Anthony S. Park

Is the highest offer the strongest offer? Not necessarily, especially in probate. Sometimes an heir or a co-executor believes they can get a higher offer. Then, all things being equal, we should take that offer. However, it’s unusual that two offers are identical. There are other factors to take into account besides the price. 3 Fs of probate homebuyers We use the 3 Fs to make sure the buyer is a good fit for a probate real estate sale. Financials An all-cash offer is the best offer. There is always the risk of a mortgage getting denied. However, some probate properties are well-suited for a traditional mortgage situation. We also want to see a good, healthy down payment, as well as substantial post-closing funds. In other words, the buyer should have uber financial strength. Fast We need to sell fast in probate, but we won’t acquiesce to a bad offer just for speed. A normal seller who doesn’t like a deal can reject an offer and continue to live in the home. But for an estate, the property is vacant. So, the estate is bleeding cash every month to pay maintenance, utilities, and existing mortgage. Also, any vacant property will fall into greater disrepair, especially over the winter. One bad winter can lead to much wear and tear. If the owner is alive and living in the home, they would know about a problem and take care of it. Whereas, in a probate property, the executor will have to keep checking in and find time to deal with issues that arise. Long-sitting vacant properties will have less value due to less upkeep. Flexible An executor cannot afford the time to handhold a first-time home buyer. The buyer needs to know what they are doing throughout the process. We’re busy working on the estate side of things. For example, we need to get additional court orders if the executor is bonded. We have to get special approval to sell the property, get tax waivers, get approval from the IRS to close the sale, and all sorts of other issues. Now that the buyer has met the 3 Fs, in what circumstance might we accept the lower offer? Is this probate homebuyer credible? We often get investors as buyers for probate properties. Usually, it’s too much of a mess for first time home buyers or first-time renovators. We want to weed out those buyers who just watched a YouTube video on how to flip a house and are looking for a probate steal. But on the flipside, experienced investors can be a little sneaky trying to get the best deal. There are savvy investors who come in at a pretty aggressive/high offer with the goal of clearing out all the other offers. Then the savvy investor becomes the focus of the negotiation. Once they are the only ones left at the table, they start nickel and diming you down to the price of the next best offer. Will the probate home sale actually close? Even if the buyer comes in 15% higher than the next best offer, will their mortgage actually get approved at that amount? Will the co-op or HOA approve the buyer? If we are selling an artist’s loft in Soho, and the buyer is completely unrelated to the fit and culture, they could get rejected. In New York, you can be rejected from buying a co-op for almost any reason except being a protected class under anti-discrimination laws. Again, savvy investors may make the highest offer, but when they can’t get it negotiated down to their liking, they will bail. This does not mean that you will get to keep their down payment; they will just litigate. It’s not like a traditional buyer whose eggs are all in that basket. These investors have money to let things sit for a few months while they sue you. We avoid those buyers like the plague, because we do not need probate held up and the property still sitting vacant. Sometimes, an offer is too good to be true. We know enough to see the red flags. Naturally, clients want to know why we may not accept the highest offer. We have to explain carefully to our clients that these types of deals will not close at that offer number. If you want to learn more about how probate works in general, check out my book, "How Probate Works,” available on Amazon. Request your free consultation

A few Solo Agers have asked if they can use beneficiary designations instead of a traditional estate plan. We’ll explain some pros and cons of beneficiary designations, and why a professional executor may work better. Why traditional estate planning doesn't work for Solo Agers Most traditional estate plans are centered around a friend or family acting as your executor to manage probate. Solo Agers often don’t have an assumed family member to serve in this role. Sometimes a Solo Ager has a friend or sibling, but for several reasons, it wouldn’t work out for those loved ones to serve. For example, friends and siblings may be the same age or older than the Solo Ager. There also may not be the same level of trust that one would have with a spouse. Or maybe the relationships are estranged. For the reasons above, Solo Agers seek to avoid the need for an executor altogether. It’s not hard to blame them. For example, we had a Solo Ager client (no kids, no family, no close friends) who could not get it through to other attorneys that she had no one to appoint. She became so frustrated with their standard advice