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Shelly Ann Kamei Law Offices PLLC is ready to assist you with:

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Wills and Trusts

Customized Wills

Wills tailored to your specific situation and your individual goals, including your specific wishes concerning:

Specific bequests of property to named individuals.

I leave my my tea set to my niece Clara.

Lapse: what happens when a person you named in a specific bequest predeceases you.

If Clara predeceases me, my tea set shall pass to my neighbor Jane Doe.

Advancements: whether gifts, loans, or other payments you made to beneficiaries counts against their share of the estate.

The payments I made toward my son Adam’s education shall not be counted against his share of my estate.

or

The payments I made toward my sister Eva’s mortgage shall be deducted from her share of my estate. A record of all payments is on file with my accountants Bob Smith & Sons.

No-contest provisions: disinherits a beneficiary who challenges your estate without cause.

Testamentary trusts

• Spendthrift Truststo protect beneficiaries from creditors, predators, and themselves.
• Contingent Supplemental Needs Trustsfor Special Needs or Disabled Beneficiaries (i.e., anyone who might receive needs-based government benefits such as SSI or Medicaid or who might be unable to mange their own affairs because of a pre-existing condition or injury).
• Contingent Minor’s Trusts to hold property for underage beneficiaries. No state in the union allows minor’s to inherit property outright. If you decide not to include a minor’s trust and a beneficiary is under-age at the time they receive their bequest, a court process will be necessary to appoint a custodian to hold the asset until the minor reaches the age of majority at which time the asset must be handed over to the minor.

Trusts

Revocable and irrevocable standalone living trusts, including:

Spousal Trusts: joint trust to protect and administer marital and separate property during life and to meet specific goals upon the death of spouses (e.g., minimize taxes, protect separate inherited property and pass it on to the family of origin).

Spendthrift trusts to protect beneficiaries from creditors, predators, and themselves.

Asset preservation trusts to protect an asset such as a farm or business and preserve it for the next generation.

Trusts for Elders

Irrevocable Income-Only Trusts aka Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts to shield the home and other land from the costs of long-term care.

Qualifying Income Trusts to assist clients with too much income to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to pay for care.

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Planning for Non-probate assets

Planning for assets that do not pass by will and are not under the purview of the probate court:

• Payable on death or transfer on death accounts (e.g., bank accounts)
• Beneficiary designations such as:
  • Life insurance
  • IRAs
  • 401(k)
  • Brokerage accounts
  • Other financial accounts
• Jointly titled asset (e.g., vehicles and real estate)

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Planning for Elder Care

 Drafting Medicaid-Compliant caregiver agreements so that payments made to providers of care – particularly relative providers – do not count against the Medicaid applicant.

Planning for Assisted Living

Discussing your options for paying for assisted living and tailoring a solution which might include VA Aid and Attendance Planning, coordination of VA and Medicaid planning, and coordination of care planning and estate planning.

Advance Medicaid Planning

Planning for care that is not currently needed, but may be needed in future. The sooner we can plan for you, the more of your estate we can shield from the costs of care. Our approach will include:

Crisis Planning

Planning when nursing home care is imminent or your loved one is already in a nursing home. Our approach will include:

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Asset Protection Planning

Planning to protect your farm or business and preserve it for the next generation. Our approach will include:

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Special Needs and Disability Planning

Planning for individuals with special needs or who are disabled as well as parents, spouses, and siblings of such individuals. Our approach includes:

• Working with you to find the best plan to balance the daily needs of the individual, eligibility for government programs, and preservation of assets for remote beneficiaries.
• Tools and strategies such as
  • First Party Supplemental Needs Trusts: Trusts for property that has vested in the name of the special needs or disabled person.
    
  • Third Party Supplemental Needs Trusts: Trusts for property that has not yet vested in the name of the special needs or disabled person and still legally belongs to the parent, grandparent, sibling, or other person.
  • STABLE accounts: Special interest-bearing accounts which do not jeopardize needs-based benefits when set up and administered properly.
  • Pooled Trusts: Trusts which hold the assets of multiple special needs or disabled individuals and is administered by a professional trustee.
    

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Planning for Incapacity

Powers of Attorney

Customized documents detailing who and how someone will act on your behalf if you are unable to do so. The areas addressed include management of property, financial assets, legal matters, and other matters during period of incapacity.

Health Care Documents

Customized Health Care Surrogate Designations and Health Care Directives to designate an agent to make health care decisions in the event of incapacity. Assistance with statutory forms such as the Mental Health Power of attorney and Living Will.

Funeral and Burial or Cremation

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Guardianship and Conservatorship

• Acquiring guardianship over minors
• Advising conservators and guardians of minors or adult wards on issues including
  • Court reporting
    • Initial reporting
    • Annual reporting
    • Other reporting to the court
  • Coordinating guardianship requirements with benefits eligibility
    • Use of funds – permissible purposes
    • Withdraw and expenditure of funds
    • Record keeping
  • Coordinating guardianship requirements with individual and familial estate planning goals.

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Probate, Estate, and Trust Administration

Trust Administration

Representation of grantors (i.e., trustmakers), trustees, and beneficiaries with respect to

• Interpreting the trust
• Adhering to trustee’s fiduciary duty through proper procedures and strategies
• Reporting to beneficiaries
• Creating and submitting the required annual accounting
• Reporting to the appropriate court (if any)
• Changes to the trust
• Termination of the trust

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Community Property Issues

Assistance to attorneys or private parties concerning community property issues in estate planning, probate or trust administration, and in separation or dissolution of marriage matters. Prior to moving to Kentucky, Shelly Ann Kamei practiced law in California, a community property state. She has also written and presented on the Kentucky Community Property Trust.