Resolving Trust Matters Without a Court

Until recently, resolving issues relating to trusts where the governing instrument of the trust was silent concerning the matter was a complicated process. Generally, clients had to petition a court to interpret confusing terms in a trust, or to modify a trust, or to change a Trustee if no successor Trustee was named, or to do other things not spelled out in the trust agreement.

Since Maryland adopted the Maryland Trust Act, however, Trustees and beneficiaries can resolve matters without having to go to court. There are a number of statutory provisions that apply, including Estates and Trusts Code Section 14.5-111 which allows interested persons to enter into non-judicial settlement agreements.

A non-judicial settlement agreement may even be useful in cases where clients are unable to locate the trust document itself. Indeed, there are circumstances in which a non-judicial settlement agreement may be used to recreate the lost trust document so that property held in a trust bank account can be dealt with without the necessity of going to court, thereby saving clients time and money.

William M. Gatesman has worked with numerous clients to assist them in resolving trust problems by means of non-judicial settlement agreements.

Praise from an Old Client

I recently received the correspondence below.

Dear Mr. Gatesman,

I just wanted to reach out to you to  thank you for a case you worked on and won for my fiance, Althea’s mother, Beatrice, in about 2005

Beatrice was the widowed, unmarried partner of a man who died intestate in DC in 2004. I can’t remember the exact ownership of the real estate they held together , but it was not the typical joint, with survivorship held by most married couples.

Anyway, my fiancé and I are Long Term Care executives, and had previously encountered another elder law lawyer (on the opposite side of the bench) and found him to be a worthy opponent. So, when this situation arose I told my fiance to call the other lawyer, who was either unavailable or didn’t do real estate cases in DC. Anyway, what a stroke of luck for us that the other lawyer referred us to you to be our counsel!

I remember Althea telling me that you listened to the case details and remembered a similar case decided in 1924 in favor of the unmarried survivor widow, I think it may have been Campbell v District of Columbia.

So, it turned out Beatrice was the rightful owner of the real estate due to how the ownership was structured. She lived until her death in 2014 in the house. Her ability to live out her years in her home was due to your capable and competent representation. I remember Althea and I spoke to several 5 star DC Martindale lawyers at the time in 2005, and none of them gave us any encouragement about her retaining her home in the estate battle.

So , Mr. Gatesman, after all these years I wanted to reach out to you to thank you for your capable representation of Beatrice, who would likely have lost her home and been quite destitute but for your advocacy and representation.

Thank you for helping us get through that difficult period and helping Beatrice retain ownership of her home.

Is it a Problem to Hold Estate Funds in a Lawyer Escrow Account?

Maryland lawyers do not all agree as to whether a lawyer may hold funds belonging to a decedent’s estate in a general escrow account or a client funds account. While there may seem to be little guidance concerning the subject matter, there are at least two Maryland law cases that suggest that holding funds from a probate estate in a lawyer’s escrow account may be problematical.

In Attorney Grievance Commission v. Boehm, 293 Md. 476, 479 (footnote 2) (1982), the Maryland Court of Appeals states that “[i]t is the obligation of an attorney upon receiving funds representing the assets of an estate to deposit those funds in a separate estate account clearly identifiable by the name of the decedent. Such funds should not be commingled in an escrow account, general or otherwise.” Cf. Attorney Grievance Commission v. Owrutsky 322 Md. 334 (Md. 1991) .

In Attorney Grievance Commission v. Christopher, 383 Md. 624, 861 A.2d, 692, 699(2004), the same court noted with approval the conclusion of the lower court that made findings of fact, which lower court, in its “Conclusions of Law” stated that the lawyer violated the rules of professional responsibility when he, among other things, “mishandled estate funds when he closed the estate bank account . . . and transferred the funds into his trust account.”

I have written this article as a basis upon which I may continue to explore this issue with my colleagues.

— Bill Gatesman

Appointing a Successor Trustee when the Trustee Dies

The governing documents for trusts often designate who will serve as successor Trustee if the office of Trustee becomes vacant. However, sometimes the trust documents are silent concerning this issue, or sometimes none of the designated successors are able to fill a vacancy in the office of Trustee. What can you do in such a circumstance?

In the past, the only recourse a trust beneficiary had was to incur the time and expense of obtaining a court order to appoint a new Trustee. Now however, under Maryland’s recently new Trust Code, beneficiaries can take action to install a successor Trustee without going to court.

In order to do so, the law requires the beneficiary to identify all of the “qualified beneficiaries,” which includes beneficiaries currently eligible to receive income and/or principal distributions, and those who would be able to receive such amounts if the current beneficiaries cease to be eligible.

One provision of the Maryland Trust Code allows for appointment of a successor Trustee by unaimous agreement of the qualified beneficiaries. Another provision allows for persons who have an interest in the trust to enter into a non-judicial settlement agreement, which agreement, among other things, can provide for the appointment of a successor Trustee.

