy.
Most of us at SSB have been and will continue to work almost exclusively from home as we continue to work through the Coronavirus pandemic. For now, we will continue to conduct most appointments by phone call or video conference to minimize the risk of transmission of the virus to ourselves and our clients. We are having short (not more than 15 minutes) meetings with clients to sign documents or for a quick meet and greet.
We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all of our clients and friends who have supported our small business through this crisis. We are grateful that our transition to working and conducting meetings remotely was relatively smooth and appreciate your patience as we worked through the unavoidable hiccups. We feel lucky that we are able to continue to do our estate planning, estate settlement and elder law work remotely given its importance in the current environment. We could not continue to do what we do without all of you. THANK YOU!
Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions and please send us email addresses for new subscribers or forward this newsletter to friends and family members.
Steven Joshua Samuel
Suzanne R. Sayward
Maria C. Baler
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As practitioners of the law, we wish to acknowledge the racial and social injustice in this country that has been brought to the forefront once again recently with the death of George Floyd, and the subsequent protests. As lawyers, we understand the value and importance of justice and the rule of law. We know that like cases are to be treated alike. We know that before all else, the rule of law and equal treatment under the law are necessary for a just and peaceful society. As Martin Luther King wrote in his Letter from the Birmingham Jail, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".
Although society's most recent focus on racial and social injustice were in response to police misconduct, these issues are much larger than the actions of a few police officers. As the disparate impacts of Covid-19 make clear, minorities in this country, especially in the Black community, suffer from systemic forms of social and economic inequality. It is important that we give voice to these undeniable facts.
We support those who continue to exercise their First Amendment rights to protest peacefully in support of racial equality and social justice, while we work to improve our understanding of these issues and what we can do, individually and as a firm, to support positive change and equal justice for all.
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By Attorney Suzanne R. Sayward
As if the passage of the SECURE Act on January 1st of this year did not create enough upheaval in the world of qualified retirement plans, along came the "Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security" Act (the CARES Act) on March 27, 2020 and added even more. The CARES Act upends the fundamental rules for who must, and who may, take distributions from qualified retirement plans such as IRAs, 401ks, 403(b)s and 457 plans in 2020.
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By Attorney Julia Abbott
On June 8, 1948, a Canadian farmer was pinned beneath his tractor. He was discovered 9 hours after the accident and rushed to the hospital, where he later died.
A few days later, it was discovered that the farmer had scratched his Will into the fender of the tractor using his pocket knife. He had written, "In case I die in this mess, I leave all to the wife." The fender was later removed and submitted to the Canadian court as a valid holographic Last Will and Testament.
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Common Misunderstandings and Mistakes Family Members Make When Serving as Trustees
By Steven Joshua Samuel JD, MBA, AIF
Congratulations! You've been named as a Trustee by a loving family member. Now what?
Family members are often named to serve as Trustees without any explanation of their role and duties and sometimes without any notice. It is no surprise that family member Trustees make mistakes, some of which become lawsuits. Here's an outline of the Trustee's role and responsibilities and some common mistakes family member Trustees make.
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Q. My daughter will be heading off to college in the fall and a friend told me that I won't be able to get information from the college about her grades or even about her health if she was sick. Is this true and if so, what can I do about it?
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Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC In-Office Meeting Protocols
As we begin to return to some semblance of normalcy, including conducting in person meetings in our office, our primary concern remains the safety of our clients, our team members and anyone else coming into the office. Please note that in-office appointments are limited to 15 minutes right now for purposes of meeting new clients or signing documents. Please read the following carefully before coming into the office and contact us if you have any questions. - When coming to the office for a meeting, please call the office upon arrival and before coming upstairs to ensure adequate social distancing while in the office.
- Everyone entering the office must wear a face mask (masks are available for client use, if needed).
- Upon entering the office, you will be asked to wash your hands or use hand sanitizer before being seated in the conference room.
- Please respect social distancing measures when seated in the conference room.
- All contact surfaces in the conference room are thoroughly cleaned and sanitized following each appointment.
Before coming to our office, we request that you ask yourself the following questions and if you answer YES to any question, please re-schedule your appointment. - Do you feel unwell? Do you have a fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, or are you experiencing shortness of breath or difficulty breathing? Recent loss of taste or smell?
- To the best of your knowledge have you been in close proximity to any individual who has recently tested positive for COVID-19?
- Do you have any reason to believe you or anyone in your household has been exposed to or acquired COVID-19?
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What's New at Samuel, Sayward & Baler
Here's what's been happening at Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC!
Most of us have been and will continue to work almost exclusively from home as we continue to work through the Coronavirus pandemic. We continue to conduct appointments by phone call or video conference to minimize and risk of exposure to ourselves and our clients. We are having short (not more than 15 minutes) meetings with clients to sign documents or for a quick meet and greet, and hope this can continue assuming conditions continue to improve.
We have protocols in place for the safety of our employees when they do need to come into the office to work, and for our clients who need to drop off documents or visit our office for other reasons, or in the event an in-person meeting is necessary.
We want to recognize and thank Attorney Abigail Poole, who was not only instrumental in the push to enact the so-called Remote Notarization Law, which allows us to notarize estate plan documents remotely, but also developed our firm's procedures for the remote notarization process (no small task) and took on the responsibility of conducting the majority of our remote signing meetings, all with her usual good humor and can-do attitude. Thanks Abby!
We also want to thank our Legal Assistant Ed Poles for coming into the office every day to hold down the fort, make sure incoming and outgoing mail is taken care of, process client payments in a timely way, to print, scan, fax and do whatever else those of us who are working remotely may need, and ensure our clients have someone who is on-site to take care of whatever we cannot do for them remotely.
These articles are not intended to provide legal advice or create or imply an attorney-client relationship. No information contained herein is a substitute for a personal consultation with an attorney
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Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC, 858 Washington Street, Suite 202, Dedham, Massachusetts
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