When planning for the future, each of us would prefer to retain some semblance of power over the assets we leave to our loved ones. But how do we help our clients control how things are divvied up or used after their deaths? One answer is to include a power of appointment in their planning documents.

Power of Appointments, Generally

A power of appointment is simply a way for the client (the “Donor”) to designate a particular someone (the “Donee”) to direct the client’s assets (the “appointive property”) to the people or entities (the “Appointees”) that the client has selected; in the ways that they have instituted; by means that they have espoused. Further, it is also a way to provide a trusted Donee with the power to select Appointees of their own choosing. A power of appointment may be created as a present power or as a conditional power.

Article originally published in the Quarterly V12-I2, 2018. Author: Patrick Carlson, JD, LLM. Get all your business and estate planning information by becoming a Quarterly subscriber.

Sadly, many attorneys do not approach their client development efforts with an eye towards creating lifetime value. When you transition your mindset, it can have far-reaching – and valuable – implications for how to approach your marketing efforts, initial intake, client service, and the cultivation of additional legal service opportunities with those clients.

Most states have a child caretaker exception to their Medicaid transfer rules.  An elderly parent can transfer their home to an adult child who lived in the home with their parent for the two years prior to that parent entering into a nursing home. Such a transfer of the home would not violate Medicaid look-back rules.  The child must have provided care to that parent that allowed the parent to remain in the home for those two years, instead of the parent needing institutionalized care during that time.  A child, for the purposes of this rule, must either be a biological or adopted child.  Other relatives – stepchildren, grandkids, nephews, etc. – do not qualify. The purpose of this rule is to help keep elderly folks out of a nursing home for as long as possible.