The Virtual Vault

Do I need an advance medical directive?

Advance medical directives are legal documents that convey decisions about end-of-life care. They communicate your wishes to family, friends, and health care professionals.

Without an advance medical directive, your family may have to petition the courts to become involved with your end-of-life decision making process. Different family members may have different views regarding politics, religion, and spiritual beliefs, which can result in family conflicts and even litigation. Your family could be permanently divided without your direction about the decision making process. Even worse, your finances could be inaccessible to family members. Unpaid bills can result in bad credit, default, or foreclosure. The IRS can seize your property to collect back taxes. Your family’s financial may be at risk.

Several types of documents are used as advance medical directives:

A living will provides specific directives about the course of treatment that is to be followed by health care providers and caregivers. A living will may forbid or limit the use of medical treatment, medicine, and sustenance. The living will is only used if the individual has become unable to give informed consent or refusal due to incapacity.

A durable power of attorney allows an individual to name someone to act in their capacity concerning legal, financial, and medical matters. An appointed representative, known as an attorney-in-fact, can make real-time decisions in actual circumstances, as opposed to advance decisions framed in hypothetical situations, as recorded in a living will.

A do not resuscitate (DNR) order is a binding legal document that states resuscitation should not be attempted if a person suffers cardiac or respiratory arrest. A DNR order may be instituted on the basis of an advance directive from a person, or from someone entitled to make decisions on their behalf, such as an attorney-in-fact.

Five Wishes is an advance medical directive that speaks to all of a person's concerns, not just the medical and legal ones.  Matters of comfort, dignity, pain management, personal and spiritual issues, family reconciliation and memorial matters are all addressed.  It's easy to use and understand.  It meets the legal requirements in 40 states and is the closest thing available to a national advance medical directive.

An anatomical gift is the donation of all or part of the body to medicine. There are actually two kinds of anatomical gifts: body donation for medical research and organ donations for transplants. Many local governments allow people to become organ donors simply by filling in a space on their driver’s license.

Depending on local law, some documents may take precedence over others, while others may not be valid in a court of law. Make sure to consult an estate planning professional for exact details on your specific situation.

James Bell

Sources:
Advance health care directive
Wikipedia.org

Do not resuscitate
Wikipedia.org

Five Wishes
Aging with Dignity

Protect your estate with umbrella insurance

Umbrella insurance gives you added liability protection above and beyond the limits of your other insurance policies, such as automobile and homeowner's insurance. Umbrella insurance pays $1 million or more on top of your basic insurance policy limitations. This insurance is not very expensive with premiums ranging from $200 to $300 a year for $1 million of coverage.

What can happen without umbrella insurance? Let's say you hire a contractor to work on your home. The contractor tells you that he is licensed, bonded, and insured. While working, he falls off your roof and breaks his back. You later find out that he doesn't actually have workmen's compensation insurance and has decided to sue you for $2 million because he was injured on your property. The judge rules in his favor and you are slapped with a $2 million judgment. In order to satisfy the judgment, your homeowner's insurance pays $300,000 and you have to pay the rest. If even after you sell your house, cash in your IRA, stocks, bonds, and savings account, it still isn't enough. The judge garnishes your wages and 20% of each paycheck goes to satisfying the judgment.

Sounds scary? It is! A judgment of this magnitude can destroy all of the hard work done by your professional advisors to protect your estate. Some states protect certain assets, like your home, from seizure, but anything else is fair game. With an increasing number of lawsuits filed each year, you can't afford to be without an umbrella policy.

For your own sake, please contact your insurance agent to find out more about this. Most carriers will require that also have your homeowner's and automobile insurance with them before they issue an umbrella policy. If an accident happens, you won’t get a second chance.

James Bell

Software vendors benefit from virtual safe deposit box API

Estate++, a subscription-based virtual safe deposit box service, has recently published a public API. The API allows software vendors to upload files directly into a subscriber's account. The API is free for software vendors, but consumers must purchase a subscription in order to generate the access identifiers needed by the API.

The API makes this service a natural add-on to many desktop products such as tax preparation software, home inventory software, legal document software, and genealogy software. The API also makes it easy to create Microsoft Office add-ins.

