Overland Park Attorney

Weekly Blog Digest - Overland Park, KS - Estate Planning

In review, here are the five Blog Posts from this past week for your convenience.  I welcome your feed back regarding any of these posts and your input regarding any of these areas of practice which you would like for me to address.

Examine Your Own Charitable Goals …And The Charities Too – Especially in Overland Park, KS

That an entity has been effectively organized, and recognized by the IRS as tax exempt is no guarantee that it is being operated as a charitable entity.  A good rule of thumb is that a charitable entity’s general and administrative expenses should not exceed ten percent of its total revenues.

Does A Longer Life Threaten Disability? Even in Overland Park, KS?

Weird berries. Capsules of unpronounceable supplements. Yoga or tai chi. Crossword puzzles. Such amulets, we’re told, may ward off disability — which is the real fear that accompanies aging, isn’t it? Not the sheer number of years that will have passed, but the things we’ll no longer be able to do.

Check More Than “The Box” When It Comes To Organ Donations – especially in Overland Park, KS

Elijah Smith said he wanted to be an organ and tissue donor when he applied for a driver’s license in September. But his family didn’t find that out until he was declared brain dead by doctors on July 4 after being struck in a hit-skip crash while riding his bicycle the day before.

Succession Planning: Avoid Strife When Passing On The Business – especially in Overland Park, KS

At the most recent meeting of the She Owns It business group, the owners discussed succession planning. The topic is of particular interest to Susan Parker, owner of Bari Jay. She and her sister, Erica Rosenfeld inherited Bari Jay from their father, Bruce Cohen, who had never created a formal succession plan. In fact, neither of his daughters knew he planned to leave the company to them.

Life Insurance & Incidents Of Ownership - Beware of Estate Taxes!  Especially in Overland Park, KS!

Are the proceeds of life insurance policies owned first by a taxpayer’s wife and then owned by a family trust, includible in a taxpayer’s gross estate?

Check More Than “The Box” When It Comes To Organ Donations - especially in Overland Park, KS

Elijah Smith said he wanted to be an organ and tissue donor when he applied for a driver’s license in September. But his family didn’t find that out until he was declared brain dead by doctors on July 4 after being struck in a hit-skip crash while riding his bicycle the day before.

As a recent real life drama illustrates, the lines can get blurry when it comes to the subject of organ donations. Consider a recent example of this as played out in Ohio.

As reported in The Columbus Dispatch in an article titled “Family loses fight to keep son’s organs from donation,” Elijah was a young man who was hit in an accident on his bicycle. As a result, he suffered very serious injuries and was later pronounced brain dead.

But that was not the end of it.

You see, Elijah identified himself as an organ and tissue donor when he applied for his driver’s license. Note: that is one of those elections that can have some very binding implications. In the case of Elijah, this decision trumped the will of his family in the disposition of their intestate and brain-dead son.

Elijah’s family fought because they felt it was not in his best interests. The family even fought against the organ-donor charity for whom Elijah’s organs were maintained until a court-order made the final call and completed the organ donation. This was the first time this particular organ-donation company has gone to court and it was a relative rarity in the nation overall.

As this case clearly demonstrates, serious thought and communication are required when planning all aspects of your life and estate. When it comes to organ donation considerations, ensure that your loved ones know and understand your wishes. The consequences of “checking the box” on your driver’s license application are not to be taken lightly.

Proper life and estate planning is not something to delay until old age. The decisions you make, or fail to make, affect you and your family at every age.

Reference: The Columbus Dispatch (July 12, 2013) “Family loses fight to keep son’s organs from donation”

For more information about associated Organ Donation issues in Overland Park, KS, please visit my website.