Olivia Holcombe-Volke began volunteering with MVLS in 2015, and since then has helped 39 clients with 51 legal issues including estate administration and planning, deeds, and tax.

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Authored by: Stephen R. Elville, Esq. — Elville and Associates, P.C.– 443-393-7696, steve@elvilleassociates.com, @elvilleassoc

Trustees of special needs trusts are often approached by family members of trust beneficiaries who would like to be paid as caregivers for the beneficiaries. While the Social Security Administration (SSA) currently does not explicitly prohibit payment of family caregivers from special needs trusts that support Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, there are other reasons why trustees should be cautious about doing so. Many states have laws that require parents to care for their children. In those cases, it is inappropriate for trustees to compensate parents for services that they are legally required to provide to their children. These duties of support often survive past the age of majority in cases where children have lifelong special needs. Secondly, there is trustee liability to consider. Caregivers are employees of the trust and must be treated as such, even if they are family members. When employing caregivers, including family caregivers, trustees must follow all state and federal wage and hour guidelines and must properly withhold the appropriate taxes from the caregiver’s paychecks. In many cases, trustees, especially non-professional trustees, are not equipped to do this job, so they must work through agencies that actually hire the family members and are paid a premium by the trust to administer their benefits. Also, when trustees are serving as employers, there is always a risk that family members will be injured on the job, resulting in workers’ compensation claims. While there are many reasons why family members might make the best paid caregivers, careful consideration to all of the factors surrounding the employment of family members should be taken into account. #elvilleeducation

Tags: Caregivers, Special Needs, Trust Funds, trusts
Posted in Blog | Comments Off on The Ins and Outs of Family Members Being Paid as Caregivers from Special Needs Trust Funds

At Elville and Associates, P.C., we couldn’t be more proud of Partner Olivia Holcombe-Volke for her tireless pro bono estate planning work with the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service. Olivia is a true advocate for those in need of assistance, and the link to the article below captures the essence of the need for more people like Olivia and the important work she does. #probono #advocate #elvilleeducation #estateplanning #mvls

Click here for Article

Tags: Estate Planning Work, Olivia R. Holcombe-Volke, Pro Bono
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Authored by: Stephen R. Elville, Esq. — Elville and Associates, P.C. — 443-393-7696, steve@elvilleassociates.com, @elvilleassoc

Many people 65 years of age and over are subconsciously aware of the vulnerability of their assets, including retirement plan assets (IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and other Qualified Plans) to Medicaid (long-term care) spend down and dissipation. This awareness carries over into the estate planning process, ultimately leading to the question(s): do I engage in “regular” conventional estate planning without consideration of lifetime long-term care asset protection considerations; or do I engage in a long-term care asset protection strategy that incorporates my overall dispositive plan; or a combination of both? For the majority of people, if these questions are not addressed during the estate planning process, the planning may be one-dimensional and opportunities could be missed. Who can afford that? To steer clear of this danger, all planning should be goal driven. With client goals being identified up front, the planning outcome should be a foregone conclusion and the opportunity to “hit two or three birds with one stone” will not be lost.

To discuss If you would like to know more about the estate planning options for your family or you, or simply have your existing estate planning documents reviewed, please contact me at the following: steve@elvilleassociates.com; or mary@elvilleassociates.com; or via telephone at 443-393-7696.

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Tags: Elville, elville and associates, estate planning, family
Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Which Estate Planning Process Is Right for You? The Answer Lies Within Your Goals …

Authored by:  Stephen R. Elville, Esq. – Elville and Associates, P.C. – 443-393-7696, steve@elvilleassociates.com, @elvilleassoc

In 2010 the Maryland Power of Attorney Act changed the law, and changed the way we think about powers of attorney in Maryland.  This game-changing law sets forth accountability standards for agents to their principals and provides that powers of attorney are enforceable.  It’s important to be educated about powers of attorney and to understand what you have.  If you’re not quite sure about your existing powers of attorney or don’t have a power of attorney at all, help is available.  Don’t hesitate to contact me at our Columbia office at 443-393-7696, or email me at steve@elvilleassociates.com.  #elvilleeducation

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Authored by: Stephen R. Elville, Esq. – Elville and Associates, P.C. – 443-393-7696, steve@elvilleassociates.com, @elvilleassoc

A properly drafted financial power of attorney is arguably the most important document in estate planning. How old is yours and when was the last time it was updated? Why take risks when it is so easy to put a financial power of attorney in place?
If you are interested in learning about how to update your power(s) of attorney or other estate planning tools, please contact Stephen R. Elville, J.D., L.LM. at 443-393-7696, or via email to steve@elvilleassociates.com; jeff@elvilleassociates.com, or mary@elvilleassociates.com. #elvilleeducation

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Authored by: Stephen R. Elville, Esq. — Elville and Associates, P.C. — 443-393-7696, steve@elvilleassociates.com

An unprecedented situation is underway – the Secure Act may impact estate planning in a significant way – in particular, estate planning for retirement plan assets. The Secure Act (House of Representatives’ version – the 10-year plan) recently passed through the House by way of a 471-3 vote. The Senate is proposing a 5-year plan. Although it is unclear which plan will go forward, it is anticipated that one of the two plans will pass in both the House and the Senate and be signed into law by President Trump in August (2019). If this comes to pass, the new law would go into effect for decedents dying after December 31, 2019 (effective in 2020).
Why is the Secure Act important and what should you know?

