Tag: Estate planning

  • Hawaiian-Style Estate Planning

    Estate planning is the process of protecting that which is important (far beyond simply financial or physical assets) and then passing those important things on to our loved ones and future generations. Many concepts that are central to Hawaiian culture are particularly applicable to estate planning. Starting with the concept of ‘ohana (a very inclusive notion of family) all the way through lōkahi (a sense of unity — especially appropriate at the passing of a loved one), estate planning and the culture of our Islands interweave to form a rich tapestry of aloha.

    The term ha‘aha‘a describes an attitude of humility, which promotes family harmony at stressful times. Stress may arise in dealing with the emotions associated with illness and death, and it may arise in dealing with the distribution of the assets of the deceased. It takes a measure of humility for family members to form closer bonds in light of these trials.

    Sometimes, dealing with issues surrounding the disposition of a loved one’s remains, much less the disposition of assets, requires family members to talk out differences and come to consensus regarding what is the right, or pono, thing to do, as well as respecting the wishes of the deceased and the living. It is not uncommon for different family members to have different views of what a deceased person’s wishes were in various contexts. This may result in disagreements that can be both heated and destructive.

    A complicating factor is that all of the disputing parties may be right, on some level. The deceased may have had many conversations with different members of the ‘ohana over the course of many years. It is easy to see how one family member could remember instructions given on one date that conflict with instructions given to another family member on another date. If both family members can come together through the process of ho‘oponopono, or making things right through talking out differences, a consensus may be reached that is healing and positive for all involved.

    Ho‘oponopono is a delicate process, and a successful conclusion may depend on the leadership of an experienced individual who can help family members clearly express their views and then validate those views so that all involved can both understand and respect the feelings and positions being communicated. Although ho‘oponopono may be employed after the fact in resolving disputes, it can also be used while the senior family member is still alive to head off disputes and instill unity in the family, who will hopefully have a clear memory of what was communicated during the ho‘oponopono process.

    Finally, the concept of mālama, or caring for and perpetuating one’s legacy, infuses and motivates Hawaiian-style estate planning. This extends from caring for one’s family to caring for one’s community through charitable giving. People from Hawai‘i tend to be generous when it comes to giving back to organizations that have benefited their families, such as hospice providers, hospitals, and church-related organizations.

    Remembering our root values helps to ensure that we are leaving a legacy of aloha.

    SCOTT MAKUAKANE, Counselor at Law
    Focusing exclusively on estate planning and trust law.
    www.est8planning.com
    808-587-8227 | maku@est8planning.com

    Estate planning is the process of protecting that which is important (far beyond simply financial or physical assets) and then passing those important things on to our loved ones and future generations. Many concepts that are central to Hawaiian culture are particularly applicable to estate planning. Starting with the concept of ‘ohana (a very inclusive…

  • Who Should Think About Medicaid?

    An unpleasant fact of life is the prospect of needing long-term care someday. Statistics tell us that 70 percent of Americans will need long-term care for some period of time before death. So it is not just possible, but very likely that you or someone close to you will need long-term care.

    In Hawai‘i, the average monthly cost of care in a skilled nursing facility is $8,850. At least, that is the figure used by MedQUEST, the office that administers Medicaid benefits in the State of Hawai‘i. If you have researched nursing home costs, you know that the MedQUEST figure is low. In private-pay situations, the cost easily reaches $12,000 per month. The cost of receiving skilled nursing care at home is even higher.

    If you do need nursing home care, how long will you need it? The average stay in a nursing home is between two and three years, but that figure is misleading. Many people pass within 
the first six months of moving into a nursing home, but those who make it past six months tend to last about six years. Thus, at $12,000 per month for six years, you could easily be looking at $864,000 in nursing home bills for yourself or a loved one. How will you pay those bills?

    If you are fortunate, you have $1,000,000 set aside for yourself, and another $1,000,000 for your spouse, if you are married. An alternative would be having long-term care insurance that would cover your (and your spouse’s) expenses for life. But what if you are not so fortunate?

    Our government has established a safety net called Medicaid that works alongside Medicare and private health insurance to provide the funds to pay for long-term care for those who qualify. To receive Medicaid benefits, a single individual can own very little in the way of assets, but a married couple can own enough to give the “well” spouse a shot at never having to try to qualify for Medicaid. However, in order for you to maximize the overall benefits for yourself (and your spouse), a good plan can make a world of difference.

