May A Trustee Sell Assets Without the Knowledge of the Beneficiary?
Video Summary
May a trustee sell assets of a trust without the knowledge of the beneficiary? The answer is yes, they can. The trustee is in a fiduciary. Has a fiduciary obligation to the beneficiaries. As part of a trust administration, the trustee is supposed to supply a copy of the trust or offer a copy of the trust to all the beneficiaries. In addition to that, they should provide you with an inventory, the assets and the estate and every year provide you with an annual accounting. That way you can monitor what actions have been taken by the trustee.
They do have the obligation to treat this or handle these things on as a prudent investor or someone who has the beneficiary’s interest at the forefront. That’s the reason why you should be getting an annual accounting. You say, “Well, the trustee hadn’t given me any information. The trustee hadn’t given me an inventory or an accounting or anything else and they’re selling off assets.” Well, that’s where you need to probably consult with an attorney to see about making demand on the trustee and possibly filing a petition to have the trustee removed and force them to provide you with an accounting.
If you get an accounting and you believe that the trustee has sold assets for less than fair market value, well then the trustee can be charged and surcharged and removed for dissipation of the trust assets. The trustee does have the power to sell trust assets and does not have to consult with the beneficiary. They are responsible if they act irresponsibly and liquidate these assets.
My philosophy is always to try and be as transparent as possible with the beneficiaries and let them know what’s going on. Just because the beneficiary disagrees with the trustee, if the asset is being sold at market value or close to it, I think the trustee is protected.
Hopefully that answers your questions. I could certainly have heard where some trustees just go ahead and do whatever they need to do and they don’t tell anybody about it and may abuse their ability or the right to sell trust assets. If you have any questions, give me a call at 727-847-2288.
What is a Miller Trust and Why Do I Need One?
Video Summary
What is a Miller Trust? Well a Miller Trust is also known as a Qualified Income Trust, also known as a d4a trust. A lot of times people have confusion as to whether or not a Miller Trust is a viable planning tool for them when it comes to estate planning. However, a Miller Trust is only specifically utilized for one thing and that is with respect to qualifying for Medicaid coverage for skilled nursing care, within the State of Florida. Well why would I potentially need a Miller Trust in the event that I needed Medicaid for skilled nursing care?
Well, the whole purpose of a Miller Trust is to divert excess income that the recipient is receiving on a monthly basis. Let me explain how this works. Right now the allowable threshold for income on a monthly basis from Medicaid for skilled nursing care is $2,205 per month. Let’s say you have a situation … I want to be very clear here, this is the gross monthly income. There’s a lot of misnomers where people … 2,205 net within my bank account each month from my social security. Unfortunately, Medicaid does not consider what your net income is. Medicaid only considers what your gross monthly income is. Let’s use the hypothetical example that you have an individual whose gross monthly income is $2,206 per month, so $1 over the allowable threshold for Medicaid. In that situation, if you just applied for Medicaid based upon what your income was, you would be denied, and a lot of people say, “Well, a dollar, that’s not very much at all,” but that’s the requirement.
In order to essentially divert that excess money, that dollar each month, a Miller trust is created and funded in the same month that you are trying to attain Medicaid coverage, in order to divert that excess income. A Miller trust is only a viable planning tool in the event that you do have more than $2,205 on a monthly basis as far as your gross monthly income, in order to qualify for Medicaid for skilled nursing care. If you have any other questions regarding a Miller trust or if a Miller trust is a viable planning tool for you, please give me a call here at the law firm of Waller & Mitchell at 727-847-2288.
- Published in Medicaid Planning, Videos
May Homestead Exemption Be Kept While in College in Another State?
Video Summary
May Florida homestead exemption be kept while I’m away at college in another state? The answer is yes, and that as long as this is your home and where you reside, other than when you’re temporarily away, you can retain your homestead exemption. Another example of this is folks that own their home here in Florida. However, they get their motor coach and they tour the United States and they may only come back for a couple of weeks out of each year. They feel this is their permanent residence. They intend on residing here permanently and they don’t claim homestead in any other state. They’re entitled to homestead exemption for their ad valorem taxes. Another example of people being able to retain their homestead exemption is in the event that a property owner has to go into to skilled nursing care. Just because they’re absent from the home as a result of illness or being in a nursing home, they still have the intent to return home, and therefore are able to continue to claim or receive homestead exemption.
However, if the property is rented, under any of these circumstances, well that would then jeopardize the homestead exemption and it is not being held for your permanent residence, but is held for rental property. If you have some other question about homestead exemptions, give me a call at 727-847-2288.
- Published in Videos
What is the Required Notice I Must Give My Tenant Before Stopping By?
Video Summary
What is the required notice that I must give my tenant that are running my house to do an inspection or come by. The landlord/tenant statute does give you the right to inspect your property that the tenant are residing there. You need to give them reasonable notice. What is reasonable notice? That’s like beauty, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. I would suggest that you should probably give them at least 24 hours notice. How do you give them the notice? How do you usually communicate to them? Do you text them? Do you call them? Leave a message? Do you call them or whatever? It’s just a matter of courtesy as far as doing that to let them know you run into problems.
However, the tenent says, “No, you can’t come by. I’ve got pets. I don’t want you there. If I’m not there, all these are problematic.” What your right is and and what actually happens are two different things [inaudible 00:01:19] can be. The last thing you want to do is wind up having to confer with an attorney to be able to go in and inspect the property. If I’m advising tenants, I suggest that they do let the landlord come in. If I’m advising the landlords, I suggest that they go ahead and reach out to the tenant and try and coordinate a time in which they can go by and go into the property.
If the landlord does go into property while the tenant is not there, I suggest that they possibly take someone with them so that they have a witness in the event the tenant then says, “Well, I’m missing this or I’m missing that,” so just as a precautionary measure if the landlord enters the premises while the tenant is not there to have a witness as for as when and also what they observed as far as that’s concerned, and also take pictures or video whenever they make the visit.
Although the statute says the landlord has a right of inspection, and I suggest to give reasonable notice and how many days, it may be specified on the lease or some other arrangement, but just trying to extend courtesy to the tenant and respect their rights and try to work with your tenant. Hopefully, it doesn’t become an issue as far as you’re running arrangement to the point where you can terminate the lease if they don’t or send them a notice that if they don’t allow you possession or inspection within seven days then that you will terminate the lease.
If you have any other questions on that, give me a call at 727-847-2288.
- Published in Videos