Klitzman Law Group, PLLC

When Social Security Makes the Most Sense

“When should you sign up for Social Security? It is a good question. Many seniors grapple with that decision, and understandably so, since the age at which you claim benefits will dictate how much money you will receive each month during retirement.”

There’s an unfortunate tendency to focus on how to get the most out of Social Security in total benefits, but that’s not always the right approach to determine when to apply for Social Security. Everyone has the same eight-year window—from age 62 to 70—when they can start applying for benefits, as explained in the article “Why Claiming Social Security at 65 Is a Smart Bet” from The Motley Fool. The year you were born determines when Social Security sets your Full Retirement Age, or FRA.

Whether you take Social Security at age 62, which is the earliest you can take it, or at 70, after which you’ve maxed out on monthly benefits and there’s no reason to delay, depends on many different factors. For example, do you expect to live a long time based on your family history? If so, it may make sense to wait. However, if you have a number of health conditions and expect to have a shorter life span, then take your benefits early and enjoy them—you earned them.

The most common age for starting Social Security benefits is at age 62. A much smaller percentage of seniors wait until age 70 to collect benefits. Doing so locks in a higher benefit for life, but if you don’t live much longer than 70, the benefit doesn’t matter quite as much.

Going from one extreme to the other points to a choice in the middle: age 65. That’s when Medicare kicks in. Some people get these benefits confused. They think that once they are eligible for Medicare, they are eligible for full Social Security benefits. This is not true. However, 65 is still a good age to start taking Social Security benefits for a few reasons.

• You’re not taking Social Security at the earliest age possible, so you have had two years for your benefits to increase.
• You’re not taking Social Security at the latest age. Therefore, if you don’t live into your 90s, you’ll still have had those years to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

The numbers-crunchers at Social Security work to make sure that everyone gets the same lifetime benefits, regardless of when they file. The logic is simple: claim early, and get a smaller benefit, possibly for a longer lifetime. Delay your claim, and the same amount of money in total will come to you, just in fewer payments.

There is another advantage for claiming Social Security around the same time you switch over to Medicare. Your Part B premiums will be directly paid from Social Security benefits. That means you’ll have some protection against rising premiums. That’s because of what’s known as the “hold harmless provision.” It is a provision that attempts to limit how much of a bite Medicare premiums can take out of Social Security benefits. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a little bit of a help.

Reference: The Motley Fool (July 10, 2020) “Why Claiming Social Security at 65 Is a Smart Bet”

‘Siegfried & Roy’ Star Roy Horn Named Siegfried His Executor

The late 'Siegfried & Roy' star, Roy Horn, named lifelong friend and performance partner, Siegfried Fischbacher as the executor of his multi-million-dollar estate, according to his will filed in Las Vegas courts.”

Legal documents revealed that performer Roy Horn’s last will and testament was filed in the Las Vegas courts on June 18, 2020, according to the article “’Siegfried & Roy’ Star Roy Horn’s Will Names Siegfried As Executor Of His Multi-Million Dollar Estate” as reported in The Blast. The document gave Siegfried Fischbacher the power to administer and distribute Horn’s assets after his death. If Siegfried was not able to perform the tasks, Roy Horn had named Lynette G. Chappell as the alternate executor.

Lynette G. Chappell was the performer’s longtime assistant.

Roy Horn died at age 75 after contracting COVID-19. Siegfried had told an interviewer that he drove to the hospital with Lynette and was able to see his life partner one more time before he died.

Roy Horn also named Siegfried’s longtime lawyer, John Moran Jr., to be co-executor of his estate with Chappell, if Siegfried was unable or unwilling to be his executor.

The will, which was signed in 2016, also included directions that Roy Horn’s multi-million estate be distributed to beneficiaries, which were named in a private trust. The trust was not attached to the legal filing that included the last will and testament, so the names of his beneficiaries will remain private. The will does state that Roy Horn is unmarried and has no children. He was survived only by his brother, Werner Horn.

Siegfried was given broad powers to manage all of the financial issues of the estate, including paying for the funeral and any expenses regarding handling Horn’s remains. As the executor, the personal representative is empowered to perform any act necessary to administer the estate and any trust established under the will. The will also permits Siegfried to hold, retain, invest, sell or manage any real or personal property, distribute assets of the estate without requiring pro-rata distribution of specific assets, employ attorneys, accountants, custodians, and any other agents or assistants as the executor deems necessary and to pay them and pay for their expenses from income or principal.

