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Intern Observations

Is there Facebook in the afterlife?

7/30/2018

3 Comments

 
It’s more than likely that you navigated to this blog post from Facebook, the most popular social media platform on the web. According to several statistical studies, over 2 billion people worldwide actively use Facebook. In the United States alone, nearly 75% of the population uses the social network. Those are some pretty eye-opening numbers. Every Facebook account, as you know, is protected by a password and some other security measures. Unless you’re an experienced hacker, it’s pretty hard to access someone else’s account. My question, then, is what happens to someone’s Facebook account when they pass away? And, on top of that, what can you do now to protect your account’s future privacy?

I’ll never forget when someone in my high school passed away due to a tragic car accident. It was so surreal, seeing their picture in the obituary section of our town’s newspaper and holding a moment of silence for them at one of our school rallies. Time passed, and people grieved. Then one day, I stumbled upon their old Facebook page. People had left comments on their wall, expressing their sadness and sharing prayers, but I just felt so weird. Their profile picture was still up. Their old posts were still there. Shouldn’t Facebook do something about this? But, I realized, that account was one out of billions - how would they know this specific person was gone?  

Wanting to learn more, I found Facebook’s policy on this sort of situation in their help center.  There are several measures one can take both for somebody else after they have passed and for oneself before something happens. Acting on behalf of someone who has passed first requires that you contact Facebook and let them know of the deceased person. You can either request that they memorialize the user’s account, or that they delete the account entirely. You might, however, need to prove that you're a family member. Memorializing an account keeps it secure, but also allows friends and family to continue to share memories about that person. This, according to Facebook, is their policy of choice when it comes to deceased users.

If you’re interested in protecting your own Facebook profile, Facebook recommends either appointing a legacy contact to look after your memorialized account, or straight up deleting your account then and there. Now, to me, that second option seems a little ridiculous for people who use Facebook regularly. Appointing a legacy contact, then, appears to be the best option for us. This person won’t be able to access your account in any form while you’re alive. Like a Power of Attorney, they’ll only take control when you’re no longer able to.

We live in an interconnected, increasingly online world that has more than one social media platform. Twitter, Instagram, and Google all have different policies for deceased users. I recommend checking out their help pages if you want to protect your account there. Once you start digging deeper, however, you'll probably realize just how many online accounts and passwords you have, and how complicated it might be to set up a legacy contact or some other equivalent for each site. Thus, ADK Heritage Law's strategy is to give clients the option to include powers for digital assets (i.e., all those online accounts) in your trust or power of attorney. Protect everything, even if you think that Gmail account in which you only ever receive spam isn't even important - because it probably is, at least in terms of your privacy.

Until next time,
Nicki
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What to consider when choosing your child’s guardian

7/24/2018

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In my post about pets last week, I mentioned that wills are not always enacted immediately, so there can be a waiting period during which a pet might be left uncared for. While it's nothing a parent ever wants to imagine, something similar can happen to children. Say you named your brother who lives in Florida as your child’s guardian. If something suddenly happened to you and the child’s other parent here in California, it could take anywhere from a few hours to perhaps even a week for the guardian to get here. If there aren’t any nearby relatives to take care of the child, they would be placed in foster care until a relative or guardian could pick them up. Keep reading for some resources that can help you avoid this unlikely, but possible, situation.

While this is an extreme example, something easy parents can do is put together an emergency family preparedness plan. Check out the file link below for a plan that you can print out, fill out, and keep accessible in case of emergency. Something else a parent can do is prepare a written nomination for a local temporary guardian. This nomination can be in your will, and it will easily allow a relative (or whoever you choose, like a neighbor) to take care of your child in the event the primary guardian is not yet present. Having something like this prepared before it’s needed can help bring some structure to an already hard situation.

Another step parents can take is to sign a Power of Attorney for a Minor Child in front of a notary. This would allow parents to name someone to take care of the child and make decisions regarding their education and medical care in the event a parent is unable to. The person chosen for this role should have the child’s health insurance information. If they wanted to add the child to their own health insurance, they might need a court-ordered guardianship. Also, all of this would only be recognized in the county, and would only be valid on a short-term basis. So, fully preparing a guardianship in your estate plan is probably the more thorough route.