    If you are going to save for nursing home expenses, the sooner you start, the better. If you are going to buy long-term care insurance, the sooner you do so, the better. In the same way, if Medicaid will be your family’s only viable option for paying for long-term care, the sooner you plan, the better. The longer you wait, the more opportunities will go by the wayside.

    So sit down and take stock of your resources. Do you have enough socked away to pay for long-term care? If not, do you have long-term care insurance, or could you qualify for it and afford the premiums? If you have not answered “yes” yet, you might wish to talk with an estate planning attorney who can guide you through setting up a plan to qualify for Medicaid benefits without having to impoverish yourself and leave nothing behind to your descendants.

     

    SCOTT MAKUAKANE, Counselor at Law
Focusing exclusively on estate planning and trust law.
    Watch Scott’s TV show, Malama Kupuna
Sundays at 8:30 pm on KWHE, Oceanic channel 11
    
O‘ahu: 808-587-8227  |  maku@est8planning.com  |  www.est8planning.com

    An unpleasant fact of life is the prospect of needing long-term care someday. Statistics tell us that 70 percent of Americans will need long-term care for some period of time before death. So it is not just possible, but very likely that you or someone close to you will need long-term care. In Hawai‘i, the…

  • Start with Why

    Lately, I’ve had questions from beneficiaries of trusts asking “why did the decedent make the trust distribution a certain way?” The trust clearly identified who the beneficiaries were, and what they were to receive and how they were to receive it. Unfortunately the trust was silent as to “why” — the underlying reason and purpose for making the trust in the first place. Failing to clearly set forth the intention or purpose in one’s estate plan can lead to misunderstanding, confusion, hurt feelings, potential law suits and disruption of family relationships.

    Clients come in to see an estate-planning attorney with clear intentions and purposes that are the foundation for establishing the estate plan.

    Unfortunately, the lawyer listens to the clients’ purpose and intention and focuses all effort on writing “what, when, and how” into the trust, leaving out the trust’s purpose and intention.

    Simon Sinek in his book, Start With Why, explains it this way: the “what, when, and how to do” come from our neocortex, our brain’s language center. The intentional and emotional purpose-driven “why” comes from our limbic brain, which has has no capacity for language.

    This is why writing the purpose, emotion, and intention is difficult. Yet, we are emotional beings, and most of what we do is driven by clear intention and purpose. Therefore, it is important to put effort into writing out our intention and purpose.

    Our estate plans are intended to be our last say, and the “why” must be expressed as the foundation for the plan.

    Stephen B. Yim, Attorney at Law
    2054 S. Beretania St., Honolulu
    808-524-0251 | stephenyimestateplanning.com

    Lately, I’ve had questions from beneficiaries of trusts asking “why did the decedent make the trust distribution a certain way?” The trust clearly identified who the beneficiaries were, and what they were to receive and how they were to receive it. Unfortunately the trust was silent as to “why” — the underlying reason and purpose…

  • Lost in Translation

    Did you play the game “grape vine” as a child? You whisper something to someone who whispers it to another, until the last person gets the message. The last person says the message out loud. At best, it is a very garbled version of the original message.

    Think about estate planning. People tell their attorney the underlying reasons for wanting an estate plan. They share concerns for their loved ones and hopes for their future.

    The attorney then translates these heartfelt wishes and intentions into legal language and writes an estate plan. It’s like speaking English to someone and asking them to write down the conversation in French. However, the translator only knows scientific French words. He gets the jist of the conversation, but fails to translate the full meaning and intent. Some of the meaning and intent is lost.

    After the client dies, the trustee and beneficiaries try to understand the purpose, reasons, and meaning of the estate plan, only to find hard-tointerpret legal documents.

    This grapevine way of making one’s estate plan leads to misunderstanding, lack of clarity, and different interpretations can lead to fractured family relationships. The only people who can clear up any misunderstanding and define their values and meaning are gone — often estates become “lost in translation” experiences.

    We need to get away from the grapevine method of estate planning and start having family meetings to relay our intentions clearly while everyone is here — to ensure a successful estate plan.

    Stephen B. Yim, Attorney at Law

    2054 S. Beretania St., Honolulu

    808-524-0251 | stephenyimestateplanning.com

    Did you play the game “grape vine” as a child? You whisper something to someone who whispers it to another, until the last person gets the message. The last person says the message out loud. At best, it is a very garbled version of the original message. Think about estate planning. People tell their attorney…

  • After The Pause

    I like to call our meeting room where we meet to discuss estate planning “the pause room.” When we enter and close the door, and leave outside all the busy-ness in our lives — we put only the matters relating to estate planning on the table. We pause for about an hour, and concentrate solely on one very important matter.

