- Premarital AgreementA will can direct your assets to persons or institutions in such proportions as you may want and supersede the intestate succession laws of any state. However, in Connecticut and most states you cannot avoid some provision for your spouse by disinheriting him or her in a will unless you and your spouse have signed a marital agreement (sometimes called a “prenuptial agreement”). Under Connecticut law a spouse can elect to receive the life use of one-third of your estate no matter what you say in your will. Other than this spousal right of election and any contrary provisions of a marital agreement, Connecticut law allows you to make distribution by will of your estate as you see fit. Transferring assets to a living trust while you are alive can avoid spousal rights.
- GuardianshipConnecticut law requires that a guardian be appointed for any minor beneficiary of your estate entitled to receive more than $10,000. Guardianships provide some useful supervision of inheritances, but end at age 18, which can be a premature time, and put a probate judge in charge of the selection of the guardian without guidance from you. By the expedient of a will, you can nominate a guardian to handle not only a child’s inheritance, but also to handle all the child’s assets as well as his or her personal affairs until the child reaches age 18. Even if your will contains trust provisions to control your minor child’s inheritance and does not rely on a guardian to do so, the nomination of a guardian in your will is important to put the right person in charge of all the personal decisions needed for that child that your untimely death keeps you from making.
- Business Formation
- Limited Liability Companies
- Real Estate LitigationHe became a member of the Connecticut Bar in 1985 and has lived and practiced in Windsor ever since. He has concentrated on Real Estate law and the law concerning small business entities such as Limited Liability Companies. He has been involved in various civic and charitable groups, but most particularly in the Rotary Club of Windsor/Windsor Locks. He is a past president of that Club and a Paul Harris Fellow.
- Real Estate TransactionsStephen C. Brown is a partner in the law firm of Johnson, Dowe, Brown & Barbarotta, LLC which has served the needs of clients in the areas of estate planning and probate, real estate purchases and sales, and Title XIX (a/k/a Title 19 or Medicaid) planning among others for almost 40 years.
- Medicaid PlanningOur law firm has met the legal needs of Connecticut’s aging population for many years.Medicaid planning, as well as assistance with the Medicaid application process itself, has been an important part of our elder law practice during this time.We continue to bring special skills to each client’s unique situation and offer solutions to such common concerns as wealth preservation, asset and income management, planning for disabled spouses and special needs children, and developing estate and disability plans through important legal documents such as wills, trusts, durable form powers-of-attorney and advance health care directives.
- Estate PlanningIf the owner of property wants to place property in a trust that will use up some or all of his or her credit shelter equivalent for transfer tax purposes and keep the property out of the beneficiaries’ estates at their death, the trust employed is often called a “credit shelter” or “family” trust. Often in estate planning for married couples, a spouse will fund a credit shelter trust for the benefit of the surviving spouse and their descendants at the death of the first spouse. Whatever is left over at the surviving spouses’ death passes to the descendants without being taxed in the surviving spouse’s estate.
- WillsProbate assets require an appropriate court to intervene before your beneficiaries receive your assets. The court must determine that the document offered as your will is, in fact, your valid last will and must supervise the process of settling your estate in accordance with your will. If you do not have a will, the court must appoint an administrator to settle your estate and then must supervise the process in accordance with state statutes.
- TrustsWe are often asked whether a living trust can make a will unnecessary. The answer is “no”. Even if you have an estate plan set out in a living trust, it is always possible that you will have assets you own that are not in the living trust when you die. For example, a negligence claim against someone who caused your death is an asset of your estate and not of your trust. A simple will can direct your executor or executrix to place any assets you acquire at death or did not place in your trust during your lifetime, in your trust for management and distribution in accordance with the plan contained in the trust document.
- Power of AttorneyPowers of Attorney. You probably have someone you trust fully to act in your best interest and would want that person to act for you in the event you become incapable of managing your affairs. A simple way to give that person (your attorney-in-fact) the power to act for you is by executing a power of attorney. If your trust is high in your attorney-in-fact a durable, general power of attorney is probably appropriate and allows your attorney-in-fact to act for you in most of your business and financial matters without the need of a Court finding you incapable and without the expense and indignity of a conservatorship. Powers of attorney allow the attorney-in-fact to act without court supervision or accounting in most instances. Limited powers of attorney to authorize some, but not all, powers and springing powers of attorney, which take effect only upon your incapacity, are sometimes substituted for general powers, but have limitations you need to understand and accept. There are other measures that can balance the advantages and disadvantages of powers of attorney and should be discussed with your attorney.
- ProbateJohnson, Dowe, Brown & Barbarotta, LLC is a law firm with a practice in estate and disability planning, wills and trusts, elder law including Medicaid (Title 19), probate law, real estate and the formation of corporations and LLC’s. The Firm is located at 22 Elm Street, Windsor, Connecticut.
- Tax LawIf the owner of property wants to benefit charitable and/or religious organizations, but desires to balance that goal with a desire to benefit the owner and the owner’s family, trusts can be a useful means of doing so. Charitable remainder or lead trusts can provide the means to obtain such a balance while achieving significant income and transfer tax savings. There are many variations of these basic remainder trusts and the tax law is complex.