Something else you can prepare on your own is a caregiver's authorization affidavit. It allows someone to “authorize enrollment of a minor in school and authorize school-related medical care.” If the caregiver is a relative, filling out the second section also allows them to authorize any other medical care. With this form, the court doesn’t have to get involved. A drawback, however, is that schools and medical providers might refuse to honor it. Although the caregiver could sue in that situation, it could be a costly and lengthy process. Thus, choosing someone local as a temporary guardian before something happens is the best way to go.

I want to thank Kristine Anderson, Esq., one of our very own attorneys here at ADK Heritage Law, for suggesting I look into this topic and for providing me with the resources I used to write this. Thanks for reading!

Sincerely yours,
Nicki
Family Preparedness Plan
File Size: 2558 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Plan for your pets (they’re part of the family, after all)

7/16/2018

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My first dog’s name was Simba. He was a short-haired chihuahua who hated other dogs, barked at strangers and the wind, and could not be trusted off his leash. My second dog, Chachi, was very much the same. I loved those dogs, and I will always remember them as irreplaceable parts of my family. In my experience, it seems that everyone I know who has a pet, whether it’s a dog, cat, or snake, shares my sentiment. I’m pretty sure you, too, might agree that pets are part of the family. So my question is, if estate plans always include children, spouses, or other family members, where’s Fido?

As Rachel Hirschfeld explains in her article titled Estate Planning Issues Involving Pets, there are three documents one must consider during the pet estate planning process. The first document is a basic will, which is a part of pretty much every estate plan. It can be useful for outlining how to distribute your property, but there are some downfalls that come with it. For example, wills cannot enforce specific demands or instructions, such as requiring that funds for the pet’s care are distributed over time rather than all at once. Also, wills are not always enacted immediately, so there might be a waiting period during which the pet is uncared for. In some states, pet provisions in a will are “honorary.” This means the trustee is not actually required to follow the instructions you leave behind for your pet.

Since a will doesn’t cover all the bases, Hirschfeld suggests using a pet trust and a pet protection agreement for additional protection. A pet trust pretty much solves the issues that a will neglects. It can also outline instructions for incapacity. If, for example, you get sent to live in a nursing home or other care facility, a pet trust can ensure that you and your pet stay together. A pet protection agreement, meanwhile, allows you to make specific and detailed arrangements for your pet’s care on a simple and straightforward document. Although neither of these documents is required for an estate plan involving pets, they can provide you with a greater peace of mind about your pet’s future.

Like choosing a trustee for a regular trust, choosing one for a pet trust is equally important. You don’t want to name your aunt who’s allergic to fur as trustee, or pet guardian, of your 3 cats. Pick someone who you trust will either personally take care of your pet, or who will faithfully follow the instructions you leave for your pet’s care. You can even choose a pet organization. Either way, don’t forget to include a successor pet guardian in case the person you choose refuses or is unable to take care of the pet.

Of course, I get that these legal costs can add up. Something to consider, though, is that a pet trust doesn’t have to be a standalone document. It can be added to a regular trust; you just have to talk to your attorney about it. Additionally, if you don’t want to do a pet trust, a pet protection agreement can be drafted by you using online resources, but you’ll likely want to get it notarized to make it enforceable. Check out these free templates of the agreement. Also, feel free to read Hirschfeld’s article for more specific details about estate planning for your pets.

Best regards,
Nicki

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Why estate plans aren’t “one-and-done”

7/9/2018

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This week, I felt like I was at a dead end. It seemed as if my previous posts had covered all the bases: what an estate plan is, why everyone should have one, what can happen without one. If you’re not completely convinced that you should have a plan at this point, well, go back and read my posts. In all seriousness, though, I felt like I’d shared the most important parts of the process with you, and I wasn’t sure where to go from there. So, looking for inspiration, I asked my parents if I could go through their estate plan. I sat down at the kitchen table and flipped through the binder. With my newfound legal knowledge, I read and actually understood most of the documents.