that she wanted to avoid appointing an executor altogether. Why Solo Agers like the idea of beneficiary designations Beneficiary designations go directly to the heirs and “avoid probate.” This is common with life insurance and retirement plans. When someone dies, the beneficiary just fills out and submits claim forms. There is no need to go through probate for that particular asset. Sounds easy and great, right? But in most cases, using only beneficiary designations does not work. Sure, it would work for a particular account, but realistically, you are probably not avoiding probate altogether. In order to completely avoid probate, you need a 100% perfect beneficiary designation plan. This means you cannot leave any assets out of your plan (zero assets left in probate, zero lingering debts or taxes). This becomes highly unlikely. Any outstanding debts at the time of death need to be paid by the estate representative. Because of this, probate has to happen anyway to figure out pro-rata which accounts need to be reduced to pay your funeral bill or lingering medical bills, unsecured mortgage or credit card bills. If all assets go to named beneficiaries, then the IRS goes directly after your beneficiaries. Your heirs will be harassed until the taxes and debts are paid. No one wants that for their loved ones. Additionally, it’s unlikely that someone will volunteer to act as your executor and deal with these issues. Why Solo Agers like the idea of a professional executor The main attraction is that you appoint someone (experienced) to handle everything. The worry is that it will be hard to find a professional executor and it will also be expensive to hire one. Regarding the cost, the executor’s fee is set by state law. This fee is the same whether you hire your 19-year-old unemployed nephew, or the esteemed professional executor. It is more bang for your buck to go with the professional! How do you find a professional executor? First, you know that we can fill that role! Second, you can go to a bank and see if they have a trust officer who can serve (even if you don’t have a trust). However, most banks have liquid minimum asset requirements of 2 million or more (meaning this cannot include your home). How do you name a person as your executor? You don’t necessarily have to pay an estate attorney to draft your will. While it’s usually a better idea to hire an attorney to draft the will (especially in complex situations), there are plenty of good estate planning software programs you can use yourself. If you find a professional executor, interview them before you commit to appointing them. To learn more about executors and estate planning, check out my book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan.” For a free E-copy, click the link below. Free copy of "The Solo Ager Estate Plan" Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”

Most people correctly assume you need a local executor in New York, but they may not know exactly why. Let’s review a few real-world scenarios and reasons why you need an executor local to New York. KYC requirements KYC stands for “know your customer,” and this applies to banking requirements. Banks take steps to make sure the customer is who they say they are. This helps prevent fraud, terrorism, and money laundering. Often banks require meeting the executor in person to close an account or open the estate account – they have to physically see the authorized person sign the opening and closing documents. This may seem hard to believe, since you can open a bank account via text, app, website, etc. in minutes nowadays! However, in probate, an executor represents someone else (the estate or the heirs). Going to the bank in person is usually required and very inconvenient for an executor who lives far away. The process also applies to brokerages or any regulated financial institution. Selling New York real estate First, we’ll talk about the physical logistics such as the cleanout, renovations, and choosing the broker. It may be possible to do these things remotely, but it’s better to be there in person to oversee that nothing is breaking and that the renovations are up to par. Someone should be there to make sure the personal effects are sent to the heirs properly. Similarly, would you buy a home by video, or would you like to see it in person? Choosing a broker in person is important to help get a sense of whether they understand the nuisances of the particular unit and type of neighborhood. When it comes to New York real estate, there is a good chance you will be dealing with a co-op. We’ve talked at length before about New York co-op rules. Some of the co-ops require, above and beyond New York state law, that the executor be a New York resident. Co-ops are their own little kingdoms with their own set of rules. It is really tough for an outside executor to understand the co-op rules if they are not familiar with New York co-ops. Also, real estate closings in New York are not conducted remotely or by FedEx. We still sit around a table for 3 or 4 hours in-person and then sign the papers furiously at the end. Antiquated, yes, but it’s how it’s done. Dealing with local bureaucracies Until recently, ordering death certificates online didn’t exist