While these avenues of appointing a Trustee are less onerous than having to petition a court, it still is important that one follow all of the procedures set forth in the relevant statutes.

William M. Gatesman works with clients to appoint successor Trustees using these streamlined non-judicial methods, thereby enabling such clients to save time and money.

Funeral Services on a Budget

While many people take into consideration social or religious considerations when choosing what funeral services to utilize, and such considerations may preclude those from seeking out cremation services, there are others who do not take those considerations into account and desire to know what inexpensive services exist for dealing with one’s bodily remains after death. One such service provider in Maryland and surrounding areas is the Going Home Cremation Service, the website for which company is http://www.goinghomecremation.com/.

Obtaining Medicaid for Prior Month’s Nursing Home Costs

William M. Gatesman frequently assists clients or their families to obtain Medicaid benefits to cover the long term care costs in a nursing home. In order to qualify for such benefits, the nursing home resident must meet certain medical and financial eligibility requirements, and Mr. Gatesman helps clients to meet those requirements. Often, the strategies employed allow for maximum asset preservation, allowing spouses or families to retain accumulated wealth while still qualifying for Medicaid benefits.

Sometimes, an individual has outstanding unpaid nursing home costs, or other unpaid medical bills, when they finally take action to satisfy the Medicaid eligibility requirements. Fortunately, the law allows for reimbursement for such pre-eligibility medical expenses through the Medicaid program.

That being the case, sometimes the best strategy is to refrain from paying an outstanding nursing home bill in order to qualify for Medicaid, and instead to make a payment that will be more beneficial, such as prepaying funeral and burial costs. Then, when a Medicaid application is filed, the applicant can request that such unpaid nursing home costs be paid with Medicaid dollars.

There are certain restrictions and there is a particular approach one must take in order to secure Medicaid coverage for past due medical bills. William M. Gatesman assists clients in obtaining this benefit which is a benefit over and above securing Medicaid benefits to pay current nursing home costs.

To learn more, you may call William M. Gatesman at 301-260-0095 to find out if you or loved one can benefit from this additional payment option.

Medicaid Asset Preservation with IRAs

 

Spousal Protection Trusts  A very powerful asset preservation tool William M. Gatesman employs with married couples are Wills with Spousal Protection Trusts, a planning tool developed by Mr. Gatesman. With this tool, both spouses prepare a Will in which there is a trust for the benefit of the surviving spouse. Such trust is designed to be funded, not with assets passing through the estate, but with assets passing outside of probate, through pay on death accounts, beneficiary designations, life estate deeds, and by other means.

 

Protecting the Surviving Spouse  By using such a Spousal Protection Trust, spouses can set up their affairs such that, after the first of them dies, all the assets are set aside in the trust, available without restriction to the surviving spouse, but fully protected should the surviving spouse require long term care in a nursing home. Moreover, if such trust is properly implemented, the surviving spouse would be able to qualify for and obtain Medicaid benefits for long term care without delay if and when such spouse falls ill and requires nursing home care. In this way, all of the couple’s assets, to the extent not used by the surviving spouse prior to admission to a nursing home, would be preserved for future generations, and thereafter, all care costs would be covered by Medical Assistance. This is a very powerful planning strategy, but care must be taken to ensure that the plan is properly implemented.

 

Implementing the Plan with Tax Deferred Assets Often, when using this tool, the largest assets passing into such spousal protection trust are IRAs and other tax advantaged retirement plans. When this type of asset passes to a beneficiary – and the Spousal Protection Trust would be the beneficiary – special rules apply to continue the income tax deferral that is the hallmark of such investments. But the traditional method of preserving the tax deferred status of such accounts – by making regular required minimum distributions to the individual beneficiary – can reduce the primary benefit of using a Spousal Protection Trust, which is to protect all of the couple’s wealth if and when the surviving spouse requires long term care in a nursing home, which care could be paid for by the Medicaid program.

 

Asset Preservation with Tax Deferral  With proper guidance, however, a married couple can implement a plan that allows them to get the best of both worlds, that is, to prolong the income tax deferral on IRAs and qualified benefit plans for the longest time possible, on the one hand, and to prevent distributions of income and principal to the surviving spouse if and when such spouse might require long term care in a nursing home, on the other hand, thereby maximizing family wealth preservation.

