Overland Park Attorney

Talk About End-of-Life Planning Now!

When you dare to think ahead to the last days of your life (if you dare to think about that), what do you imagine? If you are like 70 percent of Americans, you dream of spending your final days at home, in peace and comfort, surrounded by loved ones who care for you compassionately until your last breath. But in reality, the CDC reports that 70 percent of Americans actually die in a hospital, nursing home or long-term care facility. Why are so few people able to realize their end of life dream?

The two biggest reasons that many people do not have the death they wish: many do not plan ahead, nor do they make their wishes known, according to The Huffington Post’s “5 Reasons to Plan Ahead for the End-of-Life.” No one likes to talk about death, so we put off conversations that would let others know of our desires. And most of us don't take the time to work on required documents to establish a legal basis for our wishes.

There are some very compelling reasons to overcome your fears and get going on this. And it's never too early to start planning: remember there are no guarantees for the future.

Five reasons to start planning for the end-of-life now:

1. Preserve Your Financial Legacy. According to a recent survey, roughly 41% of Baby Boomers don't have a will—and 50% of all Americans die without a legal will in place. If you fall into either of these groups, it means that the probate court will decide how and to whom your assets may be distributed among your heirs, according to the state law. If you have no estate plan and don’t discuss a strategy with an experienced estate planning attorney, you may give a significant portion of your estate to taxes. Protect your assets and distribute them to your heirs by creating an estate plan.

2. Provide for Your Minor Children. That same survey found that 55% of Americans with children don't have a will and have failed to designate a legal guardian for their children under 18. Here again, the court may decide who will receive custody of the children if both parents die—a traumatic event for everyone. Take the necessary steps now to name a guardian and protect the welfare of your children.

3. Get the Care You Want at End-Of-Life. Another survey continues the bad news: less than a third of Americans have completed advance Directives—instructions to health care professionals on the type and extent of care to be delivered in a life-threatening situation. Without this, you stand to receive aggressive, full treatment in a crisis, which may not be what you really want. Complete a Health Care directive with instructions for your health care at the end-of-life. This will save energy, resources, and create less stress for your loved ones. Make sure the documents are in your home and easily accessible, should an emergency arise.

4. Be Remembered as You’d Like. If you would like to be memorialized in a certain way, you need to make your wishes known to your family in order to have them executed. Yes, you should stage-manage your own funeral! Write down the arrangements in advance for your own funeral and leave detailed instructions.

5. Alleviate stress for your family. There’s plenty of grief with the loss of a loved one without adding conflicts about handling financial, health care, or after-death arrangements. Communicate your wishes clearly now with detailed instructions and draft the required legal documents to ensure your desires are met.

Talk with a qualified estate planning attorney and make those plans now.

If you want to learn more about Estate Planing in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), please visit my Estate Planning website.

Reference Huffington Post (September 4, 2015) “5 Reasons to Plan Ahead for the End-of-Life”

 

Estate Planning Lessons in the Death of Whitney Houston’s Daughter

Bobbi Kristina Brown’s tragic death offers a number of poignant end-of-life lessons for parents, young adults, and seniors alike. First and foremost, health and legal experts say Brown’s death spotlights the need for establishing written advance medical directives as early as age 18. These include the designation of a healthcare proxy, a living will, and a “HIPAA Release,” clearing the way for a healthcare agent to communicate with providers about the care of a patient who is in a coma or otherwise incapacitated. Such planning is typically viewed as a concern for older Americans, but younger people — like Brown — can also find themselves unable to communicate their end-of-life wishes as a result of accidents, brain injuries, infections, or other illnesses.

Last week’s NewsMax article, titled “End-of-Life Lessons of Bobbi Kristina's Tragic Death,” suggests that parents of college-bound freshman (18 and older) should think about having a healthcare designation, a living will, HIPPA release, and durable power of attorney prepared for the ‘new’ adult so that parents can act on behalf of their kids if the unforeseen occurs.

