Paul Rabalais' Louisiana Succession Law Blog

No Excuse For Congress Failing To Act on the Estate Tax

OK we are almost two full months into 2010, and still we have no idea what's going to occur with the estate tax for deaths that occur in 2010.

Wealthy individuals are dying all around us since January 1, 2010, and surviving family members do not know whether it is OK to distribute the assets, sell the assets to raise cash to pay a potential estate tax, or whether to go back and search records in an attempt to determine the capital gains tax basis because there may not be a full step-up in basis for decedent's dying with appreciated assets.

By all means this should have taken place prior to December 31, 2009. But it did not. So families are being held hostage not knowing what to do while grieving for their lost family member.

Revocable Living Trusts in Louisiana to Avoid Probate

I hosted a webinar last week that address revocable living trusts in Louisiana. It forced me to take a closer look at the issue. A few things I discovered were:

1. Probate Costs are increasing. If you die living in East Baton Rouge Parish, your estate will have to contribute $200.00 to the Parish's Building Fund, your estate will have to pay for something called Judges Expense Fund, your estate will have to pay for something called the Judges Supplemental Compensation Fund, and your estate will pay something called an Initiation Fee (I have no idea!).
   At our office we spend thousands weekly (sometimes daily) on probate/succession filing fees. These would be avoided with a properly funded living trust.
2. Privacy is now a big deal. Louisiana succession/probate records are entering the internet. It concerns me more than a little that when a husband dies leaving a surviving wife, all of their bank accounts, CDs, savings accounts, bonds, mutual funds, cash, credit cards, real estate, loans, vehicles, stocks, investment accounts, and more will be made a public record for all of the world to see. Must keep their financial affairs private during their lifetime - but at death it is available for the world to see. I predict in the future, financial scam artists will use this public information to commit financial crimes on surviving spouses and others. A revocable living trust can keep your financial matters private.
3. Our court system is broken. Many legal and financial transactions can take place instantly using technology = but not probate. Probate in Louisiana requires cumbersome court filings - these documents must first be filed in the clerk of court office, then somehow submitted to a judge's office, then reviewed and approved by a judge's law clerk, then signed by a judge, then forwarded on to a processing department, and then back to us for recording in the real estate records. All of this is unnecessary with a revocable living trust.

While RLTs are not the cure-all for estate planning woes, I think they will become more popular in Louisiana as conusmers get frustrated with the costs, delays, and lack of privacy of successions.

Feel fee to list your comments or pose your questions as a comment.

 

Access to Louisiana Estate Planning and Succession Forms

Been working with some computer programmers to develop a membership website so that members can educate themselves on Louisiana estate planning techniques along with succession strategies. The site will be loaded with webinar recordings, educational videos, blog posts, podcasts, last will and other Louisiana legal forms, and succession forms.

It's going to allow the typical Louisiana consumer to have access to information and legal forms that has been only available in the past by hiring top Louisiana lawyers.

I'm posting this because I'm interested in finding out from you the following:

1. What kind of information are you looking for?
2. What kind of problem are you looking on the internet to solve?
3. Would you consider getting this kind of information from a site as opposed to paying thousands in attorney fees?

I'M ASKING FOR HELP!!! PLEASE COMMENT AND GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS. YOUR FEEDBACK IS VALUABLE. I'll give free access to the people who give me the best comments - once the site is up and running.

Paul

Webinar a Hit!

I never dreamed we'd have the response to our webinar that we had. What was supposed to last 30 minutes went almost an hour and a half. The questions that the participants asked were intelligent and right on point.

We went through how trusts work in Louisiana - both the good and the bad. We discussed the relevant privacy issues and how probate records are now on the internet. We talked about probate costs in Louisiana, we even addressed the reason for delays in the Louisiana succession process.

I think everyone that participated now has a better understanding of how revocable living trusts work and whether they should use this tool as part of their estate plan. I also know that many of the participants will be coming in to the office in the next couple weeks to plan their estates and take advantage of the big discounts I'm giving to webinar participants.

