List of Eleven Plus 1

Dear Readers,

We would like to share with you something that we share with each of our trust clients. It’s really important, our clients like it, and we think that your family can benefit from it as well. You may have seen this in the column before. We print it year after year. Consider it as a gentle reminder to get yourself organized. One of the most tedious tasks in administering a trust or an estate is finding the decedent’s estate planning documents and asset information. Frequently, children or even spouses have no idea where important documents are to be found.

After you pass away, the last thing you should want is for your loved ones to have to search through your belongings to find your will, stock certificates, or other important papers. They shouldn’t have to lift up your mattress to look for your safe deposit box key. They shouldn’t have to wait a month for new account statements to come in the mail so they can figure out where you invested your savings.

To avoid these difficulties, you should organize your personal and financial data. This is where the list comes in. Collect the information described in this list and give a copy to your children or close relatives, or keep it somewhere safe and let your family know where to find it. In case something happens to you, the List of Eleven is one of the best ways to ensure that your relatives can find all your vital records.

    The List of Eleven Plus One

1. The location of your safe deposit box, if you have one, and the location of you’re the key.

2. Account numbers for all of your insurance policies, health, life, auto, home, burial, etc., and the names and addresses of your insurance agents.

3. A list of your stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and the name, address and phone number of your broker.

4. The names of the banks or savings and loans for each of your accounts, and the account numbers, or even copies of account statements.

5. The location of your cemetery plot or mausoleum niche.

6. The location of your will or trust and the name of your attorney.

7. Your credit card numbers.

8. Your Social Security Number.

9. The name and address of your mortgage lender, the account number, and the approximate amount of the outstanding debt.

10. The name and address of your accountant, and where your past income tax returns are located.

11. The type of memorial or funeral service you want.

11+1.  These days, many people receive account statements and pay their bills online, leaving no paper trail at home. It’s important for your loved ones to be able to access your email and online accounts so they can wrap things up when you are gone. You may want to provide them with a list of your account numbers and passwords.

 If you think this is too hard to do yourself, consider how hard it will be for your children to deal with after you pass away. Take a few minutes to get organized.

Conservatorships

Dear Len & Rosie,

My friend has resided in a nursing home due to stroke for eight months and has a county conservator who is now filing for Medi-Cal. The conservator is selling both of his cars, because they are depreciating assets and because my friend will never drive them again because he is paralyzed on his right side. Can a conservator do this? I thought one car was exempt. The county conservator also said he will sell my friend’s house when my lease runs out in another year. Can he do this? Do we need to file a petition and try to get a private conservator who would better serve my friend’s interests and protect his assets?

Marian

Dear Marian,

It’s unfortunate that your friend did not have a comprehensive estate plan, or that his estate plan more or less failed. Conservatorships are to be avoided if at all possible, although they are very useful in protecting people from elder financial abuse. If your friend had a revocable trust or even a good durable power of attorney, he would not be in a conservatorship today, and his home would not likely be sold.

What must have happened was that your friend became incapacitated, and no one stepped forward to take over his affairs, either with a power of attorney or by petitioning the court to be appointed as conservator. Because your friend could not take care of himself, and no one stepped up to take care of him, the county Public Guardian was appointed by the court to provide for his needs.

When the Public Guardian’s office serves as conservator, it usually consolidates the conservatee’s assets to make it easier to administer the estate. That’s why the Public Guardian wants to sell your friend’s home and vehicles. However, this is not the best thing to do. Your friend can continue to own his home while receiving Medi-Cal benefits. By selling the home, the conservator will turn an exempt asset (the home) into a non-exempt asset (cash). Not only will your friend lose his Medi-Cal benefits, he may have to pay capital gains tax as well.

A conservator will never get in trouble for spending money on the conservatee. The Public Guardian is doing nothing illegal, but it’s not really acting in your friend’s best interest. Even if his home will be subject to Medi-Cal estate claims after his death, he’s better off being on Medi-Cal instead of paying privately for his care, because it will cost him less in the long run.

You or another friend or relative could petition the court to take over the conservatorship, but the court is not likely to remove the Public Guardian as conservator unless you can prove it mismanaged your friend’s estate beyond refusing to do Medi-Cal Planning. A better approach would be to petition the court to appoint an independent attorney to represent your friend as conservatee. This attorney can stand up for your friend’s rights, and perhaps prevent the Public Guardian from selling his home.

Len & Rosie