It should be easy to see why you need to change your estate plan after a divorce. Most married people’s spouses play important roles in their estate plans, and a large portion of the estate is usually left to the spouse. After divorcing that spouse, most people obviously want to change their estate plans to exclude the ex-spouse or significantly reduce his or her inheritance.

However, many people do not think about changing their estate plans during their divorce. Getting a divorce in the United States can take a long time. There are statutory waiting periods. Sometimes contested custody and property issues need to be resolved before the divorce is final. What happens if you have filed for divorce and something happens to you? Do you want the person you are divorcing to be your Executor or Trustee. Do you want that person to be responsible for your health care or financial decisions? Most people will answer those questions in the negative.

Talk to an estate planning attorney when you are in the process of getting a divorce. There are somethings that you can change before the divorce is final. There are other things that you might not want to change until after the divorce. An attorney can help you decide.

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) – Essayist & Poet

Ralph Waldo Emerson gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries and began formulating and expressing the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his 1836 essay, Nature. Following this groundbreaking work, he gave a speech entitled The American Scholar in 1837, which Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. considered to be America’s “Intellectual Declaration of Independence.” His works not only inspired his contemporaries and colleagues, but writers up to the present day. He is seen as the central figure of American thought, and his transcendentalism movement changed literature as we know it.

We honor Mr. Emerson for his literary contributions. He is clearly a Legacy Champ. If you want to be a Legacy Champ in your own special way, then contact The Mendel Law Firm, L.P., for a free initial consultation on estate planning, trust planning, and/or probate issues.

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Now that the Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Affordable Care Act to go into effect, it is time for Americans to consider how the new health care laws will affect them. Beyond the potential changes to the affordability and availability of health insurance, there are ways that the Affordable Care Act might affect your estate plan.

The Act creates a new investment income surtax that goes into effect on January 1, 2013. The tax applies not only to individuals, but also to Trusts and Estates that net over $12,000 in investment income and do not distribute that income to heirs and beneficiaries. What is distributed applies to the individual heirs’ and beneficiaries’ tax.

This new tax will not impact all estate plans, but you should review your plan now to see if it does have an impact on your plan. If you need to make changes to your plan to offset the impact of the tax, then you have a limited window to do so before the tax goes into effect. With the estate tax exemption set to expire at the same time, you should also be looking at how that might impact your estate plan. Talk to an experienced estate planning attorney before you run out of time.

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Groucho Marx (1890-1977) – Comedian/Film & Television Star

Julius Henry “Groucho” Marx is known as a master of quick wit and widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His rapid-fire, often impromptu delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers and imitators. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born. He also had a solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show You Bet Your Life. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stoop posture, glasses, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. Yet, despite his success as a comedian and television star, consider what happened to his estate.

18% Shrinkage of the Estate

$1,811,000 Gross Estate

$     57,000 Less Settlement Costs

$   271,000 Death Taxes

$   328,000 Total Costs

$1,483,000 Final Estate Value

Marx was a highly successful comedian, but even famous comedians can fail to properly plan. You decide. Is an 18% loss of the Estate good planning by someone with a vast array of professionals available to assist him?

If you want to minimize the likelihood of shrinkage to your estate, then contact The Mendel Law Firm, L.P., for a free initial consultation on estate planning, trust planning, and/or probate issues.

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

How many things do you now do digitally that you used to do otherwise? If you think about it, probably a lot of things. Many of us no longer physically balance a checkbook or keep written bank statements. All of that information is online at our bank’s website. We no longer pay our cable bill by writing a check and sending it in. We have automatic payments set up. This new way of handling our finances digitally creates new problems for your estate plan and how your assets will be handled after you pass away

Take the example of paying the cable bill through automatic payments. In the past, if an Executor wanted to cancel the cable service, he or she could call the cable company or just stop sending checks. How is the Executor going to stop automatic payments? The Executor would probably need to know how to access your online banking information and possibly the access information for your account with the cable company. It’s much more complicated now.

Make sure that the Executor of your estate has the information necessary to deal with your digital accounts. The cable bill is just one example, but you probably have many more. Talk to your estate planning attorney about your digital assets and how to plan for what happens to them after you pass away.

