What Is a POD Account?

Also called a “POD” account, a payable on death account can be created at a bank or credit union and is transferable without probate at your death to the person you name.  We frequently utilize these types of accounts as part of a larger, comprehensive estate plan.  So, I wanted to provide some information about what these accounts are and how to use them.

Sports Grind Entertainment’s recent article entitled “Payable on Death (POD) Accounts” explains that there are different reasons for including a payable on death account in your estate plan. You should know how they work and very critically, how it works with your greater estate plan, when deciding whether to create one. Talk to an experienced estate planning attorney who can help you coordinate your investment goals with your end-of-life wishes.

The difference between a traditional bank account and a POD account is that a POD account has a designated beneficiary. This person is someone you want to receive any assets held in the account when you die. A POD account is really any bank account that has a named beneficiary.

There are several benefits with POD accounts to transfer assets. Assets that are passed to someone else through a POD account are not subject to probate. This is an advantage if you want to make certain your beneficiary can access cash quickly after you die. Even if you have a will and a life insurance policy in place, those do not necessarily guarantee a quick payout to handle things like burial or funeral expenses or any outstanding debts that need to be paid. A POD account could help with these expenses.

Know that POD account beneficiaries cannot access any of the money in the account while you are alive. That could be an issue if you become incapacitated, and your loved ones need money to help pay for medical care. In that situation, having assets in a trust or a jointly owned bank account could be an advantage. You should also ask your estate planning attorney about a financial power of attorney, which would allow you to designate an agent to pay bills and the like in your place.

We often utilize POD account designations so that bank accounts can be transferred to a trust upon death.  This is provides for bank accounts to avoid probate on an account while still directing the assets to a trust which spells out your wishes for your assets.  This avoids the need to close and open new accounts in many situations.

One thing I would stress however, is that many people suggest POD accounts as a way to avoid probate so that an estate plan is not necessary.  Without elaborating, every case in which I’ve ever encountered this has been a disaster.  A POD account is not an estate plan substitute, it is a tool in the tool box.

Similarly, bankers often suggest these accounts to clients as a probate avoidance tool.  That has it’s merits of course, but what if you are using a will-based estate plan?  If so, adding beneficiaries actually removes these accounts from your estate plan, and often creates problems for the executor or beneficiaries.

If you are interested in creating a payable on death account, the first step is to review your estate plan and talk to your estate planning attorney about the effect such an account will have on your assets.

Reference: Sports Grind Entertainment (May 2, 2021) “Payable on Death (POD) Accounts”

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Should you Update your Estate Plan if you Move to a New State?

Moving to a new state might mean estate plan changes for legal reasons, but more likely because of your change in circumstances.

I recently had a discussion with a client regarding whether and how they should update their estate plan if they move to a new state.  That conversation comes up frequently, so I thought it would be a great topic for a blog article.

The U.S. Constitution requires states to give “full faith and credit” to the laws of other states. As a result, your will, trust, power of attorney, and health care proxy executed in one state should be honored in every other state.  However, even if they are “valid” in another state doesn’t mean they will work well under that state’s laws or that they will work as well in practice, as described in Wealth Advisor’s recent article entitled “Moving to a New State? Be Sure to Update Your Estate Plan.”

Your last will should still be legally valid in the new state. However, the new state may have different probate laws that make certain provisions of the will invalid or no longer ideal.  By way of example, Texas has a unique form of probate in which there is an independent executor.  This minimizes court involvement in the probate which is what most clients prefer.  We often revise wills of clients moving to Texas to authorize independent executors.  Similarly, other states might have other unique provisions that you would want to utilize in that state.

This can also happen with revocable trusts, however trusts tend to be more portable.  Once a trust is funded, you can change any provisions you need to ensure it works in that state and you can elect that state’s laws.  So, it might need to be updated, but often is more portability.

You may also want to update your estate plan if you move to a new state to change your powers of attorney and health care directives. These estate planning documents should be honored from state to state, but sometimes banks, medical professionals, and financial and health care institutions will refuse to accept the documents and forms.  Each state has very specific roles on how these are created and what they can accomplish, so it is typically advisable to create new ancillary documents based upon the law of the new state.

It is also helpful to keep in mind that it is practically important to redo ancillaries documents because lawyers and judges aren’t the ones reviewing them.  Court systems will know how a will or trust applies under that state’s law because lawyers are involved in the process.  Incapacity documents such as the power of attorney and health care directives are reviewed by non-legal professionals such as title companies, doctors, bankers or their support staffs.  So practically speaking, it is easier to give them what they expect to see as they won’t have the expertise to recognize whether an out of state document is valid.