The Secure Act will directly impact the length of time IRAs and Qualified Plans can defer income tax and be stretched. Unlike the current law allowing inherited IRAs to be stretched out in accordance with IRS life expectancy rules, the Secure Act would limit the stretch out of IRAs to either 5 or 10 years, with some exceptions. The Act also applies to Roth IRAs. The Secure Act is potentially terrible for some people, especially those who will have their estate plans disrupted and lifelong plans to leave children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, or others retirement plan assets over the beneficiary’s individual life expectancies thwarted. Fortunately, there are several strategies to deal with the potential impact of the Secure Act, and over the coming weeks and months we at Elville and Associates will be discussing this potential legislation with our clients and helping them make sense of the changes that are likely to come, and advising them about any needed planning adjustments. If you would like to speak with me or another attorney at Elville and Associates about this unprecedented situation, please contact Mary Guay Kramer at 443-393-7696 or via email at mary@elvilleassociates.com. You may also send an email to me at steve@elvilleassociates.com. For an in-person meeting, please also contact Mary Guay Kramer and a meeting will be scheduled at your convenience.

Tags: elville and associates, estate planning, maryland, The Secure Act
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Authored by: Stephen R. Elville, Esq. – Elville and Associates, P.C. – 443-393-7696, steve@elvilleassociates.com, @elvilleassoc

The new Elective Share Law, otherwise known among estate planning lawyers as the “augmented estate legislation”, was passed by the Maryland Legislature and will be effective October 1, 2020. This new law will have a profound impact on the estate planning of certain married couples, especially those in second, third (or more) marriages who intend to leave assets to their respective children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, or others. The new Law will precipitate strong consideration of pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreements as a tool to prevent a surviving spouse from thwarting the estate planning intentions of a deceased spouse who is the first to die by exercising his or her right to an elective share of the estate of the surviving spouse – the estate to now include both probate and non-probate assets (subject to a formulaic approach). If you would like to know more about the new Elective Share law, or simply have your estate planning documents reviewed, please contact me at the following: steve@elvilleassociates.com; or mary@elvilleassociates.com; or via telephone at 443-393-7696.

Tags: Augmented Estate Legislation, Elville, maryland, New Elective Share Law
Posted in Blog | Comments Off on The New Elective Share Law, a.k.a. “Augmented Estate Legislation” Has Passed. What Does This Mean to You?

Authored by: Stephen R. Elville, Esq. — Elville and Associates, P.C. — 443-393-7696, steve@elvilleassociates.com, @elvilleassoc

What’s been on my mind for the past several weeks is an image – actually two separate scenes – perhaps it is a sequence. It happened about four months ago. Two couples came into my office during the same week to discuss their estate planning. These couples were totally unrelated, and their planning needs were not extraordinary. So why do they linger in my imagination? They had several things in common related to estate planning, but two things in particular. Can you guess what they were? I’ll bet you an ice cream cone that you can’t. Ready? While both couples had existing estate plans and had engaged in estate planning many years earlier – the existing plans were revocable trusts – (1) neither couple had heard from their respective estate planning attorneys for 16 and 18 years respectively; and (2) neither revocable trust plan contained any of the respective couples’ assets. In other words, both of these mature couples had implemented revocable trust-based estate plans and then had not heard from their estate planning law firm since the time of execution (nearly two decades), and both trusts were unfunded (assets were not properly aligned). Therefore, but for these couples having the intuitive awareness to seek assistance from a new law firm, both plans were 100% on track to fail. Can you imagine? Yes, plan failure can and does happen, as these examples illustrate.
Yet, there is no reason for this kind of risk in estate planning. Risk in estate planning can be minimized and controlled through a compassionate and caring process, client education, and continuing maintenance and updating. Furthermore, choosing the right estate planning firm and service model is critical to your estate planning and to your family. For more information about the estate planning process and what to look for in an estate planning, elder law, or special needs planning attorney, please contact Jeffrey Stauffer at jeff@elvilleassociates.com, or Mary Guay Kramer at mary@elvilleassociates.com. #elvilleeeducation

Tags: elder law, estate planning, estate planning attorney, Special Needs
Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Why Do Estate Plans Fail and Not Work as Intended? The Answer Lies Below …

Check out Elville & Associates‘ Partner Olivia Holcombe-Volke’s co-authored article in the Spring 2019 edition of “The Advocate,” titled “Your Home, Your Deed, Your Legacy – Ensuring Stability in Baltimore City through Legal Services” on page 6 of the The Advocate | 2019

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