Colliton

• Gifting During Life. Individuals who want to pass on something of themselves as reminders might consider gifting memorable items during their lifetime. Jewelry and personal belongings can easily be gifted. If their aggregate value does not exceed $14,000 - $15,000 next year -to any one individual in a given calendar year, no gift tax return needs to be filed and, even for more valuable items, the filing of a gift tax return except for extremely large amounts and valuable assets does not require paying any tax.

• Memoranda Under the Will. When I first practiced law, persons writing their Wills often included long lists of personal items they wanted to pass by will. These were cumbersome and needed to be updated regularly. Today, more often, wills contain a provision that a memorandum may be added to the will designating certain items to certain persons. The memorandum can be easily removed and replaced with another without needing to redo the will.

• Specific Bequests. A specific bequest in a will designates specific property to designated individuals. It could be an actual dollar amount as in “I devise $10,000 to my Cousin Mary” or could name certain property or accounts. If specific property is named, it must be in existence at the time of death in order to pass to the beneficiary. If, for instance, the maker of a will states that his car should pass to son, John and then sells that car, the gift lapses. If the maker wants any automobile that he owns at the time of his death to pass to John, then he should state “or any car that I own at the time of my death.”

These resolutions require time and thought but can be well worth the effort. Janet Colliton, Esq. is a Certified Elder Law Attorney and limits her practice to elder law, Medicaid, Medicare, benefits, life care, special needs, and estate planning and estate administration with offices at 790 East Market St., Suite 250, West Chester, Pa. 19382, 610-436-6674, colliton@ collitonlaw.com. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and, with Jeffrey Jones, CSA, co-founder of Life Transition Services, LLC, a service for families with long term care needs. Tune in on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. to radio WCHE 1520, “50+ Planning Ahead,” with Janet Colliton, Colliton Elder Law Associates, and Phil McFadden, Home Instead Senior Care.