You should also know that the execution requirements of your estate planning documents may be different, depending on the state.

For example, there are some states that require witnesses on durable powers of attorney, and others that do not. A state that requires witnesses may not allow a power of attorney without witnesses to be used to convey real estate, even though the document is perfectly valid in the state where it was drafted and signed.

When you move to a different state, it’s also a smart move to consult with an experienced estate planning attorney because interstate moves often mean another change in circumstances that would necessitate a change to the estate plan.  For example, the move might have been because of a change in income, marital state or to support a family member in ill health.  You can see here for other reasons to consider updating your estate plan at that point.  https://galligan-law.com/when-to-update-your-estate-plan/

Moreover, there may be practical changes you want to make. For example, you may want to change your trustee or agent under a power of attorney based on which family members will be closer in proximity or to someone familiar with the new property.  This is also a good time to review trust funding as you will have new assets.

For all these reasons, when you move out of state it’s wise to have an experienced estate planning attorney in your new home state review your estate planning documents.

Reference: Wealth Advisor (Jan. 26, 2021) “Moving to a New State? Be Sure to Update Your Estate Plan”

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Protect Assets from Medicaid Recovery

Medicaid is a government program used by Americans to pay long-term care, typically for nursing homes or in-home care.   What some people don’t realize is that Medicaid seeks reimbursement for money spent on someone’s behalf after they pass away.  The Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) is used to recoup costs paid toward long term care, so that the program can be more affordable for the government, says the article “What is Medicaid Estate Recovery?” from kake.com. Beneficiaries of Medicaid recipients are often surprised to learn that this impacts them directly, and are even more surprised that you can protect assets from Medicaid recovery with some planning.

Medicare was created to help pay for healthcare costs of Americans once they reach age 65. It covers many different aspects of healthcare expenses, but not costs for long-term or nursing home care. That is the role of Medicaid.

Medicaid helps pay the costs of long-term care for aging seniors. It is used when a person has not purchased long-term health care insurance or does not have enough money to pay for long-term care out of their own funds.  Medicaid is sometimes used by individuals who have taken steps to protect their assets in advance by using trusts or other estate planning tools.  See here for more detail.  https://galligan-law.com/can-i-afford-in-home-elderly-care/

The Medicaid Estate Recovery program allows Medicaid to be reimbursed for costs that include the costs of staying in a nursing home or other long-term care facility, home and community-based services, medical services received through a hospital when the person is a long-term care patient and prescription drug services for long-term care recipients.

When the recipient passes away, Medicaid is allowed to pursue assets from the estate. In fact, Federal law requires the states to have such a program.  Now, this is critical to recognize, but the scope of Medicaid varies widely between what state provided the benefits.  For the most part it means any assets that would be subject to the probate process after the recipient passes. That may include bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, or other real property.  Texas Medicaid recovery is happily limited to the estate.  So, there are many options to protect assets from Medicaid recovery in Texas.

In some states, recovery may be made from assets that are not subject to probate: jointly owned bank accounts between spouses, payable on death bank accounts, real estate owned in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, living trusts and any assets a Medicaid recipient has an interest in.

An estate planning attorney will know what assets Medicaid can use for recovery and how to protect the family from being financially devastated.

While it is true that Medicaid can’t take your home or assets before the recipient passes, it is legal for Medicaid to have a claim to assets before the beneficiaries, similar to the way other creditors of a decedent must be satisfied before beneficiaries receive property.  Let’s say your mother needs to move into a nursing home. If she dies, you’ll have to satisfy Medicaid’s claim before you can take possession or will pay the claim as part of a sale.

Strategic planning can be done in advance by the individual who may need Medicaid in the future. One way to do this is to purchase long-term care insurance, which is the strategy of personal responsibility. Another is removing assets from the probate process. Married couples can make that sure all assets are owned jointly with right of survivorship, or to purchase an annuity that transfers to the surviving spouse, when the other spouse passes away.

In most cases we can advance clients on how to change the the titling of their accounts to protect assets from Medicaid recovery before the person passes away.  We may also be able to create a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, which may remove assets from being counted for eligibility.

As a final point, clients often encounter the medicaid claim in the estate, which is the first time an attorney is involved in the process.  Now, you may not have the same options to protect assets from Medicaid recovery because you’ll have lost prospective planning, but their are exceptions to recovery and ways to defend against the claim.  They are all very time sensitive however, so you should reach out to an attorney immediately upon encountering them.

Speak with an estate planning attorney to learn how to prepare for yourself or your parent’s future needs. The earlier the planning begins, the better chances of successfully protecting the family.

Reference: kake.com (Feb. 6, 2021) “What is Medicaid Estate Recovery?”

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