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Communicating with the VA

August 12, 2015

by Lawyers With Purpose with No Comment Legal Technical VA

There is one sure thing when it comes to communication from the VA: They don’t do much of it. And when I use the term “communication,” I don't mean the dreaded, generic form 20-8992 that the pension management centers will sometimes spit out stating that “We have received your application for benefits. It is our sincere desire to decide your case promptly. However, as we have a great number of claims, action on yours may be delayed.”

Substantive correspondence from the VA in regards to a pension claim generally boils down to three or four letters during a typical claim process. If you submit an intent to file a claim on VA Form 21-0966 (which is not actually filing the claim itself), you should receive an acknowledgment as well as directions on how to file a formal, fully developed claim. Once the formal claim is filed, you may receive a request for information. As long as you respond within the allowed 30 days, the claim should remain within the fully developed claim track (which is intended to produce quicker decision times). Otherwise, the next notice from the VA is a decision letter, often accompanied by a rating decision on blue paper. After an approval, there may be some additional letters regarding a proposal of incompetency. Assuming that is resolved, that is the extent of it and the client should not expect any other correspondence.

There are essentially three ways to communicate with the VA: mail/email, fax, and phone.

Mail / Email

Traditional mail is the default way to reach the VA and has the advantage of being traceable, whether you use certified mail with return receipt or prefer FedEx or UPS. U.S. mail is also the default way that the VA will communicate with you. You are promised by IRIS – the Inquiry Routing and Information System, which is the VA’s Internet-based public message management system – that you can use it to ask questions and submit complaints, compliments, and suggestions. You access IRIS by completing an online form at https://iris.custhelp.com rather than by directly emailing an inquiry. You can specify that the VA respond in one of three ways: email, telephone, or U.S. mail.

Fax

Faxing to the VA should be a backup method to mail rather than an alternate. It allows you to respond promptly when a deadline is involved. You should ensure, of course, that some record of the fax confirmation is kept with the file. The three pension management centers have their own dedicated fax lines that were updated in July 2014 to the following:

Philadelphia: (215) 842-4410

Milwaukee: (215) 842-4430

St. Paul: (215) 842-4420

Phone

Calling the VA National Call Center at the number (800) 827-1000 or the pension management centers at (877) 294-6380 may be the most direct way to make inquiries regarding a particular claim. To do so, the proper forms naming you as an authorized caller must be in the VA file. You are warned that calling cold, without an appointment time, will result in a lengthy wait time. It is better to call after hours, when you are prompted to schedule a phone call so that the VA calls you back at a specific date and time. This can be done a week in advance, but slots fill quickly, so keep your schedule flexible. Once you speak to an agent, there is little direct information that they can tell you about a claim other than to state what phase it is in (Development, Decision, or Notification). They may also disclose that a decision has been made or that a request for information is pending, but they will not go into specifics.

The point of following up by phone is to track that a claim has been logged in and that it is moving through the process, even if there may not be much more to learn than that. At the very least, it forces somebody at the VA to look at the claim, and if there is anything off base about the claim, it’s better to know sooner rather than later.

Phone calls from the VA to the client or representative are much less common. Once in a while an employee will call with an inquiry; however, they are more likely to call an assisted living facility or family member for confirmation of some fact, rather than the attorney’s office.

Regardless of the method you choose to communicate with the VA, you must remember that you are often the most vital link for your clients to the VA and often their only way of understanding what the VA is trying to communicate in regards to their pension claim.

If you aren't a Lawyers With Purpose member and want to learn about the nuts and bolts of the proposed VA changes…and what it means for your practice join our FREE WEBINAR on Wednesday, August 19th at 4 EST. Click here now to register.

By Sabrina A. Scott, Paralegal, The Elder & Disability Law Firm of Victoria L. Collier, PC and Director of VA Services for Lawyers With Purpose

Victoria L. Collier, Veteran of the United States Air Force, 1989-1995 and United States Army Reserves, 2001-2004. Victoria is a Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation; Author of “47 Secret Veterans Benefits for Seniors”; Author of “Paying for Long Term Care: Financial Help for Wartime Veterans: The VA Aid & Attendance Benefit”; Founder of The Elder & Disability Law Firm of Victoria L. Collier, PC; Co-Founder of Lawyers for Wartime Veterans; and Co-Founder of Veterans Advocate Group of America.

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Planning To Protect Assets For The Spouse & From The “New Friend”.