Webinar: Benefits and Pitfalls of Revocable Living Trusts in Louisiana

The Benefits and Pitfalls of Using a Revocable Living Trust To

Avoid Probate in Louisiana 

Want to find out the easiest way to transfer your family's possessions to your surviving family members and loved ones with minimal court interference, delay, tax, attorney fees, and family rivalry . Should you attempt to use a revocable living trust to avoid probate in Louisiana? Or should you have a Last Will and Testament, realizing that your family will go through probate when you die. To get answers, register for a free webinar, click the following link: http://www.successionattorney.com/webinar.html

Join me on Friday, February 19, 2010, starting at 2:00pm CST and ending at 2:30pm CST  for a free webinar from the comfort of your home. Please join the webinar at least five minutes before the scheduled start time. A webinar is a presentation that is delivered over the internet and the phone. Attending a webinar is like attending any seminar apart from the place that the event takes place. Once you have logged in you can sit back and listen to the presentation on your phone (or on your computer speakers) while watching it on your screen. During this free webinar, you will discover answers to the following questions:

0. What is a revocable living trust?
0. Since I live in Louisiana , should I have a revocable living trust?
0. Is it true that probate will cost your estate 5% to 10% of its value ?
0. What is the difference between a revocable trust and an irrevocable trust?
0. Will a revocable living trust help me avoid taxes ?
0. How does probate work in Louisiana? 
0. How much money will my family save by having a revocable living trust?
0. Should I put my home in a revocable living trust ?  

This webinar is customized for the lay person  or family that lives in Louisiana and wants to avoid legal, tax, and financial problems before or after death. If you want to avoid leaving your family with legal, accounting, tax, and financial problems, along with unnecessary delays, you won't want to miss this webinar. To register for the webinar, simply click on the link below.

http://www.successionattorney.com/webinar.html

P.S. Forward this webinar invitation email to any other individuals you know who would want to understand whether revocable living trusts are a benefit in Louisiana. With so much confusion out there, they will thank you.

Change to Louisiana's "Small Succession" Rules

In the past, surviving heirs could complete an affidavit and avoid the court-supervised succession process if a family member died:

• without a Last Will; and
• owning no real estate; and
• less than $50,000 in assets.

This procedure was simple when someone died with perhaps a bank account or two and a vehicle.

This law has changed. Now, this simple procedure can be used even if the person who died owned a piece of real estate, and if the total value of the assets does not exceed $75,000. In addition, the affidavit does not need to be submitted to the Louisiana Department of Revenue, which was a requirement in the past.

This new law appears to take effect January 1, 2010. It should permit more families to avoid the court-supervised succession procedure, which is a good thing. The problem is, however, it penalizes those who plan ahead by having a Last Will and Testament prepared. If someone dies with a Last Will, a succession will still be necessary regardless of the value of the assets that are involved.

Paul Rabalais

My New Policy Regarding Your Email Questions

Because of the extraordinary demands for our estate planning and estate administration legal services and the importance to which we attach to providing truly exceptional service to our loyal clients, we have a policy not to answer emails from non-clients that requires extensive use of our time.

If you are interested in retaining us to perform legal services in estate planning and uncontested succession matters, our qualifications can be found in the words of hundreds of our loyal clients who have penned their own comments about working with our office. If you would to see these comments made in the our clients' own handwriting, call Laura at 225-329-2450. She will be happy to e-mail them to you.

We are eager to meet with you or talk with you whenever you choose, to provide a detailed, clear, and concise description of how we would proceed, and the costs, timetables and other guarantees.

We are confident that like our clients you would be delighted with our legal services and the way we deliver them.

Why Hire The Rabalais Law Firm To Handle a Louisiana Succession

Selecting the appropriate lawyer or law firm to handle a Louisiana Succession for a family member or other loved one can be one of the most important legal decisions you ever make. Selecting the right lawyer can provide for a quick and smooth transition in the handling of legal, tax, and financial concerns after the death of a loved one. On the other hand, working with the wrong attorney can result in unnecessary delays, conflicts, costs, and mistakes that can strain your most valued family relationships.

There are both some obvious and not-so-obvious reasons why surviving family members should select our law firm when making the all-important decision of who to guide and represent them through this often difficult process.

The following are 11 obvious reasons why you will want to work with us:

1. I have been handling Louisiana successions for more than 18 years;
2. I am a Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Administration, a certification issued by the Specialization Board of the Louisiana State Bar Association.
3. I have a B.S. in Finance from Louisiana State University.
4. I earned my law degree from the LSU Law Center.
5. After graduating from law school, I earned a Masters Degree in Tax Law (LL.M.) from Boston University School of Law.
6. We perform our legal services for a fixed fee which you know in writing up front - never any surprises about legal fees.
7. We have convenient offices and convenient free parking.
8. We stay in touch with our valued clients by writing and providing educational e-newsletters, print newsletters, and events that I conduct.
9. I wrote a book, "Estate Planning in Louisiana, A Layman's Guide To Understanding Wills, Trusts, Probate, Power of Attorney, Medicaid, Living Wills & Taxes," which is available at Barnes & Noble and amazon.com.
10. I maintain a blog that I update weekly regarding Louisiana Succession issues.
11. I attend continuing educational events around the state and around the country to keep myself updated on estate administration issues that affect our valued clients.

