Sirkin Law Trust Estate Probate Litigation Attorney

Why is Special Needs Trust Administration Important in the San Fernando Valley? Management of a Disabled Person's Funds

Administration Of Special Needs Trusts in the San Fernando Valley

Do you need special advice about the management and administration of a special needs trust in the San Fernando Valley?  Our lawyers have over 27 years of experience advising trustees about special needs trust administration. Mina N. Sirkin advises residents of San Fernando Valley who are normally Special Needs Trust parents and grandparents about the details of administration and planning for a special needs trust in the San Fernando Valley.

Special Needs Trust administration is very important because the trustee has a fiduciary duty owed to the beneficiary and must exercise complete loyalty to the beneficiary, along with the exercise of discretion in spending.  Mistakes in how the money is expended can not only result in liability, but can result in the loss of government benefits.

Top 10 Tips in Administering Special Needs Trusts:

1. Set up a Trust file, and read it several times.
2. Create a trust inventory.
3. Carry adequate insurance.
4. Contact a financial advisor who is familiar with the Prudent Investor Rule.
5. Have an accountant do your accounting.  Have him/her set up a quarterly upload of the trust's financial statements so you do not have to rush at the end of the year, or at the time of accounting.
6. Communicate with the beneficiary, if possible.  If a beneficiary cannot communicate, talk to caregivers, conservators and other family members to get updates of on how the beneficiary is doing at least once every two months. 

Attorney Mina N. Sirkin has helped thousands of San Fernando Valley residents in administering special trusts.  Ms. Sirkin is a California Board Certified as a Specialist attorney in Trust law by the State Bar of California and regularly writes about special needs trusts administration and formation.  Contact: 818.340.4479 and [email protected]

Do you need special advice about the management and administration of a special needs trust in the San Fernando Valley?  Our lawyers have over 27 years of experience advising trustees about special needs trust administration. Mina N. Sirkin advises residents of San Fernando Valley who are normally Special Needs Trust parents and grandparents about the details of administration and planning for a special needs trust in the San Fernando Valley.

Special Needs Trust administration is very important because the trustee has a fiduciary duty owed to the beneficiary and must exercise complete loyalty to the beneficiary, along with the exercise of discretion in spending.  Mistakes in how the money is expended can not only result in liability, but can result in the loss of government benefits.

Top 10 Tips in Administering Special Needs Trusts:

1. Set up a Trust file, and read it several times.
2. Create a trust inventory.
3. Carry adequate insurance.
4. Contact a financial advisor who is familiar with the Prudent Investor Rule.
5. Have an accountant do your accounting.  Have him/her set up a quarterly upload of the trust's financial statements so you do not have to rush at the end of the year, or at the time of accounting.
6. Communicate with the beneficiary, if possible.  If a beneficiary cannot communicate, talk to caregivers, conservators and other family members to get updates of on how the beneficiary is doing at least once every two months. 

Attorney Mina N. Sirkin has helped thousands of San Fernando Valley residents in administering special trusts.  Ms. Sirkin is a California Board Certified as a Specialist attorney in Trust law by the State Bar of California and regularly writes about special needs trusts administration and formation.  Contact: 818.340.4479 and [email protected]

Alzheimer's Attorneys Los Angeles Discuss a Care Plan for your Parents

Attorneys For Families With Alzheimer's Dementia Los Angeles CA | Conservatorship  Los Angeles Attorney & Lawyer

Attorneys for Families with Alzheimer's Dementia Los Angeles Attorney | Sirkin Law Group  Wills Trusts Estates | 818.340.4479 | Los Angeles Alzheimer's | Conservatorship & Alzheimers Care Ca

Whether in a crisis situation or not,  Alzheimer's attorneys and legal staff prepare Los Angeles families with Alzheimer's Dementia focusing on a care plan, which helps implement goals and small steps to protect your parents or the person with dementia.   Our attorney in Los Angeles, Pasadena and Glendale has over 27 years of experience putting a protective Alzheimer's care plan together for families like yours.  Attorneys at Sirkin Law Group have a philosophy of preventative legal care.    We do not just manage Alzheimer's dementia, we legally prepare for it.   Talk to our lawyers about your family's Alzheimer's or dementia problems and how to manage care for your aging parents.

Our services range from finding financial resources for housing, nursing home planning, conservatorship for Alzheimer's and dementia patients, elder law, and care planning for dementia.   

How do you prepare for a person with dementia or Alzheimer's disease?

1.  Ask whether any of your parents or other family members have had dementia, Alzheimers or Parkinson's disease?   

2.   Unfocus from the disease itself and focus on small goals.

3.   If any member of your family has had dementia, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, then you must put in place a series of legal documents to protect yourself and your family.