The API opens Estate++ up to integration with enterprise systems such as online banking, online brokerage, and credit card award programs. It's ideal for institutions pursuing green initiatives. Monthly and quarterly statements can be uploaded, eliminating the need to process paper.

This RESTful API is compatible with popular programming languages including C# and Java. Security is implemented through https and public/private access identifiers.

Software vendors can further monetize the API by selling subscriptions to Estate++ through their affiliate program, which is managed by Plimus.com.

James Bell

Virtual safe deposit box services: A natural for banks

As more and more consumers turn to online solutions to manage their personal and business finances, banks are continuing to invest in more online products and services. As this trend continues, a need has developed for secure online storage. The addition of a virtual safe deposit box (VSDB) service gives banks an ideal way to monetize on-line banking. Immediate benefits include:

• Attracting online deposit dollars by adding fee-based services
• Gaining market share by encouraging consumers to opt in to various offers, sign up for more information, enroll in new services, and qualify for product promotions
• Deepening consumer relationships by engaging them online
• Promoting "green" banking by reducing paperwork

James Bell

VSDB Reality Check: “Buy vs. Build”

With the arrival of virtual safe deposit box (VSDB) services, many traditional companies will be getting into the secure online storage business. The addition of a VSDB service to an existing product line is a natural for the legal, financial, banking, home inventory, and travel industries.

However, the high cost of developing such a service may be prohibitive. Servers, programmers, and project managers all cost money. For most, managing the build out of such a system will be a serious distraction from the organization’s core focus.

The reality is that most companies will outsource this type of service to an existing business rather than build it from scratch.

James Bell

What to do with your filed tax returns

The IRS recommends that you keep copies of filed tax returns and related documents for seven years. The IRS could review your filed returns at any time during this period. Most tax software keeps your returns in electronic format so these will be easy to backup. Supporting paper records should also be scanned and stored electronically. A virtual safe deposit box (VSDB) is the perfect place to store your tax returns and supporting records. Ideally your VSDB software should allow tax professional to store your returns directly into your VSDB.

James Bell

Arranging Your Final Affairs

Without proper preparation the courts will make decisions about your life and estate based on local and federal laws. You and your family are not directly involved in the decision making process. Your children could become wards of the state. Your family could be permanently divided without direction about the decision making process. Your final wishes may not be carried out.

Making Your Arrangements

Prepare your estate documents. Seek out a professional advisor who specializes in estate planning. Your advisor should be certified by an accredited organization. At minimum you will need a will. It is also advisable to have a financial and health care power of attorney in case you are incapacitated. Your estate planner will be able to determine the appropriate set of documents for your estate.

Make advanced arrangements for your death or incapacity. There are many advantages to arranging your funeral, cremation or cemetery services in advance. Not only do you make your wishes known but you also protect your family from having to make such decisions at a difficult time. Making your own decisions about the type of service, merchandise and price prevents emotional overspending by family members who can only guess what you might have wanted. Many individuals also choose to purchase homes in retirement communities that have direct access to assisted living and nursing homes.

Select a set of trustworthy individuals to carry out your last affairs. They should have frequent enough contact with you so that your absence would be noticed in a relatively short period of time. Candidates might include family members, friends, or co-workers.  After confirming that these persons are willing to carry out your final wishes you need to leave them with a written set of instructions designating what duties need to be fulfilled.

Create a list of persons whom you want notified in case of death or incapacity, along with their contact information. The list of can include family members, friends, attorneys, financial advisors, tax advisors, executors, guardians, health care agents, attorneys-in-fact, trustees, and representative payees.

Document what needs to be done to take care of your affairs. These affairs might include taking care of your pets and plants, picking up your mail and newspapers, and paying your bills as they come due. You should also write out a short description of what tasks you assigned and who you assigned them to. You should record details about credit cards, loans, subscriptions, At Home Care by health care professionals, lawn care, maid services, pet care, home security, pest control, private schools, home owner associations, places of worship, bequests, and final wishes.

Document your legacy. You may want to keep a record of your personal notes as an everlasting gift to future generations, including diaries, memoirs, goals, accomplishments, achievements, values, childhood memories, family history, genealogy and ancestry information, recipes, memorable letters, and Child growth charts.

