When your health starts to decline, you start to lose control and certainty. Having a comprehensive estate and financial plan in place can give you some control and certainty.
Over 120 million Americans are living with a chronic illness, such as Alzheimer's Disease, COPD, Parkinson's Disease, or Multiple Sclerosis. If you are one of these Americans, you need to create a plan for your estate and financial matters, but your documents cannot be generic. They have to be customized for you particular illness.
If you do not have an estate or financial plan, you are not alone. Statistics show that many Americans do not have a proper estate or financial plan. "It is estimated that 120,000,000 Americans do not have up-to-date estate plans to protect themselves and their families in the event of sickness, accidents, or untimely death," informs the NAEPC Education Foundation's news release for National Estate Planning Awareness Week. A survey from 2010 by Lawyers.com found that "[o]nly 35% of Americans now report having a will and only 21% have a trust arranged." A more recent survey by EZLaw affirmed these numbers. It found that "only 44% of Americans report that they currently have any estate planning documents."
These statistics are dismal, but they carry good news. They show that many people have an opportunity to improve their lives by having proper estate and financial documents in place. The costs to the affluent and middle class in wasted dollars and hours of emotional hardship can be minimized with proper planning and action, informs the NAEPC Education Foundation news release.
Estate and financial planning might be new and unfamiliar to you. It might sound overwhelming. But with a little education, it is no longer unfamiliar. And by taking a step-by-step approach, it is no longer overwhelming. Starting your education process is as simple as carving out one hour of your day to attend a free webinar.
National Estate Planning Awareness Week
October 17-23, 2011 is National Estate Planning Awareness Week. The purpose of this week is to encourage you to plan your estate. Practitioners from around the country are giving free webinars to demystify the estate planning process.
Martin M. Shenkman, an estate planning attorney in New Jersey, is giving a number of webinars that discuss estate planning for people living with a chronic illness. Shenkman breaks down estate planning into 12 easy-to-follow steps:
- Organize your emergency information and information about your advisors.
- Designate a person to handle your financial and legal issues by creating a power of attorney.
- Designate a person to make health care decisions and access medical records by creating a health care proxy.
- Communicate your health care wishes by creating a living will.
- Protect your minor children with an emergency child medical form.
- Sign a will.
- Create a personalized (not boilerplate) revocable living trust to manage your assets during your disability or illness.
- Ensure that your insurance coverage is in order.
- File your beneficiary designations and confirm title to your accounts.
- Give back so you can demonstrate important values to heirs, help others, and inspire others.
- Communicate your estate and financial plan to your advisors, family, and friends.
- Review, revisit, and revise your plan so it can continue to protect you.
National Estate Planning Awareness Week was created by a proclamation in the U.S. House of Representatives. On September 27, 2008 the House of Representatives passed H. Res. 1499 which created a Congressional Proclamation for National Estate Planning Awareness Week. This House Resolution was co-sponsored by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) and 49 other members of the House of Representatives.
Webinars for consumers
The following webinars are an excellent opportunity to learn about estate and financial planning. Each webinar is sponsored by a charity for a chronic illness. Shenkman will be giving each webinar along with a guest from the medical profession:
Monday October 17 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm EDT
- The National Multiple Sclerosis Society sponsors a free consumer webinar, "Estate and Financial Planning for those Living with Multiple Sclerosis." Presented by: Martin M. Shenkman, Esq., author of Funding the Cure: Helping A Loved One with MS Through Charitable Giving to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society; Dr. Nicholas G. LaRocca, Vice President, Health Care Delivery and Policy Research of the National MS Society will join. Register here.
Monday October 17 4:30 pm - 5:15 pm EDT
- The COPD Foundation sponsors a free consumer webinar "Estate and Financial Planning for those Living with COPD." Presented by Martin M. Shenkman, author of a forthcoming book Estate and Financial Planning for those living with COPD to be published by Demos Health. John Walsh and Dr. Byron Thomashow of the COPD Foundation will join. Register here.
Tuesday October 18 12:30 pm - 1:15 pm EDT
- The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research sponsors a free consumer webinar "Estate and Financial Planning for those Living with Parkinson's Disease." The program will be presented by Martin M. Shenkman, author of Funding the Cure: Charitable Giving to Help The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research Find the Cure for Parkinson's Disease published by Demos Health. Seanna Bruno of The MJFF, will join. Register here.
Tuesday October 18 2:30 - 3:30 pm EDT
- American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) hosts "Estate planning awareness week consumer seminar." Mr. Shenkman will be one of several panelists participating in this program. Register here.
Tuesday October 18 4:00 - 5:00 pm EDT
- Alzheimer's Association - sponsors a free consumer webinar "Estate and Financial Planning for those Living with Alzheimer's Disease." The program will be presented by Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, MBA, AEP, PFS, JD, author of Estate Planning for People with a Chronic Condition or Disability, published by Demos Health. Ruth Drew, Director of Family and Information Services of the Alzheimer's Association, and Mary Bohmke, Director of Planned Giving for the Alzheimer's Association will both join. Register here.
Webinars for professionals
In Drafting Estate Planning Documents for Clients Living with Chronic Illness - Part 2, Shenkman and Joshua Rubenstein recommend that professionals break down the planning process into four distinct phases for their clients. Here are their suggestions for each phase:
- Phase I: powers of attorney, living wills, HIPAA releases, and health proxies
- Phase II: revocable living trust and will
- Phase III: beneficiary designations, insurance, and an insurance trust
- Phase IV: more sophisticated planning
The reason for these phases is "to facilitate completing the process in a manner that is easier for the client. . . . Discrete, logically organized, and sequential steps will be more manageable."
Shenkman will be joined with leading estate planners in the U.S. to give webinars to professionals on how they can customize the estate and financial plans of clients living with a chronic illness:
Wednesday October 19 1:00 - 2:30 pm EDT
- The American Bar Association RPTE sponsors a webinar for attorneys offering CLE credits "Estate and Financial Planning for Clients Living With Chronic Illness." Co-presented, Bernard A. Krooks, Esq. of Littman Krooks LLP, New York City, New York. (Special thanks to Gideon Rothschild, Esq. who was helpful in promoting this program. Rothschild is one of the most brilliant estate planners in the country.) Register here.
Wednesday October 19 3:00 - 4:30 pm EDT
- Foxmoor Continuing Education, formerly PESI Law & Accounting, is sponsoring a "The Care Managers Role in Estate Planning for Clients Living with Chronic Illness in 2011" webinar for professionals with 1.0 credits for accountants, enrolled agents and certified financial planners. (Attorneys: 1.0 CLE credits may be available in your state. Please contact info@foxmoor-ce.com if you are interested in obtaining CLE credit in your state, time is limited. Several State CLE boards require 60 days in advance for approval for program.) This webinar features the following speakers: Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, MBA, JD; Marci Sadorf, RN, CMC and Stephanie Chong, LICSW, ASWCM. Register here. Use discount code "Shenkman20" for a $20 tuition reduction.
Thursday October 20 1200 -1:00 pm EDT
- The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. sponsors a teleconference call for estate planning professionals: "Estate and Financial Planning for Clients with Chronic Illnesses." presented by Martin M. Shenkman. Register here. Call 1-866-754-6477 for information.
If you are interested in learning more about estate planning for people with chronic illness and their families, I highly recommend the resources on http://www.rv4thecause.org/ The articles for professionals by Shenkman and Rubenstein on customizing documents for clients with chronic illness issues are very helpful because they give language that can be used to tweak estate planning documents – Part 1, Part 2.