4.   The legal documents we recommend to our clients with a family history of dementia is as follows:

A.   A Living Trust

B.   A Will

C.   Durable Power of Attorney for Asset Management.

D.   Advanced Health care Directive OR a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and HIPAA authorizations.

E.   A complete inventory of assets updated yearly.  

F.   A legal transfer document allowing transfers of appropriate assets to the trust.

If you have a family member who has already been diagnosed with dementia, it is not too late to put together protective documents, if a physician can certify the capacity of the person with dementia.

Even when a person loses mental capacity, it is still not too late, even if no legal documents are in already in place, because we can still prepare for dementia, with a Conservatorship proceeding, with a substituted judgment petition and a court order.  Yes, we can even prepare wills and trusts after capacity is lost, with a court order.  Our Alzheimer's attorneys are legal professionals here to assist you and your family in Los Angeles.

Mina Sirkin is a dementia attorney, Certified Specialist Attorney in Probate, Estate Planning, and Trust Law in California helping families in Los Angeles Ca.   With over 22 years of experience, we can advise you on how to legally prepare for dementia step-by-step.   Los Angeles Conservatorship Attorney and to Dementia & Elder Law Attorneys Los Angeles.  Call us at 818.340.4479 0r 800.300.9977. Call and talk to our attorneys about Alzheimer's and dementia in Los Angeles and Glendale.  Schedule a call or a virtual online appointment here.  

 

 

 

Glendale Conservatorships

Glendale California 

Pasadena Conservatorship

Pasadena Conservatorship Attorney

Los Angeles Probate Lawyer

Attorneys for Families with Alzheimer's Dementia Los Angeles Attorney | Sirkin Law Group  Wills Trusts Estates | 818.340.4479 | Los Angeles Alzheimer's | Conservatorship & Alzheimers Care Ca

Whether in a crisis situation or not,  Alzheimer's attorneys and legal staff prepare Los Angeles families with Alzheimer's Dementia focusing on a care plan, which helps implement goals and small steps to protect your parents or the person with dementia.   Our attorney in Los Angeles, Pasadena and Glendale has over 27 years of experience putting a protective Alzheimer's care plan together for families like yours.  Attorneys at Sirkin Law Group have a philosophy of preventative legal care.    We do not just manage Alzheimer's dementia, we legally prepare for it.   Talk to our lawyers about your family's Alzheimer's or dementia problems and how to manage care for your aging parents.

Our services range from finding financial resources for housing, nursing home planning, conservatorship for Alzheimer's and dementia patients, elder law, and care planning for dementia.   

How do you prepare for a person with dementia or Alzheimer's disease?

1.  Ask whether any of your parents or other family members have had dementia, Alzheimers or Parkinson's disease?   

2.   Unfocus from the disease itself and focus on small goals.

3.   If any member of your family has had dementia, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, then you must put in place a series of legal documents to protect yourself and your family.

4.   The legal documents we recommend to our clients with a family history of dementia is as follows:

A.   A Living Trust

B.   A Will

C.   Durable Power of Attorney for Asset Management.

D.   Advanced Health care Directive OR a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and HIPAA authorizations.

E.   A complete inventory of assets updated yearly.  

F.   A legal transfer document allowing transfers of appropriate assets to the trust.

If you have a family member who has already been diagnosed with dementia, it is not too late to put together protective documents, if a physician can certify the capacity of the person with dementia.

Even when a person loses mental capacity, it is still not too late, even if no legal documents are in already in place, because we can still prepare for dementia, with a Conservatorship proceeding, with a substituted judgment petition and a court order.  Yes, we can even prepare wills and trusts after capacity is lost, with a court order.  Our Alzheimer's attorneys are legal professionals here to assist you and your family in Los Angeles.

Mina Sirkin is a dementia attorney, Certified Specialist Attorney in Probate, Estate Planning, and Trust Law in California helping families in Los Angeles Ca.   With over 22 years of experience, we can advise you on how to legally prepare for dementia step-by-step.   Los Angeles Conservatorship Attorney and to Dementia & Elder Law Attorneys Los Angeles.  Call us at 818.340.4479 0r 800.300.9977. Call and talk to our attorneys about Alzheimer's and dementia in Los Angeles and Glendale.  Schedule a call or a virtual online appointment here.  

 

 

 

Glendale Conservatorships

Glendale California 

Pasadena Conservatorship

Pasadena Conservatorship Attorney

Los Angeles Probate Lawyer

IRS Announced the 2020 Tax Numbers

IR-2019-180, November 6, 2019

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced the tax year 2020 annual inflation adjustments for more than 60 tax provisions, including the tax rate schedules and other tax changes. Revenue Procedure 2019-44 (PDF) provides details about these annual adjustments.

