By:  Stephen R. Elville – Principal and Lead Attorney of Elville and Associates, P.C.

Tomorrow, Thursday, April 16, 2020, is National Healthcare Decisions Day.  According to the Five Wishes website, www.fivewishes.org, “National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) is a nationwide initiative that encourages adults of all ages to plan ahead of a health crisis.”  If you live in Maryland, you should learn about and understand healthcare decision making in Maryland and what it means for you.  Go to www. Marylandattorneygeneral.gov.  Healthcare decision making – it’s one of the essential elements of estate planning.  

Are you taking the time to think about your healthcare decision making?

Stephen R. Elville is the principal and lead attorney of Elville & Associates, P.C., a leading estate planning, elder law, and special needs planning law firm in Maryland. Elville and Associates engages clients in a multi-step educational process to ensure that estate, elder law, and special needs planning works from inception, throughout lifetime, and at death. Clients are encouraged to take advantage of the Planning Team Concept for leading-edge, customized planning. The education of clients and their families through counseling and superior legal-technical knowledge is the practical mission of Elville and Associates. If you would like to set an appointment with Mr. Elville to discuss estate or elder law planning issues, you may contact him at 443-393-7696, or via email at steve@elvilleassociates.com.    #elvilleeducation

Tags: Healthcare
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By: Stephen R. Elville, J.D., LL.M., Principal and Lead Attorney — Elville and Associates, P.C.

In today’s Time to Think blog, we ask this question: is your estate planning optimized for income taxes? If not, this is an important consideration since income tax is now arguably the “new estate tax”. How does one go about doing this – optimizing an estate plan for income tax purposes? The process is straight-forward and involves a review of your existing estate planning documents and financial assets, including titling, beneficiary designations, and corporate-related documents. Begin gathering these documents today for a comprehensive review by your estate planning attorney. You’ll be glad you did.

Are you taking the time to think about this issue?

Stephen R. Elville is the principal and lead attorney of Elville & Associates, P.C., a leading estate planning, elder law, and special needs planning law firm in Maryland. Elville and Associates engages clients in a multi-step educational process to ensure that estate, elder law, and special needs planning works from inception, throughout lifetime, and at death. Clients are encouraged to take advantage of the Planning Team Concept for leading-edge, customized planning. The education of clients and their families through counseling and superior legal-technical knowledge is the practical mission of Elville and Associates. If you would like to set an appointment with Mr. Elville to discuss estate or elder law planning issues, you may contact him at 443-393-7696, or via email at steve@elvilleassociates.com. #elvilleeducation

Tags: income tax
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By: Stephen R. Elville – Principal and Lead Attorney of Elville and Associates, P.C.

Trustees of trusts and Personal Representatives of probate estates sometimes need help getting started – they need direction and guidance as they start the journey of the administration process, or sometimes after they hit the first obstacles and challenges. And some fiduciaries need full-scale professional representation to assist them from beginning, middle, and finally to a successful end conclusion of the administration process, thereby ensuring that they satisfy each aspect of their fiduciary duty to the trust or estate. Elville and Associates’ Waypoint Trust Group assists Trustees and Personal Representatives in all aspects of administration – from inception, through the fulfillment process, and finally to the completion of their fiduciary duty. Elville and Associates’ Waypoint Trust Group is here to help (and educate) Trustees and Personal Representatives.

For more information about how Waypoint Trust Group can help you in the administration of a trust or estate, please contact Stephen R. Elville at 443-393-7696, or via email at steve@elvilleassociates.com.

Stephen R. Elville is the principal and lead attorney of Elville & Associates, P.C., a leading estate planning, elder law, and special needs planning law firm in Maryland. Elville and Associates engages clients in a multi-step educational process to ensure that estate, elder law, and special needs planning works from inception, throughout lifetime, and at death. Clients are encouraged to take advantage of the Planning Team Concept for leading-edge, customized planning. The education of clients and their families through counseling and superior legal-technical knowledge is the practical mission of Elville and Associates. #elvilleeducation

Tags: Waypoint Trust Group
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By:  Stephen R. Elville – President and Principal Attorney of Elville and Associates, P.C. and Founder of the Elville Center for the Creative Arts, Inc.

William and Jasmine are middle school-age children who live in central Maryland.  They are brother and sister and each has a strong interest in music and the arts.  Their school had a music program in years past but now that program has been largely defunded and is barely functional – it has all but stopped.  There are available teachers willing to teach, and these teachers are so dedicated that they are willing to stay after school.  Why?  Because there are hundreds of children at the same school who, like William and Jasmine, want to participate in music and learn to play instruments.  Yet there are few instruments available to the children at the school, and most of those instruments are either broken, are in a state of disrepair, or are otherwise unplayable.