    When we come out and re-enter the busy-ness of life, it’s easy to forget what we just discussed in “the pause room.” After completing the estate plan, your attorney might provide a letter suggesting that certain assets be directed to, or placed into trust. This is called “funding” the trust — it is just as important as creating the trust in the first place, and making sure that the right beneficiary receives the right asset. Funding is either by beneficiary change or by change of title. Assets that usually require change by beneficiary include: life insurance, retirement accounts and annuities.

    The assets that commonly require changes to title include: real estate and brokerage accounts.

    Each asset is a little different, and while the instructions from your attorney might be clear, we often put them aside or plain forget to do the funding because there are so many other things pulling and tugging for our attention.

    This is why it is essential for the attorney, financial advisor and the client to work together “after the pause” to ensure that each asset is properly directed to, or placed into trust, and that written confirmation is received from the financial company or other institution ensuring that the change was properly made.

    Stephen B. Yim, Attorney at Law
    2054 S. Beretania St., Honolulu
    808-524-0251 | stephenyimestateplanning.com

    I like to call our meeting room where we meet to discuss estate planning “the pause room.” When we enter and close the door, and leave outside all the busy-ness in our lives — we put only the matters relating to estate planning on the table. We pause for about an hour, and concentrate solely…

  • Legal: Siblingship

    siblingship [sib-ling-ship]
    noun (November 9, 2013):
    1. The state of being related or interrelated
    2. A state of affairs existing between one of two or more individuals having one common parent.

    You will not find this word in the dictionary — it is a new word as of November 9, 2013. It describes the unique, textured, dynamic relationship existing between siblings. Think about the uniqueness of this relationship. Siblings begin their relationship at a very young age. My twins, for example, literally started their lives together. And, if they are fortunate, they will experience their lives to old age together. They experience joys and setbacks together, laugh and cry together, and fight together. And through the fighting, they can learn conflict resolution together. No other relationship is quite like a “siblingship.” Parents are there at the beginning, but all too often they leave too early. Spouse’s join us in our adult lives. Friends often come and go.

    When parents die, siblings are called home to “divide up the pie.” And what I experience all too often with the families that I work with, is that the siblings fight over the same things that they fought over when they were kids — property and fairness. However, the parents are no longer there to referee and help divide up the pie fairly.

    The estate planning process, if done properly, can do much to minimize the risk of fighting when parents die. However, many plans do not speak clearly enough in this respect. Leaving a family home or a heirloom “equally to the children” does not go far enough to help avoid the family fight. To leave it up to grieving adult children to decide what is “equal” when it comes their inheritance, puts too much pressure on their relationship.

    If the parents and the estate planning attorney do not spend enough time minimizing the risk of fighting between the siblings, we risk fracturing, or worse destroying this unique, wonderful relationship — the siblingship.

    The estate plan ultimately is supposed to mirror and reflect our lives, and the relationships we built. If your plan does not mirror and reflect your most important values, or does not speak clearly enough to ensure that it helps to preserve the relationships between your children — their siblingship — I encourage you to review your plan with your estate planning attorney.

     

    Stephen B. Yim, Attorney at Law
    2054 S. Beretania St., Hon.
    (808) 524-0251
    stephenyimestateplanning.com

    siblingship [sib-ling-ship] noun (November 9, 2013): 1. The state of being related or interrelated 2. A state of affairs existing between one of two or more individuals having one common parent. You will not find this word in the dictionary — it is a new word as of November 9, 2013. It describes the unique,…

  • Estate Plans Explained

    How Can I Be Sure My Family Won’t Fight After I’m Gone?

    Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to guarantee that there will be no fighting among your loved ones after you are gone. There are plenty of difficult emotions to deal with after the passing of a loved one, and conflict can easily make matters much worse. Here are some steps you can take if you are concerned about whether you’ll be able to rest in peace.

    Encourage family to sit down and talk out their differences. This is central to the Hawaiian practice of ho‘oponopono. Very often, small offenses grow into large offenses if they are not resolved. Families are sometimes torn apart because problems fester, and then get aggravated by various tensions, and then hit the boiling point when a senior family member dies and is no longer there to keep the peace. Most of the estate-related litigation we see has nothing to do with the estate per se, yet it becomes the focus of battles. If you are aware of conflicts between your children, encourage resolution and forgiveness during your lifetime.

