The Virtual Vault

Advance directives not enough to avoid incapacity issues

My mother, who suffered from heart disease, always envisioned that she would die quickly from a massive heart attack. However, sadly, she lingered in poor health for many weeks before she finally passed away. Luckily, years before, she had an attorney draw up an estate plan.

Because of HIPAA laws, the nurses and doctors would not talk to me until I gave them a copy of her health care durable power of attorney. Because her doctor decided to honor her living will, she was spared from the feeding tube and received comfort care during her last pain-filled days.

Without the proper documents and consenting medical professionals, this situation could have been much worse. At minimum, you need to have a living will and a health care durable power of attorney. In some states, a Five Wishes form can be used as a substitute. In either case, you should complete these forms with the assistance of an attorney. If you choose to do-it-yourself, it's possible to omit crucial items. If you make a mistake, you will not get a second chance.

Make sure to discuss the contents of these documents with your physician. Don't assume that your physician has the same beliefs concerning "right to life" and "freedom of choice" issues as you do. If your physician does not agree with your choices, you might need to change physicians. Waiting until you are incapacitated is too late to find out that your attending physician will not provide treatment that agrees with your end-of-life choices. If possible, have your physician complete a Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form and keep it with your estate plan.

Make sure that your family members also understand your choices. Once again, don't just assume that they have the same exact beliefs as you. Family members could argue in court of law that you didn't fully understand the contents of your advance directives and have them revoked. Having an attorney complete your estate plan along with having your physician complete a POLST form ensures that you fully understand the contents of these documents.

You also need a clear understanding of exactly what treatment you can expect to receive at various health care institutions. For example, a hospital with a religious affiliation may choose not to honor your advance directives because the treatment conflicts with their religious doctrine. Moving an incapacitated patient to a new health care institution can be a frustrating and stressful experience at best.

Most important of all, no matter how much time you spend preparing these documents, they can't be used if they can't be found. Keep your original copies and store backup copies in a virtual safe deposit box (VSDB). It's an ideal place to make sure that your advance directives are available when they're needed most!

James Bell

What are your duties as an executor?

About 10 years before my mother died, she went to an attorney and drew up an estate plan. She named me as the executor of her estate. After reading over the plan, I did not quite understand the amount of work needed to settle an estate. Years later, when she died, I found out. This responsibility consumed untold hours of my time and it took years to settle her estate.

If you are named the executor of someone’s estate, I highly recommend that you find out exactly what you are getting yourself into. You may have to travel great distances and take time off work. Although your exact situation will be different, these articles explain the process enough to prepare yourself.

The Duties of an Estate Executor
Pauline Go

Executor Responsibilities and Duties
estatesettlement.com

James Bell

Collecting Life Insurance

My mother named me as a beneficiary on her life insurance policy. When she died, I called the insurance company and found out that before distributing any funds they required a death certificate and a copy of the life insurance policy. The death certificate was the easy part. Where was the life insurance policy?

I quickly located the life insurance premium statements and a cover letter from the insurance salesman. I called the insurance company again. They were adamant, without a copy of the entire life insurance policy there was no payout. It didn’t make sense to me…why didn’t they already have a copy of the policy?

Hours later, I found the policy in a stack of papers. It was over 10 pages long! I made a copy and sent it to them. Several weeks later, I received a check.

This little experience taught me how vital it is to have your final affairs in order, before you die. This is one of the many reasons why we created Estate++, a virtual safe deposit box that helps you organize your affairs.

James Bell

Online Banking: During Incapacity and After Death

With all the attention being given to the digital afterlife, I would like to share my real world experience with accessing my mother's online banking account during her incapacity and after her death.

Luckily, my mother had enough foresight to seek out an estate planning attorney many years before her passing. This attorney created a comprehensive estate plan, which contained a will, a financial power-of-attorney, a health care power-of-attorney, a living will, and a revocable living trust. In order to fund her revocable living trust she had to change the name on her bank accounts to the name of the trust.

When she became incapacitated, I needed to write checks and transfer money between accounts...no easy feat when the bank is located over 700 miles away. So I called the bank for help. They immediately responded by freezing all of her accounts. They told me that nothing else could be done without a power-of-attorney. Once they received a copy of my mother's financial power-of-attorney, they promptly gave me a new password to her online banking account and restored check writing privileges.

When she died things became more complicated. Once again, the bank responded by freezing all of her accounts. This time they needed copies of her death certificate, will, and revocable living trust. They also required a notarized copy of an "Acceptance of Successor Trustee" form from each of the living trust’s successor trustees. Only the executor of the estate received a new password to her online banking account, which was now restricted to read-only access. Check writing privileges were restored, but each check required the signature of each successor trustee.

Overall, the bank was very cooperative, once they received the proper paperwork. I can only imagine the problems a person could have without an estate plan. A virtual safe deposit box is a secure place to store information about online bank accounts, but never assume that just because you have the password that you can access an account without the proper authority. I highly recommend that you consult an estate planning attorney concerning the details of your specific situation. You won't get a second chance once your are gone!

James Bell

Special thanks to the employees of The First National Bank of Illinois

Your Passport to Safety

In 2004, Congress decided to change procedures in border security that had allowed Americans to present various types of identification, such as driver's licenses, birth certificates or sometimes nothing, when re-entering the U.S. from certain neighbor countries. The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative requires all travelers to present a passport or other document that denotes identity and citizenship when entering the U.S.

On June 1, 2009, the U.S. government will implement the full requirements of the land and sea phase of this initiative. All U.S. residents will need passports for land and sea travel between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean region, and Bermuda. 

A new wallet-size passport card is now available. Approximately the size of a credit card, the passport card is a convenient and less expensive than the passport book. However, the U.S. Passport Card cannot be used for international air travel. This new travel document can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry. A passport book is required for all air travel. See http://travel.state.gov/passport for details.

If you're traveling outside the U.S. this year, here is a bit of advice:

• Renew your passport now...These new policy changes will increase passport demand and wait times.
• Think twice before planning a car trip to Mexico or Canada...A passport is will be required on June 1, 2009. It could be a long and painful process to be turned away at the border.
• Protect yourself from identity theft...it is important to report a lost passport immediately, especially when traveling internationally! If your passport is lost or stolen in a foreign country, contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you have access to an Internet connected computer please visit the U.S. Department of State website for details. By keeping a copy of your passport in a virtual vault, you can download or print a copy of your passport enabling you to quickly get a replacement. See http://travel.state.gov/passport/lost.html for details.

James Bell

Where is your will?

Statistics suggest that 7 out of 10 people don't have a will, let alone an estate plan. Even worse, most people who did prepare an estate plan couldn't find their documents when they were needed.

According to Kimberly Palmer, senior editor for U.S. News & World Report; "...wills are often not found for days or even weeks after someone's death, well after the funeral has already been planned. Thomas Bryant, an estate lawyer in Orangeburg, S.C., says a frantic client called him several years ago after discovering his sister's will. The will specified she wanted to be cremated. But it was too late—she had already been buried."

It’s pretty scary, but it happens more often than you think. Simply drafting an estate plan with an attorney is not enough. You must make plans to have your estate documents available to the appropriate persons and institutions. If your estate documents cannot be found when needed then it's as if these documents never existed. Your estate plan will prove useless if the appropriate individuals cannot locate your documents.

James Bell

Sources
Alpha Consumer: Readers Share Estate Planning Tips
By Kimberly Palmer
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/alpha-consumer/2007/11/7/readers-share-estate-planning-tips.html