Inventory your belongings. List your assets (personal, business, and investment), liabilities, and insurance coverage. Include model and serial numbers. You should record details about real estate, personal property, vehicles, insurance policies, bank accounts, financial assets, award programs, benefits, and pensions. This inventory should also include:

• The location of original financial and family documents including birth certifications, marriage licenses, wills, trusts, deeds, powers of attorney, tax returns, insurance policies, stock and bond certificates, and personal notes.
• Photographs of your home that include any landscaping and improvements.
• Photographs of cars, boats, and recreational vehicles.
• Appraisals of jewelry, artwork, collectibles, and other property that is difficult to value.
• Copies of receipts and cancelled checks for more valuable items.
• Copies of contracts with assisted living centers, nursing homes, funeral homes, and cemeteries.

Make your estate documents available to the appropriate persons or institutions. If your estate documents can not be found when needed then it is as if these documents never existed. Overlooking this most important task can cause your estate plan to fail. Your final wishes may not be carried out as planned.

Summarize your arrangements into a single document. Once you have completed these steps you should write out a short description of what tasks you assigned and who you assigned them to. This document will help you recall what needs to be done and who will do it.

Periodically review and revise your plans. In the event that one of the persons whom you delegated a task to is no longer able to, or you no longer want them to, carry out their task then you will need to revise your plans. Reminding persons who you assigned tasks to periodically would probably also be advisable.

Consider using technology to organize your final affairs. A virtual safe deposit box is an Internet based service that stores your information in a secure, remote location. Your information is always available, through natural disaster, theft, even death and incapacity. Your information can also be shared with trusted parties such as family members, advisors, and medical professionals so that it's available when it’s needed most.

James Bell

Is your information in harm's way?

In October 2007 wildfires consumed the Southern California town of Ramona, a suburb of San Diego. Residents quickly fled as flames engulfed their homes leaving only time to grab some clothes, photos, and pets. For many, even those who stored valuable documents on a computer, it was a total loss. Rebuilding their lives seemed like an almost impossible task.

Even now there seems like no end to it. Last year there were over 2,000 wildfires. Starting in 2008, the active California wildfire season has increased by more than 60 days. Individual fires are burning, on average, more than five weeks. California is hotter and drier than ever with Los Angeles now 5°F warmer than in 1920.

Having an emergency kit containing important family documents and emergency contact information is advisable in case you have to evacuate quickly. Some people have even started keeping this kit in the trunk of their cars at all times. Even if this kit is destroyed most important family documents can be replaced. The US Federal Government web site has a page dedicated to replacing your vital documents. However, replacing many legal documents such as your will and revocable living trust may not be so easy. You may have to have them recreated by an attorney, which can be costly and time consuming.

To help prevent the loss of valuable documents use a virtual safe deposit box (VSDB) to store them in a secure, remote location.

James Bell

Sources:
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
http://www.fire.ca.gov/index_incidents.php
California Wildfires and Global Warming by Dan Shapley
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/Global-Warming-California-Wildfire-47102305
Cool surfaces and shade trees to reduce energy use and improve air quality in urban areas by H. Akbari, M. Pomerantz and H. Taha
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0038-092X(00)00089-X
Wild Fire Disaster Preparation by Fire Finance
http://firefinance.blogspot.com/2007/10/wildfire-disaster-preparation-part-1.html

The Truth about Unlimited Storage

Many service providers today offer unlimited online storage. Some are free. Some are cheap. Few mention any details about security, data integrity, or privacy outside of the fine print buried deep within the Terms of Service.

Are you getting your money’s worth? When a service provider charges a fixed yearly or monthly amount for unlimited online storage, it’s quite likely that most people are over paying for the service. It’s like cell phone minutes; you often pay for minutes that you never use. With a “pay as you go” billing model, you only pay for services that actually use.

Servers, disk drives, and bandwidth all cost money. Service providers that offer “free” storage are engaged in an unsustainable business model. Once all venture capital is exhausted, your “free” storage will start costing you money and you will have no control over the price. Of course, this assumes that your service provider is still in business once the money runs out.

What happens to your files once they are placed on your service provider’s server? Your files should be encrypted while in transit to the server (https) and encrypted a second time before they are stored on the server. To prevent tampering a digital signature should be taken when a file is uploaded. A second digital signature should be taken when a file download is requested. If the digital signatures don’t match the file should not be downloaded.