According to reports, Siegfried and Roy had a combined estimated net worth of more than $100 million, after they had signed several highly lucrative contracts to perform their award-winning show on the Las Vegas Strip.

The duo performed on the Las Vegas Strip for decades, until 2003, when their show abruptly ended when Roy was attacked on stage by a white tiger. He was dragged off the stage by the tiger and suffered severe injuries, including a severed spine, a stroke and massive blood loss.

Siegfried revealed in a recent interview with a German publication that Roy Horn had been cremated and his ashes are being kept in a chapel in their Las Vegas compound.

Reference: The Blast (June 27, 2020) “’Siegfried & Roy’ Star Roy Horn’s Will Names Siegfried As Executor Of His Multi-Million Dollar Estate”

Possible Pitfalls for Special Needs Planning for Parents

“Both the state and federal government, administered through the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Medicaid provide disabled individuals with a variety of life enhancing, and sometimes life sustaining, public benefits.”

Public benefits for disabled individuals include health care, supplemental income, and resources, like day programs and other vital services. Some benefits are based on the individual’s disability status, but others are “needs tested,” where eligibility is determined based on financial resources, as explained in the article “Planning for loved ones with special needs” from NWTimes.com.

“Needs testing” is something that parents must address as part of special needs planning, in concert with their own estate planning. This ensures that the individual’s government benefits will continue, while their family has the comfort of knowing that after the parents die, their child may have access to resources to cover additional costs and maintain a quality of life they may not otherwise have.

Families must be very careful to make informed planning decisions, otherwise their loved ones may lose the benefits they rely upon.

A variety of special planning tools may be used, and the importance of skilled help from an elder law estate planning attorney cannot be overstated.

One family received a “re-determination” letter from the Social Security Administration. This is the process whereby the SSA scrutinizes a person’s eligibility for benefits, based on their possible access to other non-governmental resources. Once the process begins, the potential exists for a disabled person to lose benefits or be required to pay back benefits if they were deemed to have wrongfully received them.

In this case, a woman who lived in California, engaged in a periodic phone call with California Medicaid. California is known for aggressively pursuing on-going benefits eligibility. The woman mentioned a trust that had been created as a result of estate planning done by her late father. The brief mention was enough to spark an in-depth review of planning. The SSA requested no less than 15 different items, including estate documents, account history and a review of all disbursements for the last two years.

The process has created a tremendous amount of stress for the woman and for her family. The re-determination will also create expenses, as the attorney who drafted the original trust in Indiana, where the father lived, will need to work with a special needs attorney in California, who is knowledgeable about the process in the state.

Similar to estate planning, the special needs process required by Medicaid and the SSA is a constantly evolving process, and not a “one-and-done” transaction. Special needs and estate planning documents created as recently as three or four years ago should be reviewed.

Reference: NWTimes.com (June 21, 2020) “Planning for loved ones with special needs”

Appeals Court Rules in Will Dispute between Ex-Wife and Brother

“Recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided the case of Trowbridge v. Estate of Trowbridge. The case involved a man, Everett, who, despite their divorce, remained on good terms with his ex-wife, Christal.”

A dispute over a will that made its way to the Indiana Court of Appeals serves as a useful lesson for the importance of having an updated will and knowing where the original will is, as reported in The National Law Review article titled “Where’s the Will? Indiana Court of Appeals Reverses Trial Court’s Presumption of Revocation for Lost Will.”

Everett Trowbridge executed a will after his divorce, in which his ex-wife Christal and his brother Michael Trowbridge were named as co-executors. The will was generous to Christal, leaving her the former marital home, 100% of one retirement account, 25% of another retirement account and all of Everett’s personal property. While Everett had received the marital home according to the dissolution order, Christal never deeded it to Everett, as was required by the dissolution order. His brother Michael Trowbridge received 75% of the second retirement account. Six years after the will was executed, Everett Trowbridge died. One week later, Trowbridge petitioned to open an intestate estate, saying that there was no will.

Christal called the estate’s attorney, Michael, and told him that she had the will. She then met the attorney at his office. She said she told him that she had the original will. Michael later said that Christal told him that Everett gave her a copy of his will and left the original in his home safe.

Michael took careful notes and said that he would have to find out whether a copy of a will could be offered for probate, before attempting to probate the will she provided.