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Todd Beamer (1968-2001) – Hero/Passenger on United Flight 93 on 9/11

Todd Beamer was part of the group of passengers on United Airlines flight 93 who took control of the plane from the 9/11 hijackers and prevented what would have become the fourth attack on September 11^TH. The plane ultimately crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

We honor Mr. Beamer and his fellow passengers for their courage in the face of certain death. They are clearly Legacy Champs for the many lives they undoubtedly saved. If you want to be a Legacy Champ in your own special way, then contact The Mendel Law Firm, L.P., for a free initial consultation on estate planning, trust planning, and/or probate issues.

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

One of the first things that people want to know about when they are trying to make estate plans is what form the plan should take. What legal instruments and tools should they use to make the best plan for them is the question that most people want answered. I do not have a simple answer for you to that question. There is not a simple answer in the abstract.

One of the key things about estate planning is that every client who walks into an attorney’s office has a different situation and different goals than the last client. What needs to be in an estate plan depends on the particular client’s goals and situation. It is only after hearing what the client wants that an estate planning attorney can determine what form the estate plan should take.

You can make it easier on your estate planning attorney and get your answers faster if you do something before you visit with the attorney for the first time. Take some time to consider why you want to get the estate plan and what you are hoping to accomplish with it. Have your goals in mind and make sure that you tell the attorney what they are when you first walk into the office.

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Doris Duke (1912-1993) – American Heiress

Daughter of an immensely rich tobacco tycoon, Duke was able to fund a life of global travel and wide-ranging interests. Much of her work centered on her father’s estate at Hillsborough Township, New Jersey, where she created many elaborately-themed gardens, furnished with artifacts acquired on her world travels. She also was active in preserving more than eighty historic buildings in Newport, Rhode Island. Her philanthropic work continued into her old age, some of it unknown to the public during her lifetime. Duke’s estimated $1.3 billion fortune was largely left to charity. After much legal challenging of the executors and trustees, her legacy is now administered by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, dedicated to medical research, prevention of cruelty to children and animals, the performing arts, wildlife and ecology. Yet, despite her philanthropic success, consider what happened to her estate.

• Regularly changed her Will, and at one point, named her alcoholic butler as major beneficiary and executor. 
• Legal battles consumed more than $50,000,000 in legal fees.

Duke was an American heiress, but even the wealthy can fail to properly plan. If you want to minimize the likelihood of possible litigation regarding your Estate, then contact The Mendel Law Firm, L.P., for a free initial consultation on estate planning, trust planning, and/or probate issues.

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

During the course of your life, you will have many different financial and legal plans. You will probably have some sort of retirement plan. Your plans will change all the time. What should not change is how you coordinate all of those plans. That is to say you need to make sure that all of your different plans work together. That includes your financial plan, your retirement plan, your estate plan, and any other legal or financial plans you might have.

In all likelihood, your different plans will be made with the assistance of different professionals. Your estate planning attorney is not going to be the one to help you with a comprehensive retirement plan. However, that does not mean that you cannot make sure that your different plans work well together. You just need to make sure that the various professionals assisting you know about your different plans. Your estate planning attorney needs to know about your financial and retirement plans, because that will help the attorney know what you have and what assets you might have left when you pass away.

Make sure that your estate planning attorney knows everything that he or she needs to know. That includes all of your other plans.

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Jim Valvano (1946-1993) – Basketball Coach

Jim Valvano was an inspirational college basketball coach who showed the world that the little things in life are what matter. While the head basketball coach at North Carolina State University, he won the 1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament against all odds. Valvano is not only remembered for running up and down the court after winning that championship, seemingly in disbelief and looking for someone to hug, but also for his inspirational 1993 ESPY Awards speech, given just eight weeks before he died of cancer. No matter how short his time in this world was, he stressed the importance of people remembering to laugh, to think, to cry. His leadership through his battle with cancer is an inspiration to us all. Valvano’s V Foundation for Cancer Research has raised millions of dollars to help find a cure for cancer.

We honor Mr. Valvano for the example he set for others, and his foundation’s contributions to medical research. He is clearly a Legacy Champ. If you want to be a Legacy Champ in your own special way, then contact The Mendel Law Firm, L.P., for a free initial consultation on estate planning, trust planning, and/or probate issues.

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.