Steven Andrew Jackson

Attorney and Councellor at Law

Asheville & Hendersonville, NC

(828) 252-7300

Estate Planning News and Articles

PRESIDENT TALKS AND COMES TO TOWN

In 2009 when President Obama first spoke to Congress he stated “the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others.”  Unfortunately, four years later it still is.

The President is pushing to raise taxes again.  The Social Security tax and the Payroll tax have both gone up.  Dividend and tax rates on high earners have already moved up.

The President is pushing Democratic leaders for “tax reform” and “more revenue”.  Both of those mean higher taxes.

The tax battles are not yet done and we will see what happens.

The President is continuing his theme of thinking he can improve the economy by raising taxes which is contrary to what almost every economist advises.  He points at these indicators in both his State of the Union Message and his speeches that he will make as he circles the country, including at home here in Asheville.

At the Law Firm of Steven Andrew Jackson, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, we have helped hundreds of families protect themselves and their loved ones, avoid Estate Taxes and Probate Costs, and keep their Estate Plans current with the law through The Customized Protective Estate Planning Solution™.

Posted on: February 12th, 2013 by steve | Posted in Continuing Education, Estate Planning, Estate Taxes, Guardianship/Incompetency, Health Care, Inheritance, Liability, Living Trust, Special Needs, Taxes

 

Can I Get Access To My Sick Mom’s Medical Information?

Under the Healthcare Privacy Laws, commonly known as HIPPA, medical providers are very limited in what information they may give out regarding a patient.  If you do not have a Healthcare Power that includes HIPPA language, or a Healthcare Designation specific as to the HIPPA Laws, you may not get access to information regarding your own sick Mother.

The medical providers may give medical information to the spouse, but may not to the adult children or the adult children of a senior parent.  Therefore you want to make sure that not only YOU have a Healthcare Power of Attorney or Healthcare Designations (commonly referred to as HIPPA’s) for yourself, but you make sure that those you are trying to help do also.  You will need legal authority to assist others in their healthcare and financial situations.

As with all Estate Planning, you can’t do this once the crisis hits.  Your Mother, adult child, sibling, or friend may not be conscious or legally competent to authorize medical treatment.  Therefore as with all Estate Planning, it has to be done ahead of time prior to becoming sick, unconscious, incapacitated or passing on.

At the Law Firm of Steven Andrew Jackson, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, we have helped hundreds of families protect themselves and their loved ones, avoid Estate Taxes and Probate Costs, and keep their Estate Plans current with the law through The Customized Protective Estate Planning Solution™.

Posted on: May 22nd, 2013 by steve | Posted in Continuing Education, Estate Planning, Estate Taxes, Health Care, Inheritance, Insights, Living Trust, Taxes, Wills

 

What About Mental Disability?

It seems that mental incapacity is on the rise among seniors.  The Gerontologist tell us that Alzheimer’s Disease is on the rise.  Part of that may be that we are living longer and part of that may be environmental.

 We should Estate Plan for Mental Disability as we may be unfortunate enough that we get to the point that we are not mentally competent to handle our own affairs.

 You can plan for your Mental Disability in your Living Trust and elsewhere in your Estate Plan.

 If there is some chance of that happening to you, why not plan for it to better protect yourself?

At the Law Firm of Steven Andrew Jackson, Attorney and Counselor at Law, we have helped hundreds of families protect themselves and their loved ones, avoid Estate Taxes and Probate Costs, and keep their Estate Plans current with the law through The Customized Protective Estate Planning Solution™.

Posted on: May 9th, 2013 by steve | Posted in Continuing Education, Estate Planning, Estate Taxes, Health Care, Inheritance, Insights, Living Trust, Mental Disability, Taxes, Wills

 

“Accounting Today” 10 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes

Accounting today listed as the 10 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes the following:

1. Procrastination. Failing to do any Estate Planning thinking there is always “tomorrow.” Maybe not!

2. Do it yourself mentality. Thinking you can perform complicated legal work with online forms which doom you to failure.

3. Failing to think of all the angles – What if? An experienced Estate Planning Attorney has seen so many situations, many of which you haven’t considered and they need to be planned for.

4. Divorce – Failing to consider if you and your spouse divorce or failing to consider if your adult children divorce.

5. Missing the Fine Print – The professional advisors need to be involved. The Estate Planning Attorney needs to work with you and other trusted Advisors to make sure your Estate Plan matches your goals.

6. Forgetting Pets. For many families, their pets are part of the family and should be planned for.

7. Failing to Update Documents. Three things are always changing: (1) the Law (2) What you Own, and (3) your Relationships. Your Estate Plan needs to be updated to match those changes.

8. Underestimating Trusts. Trusts can not only help you avoid Probate Court, they can protect the surviving spouse in a remarriage and your adult children in a divorce.