Michael said he next contacted Trowbridge and asked if he had found a will in Everett’s house. Trowbridge said that no will was found after a search.

Michael uncovered a rule that says where a testator retains possession or control of a will and the will isn’t found at the testator’s death, the presumption is that the will was destroyed. Under this rule, the proponent of the will can rebut the presumption by introducing evidence that supports the conclusion that the will was not in fact revoked. In addition, if a copy of the will is offered for probate and contested, the contesting party, in this case, Trowbridge, has the burden of proof to establish that the will was revoked. According to Michael, once he discovered this rule, he wrote to Christal and told her he would not offer the will for probate. He also suggested that she hire an attorney.

Christal petitioned the court to probate the will, and the trial court found for Trowbridge, saying that the presumption of revocation had established that Everett revoked his will. Christal appealed, and the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the ruling. The court held that before the presumption of revocation could apply, there must be a predicate finding that the will had remained in the testator’s possession. The only evidence to this point was from Christal, who testified that she maintained possession of the original will.

There was yet another hearing, and the trial court found that the evidence supported the finding that Trowbridge maintained possession of the original will. The court said that Michael’s testimony, supported by handwritten notes, was that when he first spoke with Christal, she said that she had a copy and Everett had the original will in his safe. The trial court applied the presumption of revocation and declined to probate the will. Christal appealed again.

In its analysis, the Court of Appeals first easily affirmed the trial court’s finding that Trowbridge maintained possession of the will, and so he received the benefit of the presumption. However, this is not the end of the question, said the court.

It’s ultimately up to the person who is contesting the will to show that it was revoked, and the trial court had ignored the evidence supporting Christal’s argument that it was not revoked. Included in the court’s decision were these facts:

Everett did not execute his will, until after he and Christal were divorced. Everett continued to list Christal as the beneficiary of his accounts, as recently as the year before he died. He also never enforced the dissolution order requiring Christal to deed the formal marital property to him.

There are two lessons here for estate planning: always know where the original copy of a will is, and be aware of the procedural rules that govern wills. There are procedural rules that shift the burden of proof from one party to another and could be the reason that the wishes of the testator are followed—or not.

Reference: The National Law Review (June 22, 2020) “Where’s the Will? Indiana Court of Appeals Reverses Trial Court’s Presumption of Revocation for Lost Will”

Coronavirus Makes Estate and Tax Planning an Urgent Task

“What may have seemed like something to take care of ‘one day,’ has turned into a basic necessity that makes it essential and necessary for you to encourage your clients to act now.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought estate planning front and center to many people who would otherwise dismiss it as something they would get to at some point in the future, says the article “Estate and Life Insurance Considerations During the Covid-19 Pandemic” from Bloomberg Tax. Many don’t have a frame of reference to address the medical, legal, financial, and insurance questions that now need to be addressed promptly. They’ve never experienced anything like today’s world. The time to get your affairs in order is now.

What will happen if we get sick? Will we recover? Who will take care of us and make legal decisions for us? What if a family member is in an assisted living facility and is incapacitated? All of these “what if” questions are now pressing concerns. Now is the time to review all legal, insurance and financial plans, and take into consideration two new laws: the SECURE Act and the CARES Act.

An experienced estate planning attorney who focuses in estate planning will save you an immense amount of money. Bargain hunters be careful: a small mistake or oversight in an estate plan can lead to expensive consequences. A competent legal professional is the best investment.

Here’s an example of what can go wrong: A person names two minor children—under age 18—as beneficiaries on their IRA account, life insurance policy or bank account. The person dies. Minors are not permitted to hold title to assets. Minors in New York are considered wards of the court in need of protection and court supervision. Therefore, in this state, the result of the beneficiary designation means that a special Surrogate’s Court proceeding will need to occur to have a pecuniary guardian appointed for the minors, even if the applicant is their custodial guardian.

Another “what if?” is the support for a disabled or special needs beneficiary who may be receiving government support. If the parents are gone, who will care for their disabled child? What if there are not enough assets in the estate to provide supplemental financial support, in addition to the government benefits? Life insurance can be used to fund a special needs trust to ensure that their child will not be dependent upon family or friends to care for their needs. However, if there is no special needs trust in place, an inheritance may put the child’s government support in jeopardy.