Bobbi Kristina was only 22 and the only child of the late Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. She passed away after a very public six-month family fight over how to treat the comatose Brown, after she was found face-down in a bathtub in the Atlanta townhome she shared with her boyfriend Nick Gordon.

This story illustrates the difficulties families deal with when confronted with complex healthcare decisions. The article emphasizes the need to create advance medical directives to help family members of patients. These end-of-life instructions should be in a legal document, prepared by an estate planning attorney so that it satisfies the requirements of state law. The directives should include:

• A Healthcare Designation. This is a very critical part of an advance directive, as a “healthcare designation” or “healthcare proxy” names an individual you authorized to make medical decisions for you, if you are unable to do so on your own. This friend or relative is given what is also called “durable healthcare power of attorney (POA).” This allows them to speak on your behalf.
• A HIPPA Release. This allows your proxy to communicate with your healthcare providers about your care.
• A Living Will. This formal statement communicates your wishes for medical care should you end up in a “persistent vegetative state” with little or no chance of recovery, and you can’t communicate your wishes. Talk to an estate planning attorney as every state has its own regulations for living wills.
• Treatment Restrictions. You should spell out exactly the circumstances under which you would want to have life-sustaining care or when you want to pass, many times with only medication for pain. Distribute copies to your doctor, family members, and (if appropriate) close friends. The article lists several specific treatments you might want to address:

• A Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order. This states that you do not want providers to perform extraordinary measures (like CPR) if your heart or breathing stops.
• Mechanical Ventilation. State when and for how long you would want a mechanical respirator to take over your breathing.
• Nutritional Assistance. Discuss your feelings about nutrition if you could only be fed through an intravenous or stomach tube.
• Dialysis. Kidney failure can be the first step toward death in terminal patients. State parameters around which you would want this treatment.
• Brain Death. State what you would want if your brain function was deemed minimal or immeasurable.
• Organ Donation. Make your wishes known if you want to donate your organs and tissues for transplantation.

It’s no shock that end-of-life planning is a difficult topic to discuss. Just 26.3% of Americans have completed advance directives, according to a 2013 study. But as the Bobbi Kristina Brown case shows, it’s important and never too early to discuss this topic with spouses, family members, partners, adult children, and parents.

If you want to learn more about Estate Planing in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), please visit my Estate Planning website.

Reference: NewsMax (July 31, 2015)“End-of-Life Lessons of Bobbi Kristina's Tragic Death”

 

 

Debate over the Fate of Bobbi Kristina Brown

There has been much media speculation about the debate in Bobbi Kristina Brown's family over whether or not to remove her from life support. The debate has been framed as a moral and religious one, but what might really be driving it is something much simpler, her mother's money.

Whitney Houston's will did not leave her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, an inheritance in a single lump sum. Instead, Brown was to receive the inheritance in increments, which would end when she reached 30 years old. The remainder of any money would then be placed in a trust.

Now, with 22-year-old Bobbi Kristina in hospice care and not expected to recover, things get complicated.

Houston's will states that if her daughter does not live to the age of 30, then the money should be distributed to Houston's other family members. Obviously, they have a monetary reason to argue that Bobbi Kristina should be removed from life support.

On the other hand, if Bobbi Kristina lives past the age of 30, her father, Bobby Brown, would be the beneficiary of the money.

To further complicate things, Bobbi Kristina's boyfriend is claiming that the two were married. If that is true, then he would inherit any money she receives. That claim is disputed and he has not produced proof.

Billboard reported this story in a recent article titled "Whitney Houston's Fortune in Limbo Amid Bobbi Kristina Tragedy."

It is difficult enough for a family to decide whether to take a loved one off of life support when no money is involved. When millions of dollars are involved as in this case, it becomes nearly impossible.

Contact an experienced estate planning attorney to make sure your estate plan covers all of the contingencies.

If you want to learn more about Estate Planing in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), please visit my Estate Planning website.

