A Letter of Instruction Can Spare Your Heirs Great Stress

Letters of Instruction

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While it is important to have an updated estate plan, there is a lot of information that your heirs should know that doesn't necessarily fit into a will, trust or other components of an estate plan. The solution is a letter of instruction, which can provide your heirs with guidance if you die or become incapacitated.

A letter of instruction is a legally non-binding document that gives your heirs information crucial to helping them tie up your affairs. Without such a letter, it can be easy for heirs to miss important items or become overwhelmed trying to sort through all the documents you left behind.

The following are some items that can be included in a letter:

• A list of people to contact when you die and a list of beneficiaries of your estate plan
• The location of important documents, such as your will, insurance policies, financial statements, deeds, and birth certificate
• A list of assets, such as bank accounts, investment accounts, insurance policies, real estate holdings, and military benefits
• Passwords and PIN numbers for online accounts
• The location of any safe deposit boxes
• A list of contact information for lawyers, financial planners, brokers, tax preparers, and insurance agents
• A list of credit card accounts and other debts
• A list of organizations that you belong to that should be notified in the event of your death (for example, professional organizations or boards)
• Instructions for a funeral or memorial service
• Instructions for distribution of sentimental personal items
• A personal message to family members

Once the letter is written, be sure to store it in an easily accessible place and to tell your family about it. You should check it once a year to make sure it stays up-to-date.


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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

SHOULD YOU DRAFT YOUR WILL ONLINE?

Online Wills?

A client asked me whether she should go on-line and draft her own Will. She is very computer-savvy and assumed that she could figure out the requisites of a Will and do it herself.

My response was quick, honest and direct.

A Will is a unique legal document because the person who writes it, the testator, will not be around to explain it. Further there are legal requisites to a valid Will. The Will must be executed (signed and witnessed) properly or it is not valid. If it is executed or prepared improperly, the impropriety will not be discovered until it is too late. I told my client that we frequently see Wills prepared with the assistance of an attorney that are incomplete, inaccurate, invalid or otherwise problematical. There is a necessary ritual that must be followed when the Will is signed. It is not as easy as it seems to write a proper Will which can with-stand a challenge in the future.

The process looks like this: All assets, debts and income are reviewed. All heirs and beneficiaries are listed. Non-probate assets and transfer-on-death (TOD) assets are considered. Medicare and Veteran implications are looked at as well as present and future tax ramifications. Other documents such as a Durable Power of Attorney, a Medical Durable Power of Attorney and a Living Will Declaration are drafted. All documents are reviewed with the client. Any earlier Will is properly revoked. Then the new Will is signed in accordance with the law in the state where it is executed. Each page of the Will is initialed. The witnesses to the Will sign a sworn affidavit which will prove the Will in the future. Attorney notes are preserved. The original documents are stored in a safe. The clients file is placed on the calendar for a review (free of charge) in three years.

Call Jeremy Howe to discuss Will questions or for more information on your estate planning and probate concerns.

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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Law Office of Jeremy Howe, LTD Mediation Seminars

In our ongoing efforts to maintain the highest levels of education, information, and involvement in the Elder Law and Family Law fields, we continuously update our skills and legal education through attendance and involvement in seminars and speaking engagements in New England.

Below are some of our undertakings from March and October of 2010.


March 15 and March 19, 2010
Mediation training under the supervision of Bruce Kogan, Roger Williams School of Law
guest lecturer on “Mediating pension issues”
observer and commentator on the final student mock mediation

March 25, 2010
Mediation presentation for the National Association of Social Workers “From BFF to YBS” (From “Best Friends Forever” to “You’ll Be Sorry”, HOW MEDIATION CAN HELP.
Jeremy Howe presented with Frank & Michelle Geremia and Bryna Bettigole from the Rhode Island Mediators Association

October 27, 2010
Rhode Island Association of Mediators- mediation training
Mediation of Advanced Financial Cases, “Organizing the Data
And Balancing the Power”,
Jeremy Howe presented with co-mediator Nancy Johnson Gallagher, LICSW

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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

GRANDPARENTS VISITATION RIGHTS

Visitation Rights for Grandparents

The relationship between a grandparent and a grandchild can be one of great joy and importance for both grandparent and youngster. But sometimes an event such as a parent's death, divorce or estrangement can tear families apart and alter or sever relationships. After such events, the child's parents or guardian may block any further contact with grandparents, who may take legal steps to maintain contact with the children they love.