    Explain your estate plan. Include explanations for any gifts that may be misinterpreted or resented. Most of the time, we want to treat our children equally, but that does not necessarily mean giving each of them the same amount of assets when we die. If you helped one child buy a house and helped another put his children through expensive private schools, you may want to give your other children bigger shares upon your death. Providing some kind of explanation for this can head off hard feelings.

    Ask your estate planning attorney to include an in “terrorem” clause in your will and trust. As you might guess from the name, it is intended to strike terror into the heart of anyone who might be inclined to contest your estate plan. The clause can be as detailed as you like, but at a minimum, you might want to say that if anyone questions your competency or the validity of your estate plan after you are gone, they had better prove their case in court, because otherwise they will receive nothing from your estate. This kind of language can discourage many problems, but it still does not guarantee that no one will call your bluff.

    Acquaint your children with your estate plan. Make sure they understand that you are not giving up your right to change your plan in the future, but are simply giving them an idea of how your estate plan may look upon your death. Whatever you do, don’t use the explanation as an opportunity for manipulation. You may have heard the story about the lady who privately told each of her children, “When I’m gone, you’re going to get the house.” She hoped to assure that her children would treat her well during her lifetime. You can imagine what happened when she died and her children found out that the house went to Mom’s favorite charity. The biggest beneficiaries of that estate plan were the lawyers who represented the charity and each of the children.

    Most of the time, estates pass from generation to generation without conflict or hard feelings, but the subject deserves some thought if you have reason to believe that your loved ones will not see eye to eye.

    SCOTT MAKUAKANE, Attorney at Law of Est8Planning Counsel LLLC, specializing in estate planning and trust law.

    Honolulu: (808) 587-8227 | Maui: (808) 891-8881 | Email: maku@est8planning.com

    www.est8planning.com

    How Can I Be Sure My Family Won’t Fight After I’m Gone? Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to guarantee that there will be no fighting among your loved ones after you are gone. There are plenty of difficult emotions to deal with after the passing of a loved one, and conflict can easily…

  • The Third Guarantee: Change

    An often-heard quote about lifetime guarantees is the one about death and taxes. I would suggest that there is a third guarantee — that life changes. Nothing stays the same. So, once you’ve completed your estate plan, you’ll want to review it every so often to address life’s changes. What could a review with your estate planner do for you?

    First, reviewing your plan will force you to locate it. Often, after we prepare an estate plan, we put it in a very safe place. And, sometimes, we forget where that very safe place is. Take your plan out every once in a while, dust it off, review it and remind key people of its location.

    Second, a review can ensure that you’ve properly funded your trusts. Check your beneficiary designations for life insurance and retirement accounts, and make sure that other assets are properly titled in the trust. This not only helps you avoid probate, it also ensures that the correct beneficiaries receive the distributions. All too often, we find that life insurance or retirement accounts do not have beneficiaries listed, or that the beneficiary was not changed due to life changes. For example, a client’s wife recently passed away. Prior to her getting married, she had named her mother as beneficiary of a life insurance policy. She had every intention for the proceeds to go to her husband and their child. However, she did not change the beneficiary to note this change.

    Third, because relationships are fragile and change, reviewing your estate plan allows you to examine your relationship with the people you’ve named as guardian, agent under powers of attorney and trustee. Make sure that they are still the one’s that you want to make decisions for you during any period of incapacity or to follow out your instructions upon your death.

    Fourth, you can see how your beneficiaries are doing. For example, you can explore questions such as:

    • Are my children now adults and not in need of guardianship?
    • How are my young adult children doing? Do they need more time to mature before they handle a significant amount of money?
    • Have some of my beneficiaries gotten into trouble with drugs, the law or misspending of money?
    • Have marriages, new births, divorce, death or other circumstances changed relationships?

    These questions can help you determine whether you want to change the time and manner of distributions.

    Fifth, you can meet with a lawyer to get an update on any law changes, tax or otherwise. It’s an opportunity to discuss any changes in the community standards and policies as they relate to estate planning. For example, during the past couple of years, many financial institutions have established policies where they will not accept powers of attorney older than 2 or 3 years old. A couple of financial institutions have established policies that they simply will not accept powers of attorney.