At the same time, William and Jasmine, like nearly all these children, have no instrument of their own and no ability to obtain music lessons, with their parents unable to afford the $2,000-plus per-year expenditure necessary for instrument rental and lessons.  Without access to music, music experience, and music-related cultural events, William and Jasmine, like thousands of children in Maryland, are languishing culturally and in their personal development.  This is a Maryland (and American) tragedy that has unfolded slowly over the past 25 years and must be stopped.  The Elville Center for The Creative Arts Is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is proactively addressing this problem head-on.  The mission of the Elville Center for the Creative Arts is to provide children like William and Jasmine the opportunity to learn music theory and application, experience cultural events related to the musical and creative arts, and to use music and the promotion of music-related activities to transcend social and economic divisions. The Elville Center partners with local and regional businesses and school music programs to give the gift of music to children of all ages who want to participate in music but don’t have the means to do so on their own.

You can do something to help children and restore music to schools and to the lives of children across Maryland by supporting the Elville Center for The Creative Arts.  The Elville Center needs monetary donations, pledges, volunteers to assist with fundraising and event planning, music instruments that can be refurbished, and more.  If you have a strong desire to help children and an interest in music, the Elville Center needs your support.  Help the Elville Center help children like WIlliam and Jasmine.  For more information or to donate, visit www.elvillecenter.org, or please contact Stephen Elville or Jeffrey Stauffer at 443-393-7696, or via email at steve@elvilleassociates.com or jeff@elvillecenter.org.

Tags: Elville Center for the Creative Arts, Music, Schools
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By: Grace Bailey – Elder Law Paralegal

In a time of hopelessness, adversity, and confusion, it is best to find the positive things during hard times. The gas prices are incredibly low, the spring buds are blooming, the weather is perfect for hiking or strolling, families are spending more time together, and the world is on pause. Take a walk and remember to count your blessings instead of your troubles.  You’ll have a healthier outlook and a better composition afterwards.

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By:  Stephen R. Elville – Managing Principal and Lead Attorney of Elville and Associates, P.C.

Many couples and individuals consider the support and guidance their chosen fiduciaries will need to receive and have access to from their estate planning attorney after their deaths for the administration of their trust or estate as the most important element of the attorney-client relationship in estate planning.  Elville and Associates understands this fundamental concern and duty, and through its Waypoint Trust Group provides trustee services, trust and estate administration services, trustee assistance and support services, and trust protector services for new and existing trusts.  Elville and Associates is committed to supporting surviving fiduciaries and beneficiaries, and to planning for the generations. What could be more important?

The Time to Think Blog – are you taking the time to think about this issue?

Stephen R. Elville is the managing principal and lead attorney of Elville & Associates, P.C., a leading estate planning, elder law, and special needs planning law firm in Maryland. Elville and Associates engages clients in a multi-step educational process to ensure that estate, elder law, and special needs planning works from inception, throughout lifetime, and at death. Clients are encouraged to take advantage of the Planning Team Concept for leading-edge, customized planning. The education of clients and their families through counseling and superior legal-technical knowledge is the practical mission of Elville and Associates. If you would like to set an appointment with Mr. Elville to discuss estate or elder law planning issues, you may contact him at 443-393-7696, or via email at steve@elvilleassociates.com.    #elvilleeducation

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Tags: Attorney-Client Relationship, Estate and Trust Administration
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By:  Stephen R. Elville – Principal and Lead Attorney of Elville and Associates, P.C.

In yesterday’s Time to Think blog, we talked about providing for the possibility of a trust protector, a special fiduciary that adds dimension and flexibility to an estate plan.  This brings to mind the issue of also providing for the possibility of other contemporary planning approaches into our estate planning and making sure we understand what those modern choices are.  To relate a brief story, recently clients who we will anonymously call John and Mary, recently came in to update their estate planning documents due to a recent change in their life circumstances. They did the right thing and their instincts were correct.  John and Mary’s wills, powers of attorney, and advance medical directives were from 2004, simple documents drafted by a local general practice lawyer.  Upon review, analysis of the old estate planning documents compared to today’s more leading-edge contemporary estate planning documents showed that the older documents lacked at least 12 to 15 points worthy of potential revision and modernization, not only to keep pace with changes in the law, but for purposes of adding scope, dimension, and flexibility to the planning.  Through this process, John and Mary were able to educate themselves and their children about important new issues and properly update their planning.  The point here is clear – updating estate planning documents on a routine basis is important, and that process should include a client education component involving a recognition of needed changes through review, analysis, and comparison in coordination with your planning goals.

Are you taking the time to think about this planning-related issue?