Here are the core estate planning documents to be prepared:

• Last Will and Testament
• Revocable Living Trust
• Durable General Power of Attorney
• Health Care Declaration

The SECURE Act changed the rules regarding inherited IRAs. With the exception of a surviving spouse and a few other exempt individuals, the required minimum distributions must be taken within a ten- year time period. This causes an additional income tax liability for future generations. There are strategies to reduce the impact, but they require advance planning with the help of an estate planning attorney.

Reference: Bloomberg Tax (June 18, 2020) “Estate and Life Insurance Considerations During the Covid-19 Pandemic”

Your Estate Plan Needs to Be Customized

“Estate planning documents often are treated like the photocopied permission slip for a child’s field trip. You fill in your name, include the children’s names and dates of birth and sign. The document is filed away to be used if needed, but you really never expect it to be used.”

The only thing worse than having no estate plan, is an estate plan created from a ‘fill-in-the-blank’ form, according to the recent article “Don’t settle for a generic estate plan” from The News-Enterprise. Compare having an estate plan created to buying a home. Before you start packing, you think about the kind of house you want and how much you can spend. You also talk with real estate agents and mortgage brokers to get ready.

Even when you find a house you love, you don’t write a check right away. You hire an engineer to inspect the property. You might even bring in contractors for repair estimates. At some point, you contact an insurance agent to learn how much it will cost to protect the house. You rely on professionals, because buying a home is an expensive proposition and you want to be sure it will suit your needs and be a sound investment.

The same process goes for your estate plan. You need the advice of a skilled professional–the estate planning lawyer. Sometimes you want input from trusted family members or friends. There other times when you need the estate planning lawyer to help you get past the emotions that can tangle up an estate plan and anticipate any family dynamics that could become a problem in the future.

An estate planning attorney will also help you to avoid problems you may not anticipate. If the family includes a special needs individual, leaving money to that person could result in their losing government benefits. Giving property to an adult child to try to avoid nursing home costs could backfire, making you ineligible for Medicaid coverage and cause your offspring to have an unexpected tax bill.

Your estate planning lawyer should work with your team of professional advisors, including your financial advisor, accountant and, if you own a business, your business advisor. Think of it this way—you wouldn’t ask your real estate agent to do a termite inspection or repair a faulty chimney. Your estate plan needs to be created and updated by a skilled professional: the estate planning lawyer.

Once your estate plan is completed, it’s not done yet. Make sure that the people who need to have original documents—like a power of attorney—have original documents or tell them where they can be found when needed. Keep in mind that many financial institutions will only accept their own power of attorney forms, so you may need to include those in your estate plan.

Medical documents, like advance directives and healthcare powers of attorney, should be given to the people you selected to make decisions on your behalf. Make a list of the documents in your estate plan and where they can be found.

Preparing an estate plan is not just signing a series of fill-in-the-blank forms. It is a means of protecting and passing down the estate that you have devoted a lifetime to creating, no matter its size.

Reference: The News-Enterprise (June 23, 2020) “Don’t settle for a generic estate plan”

Keeping Yourself and Loved Ones Safe during the Pandemic

“Seniors are especially at risk during the coronavirus pandemic. The numbers are shocking.”

The numbers are frightening, especially for those over 80. By the time seniors with COVID-19 are admitted to the hospital, it’s usually too late to do anything about their legacy. This topic was taken up recently in the article “Tips for protecting seniors and their legacy in the pandemic” from My Edmond News. That includes creating a last will and testament, naming a health care power of attorney, or having a conversation about their end-of-life wishes. Here are thoughts on how to stay safe and prepare for the worst.

Follow the recommended health guidelines and be careful. Hand washing, social distancing, avoiding crowds, wearing masks and cleaning surfaces are very important for seniors. Online shopping or going to the grocery store during senior hours are better choices, if you have a choice.

Beware of scammers. Scammers who target the elderly use their fear of the pandemic to provoke action. One of the latest scams is a phone call from someone claiming to be a contact tracer, saying they are tracking people who have been exposed to COVID-19. They ask for Social Security numbers, birthdays and zip codes. No legitimate contact tracer will ask these questions.

Make a plan for your digital assets. Seniors are active on Facebook, use email and a variety of apps to stay in touch with grandchildren and manage their finances. Make a list of all of your online accounts and passwords, so that a trusted family member or friend will be able to help, if you are incapacitated or die. Untangling digital assets is much more complex than tangible assets—there’s no paper trail to follow.