April 30, 2015

by David Zumpano with No Comment Asset Protection

As an estate planning attorney I come across many couples who do estate planning that have been married 30, 40, 50 or more years. A common question I ask is do you want to plan to protect your half of the assets from your spouse’s “new friend” after your passing. It usually gets a chuckle but is often as an important issue because each of us knows someone who lost a spouse and now has a “new friend”. Most couples are willing to address the issue because ultimately they want to ensure their “stuff” gets to their children or beneficiaries. Similarly, those in second marriages want to be able to provide for their current spouse without disinheriting their loved ones.

It is important to accept our individual needs for companionship are essential to humanity and in no way does kindling a new friendship or romance after a loss of a spouse in anyway negate the love one had for a deceased spouse. Think of it as an “and” rather than an “or”. The question becomes who gets your half of the assets accumulated during your life, your beneficiaries or your surviving spouses, new friend? The greatest threat to your assets is if your health fails and the cost needed for care. Many couples leave assets to their spouse and “trust” the spouse will provide as they planned. The challenge occurs however, when the surviving spouse needs care and appoints their new friend or in the case of a second marriage the spouses children, as power of attorney. At that point, any hope of ensuring your stuff gets to your loved ones is greatly diminished.

Planning to protect your assets for your spouse, and from your spouse’s “new friend”, or in second marriages, ensuring your assets ultimately gets to your loved ones is a common goal both spouses agree on. Why? Because you don’t know which one’s going to die first so you want to ensure that no matter who does, the deceased spouse’s share is always protected for the surviving spouse, and from “new friends”, or the separate kids of the surviving second spouse. This planning is easily accomplished if you plan while you are alive and healthy, but becomes nearly impossible if you become incapacitated or die with it in place. We have all heard the horror stories of unintended beneficiaries getting all the assets after mom or dad dies. Don’t risk it, plan for it. It’s not complicated it just has to be planned for.

If you want to learn first hand what it's like to be a Lawyers With Purpose member, join us for our Estate & Elder Law Practice Enhancement Week in St. Louis, June 1st – 5th. Below is just some of what you'll get (and this is just Monday and Tuesday)! You can look at the full agenda and register here.

Asset Protection

Recent Updates to Asset Protection and Medicaid-Compliant Strategies
The New Asset Protection Strategies Dominating the Marketplace
The Death of DAPT’s, FLP’s, GRATS, GRUTS, and Tax Planning, and What’s Replaced Them
The Five Essential Trusts and Key Drafting Needs to Serve 99.7% of Clients
The Power of Powers of Appointment, in the Right Places
Four “Must Have” Drafting Considerations and Three “Most Forgotten” Powers in Trust

Medicaid

Four Steps to Medicaid Eligibility for Any Client
How to Calculate the “Breakeven” to Ensure the Proper Filing Date for the Shortest Penalty Period
Medicaid Qualifying Annuities – Hidden Risks and How to Properly Disclose Them to Clients or Protect from Them
The Seven Key Factors to Calculate any Medicaid Case in Seven Minutes (or Less)
IRAs – Exemption Versus Taxes, How to Calculate if IRAs Should be Liquidated or Exempted in Medicaid and VA Cases

VA Benefits

Meet the VA
Service Connected Benefits (Veterans & Widows/Dependents)
Non-Service Connected Benefits – Improved Pension, Housebound, Aid & Attendance
Asset Eligibility
Application Process
Correct Forms
Annual Reviews
Appeals Process
Representation and Marketing – Getting Veterans to March in Your Door

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

How To Tell If You’re A Trust Mill

March 19, 2015

by David Zumpano with No Comment Estate Planning Drafting Software

Sometimes the hardest part of doing something, is getting started and knowing where to begin. Imagine if you had a template to guide you through your day. Wouldn't it be easier. The same is true when drafting estate planning. The challenge becomes how to utilize templates, and not become a "mill". I often ask attorneys if you look at the last ten estate plans you've done, what has changed other than the names and the beneficiaries? If you fall into this trap, you may be a "mill" already.

So how do you ensure you address all the issues with planning and have the freedom to create custom documents without doubling the time it takes to draft the document? Having a document creation system that meets the needs of creative lawyers, ensures all legal technical requirements of today's planning is addressed requires much more than a "fill-in-the-blank" software program. It actually requires your software to have artificial intelligence. When the LWP document creation system was created, it was created with a client-centered approach.