Your service provider should protect your files from loss by either backing them up on a regular basis or by storing multiple copies of your files on physically separate servers. If this is not done, your files may be lost forever.

And most important of all, only you should have access to the information stored in your files. Your service provider’s customer service representatives should not be able to view, move, upload, download, add, update, or delete any of your information. Your service provider can see the contents of your files if they can provide copies of your files on CD or if they can release your files to third parties.

In many cases, you may be surprised how little is done by your service provider to protect you or your files. Your service provider should also publish a Security Policy that outlines how your files are secured.

James Bell

Virtual Vaulting for Estate Planners

Lawyers and law firms are not immune to the current downturn. Law firm layoffs, de-equitization of partners, depressed revenues and profits, law firms closing, increased competition, and commoditization of legal services are all putting increased demands on firms and hitting the profession like never before.

Besides cutting costs, the only thing that will help is to be able to continue to get and keep profitable clients.

What Can Your Firm Do?

Market On The Internet Marketing your law practice on the Internet allows you to connect with people who are actively looking for your services. You might be surprised to learn just how many people that is.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING MARKETPLACE FACTS:

• Over 100,000 searches a month are made for estate planning, probate and & elder law-related terms on the Yahoo! network alone. When factoring searches on the other major search engines, it's estimated that people make over 300,000 searches a month for estate planning & related searches.
• Online search has surpassed the Yellow Pages as the primary method used by Americans for researching and finding goods and services.
• 90% of Americans online are researching products & services.
• 81% of those say that they made a choice based on the information they obtained from websites.

   * Data compiled from Yahoo! Search Marketing services

Attorneys learn the basics of marketing strategy and rely on guidance from marketing experts in order to structure effective programs to educate the public on will drafting services. By integrating both law and business, estate planning lawyers can better serve current and future clients. Marketing can be fun, profitable, educational, ethical and effective --in short-- a win-win for lawyer and client.

You can cut costs, shed unprofitable practice areas, or take other measures to compensate for the slowdown. However, in many ways the current climate represents a huge opportunity for you. Research proves that firms that held the line or even increased their marketing and client retention activities during recessions achieved significant gains in revenue and market share.

A recent Hildebrandt Client Advisory summed it up accurately when they said: "The competition to win and keep clients is intensifying notwithstanding the downturn". And the only way to win and keep clients is to consistently anticipate and exceed their expectations.

Studies confirm that service satisfaction is the key factor that influences whether clients stay loyal to a particular firm or attorney. Yet, according to the December 2008 issue of The American Lawyer magazine, only 2% of the responding firms made the effort in 2008 to meet with their top 20 clients to discuss their firms' performance and the client's needs.

Whether it's due to billable hour demands, lack of training, or outdated organizational structures at many law firms, the fact is that while many lawyers may be good legal technicians, many fail at delivering exceptional client service.

Did you know that up to 93% of dissatisfied clients will not return to you and won't tell you why! Studies also show that 80% of your business will come from existing clients and that having one person accountable for client satisfaction can increase your profits over 40%!

Get More Business in a Down Market

If you want to distinguish yourself from the competition for a sustainable advantage, you need a plan to increase client acquisition, retention and profitability.

Technology can help...Virtual vaulting is the latest in technology for estate planning professionals.  With virtual vaulting, important client information is stored in an online safe deposit. Information is preserved in a secure, remote location, so that it can be retrieved when needed. Client data is organized for easy access. Advanced security techniques make this the safest solution for storing personal data.

Virtual vaulting can also be used as a comprehensive, cost-effective marketing and client retention tool. By helping your clients take a proactive approach to their future, you help them to avoid the unnecessary pain and anguish that comes from not being prepared.

A virtual vaulting service can be offered, at a mark-up, to your client’s heirs, beneficiaries, family members, and friends. The referral aspect of this service is priceless because it encompasses the entire family circle. This personal touch conveys a powerful message, effectively saying "We care about your future".

Several companies currently provide this type of service. Wells Fargo offers online banking customers fee-based subscriptions to its vSafe product. Vaulting Systems International sells subscriptions to its Estate++ product, which is available to corporate partners, as well as, individual subscribers. Similar products are also offered by The E-Safe, Keep You Safe.com, and Box.net.

Trudy Reilly