Reference: Billboard (June 19, 2015) "Whitney Houston's Fortune in Limbo Amid Bobbi Kristina Tragedy."

 

 

Extending the Slayer Rule in Missouri

The state of Missouri does not have a slayer statute that prevents someone from inheriting from the estate of someone they killed. However, as a matter of common law, the slayer rule is enforced by the state courts. Now, a bizarre new case is asking those courts to extend the slayer rule more than they have ever previously done.

Missouri prosecutors allege that in 2010 Kansas City attorney Susan Van Note entered her wealthy father's lakefront home, then attacked him and his girlfriend Sharon Dickson.

The girlfriend died at the scene. The father was transferred to a hospital.

Van Note arrived at the hospital with a Health Care Power of Attorney, which prosecutors allege was forged, and ordered the doctors to take her father off of life support.

He passed away four days later.

The prosecution's theory is that Van Note murdered her father and his girlfriend because he had made Dickson the primary beneficiary of his will.

Nevertheless, Susan Van Note had been appointed as the personal representative of her father’s will. Thus, for two years, she was in charge of her father's estate at which point she was indicted for the murders and removed as the personal representative.

Now, in the probate case, Van Note argues that since her father's will had no backup plan and the fact that Dickson predeceased him, the rules of intestate succession should apply. Consequently, she would be the sole heir to her father's estate.

However, Dickson, had an adult son from a previous marriage. He is asking the court to apply the slayer rule, exclude Van Note and her heirs, and make him the beneficiary of the estate.

If Dickson’s son prevails, this would be extending the slayer rule further that it ever has been extended in Missouri.

You can read more about the bizarre twists and turns of this case in a recent Kansas City Star article titled "Susan Van Note probate case is as curious as the murder case."

If you want to learn more about Estate Planing in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), please visit my Estate Planning website.

 Reference: Kansas City Star (June 20, 2015) "Susan Van Note probate case is as curious as the murder case."

 

Drug Testing before Inheritance?

Before people can receive many types of federal assistance, they are often required to pass drug tests. Should they also be required to pass drug tests before they can receive a tax free income? One representative appears to think so.

During a recent congressional hearing on the estate tax, a witness told the story of her father's difficulties trying to pass on his family business without having to divide it up or sell it so that the estate tax could be paid. This prompted Democratic Representative Linda Sanchez to respond to the effect that it is not fair that someone must pass a drug test to receive food stamps but not to receive an inheritance that is not subject to federal tax.

The Daily Caller has more on this in a recent article titled "Dem Suggests Kids Should Be Drug-Tested Before They Can Inherit From Their Parents."

While this appears to be nothing more than a one-off statement from a frustrated congresswoman and not a serious proposal, it does raise an important point. No, that point is not that drug testing should be required before someone can receive an inheritance. The important point to take away from this is that the people you leave bequests to might waste those bequests on drugs or other bad habits.

It happens and it is something you should consider when creating your estate plan.

Fortunately, there are other ways of dealing with this problem short of drug-testing. Trusts can be created to help ensure that the inheritance is not wasted, to include specific provisions when a beneficiary is believed to be abusing substances.

If this is a concern of yours, contact an experienced estate planning attorney who can explain your options.

If you want to learn more about Estate Planing in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), please visit my Estate Planning website.

 Reference: The Daily Caller (March 18, 2015) "Dem Suggests Kids Should Be Drug-Tested Before They Can Inherit From Their Parents."

 

Is a Power of Attorney Enough?

Most of the time people are advised that they should have a general durable power of attorney so that someone can handle their finances in the event of incapacitation. However, as powers of attorney are becoming increasing popular, it is also becoming more and more difficult to get financial institutions to accept them.

