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What plans can I make for my pets in the event of my passing? Well, you can specifically provide in your will that you leave your pet to a family member or friend who you know who wants the pet, and will take good care of the pet.

I’ve also had any number of clients also designate their veterinarian to leave their pet to and asked that he find a good home for them.

There is a provision if you want to provide for your pet, is to set up a pet trust that would require you to designate two people in your will or in your pet trust.

One, to take care of the pet and two, a person who would monitor the care and how much money is given to the one who cares for the pet.

So if you would like to make out a will and provide for your pet or set up a pet trust, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.

Video Summary

Should the homestead property be held in a living trust? Well, there’s two schools of thought in conjunction with this. Some don’t see where there’s a problem, and some that say absolutely not. I think that you need to look at the particular circumstances, in order to be able to get a good answer to that.

If you are a single person, and you have a revocable trust that you want to leave the property to, and you do not have any minor children, then you can convey the property into your name, as trustee under the trust, and the trust will take of the [inaudible 00:00:58] of the homestead property.

If, however … If you are married and you have a joint trust, or you have minor children, then I do not suggest your doing that, in that it complicates matters and it may not be effective, because it may be considered an improper divisive homestead property.

What I have done is do neither, however, prepare a deed from the … for your homestead property, to provide that you have a life estate in the property, and then upon your death, then the property would pass to the homestead … the homestead property would pass to the trustees of your trust.

So if you have property, and you have a revocable trust, and it’s just in your name, give me a call and we will discuss on how to make sure that the provisions of your trust take care of disposing of your homestead property upon your death, without probate. My phone number is 727-847-2288.

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.

Video Summary

What can my Special Needs Trust pay for that will not affect my disability payments? Well, that’s actually a really good question. First and foremost, you have to consider what the terms of your actual Special Needs Trust say, because the terms are definitively going to dictate what the trustee of the Special Needs Trust can and cannot provide expenditures for, for the beneficiary. One of the most common terms in a Special Needs Trust allows the trustee to have discretion when it comes to certain things that are not going to be covered by public benefits. Some of those things include rehabilitation equipment. Other things may even include certain expenditures for vacations or things of that nature, if it benefits the well being of the beneficiary.

It’s very difficult to give a general standard as far as what the trustee can do that will not affect your disability, but you’re going to again have to look at the terms that govern the trust. Anything that necessarily would not be covered by the public benefits programs. For instance, let’s say you have a beneficiary who has a severe disability with respect to their physical being. You’re going to be looking at situations where you may have the authority as the trustee to pay for specific surgeries, possibly elective surgeries that would not be covered by those federal programs or even the state programs of which the person is already receiving benefits and entitlement to. Generally speaking, that’s what you’re looking at. There may be certain expenditures for things such as education, even potentially housing allowances. Again, the terms of the trust are going to govern this and Special Needs Trusts, especially if you’re talking about a self-settled Special Needs Trust is going to require court approval in order to get it setup and funded.

If you have any other questions regarding Special Needs Trust or their interplay or the responsibilities or duties of a trustee, please give me a call here at Waller & Mitchell at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

What is a qualified income trust? A qualified income trust is also known as a Miller Trust. The sole purpose for utilizing a qualified income trust would be for qualifying for Medicaid coverage for skilled nursing care. Does everybody need a qualified income trust, also known as a Miller Trust, in order to be eligible for Medicaid coverage for skilled nursing care? The answer to that question is no. The only reason that one would need to employ a qualified income trust would be in the event that the individual who is applying for Medicaid coverage’s monthly gross income is over the allowable threshold with respect to that program.

What is the allowable threshold? Presently, through today, for a single applicant applying for Medicaid coverage for skilled nursing care, the maximum amount of gross income you can have on a monthly basis is $2,199 dollars. That does include your Medicare premium that is usually deducted directly from your income, which generally is deducted from your social security income. In the hypothetical situation, let’s say that your gross monthly income is $2,200 per month, so you’re only over by $1. Even in that situation, you would still need a qualified income trust to be set up in order to be qualified for Medicaid coverage for skilled nursing care.

Essentially, what this special type of trust does is it diverts that excess income that you receive on a monthly basis to the trust. Where does that excess income go? That excess income will build up on a monthly basis within the actual trust account. Once the person who is receiving Medicaid coverage for skilled nursing care passes away, then the primary beneficiary of the Medicaid trust, also again called a Milled Trust or called a qualified income trust, the primary beneficiary is the state of Florida, which would be considered the Agency for Healthcare Administration.

This type of trust does allow a secondary beneficiary, so you could potentially put your children or your spouse or any other person that you would like to provide this additional excess income to. The problem is, from a practical standpoint, generally speaking, the amount that Medicaid has paid far supersedes the amount that’s able to accumulate within the Medicaid trust. Because of this, generally the only beneficiary that’s going to receive all of this excess income once the Medicaid recipient passes away will be the state of Florida.

It’s very very important, though, that you come to speak to attorney and have an attorney draft this specific kind of trust. It is very specific and does have to pass through the legal department of the Department of Children and Family in order to be qualified for Medicaid coverage for skilled nursing care, as it must be approved and must have the provisions that Medicaid is looking for.

If you have questions regarding this specific kind of a trust and whether this is viable for you and your family, please give me a call here at Waller and Mitchell. Our phone number is area code (727)847-2288.