Stephen R. Elville is the principal and lead attorney of Elville & Associates, P.C., a leading estate planning, elder law, and special needs planning law firm in Maryland. Elville and Associates engages clients in a multi-step educational process to ensure that estate, elder law, and special needs planning works from inception, throughout lifetime, and at death. Clients are encouraged to take advantage of the Planning Team Concept for leading-edge, customized planning. The education of clients and their families through counseling and superior legal-technical knowledge is the practical mission of Elville and Associates. If you would like to set an appointment with Mr. Elville to discuss estate or elder law planning issues, you may contact him at 443-393-7696, or via email at steve@elvilleassociates.com.    #elvilleeducation

Tags: estate planning
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By:  Nicole T. Livingston – Associate Attorney

In 2016, the Maryland Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act became law.  This law allows your agent named in your power of attorney, a trustee named in your revocable living trust, or a personal representative named in your Last Will and Testament to obtain access to your digital assets.   Prior to this law being enacted, agents, trustees, or personal representatives of your estate had a difficult time accessing online accounts or social media sites.   Under the new Act, you must have language in your documents that specifically state that your fiduciary has access to your digital assets.  Our documents were updated to reflect this new required language.  If you have not reviewed your documents in recent years, you should consider scheduling a review meeting with your attorney to discuss this important update to your documents.

As digital assets become more common for all of us to have, it is important to incorporate them into your estate plan.   Digital assets include purchased movies, songs, books, or games which can be a significant amount of money.  Often clients have digital pictures stored on a cell phone, on a social media site such as Facebook, or a website such as Snapfish or Shutterfly.  These accounts are at risk if you do not appropriately plan for your fiduciary to gain access.  Your family members may want to retrieve these memories and you do not want them to violate any privacy terms of the service agreement you agreed to when you signed up for these services.  With the permission granted in your estate planning documents, your fiduciary can contact these sites and gain access.

Clients who have a business and own a website domain site may need their fiduciary to gain access to the site if you become incapacitated or upon your death to gather pertinent business assets or proprietary information.   Electronic access to bank accounts is becoming more common.  Gaining access to electronic accounts to administer an estate is no longer a hassle under the Maryland Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act. There are systems in place to allow companies to provide a temporary password to gain access to the data and ease the administration of your estate.

There are steps you can take now to ease the burden on your fiduciary.  First, you should update your documents with the required language if you have not already done so.   Second, create a list of your online accounts and keep the list updated on a yearly basis.  When you file your tax return each year, you can schedule a reminder to verify that the list has not changed.  Third, provide the passwords to your fiduciary using a secure method.  There are several businesses that offer services to store usernames and passwords.  Whatever method you choose, make sure your fiduciary knows where and how to find the information.   Taking these steps now can ease the burden of administering your estate.

Tags: digital assets, estate planning
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By:  Stephen R. Elville – Principal and Lead Attorney of Elville and Associates, P.C.

In yesterday‘s Time to Think blog, we discussed how the inclusion of a Trust Protector provision as part of your estate plan can provide scope, depth, flexibility, beneficiary protection, and more.  You can provide for a Trust Protector in your estate planning, elder care-related, or special needs planning documents (Will, Revocable Living Trust, or Irrevocable Trust) in one of two ways:  (1) a Trust Protector can be appointed to serve in an active, current role, such as in the case of a special needs trust; or (2) a Trust Protector can be prospective, a special fiduciary who can be appointed at some future time by someone you choose now for this purpose.  What’s often important is not how the Trust Protector will ultimately serve, but rather that you have provided for the possibility of a Trust Protector to serve if one is ever needed.

Are you taking the time to think about this planning-related issue?

Stephen R. Elville is the principal and lead attorney of Elville & Associates, P.C., a leading estate planning, elder law, and special needs planning law firm in Maryland. Elville and Associates engages clients in a multi-step educational process to ensure that estate, elder law, and special needs planning works from inception, throughout lifetime, and at death. Clients are encouraged to take advantage of the Planning Team Concept for leading-edge, customized planning. The education of clients and their families through counseling and superior legal-technical knowledge is the practical mission of Elville and Associates. If you would like to set an appointment with Mr. Elville to discuss estate or elder law planning issues, you may contact him at 443-393-7696, or via email at steve@elvilleassociates.com.    #elvilleeducation

Tags: estate planning, Trust Protector
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By:  Stephen R. Elville – Principal and Lead Attorney of Elville and Associates, P.C.

Trust protectors add dimension, scope, and depth to an estate plan, and the essential capability needed to deal with ongoing change in an uncertain world.  If your estate plan does not include a trust protector or the potential for the appointment of a trust protector, then your plan likely lacks flexibility.  Why leave yourself and your beneficiaries in this potentially untenable situation?  If you would like to learn more about the advantages of a trust protector as part of your estate planning, please see the contact information below.

Are you taking the time to think about this estate planning issue?

Stephen R. Elville is the principal and lead attorney of Elville & Associates, P.C., a leading estate planning, elder law, and special needs planning law firm in Maryland. Elville and Associates engages clients in a multi-step educational process to ensure that estate, elder law, and special needs planning works from inception, throughout lifetime, and at death. Clients are encouraged to take advantage of the Planning Team Concept for leading-edge, customized planning. The education of clients and their families through counseling and superior legal-technical knowledge is the practical mission of Elville and Associates. If you would like to set an appointment with Mr. Elville to discuss estate or elder law planning issues, you may contact him at 443-393-7696, or via email at steve@elvilleassociates.com.    #elvilleeducation

Tags: estate planning, Trust Protectors
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