The tax law change covered in the revenue procedure was added by the Taxpayer First Act of 2019, which increased the failure to file penalty to $330 for returns due after the end of 2019. The new penalty will be adjusted for inflation beginning with tax year 2021.

The tax year 2020 adjustments generally are used on tax returns filed in 2021.

The tax items for tax year 2020 of greatest interest to most taxpayers include the following dollar amounts:

• The standard deduction for married filing jointly rises to $24,800 for tax year 2020, up $400 from the prior year. For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately, the standard deduction rises to $12,400 in for 2020, up $200, and for heads of households, the standard deduction will be $18,650 for tax year 2020, up $300.
   
• The personal exemption for tax year 2020 remains at 0, as it was for 2019, this elimination of the personal exemption was a provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
   
• Marginal Rates: For tax year 2020, the top tax rate remains 37% for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $518,400 ($622,050 for married couples filing jointly). The other rates are:
  • 35%, for incomes over $207,350 ($414,700 for married couples filing jointly);
  • 32% for incomes over $163,300 ($326,600 for married couples filing jointly);
  • 24% for incomes over $85,525 ($171,050 for married couples filing jointly);
  • 22% for incomes over $40,125 ($80,250 for married couples filing jointly);
  • 12% for incomes over $9,875 ($19,750 for married couples filing jointly).

            The lowest rate is 10% for incomes of single individuals with incomes of $9,875 or less ($19,750 for married couples filing jointly).

• For 2020, as in 2019 and 2018, there is no limitation on itemized deductions, as that limitation was eliminated by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
   
• The Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for tax year 2020 is $72,900 and begins to phase out at $518,400 ($113,400 for married couples filing jointly for whom the exemption begins to phase out at $1,036,800).The 2019 exemption amount was $71,700 and began to phase out at $510,300 ($111,700, for married couples filing jointly for whom the exemption began to phase out at $1,020,600).
   
• The tax year 2020 maximum Earned Income Credit amount is $6,660 for qualifying taxpayers who have three or more qualifying children, up from a total of $6,557 for tax year 2019. The revenue procedure contains a table providing maximum credit amounts for other categories, income thresholds and phase-outs.
   
• For tax year 2020, the monthly limitation for the qualified transportation fringe benefit is $270, as is the monthly limitation for qualified parking, up from $265 for tax year 2019.
   
• For the taxable years beginning in 2020, the dollar limitation for employee salary reductions for contributions to health flexible spending arrangements is $2,750, up $50 from the limit for 2019.
   
• For tax year 2020, participants who have self-only coverage in a Medical Savings Account, the plan must have an annual deductible that is not less than $2,350, the same as for tax year 2019; but not more than $3,550, an increase of $50 from tax year 2019. For self-only coverage, the maximum out-of-pocket expense amount is $4,750, up $100 from 2019. For tax year 2020, participants with family coverage, the floor for the annual deductible is $4,750, up from $4,650 in 2019; however, the deductible cannot be more than $7,100, up $100 from the limit for tax year 2019. For family coverage, the out-of-pocket expense limit is $8,650 for tax year 2020, an increase of $100 from tax year 2019.
   
• For tax year 2020, the adjusted gross income amount used by joint filers to determine the reduction in the Lifetime Learning Credit is $118,000, up from $116,000 for tax year 2019.
   
• For tax year 2020, the foreign earned income exclusion is $107,600 up from $105,900 for tax year 2019.
   
• Estates of decedents who die during 2020 have a basic exclusion amount of $11,580,000, up from a total of $11,400,000 for estates of decedents who died in 2019.
   
• The annual exclusion for gifts is $15,000 for calendar year 2020, as it was for calendar year 2019.
• The maximum credit allowed for adoptions for tax year 2020 is the amount of qualified adoption expenses up to $14,300, up from $14,080 for 2019.

Source:  IRS.gov

Conservatorship Seminar | When to Start Taking Care of Your Parents Audio Seminar

When to Start Taking Care of Your Parents Audio Seminar

Learn the signs of cognitive decline and what you can do about it so you can care for and protect your parents. Find out if your elderly parent needs a conservatorship or if they qualify for alternatives to conservatorships.

DATE:   December 8, 2018 at 11 a.m.

Registration is required through this link.  

https://goo.gl/forms/hwCGQRa0gGwpbbJB3

Elder Law Woodland Hills

Speaker:  Mina N. Sirkin, Esq.

Contact Conservatorship Attorney:   818.340.4479

Once you have registered, we will email or text you the call in number and passwords.