What does that mean? All document creation systems are lawyer centered, that is they ask questions of the lawyer as to what legal provisions they want in the documents. The LWP software was designed in the inverse inquiring of the needs and goals of the client, (estate planning, asset protection, benefits planning, or tax planning), and after identifying the clients personal and financial distinctions, all is entered and the software uses its preset intelligence to integrate all of the proper legal terms into all the various estate planning document to ensure the clients wishes actually occur. Since the software is client centered, a single interview generates all the estate planning documents ( will, HCP, PIA, personal care plan, revocable and irrevocable trusts) that assuring all of them are integrated in all the key needs of the client.

The beauty of this type system is that when speaking with clients you're not asking whether they want a power of appointment, but you're asking them questions about whether they would like their spouse or someone else to be able to change the planning upon their incapacity or death and if so, then you even have the ability to determine when and how (during life, after incompetency, after death, after remarriage, ect.)

The significance of this software is that it knows the questions relevant to each of the four categories of planning a client chooses and has created the decision trees internally to make the drafter of issues they may not have considered or if they choose confliction provisions. The greatest advantage, however is, different choices the client is able to make to be confident in their plan. Perhaps the greatest advantage of the client-centered software is for the attorney is that it has over 4,900 combinations of occurrences and allows the attorney to customize any individual part of the plan.

Assume two people are buying a car. While they may both buy the same model, each typically chooses different options on the car. This is how typical estate-planning software works. What makes the LWP software different is it is like going to a web site and choosing a car or an SUV or a pickup truck and then identifying what particular things are important to you on that car and then go through and design every part of it as you deem appropriate. For example you can opt the A package which has power windows and door locks or you can opt to customize the color of the knobs on the radio if you so desire.

Sound complicated? Well, it is, if you're the programmer developing the artificial intelligence (already done!), but it's quite simple if you're the attorney using it. All you need is a template. As you go through the template it helps identify all the triggering events in the decision tree and allows you to use preselected choices most commonly used by attorneys (typically three to five) or allows you to customize any particular provision to your specific desire. Now that's client centered!

I get two typical responses from lawyers that use the client-centered software. One is "This software doesn't do X." That typically comes from the attorneys who are unwilling to take the time to become familiar with client centered approach. The other answer we typically receive is holy moly, I cannot believe how much I can do with this software and it’s amazing how it all integrates. It’s amazing! Once you go client centered, you’ll never go back to lawyer centered. If you're a non-member and want to know more about our estate planning drafting software, click here for a live demo of our client centered software.

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

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How To Know When An SNT Needs A Tax ID Number

February 12, 2015

by David Zumpano with No Comment Asset Protection Estate Planning Drafting Software Legal Technical SNT

The question among many practitioners is, does a supplemental needs trust need a separate tax I.D. number and have to file a separate income tax return? The answer is, it depends. So let's examine when an SNT needs a separate tax I.D. and when it doesn’t.

A supplemental needs trust will be a first party or third party trust. A first party supplemental needs trust is funded with assets of the disabled individual who is also the beneficiary of the trust. Under law a first party supplemental needs trust can only be created by the parent or grandparent of the individual, or a court. Once the first party supplemental needs trust is created, it will not require a separate tax I.D. number, but instead will use the tax I.D. number of the disabled beneficiary. All income earned by the first party supplemental needs trust will be reported on the income tax return of the disabled beneficiary, but will not affect or be counted toward their continuing eligibility, as long as distributions are made on the beneficiary’s behalf and not made directly to the beneficiary.

A third party supplemental needs trust is created and funded by someone other than the disabled beneficiary, but for the benefit of a disabled beneficiary. Whether a tax I.D. number is required for the third party SNT will depend upon how the trust is structured. In most third party SNT’s, the creator of the trust (grantor) wishes to maintain control of the trust for the benefit of the disabled beneficiary. In this case, no separate tax I.D. number would be required as it would be considered a "grantor" trust and all income would be taxed to the grantor. If the grantor is not the trustee, but retains other identified rights, then the same rules would apply. Alternatively, if the grantor creates a trust and retains no rights to change it, benefit from it or control its distribution, then it may be a non‑grantor trust and need a separate tax identification number.