The first detail that stuck out during my highly expert analysis were the trustees in the revocable living trust. I wasn’t on there! Granted, all of these documents were created long before I was 18 (and long before I expressed interest in becoming a lawyer). My parents had named their closest siblings as trustees, which made perfect sense at the time. The same was true in their powers of attorney for health care and their general durable powers of attorney. I mean, I understand. Would you trust a 15 year old to handle that much responsibility, and make those kinds of decisions?

Alas, I am not 15 anymore. I’ve also got some legal experience under my belt. Although I wasn’t named as a trustee, my parent’s stuff would eventually go to me and my brother once we reached a certain age. Well, we’re darn near that age, and we’ve matured quite a bit since high school. I’m not trying to take control of my parent’s estate, but even they agree it might be time to update their plan and include me and my brother as trustees.

I won’t dive into who, of my brother and I, should be primary trustee. I’ll let my parents make that decision. The moral of this story, though, is that time goes on and circumstances change. Who you initially thought should be the primary decision maker might not be the best choice anymore, or your kids might be responsible enough to be pushed up the ladder. Making updates as life goes on ensures that your estate plan remains accurate, and that your wishes remain legally protected and upheld. Updates don’t even have to be name changes; maybe you bought a boat, or sold a property. Periodically go back and review your documents, just to make sure everything is current and correct. Don’t just file away your estate plan and forget about it.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back next week with more stories to tell.

Sincerely yours,
Nicki

3 Comments

The Intern Goes to Court

7/2/2018

1 Comment

 
In my last two posts, I shared my thoughts on why having an estate plan is important for everyone, regardless of age. “Yeah, okay,” you might’ve thought, “Everyone always plans on having a plan, but really, what’s the worst that could happen without one?” Well, let me tell you exactly what could happen. Last week, I visited the probate court. Probate is the process of transferring a deceased person’s assets, and it is supervised by a judge in a courtroom. During my visit, I observed a case where someone had passed away without an estate plan in place, and the distribution of his assets was caught in a tangled storm. The case was a bit extreme, but it is a real life example.

This person was the father of several children, but all of the children had different mothers. One of the man’s previous wives lives out of the country, while the most recent wife lives in the United States. They had conflicting views on who should get what assets. With one wife Skyping in, the conversation didn’t move too smoothly. It also seemed like the children’s interests were being neglected by both parties, and that the wives were actually withholding information from the kids. To add to that, the deceased person’s mother, who didn’t seem to get along so great with the wives, was also claiming rights to his assets. After each party made their claims and asked their questions, the judge decided that the court needed more details and rescheduled for another hearing in a few months.

Everybody’s family situation is different. You might be thinking that if something were to happen to you, your loved ones would never make things so complicated. Really, you never actually know who might make claims to your stuff after you’re gone. I offer two points here that you might consider thinking about. The first is that even if you believe your situation would never be this complicated, the time and money it will take for your loved ones to sort everything out will be a huge obstacle to resolving distributions. The case I shared above has been going on for over a year! The second thing to think about is that if you don’t speak for yourself when you still have the opportunity to, no one else will be able to when the time comes. You could lose all control over what happens to your assets; all it takes is some distant relative, or perhaps a secret family member, to make a claim.

Just to remind you, I’m not a professional, and I’m probably not predicting your future. I just wanted to share a real life example of what can happen when there isn’t a plan in place. Check out these celebrity estate planning mistakes for some more examples. I hope you have a happy Fourth of July, and I’ll see you next week with some more entertaining and enlightening observations.

Take care,
Nicki
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    Author

    Originally from Santa Paula, CA, Nicki currently studies political science at UC Berkeley and plans to attend law school. Drawing from her observations as a summer intern at ADK Heritage Law, she aims to share unique and accessible insight into the complex world of estate planning.

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