    So much like with your physician, dentist, automobile mechanic and financial advisor, you will want to get an estate planning check-up and tune-up every now and then.

    Stephen B. Yim, Attorney at Law | 2054 S. Beretania Street, Honolulu, HI 96826
    (808) 524-0251 | stephenyimestateplanning.com

    An often-heard quote about lifetime guarantees is the one about death and taxes. I would suggest that there is a third guarantee — that life changes. Nothing stays the same. So, once you’ve completed your estate plan, you’ll want to review it every so often to address life’s changes. What could a review with your estate planner…

  • Who’s on First?

    The humor behind the classic comedy routine, Who’s on first?, comes from the fact that the speakers are using identical terms to mean different things. Yet they both pretend not to recognize the problem. The language of estate planning can raise problems for the uninitiated, and the problems may not be funny at all. The vocabulary of estate planning is very precise, and a seemingly innocuous slip of the tongue can make a world of difference.

    A good example is the term “estate.” What does it mean? Does it mean land, as in “real estate,” or what passes by way of my Will, as in “probate estate,” or does it mean what is subjected to “estate tax” after I am gone? It can mean a wide variety of things, depending on the context and the adjectives that surround it.

    Because the word “estate” is central to estate planning, here is a brief glossary of the most common uses of the term.

    An “estate” can be land, or just an interest in land. An example of an interest in land is a life estate. A life estate gives the owner the right to use the land for the life tenant’s lifetime, but then the estate terminates and the land goes to the remaindermen (a person who inherits or is entitled to inherit property upon the termination of the former estate owner).

    Probate estate is whatever you own at death that will pass by way of your Last Will and Testament. It might include such things as land, bank accounts, cars and jewelry.

    But wait! How come an estate tax return covers not only a person’s probate estate, but also things that have nothing to do with the persaon’s probate estate — like life insurance policies, retirement accounts, jointly-owned assets and trust assets? That is because your estate for estate tax purposes includes just about everything you own or control at the moment of your death. However, with the right estate planning, you can have a lot of control over assets that are not included in your estate for estate tax purposes.

    For example, assets (sometimes called a trust estate) that you own and control as the trustee of a trust may or may not be part of your taxable estate, just depending on the words in the trust agreement that say what you can do with the trust estate. Choosing the right words is critical.

    You can see how proper estate planning requires careful attention to detail and precise use of language. Helpful legal information at www.hawaiilaw.tv. You also can find elder care information by clicking here.

    SCOTT MAKUAKANE, Attorney at Law of Est8Planning Counsel LLLC, specializing in estate planning and trust law.
    Honolulu: (808) 587-8227 | Maui: (808) 891-8881 | Email: maku@est8planning.com
    www.est8planning.com

    The humor behind the classic comedy routine, Who’s on first?, comes from the fact that the speakers are using identical terms to mean different things. Yet they both pretend not to recognize the problem. The language of estate planning can raise problems for the uninitiated, and the problems may not be funny at all. The…

  • Legal: Make It Personal

    In planning our estate, we often spend much of our energy on deciding how to distribute the home and the cash, and we often overlook the personal items. In my practice, I see families distributing large sums of money and real estate rather smoothly. Then, when it comes to personal property, family conflict arises. From an outsider’s perspective, it can seem somewhat ridiculous - fights over a couch, a ceramic pot or a blanket.

    However, once memories and emotion are added to the picture – such as the family sitting on the couch enjoying each other’s company watching a movie or playing music together; or that we had made that ceramic pot in school and had given it to our parents; or that our grandmother, while in the hospital just prior to her passing, had painstakingly hand-quilted the blanket – they can carry great sentimental value.

    Psychologist Steven Hendlin, in his book, Overcoming the Inheritance Taboo, writes that because the personal property holds the memories of our loved ones who have passed away, we want to hold onto these items. Often, Hendlin says, it is the fear of forgetting our loved one that drives the desire for a particular object. And, the consequence may be huge - many family members risk their relationship with another family member over an object that often possesses no financial value. Parents would not wish to see their children fighting over personal objects.

    Knowing that conflict can easily surface over personal assets, what can we do? The State of Hawai‘i allows us to write down our wishes in a separate writing, often referred to as a Personal Property Memorandum. You simply make a list of your personal items, designate the beneficiary, and sign and date it.