The following are 132 not-so-obvious reasons for emailing us, calling us, or coming by our office to discuss our handling your important estate administration needs:

1. We have a passion for providing amazing estate administration legal services.
2. We conduct training sessions EVERY DAY (from 8:30am - 9:00am) for me and our incredible employees so that everyone in our office is up to date on the latest and greatest things that we can do for our valued clients.
3. We have created and maintained written business systems for how we do what we do. This allows us to give high quality predictable legal services to every client we serve.
4. We love to use technology to speed up the delivery of our estate administration legal services. For example, when someone comes in to discuss our Louisiana succession legal services, we already have the initial set of court documents prepared and ready for their signature, even though they have not even retained our law firm yet.
5. We love improving the way we deliver customer service. You won't wait unnecessarily in our reception area. Instead, you will be greeted by name from a friendly service provider.
6. We have hundreds of written testimonials from satisfied clients. If you want to read them all, just come by our office or ask to read them. They are awesome.
7. I'm currently writing my second book for Louisiana residents. It will teach you how to make sure that a Louisiana succession is handled quickly and professionally - from A to Z.
8. Our mission is to use our Louisiana succession legal services to enhance the relationships of Louisiana families.
9. We abhor hourly rate work. This promotes inefficiency and delays.
10. We intend to transform our broken legal services industry.
11. Our clients are invited to monthly educational events (teleseminars, webinars, live events).
12. We can't stand to get in the middle of messy family disputes. We'd much rather see family members communicate professionally and improve relationships.
13. Since all uncontested Louisiana Successions DO NOT require a single court appearance, we can handle successions in ALL 64 LOUISIANA PARISHES.

If you want to look into how we may assist you with your important Louisiana Succession proceeding, simply send me an email at paul@rabalaislaw.com, call me toll-free at 866-491-3884, or come by our convenient and comfortable home office in Baton Rouge. It will cost you nothing to look into our estate administration services. Don't be shy - I'm certain you will be impressed with your initial contact.

Paul Rabalais

Don't Forget About Louisiana Usufructuary Accounting When Surviving Spouse Dies

Started working with a family yesterday on a succession. The Wife died several years ago, and the Husband passed away a couple of weeks ago.

All of the financial assets were in an account titled in the name of the Husband. His wife had bequeathed him the lifetime usufruct of her estate.

Husband had a few particular cash bequests in his Will, and he also named who he wanted the balance of his estate to go to. For example, in his Will he stated something to the effect of, "I leave $10,000 to Jane Doe."

Mom, however, also made a similar bequest in her Will stating something like, "Subject to the lifetime usufruct of my husband, I leave $10,000 to Jane Doe."

Now, Jane Doe is entitled to $20,000. She is entitled to receive $10,000 from Wife (this bequest was subject to Husband's lifetime usufruct), and she is entitled to receive $10,000 from Husband's estate).

When a Louisiana surviving spouse dies, we often have to go back to the Will and the Succession of the first spouse to die to determine what the heirs of both decedents are entitled to. Many times the surviving spouse will own the usufruct of assets, but when the surviving spouse dies, the surviving spouse's estate will be accountable to the heirs of the first spouse to die.

If you need help with Louisiana Succession or Probate issues, feel free to send me an email at paul@rabalaislaws.com, or give us a call at 225-329-2450. In your email, put NEED SUCCESSION HELP in the Subject line, and I recommend you put your phone number in the email in case I need to talk to you about your situation.

Paul Rabalais

Don't Tell the Bank the Louisiana Co-Signer Died

I started working on a Louisiana Succession yesterday. Here's what happened: Mom was dying of cancer. Shortly before Mom died, Mom's Agent on her Durable Power of Attorney withdrew $30,000 from Mom's investment account. The investment company wrote out a check to Mom for $30,000. Mom died within a day or two after this transaction.

Mom had a checking account at a local bank. Daughter had signature authority on the account. Right after Mom died, Daughter took the $30,000 check to the Louisiana bank to attempt to deposit it in Mom's account. Normally, this would be no big deal. However, Daughter told the bank employee that her Mom had died a day or two before. Now knowing that Mom had died, the bank immediately froze Mom's checking account and the bank would not permit Daughter to deposit the $30,000 check in Mom's account. Now the family has no funds to pay bills and other expenses until an Administrator gets appointed by the court in Mom's Louisiana succession proceeding - which we are expediting by the way.

Moral of the story - it may not be wise to inform the bank that a Louisiana family member died, particularly if you are a co-signer on an account and you would like to deposit the owner's funds into that account.