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10 MAY 2017 Queens Business THE QUEENS COURIER The Elder Law Minute TM Provisions Commonly Omitted from Estate Plans BY RONALD A. FATOULLAH, ESQ. AND YAN LIAN KUANG-MAOGA, ESQ. Estate planning is not just for the wealthy. It is also not suffi cient to simply write a will or trust and leave the rest to chance. Estate planning is a process in which an attorney reviews the client’s assets and implements a plan to ensure the proper management and distribution of one’s assets upon incapacity and/or death. Individuals who engage in Do-It-Yourself estate planning oft en forget important provisions in their estate plans. Th e following are some examples of the items people tend to forget. Alternate Benefi ciaries: When draft - ing a will, it is important to consider alternative benefi ciaries in the event of the prior death of a primary benefi - ciary. If overlooked, a gift to a primary benefi ciary who is not able to take possession of the gift may pass as though the individual did not have a will at all. Th is means that state law, and not the individual, will determine who inherits the property. By providing an alternative, or contingent, benefi ciary, you can ELDER LAW ensure that the property passes to the individual(s) of your choice. Benefi ciary Designations: Th e simplest way to avoid probate is to establish benefi ciary designations on all fi nancial accounts (e.g. 401(K), IRA and brokerage accounts). However, many people forget to do so. As in wills, it is important to designate a successor benefi - ciary(ies), because failure to do so may result in assets being passed through probate or intestacy (dying without a will). Personal Possessions and Family Heirlooms: Not all heirlooms are worth a great deal of money, but they may contain sentimental value. It is a good idea to be clear about which family members you want to inherit your personal property. You can include a list directly in your will, but this makes it diffi cult if you want to add or delete items at a later date. A personal property memorandum is a separate document that details which friends and family members inherit specifi c items of personal property. In New York State, the reference to the personal property memorandum is legally binding. However, even if the document is not legally binding in your state, it is helpful to leave written instructions for your heirs to avoid confusion and bickering. Digital Assets: As technology advances, more and more business is conducted online. What happens to these online assets and accounts aft er you die? You should make a list of all of your online accounts, including e-mail, fi nancial accounts, Facebook, Mint, rewards points, and any additional sites where you conduct business online. You should include your username and password for each account, as well as access information for your digital devices, such as smartphones and computers. It is critical to make sure the agent under your durable power of attorney and the executor named in your will have the specifi c authority to deal with your digital assets. Pets: Th e care of our pets as beloved family members also should be addressed in one’s estate plan. While you cannot leave estate assets or money directly to a pet, you can name a caretaker in your will and leave that individual money to care for the pet. Again, naming an alternative caretaker is important. For added security, you may set up a pet trust and name a separate individual as trustee to oversee the care and use of funds for your pet. With a pet trust, the trustee makes payments on a regular basis to your pet’s caregiver and pays for your pet’s needs as they arise. Ronald A. Fatoullah, Esq. is the principal of Ronald Fatoullah & Associates, a law fi rm that concentrates in elder law, estate planning, Medicaid planning, guardianships, estate administration, trusts, wills, and real estate. Yan Lian Kuang-Maoga is an elder law attorney with the fi rm. Th e law fi rm can be reached at 718-261-1700, 516- 466-4422, or toll free at 1-877-ELDERLAW or 1-877-ESTATES. Mr. Fatoullah is also a partner with Advice Period, a wealth management fi rm, and he can be reached at 424-256-7273. RONALD FATOULLAH ESQ, CELA* editorial The Power of Gratitude at Work Dear Mindy, Why should I thank my coworkers for doing their jobs? Isn’t that what they’re paid to do? Frustrated at work. Dear Frustrated, This is a common question in American workplaces, oft en posed rhetorically—and sometimes with hostility. Th e fact is that most people feel happier at work if they are either giving or receiving thanks. Hearing “thank you” for a job well done makes people feel more fulfi lled and motivated to repeat good performance. Long-term studies support gratitude’s eff ectiveness, suggesting that a positive, appreciative attitude contributes to greater success in work, greater health and peak performance in sports and business. But while we may acknowledge gratitude’s many benefi ts, it can be diffi cult to sustain. Many of us are trained to notice what needs to be fi xed rather than being grateful for what is working. Th at’s why practicing gratitude makes so much sense. When we practice giving thanks for what we have, instead of complaining about what we lack, we give ourselves the chance to see all the opportunities that life can off er. When people are thanked for their work, they are more likely to increase their feelings of trust, and have a higher sense of well-being. However, not everyone likes to be thanked in the same way. Th e key is to create many diff erent kinds of opportunities for gratitude. Here are a few suggestions for practicing gratitude at work. SOME WAYS TO PRACTICE GRATITUDE AT WORK • Keep a gratitude journal. List things for which you are thankful on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Keep the journal where you can see it as a daily reminder to think in a grateful way. • Create a gratitude wall at work. Th is kind of project will work best if it encourages the “thank you” to target colleagues instead of things. For example, we may be thankful for coff ee, but the gratitude should go to the person who makes the coff ee every morning. • Include a kudos section in your company newsletter. Let people know who is going “above and beyond” and who is grateful for their extra eff orts. It will encourage others to model that behavior. • For tech savvy organizations, create a gratitude platform that employees can easily access to recognize each other’s contributions and publicly highlight their achievements. • Create a contest to express thanks to an employee each month and make sure that nominations and winners represent various areas of the organization. Remember that gratitude isn’t a blindly optimistic approach in which the bad things in life are whitewashed or ignored. It’s more a matter of where we focus our attention. Gratitude balances us and gives us hope for the future. What’s on your gratitude list? EMPLOYMENT MATTERS MINDY STERN SPHR, SHRM-SCP,


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