State legislatures have enacted "grandparent visitation" statutes to protect the visitation rights of grandparents and other caretakers.These statutes allow grandparents to ask a court to give them the legal right to maintain their relationships with their children's children.

Visitation statutes, however, do not give a grandparent an absolute right to visitation. A 2000 U.S. Supreme Court ruling gives priority to the wishes of the parents in resolving visitation disputes, and this ruling is changing state courts' interpretation of visitation statutes.

One way to avoid a court battle is to try professional mediation. In mediation, the disputing parties engage the services of a neutral third party to help them hammer out an agreement that all concerned can live with. The disputing parties have a chance to explain their perspectives and feelings. In a court of law, on the other hand, the judge will ultimately make a decision based on laws that may seem unfair to one or both sides. Call Jeremy Howe at 841-5700 to discuss Grandparents Visitation and visit ElderAnswers.com for more information.
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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

Social Security - Some Surprise Benefits

Social Security News

We are all generally aware of how Social Security works but when we assist in estate planning for clients there are many things to consider, especially if the client has been divorced. A few of the considerations follow:

• A widow or widower, at full retirement age or older, receives 100 percent of the worker’s basic benefit amount
• A divorced spouse of a worker who dies could get benefits just the same as a widower if the marriage lasted 10 years
• Note: remarriage can end the deceased spousal or former spousal benefits
• In one-earner families, the working spouse can “claim and suspend benefits” so that at full retirement age, he or she continues to work and “claims” benefits, then “suspends” benefits, which enables the non-working spouse to receive a spousal benefit
• In two-earner families, a surprising result can occur. If one worker takes social security at full retirement age (now 66 years old), that spouse can receive the monthly benefit and can continue working with no penalty. At full retirement age, his or her spouse can receive an amount equal to 50% of the spouse’s monthly benefit each month without affecting his or her ability to continue to work until age 70 at which time he or she can receive a substantially higher amount per month due to “delayed retirement credits.”
• A bigger surprise is that a former spouse (not remarried, where the marriage was at least ten years) at full retirement age can also receive an amount equal to 50% of the former spouse’s monthly benefit each month without affecting his or her ability to continue to work until age 70.

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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

United Way in RI and Newport Probate Attorney

August 2008 Newsletter

Here’s a new source of information: “United Way- 2-1-1.” Material about this free service was forwarded to me by a lawyer friend and fellow practitioner from Middletown- Cristina Offenberg. The material from the United Way of Rhode Island reads as follows:

2-1-1 is the fastest and easiest way to get information when you need it, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One call gives you access to resources across your community, whether you need to get help- for you, for a family member or for a friend- or want to help. No more wrong numbers, no more wasted time trying to find the right person to call.

Examples were listed: “daycare for your child, financial assistance for a utility bill, find a mental health counselor to help you in a crisis, or connect with any other community service.” Or, “If you are able to help others by donating your time as a mentor or volunteer or by donating food, clothing, toys, furniture, 2-1-1 is also for you.”

It sounds useful. Try it and let us know how helpful it is to you. “Cris” Offenberg stated in her email that other states were utilizing the same system so try it wherever you live.

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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.

RI Estate Lawyer Kindness Matters

Newport RI Probate client shares thanks with Law Office of Jeremy Howe and Associates for care during difficult time:

Dear Hilary & Jeremy,

Words cannot express my heartfelt appreciation for the kindness you’ve shown me. Making things go perfectly stress-free was a true blessing for me and I will always remember your thoughtfulness.


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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for Family Law issues such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Support, and Military Family Law. 

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.