 

Tax Planning Component of the Spousal Protection Trust  The key to obtaining “the best of both worlds” as discussed above is to structure the spousal protection trust as a retirement plan “accumulation trust.” Typically, estate planners will have clients utilize what is known as a “conduit trust” as the beneficiary of an IRA or other tax deferred retirement plan to ensure continued income tax deferral. However, while a properly drafted conduit trust will ensure continuing income tax deferral because such trust mandates that the retirement plan annual minimum distributions be paid from the trust to the surviving spouse, using a conduit trust for Medicaid asset preservation planning is counterproductive because all such minimum distributions received by the surviving spouse would be required to be paid to the nursing home as part of the surviving spouse’s contribution to her cost of care even after she would qualify for Medicaid benefits. [To be sure, the surviving spouse still could get Medicaid for nursing home care, however, the distribution of the required minimum distribution from the conduit trust to such spouse is a waste of assets because, with proper planning, such payments can be avoided.]

 

Putting it All Together  The way to continue the income tax deferral and to maximize income and asset preservation is to employ an accumulation trust in the Spousal Protection Trust. With an accumulation trust, the required minimum distribution from the retirement plan is distributed to the Trustee, but the Trustee is not required to pay such amount to the surviving spouse. Nevertheless because of the nature of the trust, the income tax deferral will continue to be allowed. This is easier said than done, however, because the tax law governing accumulation trusts for IRAs and other tax deferred retirement plans is intricate and complex.

 

Choosing the Right Advisor  Is it important, therefore, that the advocate you choose to assist you with your asset preservation estate planning be well versed in all aspects of law that would affect your situation, including estate planning, income tax planning, IRA planning, Medicaid planning, and other areas.

 

Qualifications  Before he studied law, William M. Gatesman obtained a Masters Degree in Accountancy with a focus on tax planning, and before becoming a lawyer, Mr. Gatesman worked as a tax consultant with a major CPA firm, and as a tax accountant in a major corporation. Mr. Gatesman has spent his career as a lawyer working in the area of estate planning and Medicaid planning, and related areas. Mr. Gatesman has the education, knowledge, and experience in all the areas of law that must be considered when doing asset preservation planning, and Mr. Gatesman relies on this background when he assist clients in employing Spousal Protection Trusts that include accumulation trusts as recipients of IRA and other retirement plan assets.

 

Maximizing Wealth Preservation  All of this knowledge and expertise enables William M. Gatesman to utilize sophisticated legal tools, such as the Spousal Protection Trust, which trust allows clients to maximize wealth preservation if a surviving spouse should require nursing home care in the future while still allowing such spouse to prolong the income tax deferral afforded by the inherited IRA or other retirement plan for as long as possible.

What is Medicaid Planning?

Our website has a new look! I hope that you enjoy the refreshing update to the Maryland Elder Law website. As part of our website update, we have added a new page that answers the question, “What is Medicaid planning?”

 

To find out the answer to that question, you may click on that question in the black bar at the top of this page if you are viewing this page from your computer. Or you may simply click on the question that follows: “What is Medicaid Planning?” and the page that answers that question will open in a new browser window. Call us at 301-260-0095 for more information.

 

Applying for Medicaid Gives State Access to Bank Records

In order to combat fraud and abuse, Congress passed a law in 2008 (referred to in this article as the “Asset Verification Statute”), which law just now is being implemented in Maryland, directing States to impose an electronic asset verification process to facilitate asset disclosure relating to Medicaid applications for long term care.

When Disclosure is allowed.  In most instances, under Federal law, banks may not disclose one’s financial records to the government except where there is a valid law enforcement or judicial subpoena or summons, or a search warrant.  However, that same federal law allows the account holders themselves to authorize such disclosure through a written instrument.

The Asset Verification Statute directs that States that provide Medicaid benefits to aged, blind or disabled persons to cover the costs of long term care in a nursing home, or care in assisted living or at home, require the applicants for such benefit programs to provide written authorization to the State to obtain documentation from banks and other financial institutions for accounts owned by the applicant or by any other person (such as the applicant’s spouse) whose assets are considered when one applies for such benefits. Continue reading “Applying for Medicaid Gives State Access to Bank Records”

Sheltering Assets to Maintain Housing Benefits

Various articles on this website address ways in which aged or disabled persons may protect their assets and still get government benefits such as Medicaid for long term care in a nursing home, or Medicaid for health care in the community.  By retaining accumulated assets or protecting assets one is about to inherit, an individual can ensure for herself a better quality of life, especially when the only other alternative is to fully impoverish oneself to retain government benefits.

One tool lawyers utilize to enable clients to shelter assets is a trust.  There are various types of trusts that can be employed depending on the individual’s circumstances, and each type of trust has its advantages and disadvantages.

For example, the law will allow a disabled person to keep his or her accumulated wealth to allow for a higher quality of life and to still obtain Medicaid benefits.  [Such opportunity is separate and distinct from the benefit under the Affordable Care Act which allows non-disabled people with low incomes to obtain Medicaid health insurance.  Moreover, this long-standing opportunity afforded to disabled persons likely will persist even if the President and Congress were to repeal the Affordable Care Act as they have threatened to do.] Continue reading “Sheltering Assets to Maintain Housing Benefits”