power of attorney

November 23, 2020

Why Do I Need a Power of Attorney or Advance Medical/Living Will Directive?

By Leah Morrison

Powers of Attorney are a crucial estate planning document and are a critical step in planning for incapacity. A power of attorney allows a person you appoint the written authorization and power to act on your behalf in business, legal, financial, and medical matters. This is usually a trusted family member. If the right power of attorney is put in place, then once incapacitated, the agent (or person appointed under the power of attorney) can step in and take care of the principal’s legal and financial affairs. Without the right power of attorney – or any at all – the incapacitated individual’s family would need to go through the justice system to have a guardian or conservator appointed to represent them.

A power of attorney may be limited or general. A limited power of attorney may only give someone a specific right or two – perhaps the most common place you’ll see a limited power of attorney is in purchasing a car or real estate. Car dealers will often have you sign a limited power of attorney granting them the authority to complete the transaction at the local county clerk. Additionally, you might give someone the authority to sign a deed to property for you on a day that you will be out of town. A general power is comprehensive and usually grants your agent all the powers and rights that you have yourself. This can include allowing your agent to make bank transactions, sign checks, apply for disability, or simply pay your bills.

October 26, 2020

Simple End of Year Tax Planning and Wealth Transfer Tips

by English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley LLP

Believe it or not, the end of 2020 is quickly approaching (insert collective sigh of relief). While I think most of us are ready to start looking forward to 2021 and would prefer to not even have to utter the words 2020 anymore, now is the time to finish off the year strong by reviewing simple, yet important, year-end tax planning and wealth transfer tips.

When most people think of tax planning and wealth transfer, they may have in mind complex estate planning documents and an overload of legal and accounting advice. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Here are three simple tips that you can implement with relative ease, though you will want to consult your tax advisor first.

1. The Annual Gift Tax Exclusion. The simplest tax planning and wealth transfer technique involves the all-too-familiar annual gift tax exclusion. The annual gift tax exclusion is an amount that a person may give to another person without having to file a gift tax return or otherwise report to the IRS. The current exclusion is $15,000 per person receiving the gift. The exclusion is indexed for inflation, but it may only increase in $1,000 increments. Further, married taxpayers may elect “gift-splitting,” which basically doubles the amount of the gift that they may make to one person using the gift tax exclusion; for each person receiving the gift, the limitation would be $30,000 rather than $15,000. For example, if a married couple has two children and four grandchildren, they can give up to $30,000 to each of these people tax-free and without having to report it to the IRS. Therefore, the married couple may transfer $180,000 total to the children and grandchildren. Going further, if the children are also married, the taxpayers may give an additional $30,000 to each child’s spouse, which may be desirable if the child and the spouse hold a joint checking or investment account. Note, however, that a gift tax return would need to be filed if the taxpayers elect gift-splitting. The gifts are not taxable at all, but the IRS would like to know that the $30,000 was gifted via gift-splitting.

July 29, 2020

LEGAL UPDATE: Kentucky Changes Power of Attorney Law Effective July 2020

by English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley LLP

Nathan Vinson

By Nathan Vinson

Right at two years to the date, Kentucky has again changed its power of attorney law by adopting parts of the Uniform Power of Attorney Act that it did not adopt as part of the changes that went into effect on July 14, 2018. The new law went into effect on July 15, 2020, and applies to a power of attorney created before, on, or after July 15. However, acts done before July 15, 2020 are not affected by the new law.

The biggest change created by the 2018 law was the requirement that the power of attorney be witnessed by two disinterested persons, though a power of attorney validly executed before that law went into effect remained valid. The new law brings about three major changes – one of them being no more witnesses required! Just two years after that requirement came into effect, it is again changed to take us back to prior law. However, practitioners may decide it is best practice to continue to require two witnesses. Further, some states require that the power of attorney have two witnesses, especially when used to transfer real estate. On the flipside, the new law makes executing a power of attorney in urgent situations much easier.

April 8, 2015

Annulment versus divorce matters at tax time

by English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley LLP

In our last post, we discussed how divorce affects an estate plan. A thorough review of all estate documents is critical post-divorce to ensure you’ve covered every conceivable scenario and changed every document necessary. Allowing an attorney to do that review for you is always in your best interest, as attorneys have a keen eye for details and wording that may escape even a close reader who does not have legal training.

Taking this matter one step backwards, though, we’re examining annulment versus divorce in this post. While both lead to the same conclusion – you’re no longer married – these two scenarios have very different consequences when it comes time to pay taxes.

Both parties may file as married at tax time if they were still legally married at the end of the calendar year. Options include filing a joint tax return, as many married couples do, or checking the married but filing separately box.

March 26, 2015

Six Things to Do When You Have a Child

by English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley LLP

Having a child can be exciting (and stressful). Probably the last thing you might think to do when having a child is to update an estate plan, but it’s absolutely necessary. Here are 6 things to consider when you have a child.