Get your legal affairs in order now. Depending on your state of residence, you may be able to have documents witnessed and notarized remotely. Your estate planning attorney will know what the current rules are and be able to get documents prepared.

Create a Power of Attorney. This will let the person you name as POA take care of your finances, pay bills and keep your financial life from falling apart if you become ill.

Have a Health Care Power of Attorney created. This allows the person you name to get information on your medical decisions and make health care decisions, if you cannot.

Use an estate planning attorney to have these documents created. They are powerful documents, and their advice in helping select the right person can prevent a world of trouble in the future. The estate planning attorney who hears you say “Well, my nephew is the only one, but he’s been in and out of rehab for six years now,” can help you make a better choice!

Have a Will, or Last Will and Testament, created by an estate planning attorney. A professionally prepared last will sets out your wishes for distribution of your assets and is legally enforceable.

Update your beneficiaries. Distributions from accounts including IRAs, pensions and life insurance policies are not governed by your last will, but by the beneficiaries you name. As your life changes, these need to be updated. You really don’t want an old boyfriend or ex-spouse receiving your entire life insurance policy.

Once you have your estate plan done, you’ll realize it was easy to do, and well worth the peace of mind of knowing that you and your loved ones are protected.

Reference: My Edmond News (June 1, 2020) “Tips for protecting seniors and their legacy in the pandemic”

How Does an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust Work?

“This type of trust can be established to benefit your spouse, children, grandchildren and other descendants. However, it may be more appropriate in some situations than others. Getting to know the details of what an IDGT is and how it works can help you decide if it makes sense for you.”

Using trusts as part of an estate plan creates many benefits, including minimizing estate taxes. One type of trust is known as an “intentionally defective grantor trust,” or IDGT. It’s a type of irrevocable trust used to limit tax liability when transferring wealth to heirs, as reported in the recent article “Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT)” from Yahoo! Finance. It’s good to understand the details, so you can decide if an IDGT will help your family.

An irrevocable trust is one that can’t be changed once it’s created. Once assets are transferred into the trust, they can’t be transferred back out again, and the terms of the trust can’t be changed.  You will want to talk with your estate planning attorney in detail about the use of the IDGT, before it is created.

An IDGT allows you to permanently remove assets from your estate. The assets are then managed by a trustee, who is a fiduciary and is responsible for managing the trust for the beneficiaries. All of this is written down in the trust documents.

However, what makes an IDGT trust different, is how assets are treated for tax purposes. The IDGT lets you transfer assets outside of your estate, which lets you avoid paying estate and gift taxes on the assets.

The IDGT gets its “defective” name from its structure, which is an intentional flaw designed to provide tax benefits for the trust grantor—the person who creates the trust—and their beneficiaries. The trust is defective because the grantor still pays income taxes on the income generated by the trust, even though the assets are no longer part of the estate. It seems like that would be a mistake, hence the term “defective.”

However, there’s a reason for that. The creation of an IDGT trust freezes the assets in the trust. Since it is irrevocable, the assets stay in the trust until the owner dies. During the owner’s lifetime, the assets can continue to appreciate in value and are free from any transfer taxes. The owner pays taxes on the assets while they are living, and children or grandchildren don’t get stuck with paying the taxes after the owner dies. Typically, no estate tax applies on death with an IDGT.

Whether there is a gift tax upon the owner’s death will depend upon the value of the assets in the trust and whether the owner has used up his or her lifetime generation-skipping tax exemption limit.

Your estate planning attorney can help establish an IDGT, which should be created to work with the rest of your estate plan. Be aware of any exceptions that might alter the trust’s status or result in assets being lumped in with your estate. Funding the IDGT also takes careful planning. The trust may be funded with an irrevocable gift of assets, or assets can be sold to the trust. Your attorney will be able to make recommendations, based on your specific situation.

Reference: Yahoo! Finance (June 3, 2020) “Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT)”

Can Mom Leave a Home to Daughter but Not Grandchildren?

“If you want a legal plan that avoids probate court, there are two options: first, an enhanced life estate deed, and second a living trust. Each has its pros and cons.”

There are numerous ways to accomplish distributing property, according to specific wishes. A woman with three grown daughters faced a problem about passing down the family home. She wanted to give it to the youngest daughter, who has taken care of and is closest to her. However, she also wanted to be sure that, if something happened to this daughter, the house would go to her two other daughters and not the close daughter’s adult children.