General Durable Powers of Attorney are an important part of almost all estate plans. They provide a cheap and effective way for someone to designate a person to handle financial matters in the event of incapacitation due to an accident or old age. The New York Timesreports in "Power of Attorney Is Not Always a Solution" that the very popularity of powers of attorney has led to an increasing difficulty in getting financial institutions to accept them. The problem is that powers of attorney can also be used to commit elder abuse and fraud. Banks do not want to get sued and as a consequence will refuse any power of attorney that is irregular. The New York Timesarticle tells the story of a woman who went by her middle name but the document her brother signed giving her power of attorney used her first name. Banks were not willing to accept that she was the same person named in the power of attorney without hassle.

The article suggests that banks are more willing to accept revocable trust documents. Whether or not that is true depends on individual banks. Certainly banks will not refuse every power of attorney. An important takeaway, however, is to make sure that everything in your general durable power of attorney is accurate. For example, the person given the power should be named in the same way that he or she is on a government-issued ID. Talk to an estate planning attorney about ways to make your power of attorney more likely to be accepted and whether a trust might be a better option for you.

For more information about Estate Planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), please visit my Estate Planning website. 

Reference: The New York Times (August 22, 2014) "Power of Attorney Is Not Always a Solution"

 

 

When To Shut Down The Pacemaker In Overland Park, KS

      [Pacemakers] prolong lives, but “all those people will face decisions down the road,” Dr. Mueller said. “’Do I keep it going? Do I turn it off?’” Physicians have similar questions, including what kinds of patients confront these choices and who usually winds up making these decisions.

Do you or a loved one live with a pacemaker or implanted defibrillator? These devices keep the clock ticking, so to speak. But when you are making end-of-life plans, when is the right time to turn the pacemaker off? This scenario is all too common and is presenting challenges in geriatric medicine and palliative care.

Recently, The New Old Age Blog took a look at this perplexing issue in an article titled “A Decision Deferred: Turning Off the Pacemaker.”

Compounding the problem is the fact that standard medical directives are designed with feeding tubes and breathing support in mind. Rarely do such legal instruments address the question of a pacemaker, implanted defibrillator or other surgically implanted electronic heart monitor. These devices may extend life, and maybe not for the better, but without the directive who is empowered to direct when or even whether they should be turned off? 

Simply put: no one.

So how many patients with these devices have built their wishes (whether on or off) into their plans and medical directives? In one survey of 150 elderly and dying Mayo clinic patients, more than half had a medical directive (and only that -- a bad statistic in itself). However, only one medical directive addressed the issue of the patient’s defibrillator.

For more information about Estate Planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), please visit my Estate Planning website.

Reference: The New York Times – The New Old Age Blog (January 29, 2014) “A Decision Deferred: Turning Off the Pacemaker”

The Law Blurs The Lines Between Life And Death - Even in Overland Park, KS

"It seems like there seems to continue to be confusion about what it means to die using neurologic criteria," said Cynda Hylton Rushton, professor of clinical ethics at Johns Hopkins University.

Two recent medical cases are making headlines over the often blurry lines between life, death, medical ethics and the law. When confronting issues like brain death and life support, what is the "right" decision for the patient?

CNN recently considered these two cases in the headlines and the surrounding issues in an article titled “When 'life support' is really 'death support'.”

These two cases share at least two things in common: a patient pronounced “brain dead” and the wishes of their families thwarted by the law. In one case, the family of a young girl seeks to keep her on life support as they hold out for a miracle. Her family refuses to accept brain death as true death. In the other case, the husband of a pregnant woman seeks to remove life support, petitioning a court to allow his wife to pass away. However, the hospital is forced to comply with Texas law that outright bans the option.

These are difficult cases. While parents are responsible for their minor children, adults have the responsibility to make their wishes known through proper legal planning in advance. With the start of a new year, this would be an appropriate time to create, review or update your own advance medical directives. Be sure to take the crucial next step and discuss your wishes with your loved ones.

In the very least, this national conversation over these two tragic medical cases should stimulate conversation and action when it comes to your own life and those of your loved ones.

For more information about Estate Planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), please visit my Estate Planning website.

Reference: CNN (December 29, 2013) “When 'life support' is really 'death support'”