Similarly, after the grantor who created the trust and retained rights to make it a grantor trust dies, the third party supplemental needs trust now becomes a "non‑grantor trust" and requires a separate tax identification number. Annual income tax returns would have to be filed for non-grantor SNT’s but the actual tax will be deemed payable by either the beneficiary, or the trust, depending upon the actual distributions made. For example, if a supplemental needs trust earned $10,000.00 in a year, and they used $7,000.00 of it for the beneficiary, it would "pass through" the $7,000.00 in taxable income to the beneficiary on a Form K1. The remaining $3,000.00 retained in the trust, would be taxed at the trust tax rate and payable by the trustee directly with the tax return filed by the trust with the IRS. Finally, in relation to IRAs, the IRS has ruled in Private Letter Ruling 200820026, that an IRA payable to a supplemental needs trust at the death of the IRA owner, will not be required to be liquidated and, but instead, the age of the disabled beneficiary will be used for "stretch purposes" and it will be considered a grantor trust of the beneficiary for purposes of the IRA distribution.

So does a supplemental needs trust need a tax I.D. number? No and yes it all depends how you create the trust during lifetime and how you plan for it!

If you are interested in learning more about estate planning and more specifically on the iPug Business Planning, join us February 12th at 8 EST where we'll talk about:

Learning the difference between General Asset Protection, DAPT Protection, Medicaid Protection and iPug® Protection
Comprehensive outline of the 2 primary iPug® Business Protection Strategies
Learn why clients choose single purpose Irrevocable Pure Grantor Trusts™ over LLCs
Learn how it all comes down to Funding

And much much more… Click here to register now!

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

When To Dismantle ILIT’s For Today’s Clients

January 21, 2015

by David Zumpano with No Comment Estate Planning Drafting Software Legal Technical

I meet with many clients who come in and have an ILIT, (Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust), which was set up in the 1990s or 2000s as part of their estate plan. ILIT’s are typically used when a client is subject to Estate tax and wants to ensure the value of life insurance is not taxed in their estate. They were much more popular in the 90’s and early 2000’s when the estate tax limits were much lower. The question is, are they still needed?

A strong argument can be made that a vast majority of clients (99.8 percent) who have ILITs no longer need them because the estate tax levels have risen to a point where they only affect 2 out of 1,000 clients. So, what do we do with the old ILIT?

One strategy is to continue them and let them play out as intended. A second option is to dissolve the trust under state law, get the insurance policy and any cash value back to the grantor and have the grantor create a new irrevocable pure grantor trust that would ensure asset protection for the grantor but allow the grantor full control, as trustee, the ability to modify it as to any and all changes make other than making it available back to the grantor. The greatest benefit however is that it would allow the grantor to add other assets to the trust to benefit those intended now, during life rather than just after the grantor’s death.

There are two key steps to dissolve an irrevocable trust. First, to identify your state law for termination of an irrevocable trust, typically, by the consent of all the parties. Second, to identify under the state statutes who the beneficial interest would go to, that is back to the grantor, or to the beneficiaries. If there's a way to get it back to the grantor that yields the greatest result so the grantor's life insurance and other assets can be combined and utilized for the benefit of the grantor's beneficiaries during lifetime and after death with full complete asset protection and complete access and control by the beneficiaries. If your state statute requires the ILIT be distributed to the beneficiaries, then the key would be to identify the fewest number of beneficiaries and have them receive the benefits and create a "third party irrevocable pure grant trust" (otherwise known as a KIT™). Under this strategy the benefits could be used for the grantor and others, depending on the trust design. Typically, the ILIT beneficiaries create a trust for the benefit of a larger class of beneficiaries outside of themselves or limit what they are entitled to, to protect the trust corpus.

There are a lot of ILITs out there and obviously maintaining them is the "easier" thing to do. I question however, if they still serve the goal of the client. Terminating these trusts and creating new, more user friendly trusts may ultimately have a better impact on the client and the plan they are trying to accomplish, the key question are you up to speed on helping them to accomplish this effectively and efficiently?

To learn more, join us for our Practice With Purpose Program, February 3-5th, in Charlotte, NC.

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

When Cash And Time Are Choking

December 7, 2014

by David Zumpano with No Comment Estate Planning Drafting Software

It’s holiday time, your team has been pre-approved for planned vacation time and you have seven clients who have hired you in the past two weeks.

What’s the problem, you ask?

Well, last week you finally had the time to sit down with Jolie, your drafter, to go over all the files sitting on the floor in the north corner of your office. Jolie reminds you that you approved her vacation time in August. She’s out Wednesday and won’t be back for eight business days.

The clients are scheduled for their signing meetings the day after she gets back.

You won’t have time to review the trusts, make the changes, and print and assemble the documents.
You will have to work nights and weekends and, between all the trying band concerts, choir concerts and white elephant parties your wife already committed you to etc., your weekends and evenings are not exactly looking like an available resource.