This seminar is limited to 10 participants.

Learn the signs of cognitive decline and what you can do about it so you can care for and protect your parents. Find out if your elderly parent needs a conservatorship or if they qualify for alternatives to conservatorships.

DATE:   December 8, 2018 at 11 a.m.

Registration is required through this link.  

https://goo.gl/forms/hwCGQRa0gGwpbbJB3

Elder Law Woodland Hills

Speaker:  Mina N. Sirkin, Esq.

Contact Conservatorship Attorney:   818.340.4479

Once you have registered, we will email or text you the call in number and passwords.

This seminar is limited to 10 participants.

What Are the Best Litigation Resolution Tools for Trustees in Los Angeles California?

Skilled trust counsel can provide the best estate and trust litigation resolution and settlement tools for trustees in Los Angeles County California and those tools are in fact very simple in nature.   In essence, inheritance law trust settlement tools allow for communication with the beneficiary or heir which opens the door for settlements.

Taking the time to offer the simple settlement tools in trust and probate cases is well worth it, as it may save you lots of money in litigation.  Management of trustee and beneficiary disputes and their resolution involve many factors.    Just as beneficiaries are given the ability and many tools which protect them against malfeasance by trustees, so have the trustees who sometimes deal with unreasonable beneficiaries.  ADR or alternative dispute resolution works quite well in the trust litigation arena.

California fiduciaries are held to a standard of care.   Trust documents often describe the standard of care of the trustee, but where they fail to specify the care, California law states that the trustee is held to a reasonable trustee standard.   A very detailed look at the standard of care described in the trust can eliminate most issues in litigation. Many times, the trust states that the trustee is not liable for damages unless the loss has resulted from gross negligence. Gross negligence is not the same as negligence.

At the same time, where the trustee has special skills, the courts can expect the trustee to use his special skills in managing the assets of the trust.   Trustees who invest the trust's assets are held to a prudent person (Prudent Investor Rule) standard in California unless the trust specifically relieves them of that specific standard.

For example, the trust may specify that the trustee may hold a property vacant for a period of time after the death of the settlor.  

Litigation can occur where the parent has left no specific instructions before death and one child lives in the property of the parent and refuses to pay rent.

Managing expectations of the beneficiaries where one child may live in the property of the parent can be a simple task, if done when the parent is alive and competent.   For example, the trust instrument may allow any beneficiary to live in the property for a specific period of time after death of the settlor rent-free, or at a low rent.

What can a Los Angeles trustee do to manage potential disputes among a successor trustee and beneficiaries?

1.   Give Notice of Proposed Action.   For example, a trustee who seeks to charge a beneficiary rent during the period of administration, but before distribution should give Notice of Proposed Action to determine the level of potential disputes.

2.   Give Notice of Proposed INACTION.   California law allows a trustee to give Notice of Inaction where the trustee seeks not to take action on a particular issue.   For example, this can mean that even though the beneficiary may expect the trustee to rent the house, the trustee will not be renting it, because the cost of bringing it up to rent standards is too high.

3.   Seek pre-litigation mediation.    Trustees and beneficiaries who may not agree on certain issues, such as sales price, sale date and distribution date can often prevent future disputes when parties realize the cost of litigation and want to act timely to prevent harm in a declining market. There are many times in a declining market where the beneficiaries do not recognize market value as a result of a failure in communication and an early agreement regarding sales price and sales timing.

4.   Obtain instructions from the court.   A Petition for instructions is sometimes the best remedy for preventing litigation.  Before a trustee takes action, he or she can seek instructions from the court.    This can be an especially useful tool where the trustee expects disputes regarding the manner of distribution or trustee's compensation.

5.   Present a settlement agreement early.   Early mediation and early settlement offers resolve cases. Settlement agreements which involve specific actions of the trustee can be drafted quickly and prevent future inheritance law disputes on single issue disputes.  Once entered, the trustee and beneficiaries can limit the scope of the settlement, but agree on its enforcement and admissibility in the event there is a future disagreement on that issue.   A settlement agreement can be presented before mediation or during mediation and often protects all parties from significant legal fees which can be expended during litigation.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Trust and Estate Litigation Attorney in Los Angeles, California.   Ms. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist Attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.   For consultation appointments about settling probate and trust cases or litigation prevention in trust and estates, call Karen Reyes at 818-340-4479.   http://SirkinLaw.com/attorneys.html  

Mina N. Sirkin, Specialist in Trust and Probate

Law in Los Angeles Ca

Call: 818.340.4479

Email: [email protected]

"We help our clients negotiate and settle estate inheritance law cases in Los Angeles California."