9. Failure to consider Digital Assets. Much of what we have now is stored digitally and must be remembered when planning.

10. Not passing on Digital Libraries or Music Collections. Many people have Nooks, Kindles, I-pods and other electronic versions of books, movies and music that are valuable and should be Estate Planned for.

Theses are many of the same issues we speak about regularly. We are not the only ones telling you to take care of these issues!

At the Law Firm of Steven Andrew Jackson, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, we have helped hundreds of families protect themselves and their loved ones, avoid Estate Taxes and Probate Costs, and keep their Estate Plans current with the law through The Customized Protective Estate Planning Solution™.

Posted on: May 2nd, 2013 by steve | Posted in Continuing Education, Estate Planning, Estate Taxes, Health Care, Inheritance, Insights, Living Trust, Mental Disability, Taxes, Wills

 

Boston Bombers and the Unknown

Those injured at the finish line of The Boston Marathon last week never anticipated that two bombs would explode killing three and injuring and maiming another 200 people.

A physician from Sylva, North Carolina, just west of Asheville, was at the finish line with his wife cheering on a friend.  After the explosions, the first person he tried to help was a lady who had been killed.  When he was sure that she was gone, he started to help others who had been injured by the blasts.  He never anticipated medically helping after such an event.

We never know when something may happen to injure, maime or even kill us or a loved one. We need to be prepared.  One way of being prepared is having your Estate Plan current with the law, having the right people in the right roles and making sure your Estate Plan controls what you own.

At the Law Firm of Steven Andrew Jackson, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, we have helped hundreds of families protect themselves and their loved ones, avoid Estate Taxes and Probate Costs, and keep their Estate Plans current with the law through The Customized Protective Estate Planning Solution™.

 

Posted on: April 23rd, 2013 by steve | Posted in Continuing Education, Education, Estate Planning, Estate Taxes, Guardianship/Incompetency, Health Care, Inheritance, Insights, Liability, Living Trust, Living Wills, Marketing, Mental Disability, Social Media, Special Needs, Taxes, Uncategorized

 

The Cuban Missile Crisis and North Korea

We were closer to the nuclear war in the 1960’s than we ever imagined.

My Dad was a very good business man, well traveled, a great story teller and one who got others to share their stories.  One of the stories my Father had told to him was received from a group of gentlemen after a business meeting followed by drinks.  One of the gentlemen was a successful business man and a retired Air Force big bomber pilot.  When my Dad mentioned he was worried about something, a former Officer in the Air Force advised that he never worried about anything after his experience during the Cuban missile crisis.  The Captain told my Dad that he was based out of New England and was flying one of the giant bombers with a full payload of nuclear bombs that were fully activated and they were targeted for Havana, Cuba.  This was during the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 1960’s when President Kennedy stared down the Soviet Prime Minister Khrushchev.

The former Pilot advised my Father that he had flown many missions but that they never had a full payload and the missiles were never activated.  He advised they were never activated unless they had been ordered into war and were going to drop a full payload of fully activated nuclear bombs.

The Captain advised my Father that they were in formation flying south from New England on the way to bomb Cuba when they got the “call back” instructing them to return to base and that the mission had been called off.

When the Officer told that story to my Father and pointed out how close we had been to Nuclear War, he said that he never worried about anything major again.

We will all have our own time of crisis whether it is a threat of “Nuclear War” like back in the old days with the former Soviet Union or currently with the egotistical and immature young leader of North Korea.  It could also be our own “Widowmaker Heart Attack”, automobile accident, stroke or some other traumatic event.  We never know when the difficult storms of life will come.  We only know that they will come.

We will want to be prepared when the “Storms of Life” come.  You will want to have your estate planning in place, current with the law, have the right people in the right roles, and making sure you have mental disability planning, take care of the Surviving Spouse, and that you leave what you have, to whom you want, when you want, the way you want, and at the lowest possible overall cost to you and those you love.

At the Law Firm of Steven Andrew Jackson, Attorney and Counselor at Law, we have helped hundreds of families protect themselves and their loved ones, avoid Estate Taxes and Probate Costs, and keep their Estate Plans current with the law through The Customized Protective Estate Planning Solution™.

Posted on: April 17th, 2013 by steve | Posted in Estate Planning, Estate Taxes, Health Care, Inheritance, Insights, Liability, Living Trust, Living Wills, Marketing, Mental Disability, Separation/Divorce, Social Media, Taxes, Wills

 

Steven Andrew Jackson, Attorney and Counsellor at Law
One North Pack Square, Suite 306 | Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 252-7300 | Fax (828) 254-6599

Satellite Office: 1216 6th Ave. W, Suite 8 | Hendersonville, NC

Legal disclaimer and IRS circular 230 disclosure