or at least didn’t apply to New York City. You had to go down to the Health and Human Services Department and stand in line. To get it done quickly, you better know the lady behind the desk! Similarly, while you can technically order court documents online, it is actually easier if you have someone get them in person. For example, to order a certified copy of a file, you need to know the page count, because they charge per page. How do you get the page count unless you go to the courthouse and see the file? Calling and asking how many pages are in the file isn’t going to happen. We know that these seem like odd examples, but these are real life situations. That being said, my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” is definitely a good idea if you are thinking of appointing an out-of-town executor. Request your free consultation

“There’s no such thing as a perfect estate plan,” Sherlock Holmes would probably say if he did probate. What we mean is that things may not work out the way you plan, no matter how hard you try. We’ll review an anonymous probate case study, where even in an ideal planning scenario (knowing the time of death to the minute, and plenty of time to plan ahead), there were all sorts of probate problems. Solo Ager, Linda, was terminally ill, and had a planned end of life. This means she knew, to the minute, when she would pass, and she had months to plan in advance. Here’s how her probate unfurled. This is not a criticism of Linda; rather an acknowledgement that it is difficult to plan a perfect estate. What part of her estate plan worked? First, Linda hired us as her professional executor. This acted as a safety net because we are experienced to look for problems (and she let us know that there would be problems). Linda also had pre-planned funeral arrangements, which allowed her remains to be treated exactly how she wanted. She made sure to arrange for the care of her dog. This helped to avoid the panic of a dog in the apartment with no caregiver. Lastly, she did a good job of canceling her utility services. Usually, we have to determine what services the decedent utilized, so this saved lots of time. What part of her estate plan didn’t work? First, Linda did a good job of preparing her will and naming a professional executor. However, she kept her original will in her apartment, instead of storing it with her attorney or somewhere else. This caused problems for several reasons. If your original will gets lost, it is presumed that you intentionally destroyed it, thereby revoking it. If your attorney, CPA, or trusted advisor loses it, then they can petition the court to rely on a copy. The professional has no right to revoke your will, so it can be assumed that they just lost the original. While a professional losing a will is not good, at least it doesn’t negate the whole thing. Storing the original will in your apartment requires another layer of the court process. The executor needs the will to get letters of testamentary in order to enter the apartment. This doesn’t work when the will is in the apartment to begin with. It’s quite the conundrum. It's not the end of the world if this happens; there is a special procedure in place so the executor can enter the apartment to look for the will. This procedure just adds more time and money to the process. Second, Linda relied too much on her cell phone. She had a lot of information on her phone, and she referenced that information in her instructions to us. She even gave us the password to her phone. Unfortunately, her phone was stuck overseas. We learned the hard way that you can’t just mail a phone. The battery causes issues in shipping, and the phone may be dismantled by the custom agents. There is a lot of red tape in mailing a phone. Now, either I or another authorized person will need to transport the phone to the United States. Lastly, Linda arranged for her keys to be mailed to us, but we have not received them. Once we get appointed by the court, we will work it out with her apartment building. What were some unexpected probate problems? First, Linda assumed that her friends and heirs would work harmoniously with her professional executor (me). So far this has not worked out. One family member thinks I am a fraud because Linda didn’t tell her family about her plan. Another heir is not happy about how this is working out, so the heir hired her own attorney. Linda assumed that I would be able to call her family and friends to get information that I need. But that didn’t happen. I doubt Linda expected this from her loved ones – no one usually does. Of course, we will work around all of these issues; it’s what we do! From a planning perspective, her plan was a very good best-case scenario. There was no time variables and she had plenty of time to plan. But, even in the best situation, nothing is perfect. To learn more about probate, check out my book, “How Probate Works,” available on Amazon. The best way to plan is to look at how it may all unfurl in the end. Request your free consultation