That is why I am personally enthusiastic about the “Pay Per Trust” model. Finally law firms can outsource their back-office administrative activities to free themselves up to meet with clients and referral sources – the activities that create consistent cash flow. And the best part is, this will also enable the team to focus on client services and referral relationship management.

Are you ready to make a move and start focusing your already minimal time on growing your practice – without spending countless hours drafting trusts or hiring extra help? The BONUSES are:

No contract at all. Only pay us when you have a client, whether that is once or multiple times a month.
Try our back-office trust drafting and received $100 off your first trust using the discount code of “HOLIDAY,” but act now – this offer ends 12/31/14.

Click here to find our how to “try it on,” and if it doesn’t fit, you don’t have to show here again. But I highly doubt that will be your result.

Committed to your success,

Dave Zumpano

Being A Competent Attorney Is Only Half The Battle

September 18, 2014

by David Zumpano with No Comment Asset Protection Estate Planning Drafting Software Legal Marketing Systems & Processes VA

I've always thought of myself as an excellent attorney — well-versed in all of the strategies that we use on a daily basis to protect our clients, their loved ones, and their legacies.

It wasn't until several years ago, however, that I really began to understand that a thriving practice is built on more than just being a great attorney — it requires systems to handle your marketing, to generate a steady flow of referrals to your door, and a tried and true method to increase your closing rate.

I invite you to take 90 seconds and check out the video – it's all about the systems I've put into place in my office, and how you can do the same in yours. Take your practice to the next level!

Click here if you'd like to look at the agenda and all you'll learn at the Lawyers With Purpose Practice With Purpose Program in Phoenix October 20-22nd.

Warmly,

Jeff Bellomo, Esq., Certified Elder Law Attorney, Bellomo & Associates, LLC

Congratulations to Peggy Timmel, LWP Member Of The Month

August 5, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with No Comment Asset Protection Estate Planning Drafting Software Legal Marketing Medicaid SNT VA

What is the greatest success you’ve had since joining LWP?

Organization + Confidence = Increasing Success. That’s the formula we now have in place. Sure, we still are working through some of the processes, making them our own and getting the kinks worked out when and as needed. Not all clients initially expect the process to be as involved, but there is no doubt that our efforts are appreciated.

What is your favorite LWP tool?

LWP Meeting Focuser (the green sheet) – it may sound strange to some members, but that sheet is reviewed at the end of client meetings so that tasks are delegated and the next meeting with the client put on the calendar. I’ve been using it for cases that are pre-LWP or non-LWP, like guardianships. It keeps our team more focused and allows us to move our clients through the entire process more smoothly.

How has being part of LWP impacted your team and your practice?

We get to travel three times a year and always come back with something to improve our practice. It has been incredibly helpful to have the support system that LWP provides. The members provide a great community of support and the LWP systems and processes give us a great foundation to continually improve our practice.

Becoming 360 With Christine Kane of UpLevel You

June 2, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with No Comment Coaching & Implementation Legal Marketing Systems & Processes Team Building

We've had some phenominal ~ and passionate ~ conversations about the content we want to bring to the members at the retreat. Meet Christine Kane of UpLevel You who will be sharing her "Becoming 360" on Day 3 of the members only Tri-Annual Retreat in Chicago – June 11-13th, just two weeks from now! What is "Becoming 360" you ask???

and a more compassionate (and passionate!) perspective on you, your life, your future, and how you want to design your success.

In Becoming 360. You’ll dive deeper into your goals, your purpose and your WHY.

You’ll understand and celebrate the real reason we set goals at all.

HINT: It’s NOT about the achievement. It’s about WHO WE BECOME as we get there.

The day will be devoted to that process of setting the goal, and then examining – through conversation, clarity work and training – the 10 areas of your life that drive (or drain) your energy, and who you must BECOME in order to reach and manifest the goals you set.

This is the path of the leader and the entrepreneur. And it gives greater meaning and clarity to our work, our surroundings, our desires, and our relationships.

The LWP team can’t wait to do this work with you! Safe travels and we'll be seeing you all in the Windy City! There are still just a few seats left so if you're interested in attending the Tri-Annual Retreat, pick up the phone and reach out to Angela (acrowther@lawywerswithpurpose.com) TODAY don't wait!

Roslyn Drotar, Coaching, Consulting & Implementation, Lawyers With Purpose