Seattle attorney for durable power of attorney, wills, and trusts.

Planning for Incapacity:
  • Powers of Attorney ("POA")
  • Living Wills - Advance Health Care Directives
  • Special Needs Trusts
  • Guardianship

 

Plan to take care of your financial matters.   If you become incapacitated, you won’t be able to manage your own financial affairs.  Many are under the mistaken impression that their spouse or adult children can automatically take over for them in case they become incapacitated.  A spouse or registered domestic partner can manage community property, but has no authority to manage your separate property.  Unfortunately, unless you have the appropriate documents in place, others will have to petition a court to declare you to be legally incompetent and be appointed your guardian in order to be able to manage your finances effectively.   This process can be lengthy, costly, and stressful. 

    

     Even if the court appoints the person you would have chosen as your guardian, they may have to come back to the court every year and show how they are spending and investing each and every penny.  This too, is costly.       

     

Plan to take care of your medical decisions.  Taking care of your financial affairs is only a part of the total picture.  You should also establish a plan for your medical care for those times when you are not able to make decisions for yourself.  The law allows you to appoint someone you trust -- for example, a family member or close friend -- to make decisions on your behalf about medical treatment options if you lose the ability to decide for yourself.  You can do this by using a durable power of attorney for health care in which you designate the person to make such decisions.  In addition to a power of attorney for heath care, you should also have a living will, also called an advance directive, which informs others of your preferred medical treatments such as the use of extraordinary measures should you become permanently unconscious or terminally ill.

Seattle attorney for durable power of attorney.

     If you want your family members or someone else you trust to be able to take over for you immediately when the need arises, you must put the proper legal documents into place.  You will need to designate a person or persons whom you trust in so that they will have the authority to withdraw money from your accounts, pay bills, take distributions from your IRAs, sell stocks, file your tax return, and refinance your home. 

     A will does not take effect until you die and a standard power of attorney may be insufficient.   A durable power of attorney for financial matters can be specially tailored to meet your particular needs.  It remains effective even if you are incapacitated.  Indeed, that is when it is often the most useful.

Seattle guardianship lawyer.

Children Helping Parents.   Adult children often find themselves in the position of helping aging parents with their affairs. Sometimes they are able to encourage and assist with advance planning, while parents are still able to make their own decisions and sign legal documents. Sometimes adult children must help parents cope with a crisis. 

    Many families are concerned about the possibility of a serious financial drain when the children spend more to care for aging parents than they receive through inheritance.
 
    We understand the difficulties of this family conversation. Estate planning, however, is not about parents giving up control to their children. It is about parents exercising control over what happens during periods of disability or after their death.  It is compassionate and gives peace of mind.  In the long run, it is much easier and less expensive to plan ahead than to deal with the consequences of failing to plan.

Seattle Wills and Trusts attorney.

Guardianship.   There are times when the necessary planning tools are not in place.  A guardianship for your incapacitated loved one may be the right answer.  Guardians are appointed by the court to handle an incapacitated persons needs, whether it be financial or matters of personal care.  Often a family member is appointed guardian.  Sometimes it is appropriate to appoint a certified professional guardian.  We can help you with this decision.

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Senior Care Tax Deductions for the “Sandwich Generation.”

More and more adult children are becoming caregivers for their parents, often when they are still raising children or supporting young adult children in school.  As the senior care expenses begin adding up, family caregivers often ask if the IRS offers a tax deduction similar to the tax deduction for child care.

Question:  Do I qualify for a tax deduction for taking care of my parent?  They have little income and I provide more than half of his care.

Answer:  Yes, if you are able to claim the elderly relative as a dependent.  This means you may qualify to have an additional exemption deduction on your tax return. Several factors that must be considered, including the amount of income the relative receives.  Many relatives qualify for this special treatment without actually having to live with you. This includes parents, stepparents, grandparents, siblings, nieces, and nephews, and certain in-laws. Even if the relative does not live with you, you must be providing for more than half of their financial support, which includes food and transportation.  

So, if you and your parent meet the Internal Revenue Service's criteria, you will be able claim the relative as a dependent, giving you an extra exemption. This reduces the amount of your income that is subject to tax.

Estate and tax planning in Seattle with Van Nuys Law Office PLLC

The amount of the exemption deduction you can claim depends on your income, too.

The amount you can claim as a deduction for exemptions is reduced once your adjusted gross income (AGI) goes above a certain level for your filing status. These levels are as follows:

Married filing separately: $117,300 

Single: $156,400 

Head of household: $195,500 

Married filing jointly:  $234,600 

Qualifying widow(er): $234,600 

In addition, the Internal Revenue Service lets you deduct medical costs as long as they are more than 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. This may include the medical (and dental) expenses of everyone listed on your tax return, including your spouse and dependents. You may be able to include some of the expenses paid for a parent, along with expenses for a caregiver.

Even travel expenses to and from medical treatments, along with uninsured treatments, such as hearing aids and false teeth are deductible.  If more than one child participates in the financial support of the parent, some families rotate the deduction to a different child each year.

Please consult your tax advisor and review the guides available from the IRS.  You’ll find specifics information IRS website, www.irs.gov.  You may click on the IRS publication guides to take you directly to the publications.  Look at IRS Publication 501.  Also see IRS Publication 502 which covers medical expense deductions, and IRS Publication 554 which covers dependent care deductions.

Van Nuys Law Office PLLC is ready to work with you and your parents, to review their estate planning needs, wishes and options. We can help by making house calls to visit housebound parents, and arrange conference calls to far away loved-ones to keep them informed. We serve the greater Seattle area.  We'd like to be your Seattle Wills and Trusts attorney.