How long does probate take in New York if the estate includes bitcoin? As we talked about in a prior blog How Long Does Probate Take in New York, generally probate takes 15 months or longer; sometimes up to 3 years. Those numbers are actually on the lower side, because everything is more delayed these days. Here we will discuss how a new-ish asset like bitcoin may add some delays. How long does it take to become executor of a New York estate with bitcoin? Typically, it takes about 3-6 months to file and get the court paperwork naming someone as executor. The reasons for the delays are: Collecting documents; Court delays; and Hearings before the court will decide who should be executor. Even with bitcoin added to the mix, this step of the probate process will remain about the same. The only area where bitcoin would make any difference is the estimated value of estate on the probate petition. The executor may have trouble pinning down how much bitcoin the decedent had. Also, because bitcoin is a newer hot topic, the knowledge that the decedent had bitcoin could attract greedy heirs. “Hmm, Uncle Joe had bitcoin; maybe I should contest his will,” etc. How long to settle an estate with bitcoin in New York? Typically, it takes 15 months to 3 years to settle an estate. Settling an estate means the executor collects assets and pays debts and taxes to get the net amount to distribute to the heirs. Of course, after 2020, everything has slowed down. Probate is currently taking much longer than mentioned above. Then, if you add a newer asset like bitcoin, a few more months may be added to the process. The first reason is because of bureaucracies. Even traditional banks and brokerages are not great at handling decedent's estates. It’s a constant game of phone tag. New bureaucracies (exchanges such as Binance, Kraken, Gemini, Coinbase) will probably struggle with processing the death claims. They may not yet know what they are doing, because they don’t have a well-oiled machine for this kind of process. The next possible cause of delay is if your decedent held his own keys and own wallet. Taking custody of self-hosted wallet and transferring it to secure multi-sig estate wallet could be time-consuming. The executor would need a lot of education to know how to handle it. It may be wise to appoint an executor who is familiar with both probate rules and bitcoin custody. Another cause of delay for the executor is deciding whether to liquidate the bitcoin (convert it to dollars). With other assets, you want to covert the assets to dollars as quickly as possible to avoid the risk of price fluctuations. But bitcoiners tend to be hardcore and may specify that they want the bitcoin (not dollars) to go to the heirs. Lastly, taxes add time to the process. Besides estate tax, figuring out the capital gains tax can be daunting. Even just filing a regular income tax return with bitocin may cause your tax preparer and examiner to conduct additional research on the rules. As we discussed previously, getting tax clearance tax a long time, even without bitcoin. How long to close an estate with bitcoin in New York? Generally, the final phase (closing the estate) is anywhere from 3 months to 1 year. Again, the executor collects documents (statements, transcripts, and proof of what occurred during the probate process). Then the executor prepares the accounting, which are the books and records in a specific format required by the court. Lastly, the executor has to deal with any contests or objections to the will. Dealing with a contested will can add months to the final phase. So, when the executor collects documentation of the assets, how does he document bitcoin acquisition? You can’t call a bank and ask for a ledger. You might be relying on screenshots. It’s not even clear if you can rely on the exchanges; you may have to reference the mempool. How does the executor document bitcoin sale? Hopefully the sale was made on the exchange, and you can document it that way. After a sale, how does the executor protect himself and ensure the heirs that the bitocin didn’t lose value? If you have an inexperienced person putting together an accounting and the court doesn’t accept it, much more time will be added. We’ve tried to apply much of our probate knowledge to bitcoin situations. Let us know if you find this useful. Also check out my book, “How Probate Works,” to understand how probate works in general. Then, add to that all the complexities of probating an estate with bitcoin! Request your free consultation

Many of our Solo Agers wonder “how will my executor know I died?” (Especially if they’ve chosen me as their professional executor, as opposed to someone they see daily). Solo Agers tend to live alone, so this is a very understandable and common question. Notify in case of death In New York, many Solo Agers live in buildings with a doorman, which is very convenient. Many of these buildings have “Notify in Case of Death/Emergency” forms. The Solo Ager would put my name on the form and indicate that I am the executor. Also, your doorman or super will know if something is wrong when they don’t see you coming and going anymore. Over time, they tend to recognize routines and changes to them. Some doctors have similar forms to add my name as attorney/executor. The doctor will know what to do from there. Perhaps you made pre-paid funeral arrangements, or you have chosen your funeral home. The funeral home should