    After you prepare the memorandum, talk to your family about the list. The family discussion can help provide clarity and reduce the chance of any misunderstanding.

    And, finally, these family heirlooms that connect us to our loved ones often come with a story. One priceless gift we can give to our children, our siblings and to our children, is to relay the story about the heirloom, preferably in writing.

    When my mother passed away, my brothers and I put all of the personal items onto a table with the hope of taking turns telling a story about each of the items. Sadly, very few stories were told. We didn’t know the reason why my mother or father kept a particular personal item, or even whether it came from upstate New York where my mother is from, or from Hawai‘i, where my father is from. My office provides what we call “My Heartfelt Will” to our clients to write down these stories, so we don’t risk losing them.

    So, when making your estate plan, remember to pay attention to the personal property as doing so can reduce confusion and conflict, promote family harmony, and preserve family history.

    For information contact Stephen B. Yim, Attorney at Law at (808) 524-0251, stephenyimestateplanning.com.

    In planning our estate, we often spend much of our energy on deciding how to distribute the home and the cash, and we often overlook the personal items. In my practice, I see families distributing large sums of money and real estate rather smoothly. Then, when it comes to personal property, family conflict arises. From…

  • New and Powerful Estate Planning Tool: the Hawai‘i Asset Protection Trust (APT)

    Two years ago, Hawai‘i joined Delaware, Nevada and 11 other states in validating self-settled spendthrift trusts. What this means is that you can now create a trust for yourself that will protect your assets from your own creditors. This is a huge departure from prior law, which expressly prohibited such trusts. For convenience, we will call them APTs, which stands for Asset Protection Trusts.

    Not only do APTs provide asset protection, they can also be made to last forever, or at least until all of the assets are used up. Hawai‘i law has long recognized something called the rule against perpetuities, which essentially says that a private trust (that is, any trust other than a charitable trust) can last for about 100 years, and then the trust must terminate, and the assets must be distributed. This is a throwback to the law of England (where most American law comes from) and a time when the king did not want land being tied up in trusts because it impaired his ability to tax it. Now that our government has developed a solution to this problem, Hawai‘i has joined the ranks of states that allow the creation of so-called Dynasty Trusts.

    Hawai‘i’s first attempt at allowing APTs, which was back in 2010, was doomed to failure. For one thing, the law imposed a 1% tax on all assets transferred to APTs. The law also limited the kinds of assets that could be put into APTs, and it allowed a trustmaker (someone creating an APT) to place assets comprising no more than 25% of his or her net worth into an APT. Since the laws of other states did not include these restrictions, there was very little incentive for someone to create a Hawai‘i APT.

    In 2011, our Legislature removed the restrictions on APTs, so that a person can place any kind of property into his or her APT, and there is no 1% tax imposed on each asset transferred into the trust. The new law became effective on July 1, 2011, and Hawai‘i APTs are now viable tools in many people’s estate plans.

    A Hawai‘i APTs is not for everybody. You should only create one if you understand what it is and how it works, and before you do anything else, you should seek the assistance of competent legal counsel and other advisors who can help you evaluate whether this is a workable strategy for you.

    The new Hawai‘i law says that you cannot be the trustee of your own APT, but you can pick any Hawai‘i resident or Hawai‘i financial institution as your trustee. The trustee can have the discretion to make distributions to you or for your benefit, but you cannot have the unfettered right to demand whatever you want whenever you want it. You can also retain the right to give the trustee investment advice, and you can also have the right to veto distributions from the trust.

    Perhaps the most important thing to understand about Hawai‘i APTs is that they do not shelter assets from claims of existing creditors. In other words, you cannot incur a debt (for example, by way of a car accident or a bad business deal) and then create a Hawai‘i APT to shield you from liability on that debt. On the other hand, the ideal time to create a Hawai‘i APT is before you start a new business or launch a practice in a field such as medicine, law, or architecture, where legal claims against you are an ongoing risk.

    For more information about Scott Makuakane and his law firm, Est8Planning Counsel, LLLC, visit www.est8planning.com. Or tune into his weekly TV talk show, Est8Planning Essentials on KWHE (Oceanic channel 11) at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday evenings.

     

    Two years ago, Hawai‘i joined Delaware, Nevada and 11 other states in validating self-settled spendthrift trusts. What this means is that you can now create a trust for yourself that will protect your assets from your own creditors. This is a huge departure from prior law, which expressly prohibited such trusts. For convenience, we will…