With proper planning, this can be done, as described in the article “Mom needs contingency plan to pass house title” from mySanAntonio.

One way is to rely on a last will and testament. The will would state that she leaves the house to the youngest daughter, under terms of a testamentary trust inside the will. The daughter is permitted to use, enjoy, and live in the house during her lifetime, as the beneficiary of the testamentary trust.

The two older daughters would be named as the secondary beneficiaries of the trust. When the younger daughter dies, the trust distributes the house to the older daughters.

The plan will need to be prepared by a qualified estate planning attorney and it will likely be probated. This is not a terrible process, if the will is professionally written, properly signed by the mother and two witnesses, includes an executor and a trustee and clear instructions about her wishes. An estate planning attorney can prepare it correctly.

If the goal includes avoiding probate, there are other options. One is an enhanced life estate deed, and another is a living trust. The enhanced life estate deed specifies that the woman is retaining a life estate, that is, the right to use, enjoy and occupy her home, for the rest of her life. The document specifies that when she dies, the home goes to her youngest daughter. The owner would also want to specify that she has the right to change her mind at any time.

This approach avoids probate. However, there is a downside. If the youngest daughter dies before the mother, then the mother will need to take legal action to cancel the deed and issue a new one to the two older daughters. If the daughter outlives her mother, once she inherits the house, there will be no way to have it transferred to the other sisters in the future (unless the daughter choses to do so).

A living trust provides the detailed control allowed in a will, but the trust, which must be properly created and funded, avoids going to probate. The trust would let the mother live in the home, and when she dies, the title to the house stays in trust with her youngest daughter, who is able to live in the house. However, she never becomes the owner of the house. The trust would continue to own the house. The trust would specify that when the daughter dies, the house goes to the two older daughters. To be extra safe, it should also specify what she would want to happen, if one or both of the older daughters dies.

None of these is simple, but they are all feasible. Speak with an experienced estate planning attorney.

Reference: mySanAntonio (June 8, 2020) “Mom needs contingency plan to pass house title”

Why You Need an Advance Directive Right Now

“COVID-19 is quickly becoming the leading cause of death in the United States. As of today, Indiana has over 37,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 2,100 deaths. That is why articulating your wishes regarding end-of-life health care, is more important than ever.”

The number of Americans who have died in the last few months because of COVID-19 is staggering, reports Inside Indiana Business in an article that advises readers to “Get Your Advance Directives in Place Now.” Just talking with family members about your wishes is not enough. You’ll need to put the proper legal documents in place. It’s not that hard, and it is necessary.

Only one in three Americans has completed any kind of advance directive. Many younger adults don’t feel the need to complete these documents, but there have been many examples that prove this is the wrong approach. Both Terri Schiavo and Karen Ann Quinlan were only in their twenties when they were not able to make their wishes known. Family members fought in and out of court for years.

The clinical realities of COVID-19 make it hard for healthcare workers to determine their patient’s wishes. Visitors are not permitted, and staff members are overwhelmed with patients. COVID-19 respiratory symptoms come on rapidly in many cases, making it impossible to convey end-of-life wishes.

Advance directives are the written instructions regarding health care decisions, if you are not able to communicate your wishes. They must be in compliance with your state’s laws. The most common types of advance care directives are the durable power of attorney for health care and the living will.

A durable power of attorney for health care names a person, usually a spouse or family member, to be a health care agent. You may also name alternative agents. This person will be able to make decisions about your health care on your behalf, so be sure they know what your wishes are.

A living will is the document that states your wishes about the type of care you do or don’t want to receive. Living wills typically concern treatments like CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), breathing machines (ventilators), dialysis, feeding tubes and certain treatments, like the use of an IV (intravenous, meaning medicine delivered directly into the bloodstream).

Studies show that people who have properly executed advance directives are more likely to get care that reflects their stated preferences.

Traditional documents will cover most health situations. However, the specific symptoms of COVID-19 may require you to reconsider opinions on certain treatments. Many COVID-19 patients need ventilators to breathe and do subsequently recover. If in the past you wanted to refuse being put on a ventilator, this may cause you to reconsider.

Almost all states require notarization and/or witnesses for advance directives and other estate planning documents to be valid. Many states, including Indiana and New York, now allow for remote notarization.

Talk with your estate planning attorney about putting all of your estate planning documents in order.

Reference: Inside Indiana Business (June 8, 2020) “Get Your Advance Directives in Place Now”