also have the same type of forms. Leave clues Aside from having official paperwork to notify the executor, you should also leave clues of who to contact in case of death. Make sure your executor is listed in your paper address book. Believe it or not, it’s not always easy to get contact information from a person’s cell phone. Another way is to put the executor/attorney’s business card on the refrigerator. Hopefully it would be obvious to someone who comes into your home that they should call that attorney upon your passing. Once you have asked us to be your executor, we send you items on occasion, such as books and holiday cards. This is a less subtle way to let someone know who to contact. Maybe your neighbor comes in and finds that you have passed. If she sees the “How to Hire a Professional Executor Book” on your coffee table and a holiday card from us on the mantel, then hopefully she would put the clues together and call our office. Annual check-ins Once you hire us to be your professional executors, we call you for annual check-ins. These calls will naturally result in casual mentions among friends: “I was just taking to my executor…” So now your friends know that you have a professional executor, even if they don’t know my name. That should trigger them to search for my name upon your passing. Asking friends to remember little details of your life is probably not realistic. So, a few clues are more likely to recall something you said earlier. Another reason these check-in calls are helpful is that the conversations give me an update on ongoing health issues. If there is a downward trend, I will know to monitor your situation a little more often. Worst case scenario, if you were to pass away a minute after we hang up from our annual call, I'll know within a year when it’s time for our next call. It’s not ideal, but it works. There’s no perfect way of letting me know, but these are the most common scenarios. If you don’t already have one, please click the link below to get a free copy of my book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan.” Free copy of "The Solo Ager Estate Plan" Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”

Every executor faces the tax risks unless they get proper tax clearance, which can take a LONG time. Here’s how we’ve seen that plays out with professional executors, non-estate attorneys, and amateur executors. Professional executors set patient expectations We advise heirs from the beginning that this will be a long process! This probably turned away many prospective clients who thought I was crazy for saying it could take years and decided to go with an attorney who told them it would take only months. (I’m pretty sure it ends up taking years for those attorneys, too). I’d rather be warned that it could take years, than to expect the over-promised and under-delivered “few months”. We keep reminding our clients over the months that it is a long process. People don’t want to hear it, but at least they’re not wondering what’s going on. An example of how long things can take: We filed an application for tax clearance for Mr. M.’s estate in September 2020. The IRS just responded via a computer-generated letter in July 2022 (almost 2 years later!). The IRS hasn’t even granted the tax clearance yet; the letter just acknowledged that they received our application. This is why we set up the expectations in the beginning, because there’s nothing we can do about the government. General attorneys react General attorneys can be very reactive if they have not had experience in this area. Many potential clients call us in similar situations where things are going slow, asking if their attorney is doing something wrong. The potential client is dealing with the same set of facts that we deal with, except that his attorney has not set any expectations and is communicating with the heirs. In order to get a case, some attorneys tell prospective clients that “probate” takes a few months. What they mean is that’s how long it may take to get letters testamentary. They don’t tell the client that getting letters is just step 1 of the 3 stages of probate. Similarly, once the house is sold or accounts are collected, non-specialist attorneys tell the heirs that payout is imminent. But the inexperienced attorney comes to realize that to protect their client (the executor) from personal liability to the IRS, they must first get clearance. Then the attorney has to break the news to heirs who thought they were about to get a check that it may be a LONG time. It's all about expectations and being able to see a couple steps ahead; not just react to the situations as they come. Friends or family executors get blindsided The previous situation isn't great, but it's not as bad as when an amateur executor gets blindsided. Sadly, amateur executors (friends and family) often don’t even realize they must get tax clearance first. Then they get hit with the personal tax liability. For example, Ms. V. was the executor for her uncle’s estate, and she didn’t know to get the tax clearance. She just paid out the funds quickly to happy heirs. Then IRS sent her a letter informing her that the estate owes $20,000 in taxes. She had to try and recoup the funds from the heirs. Mrs. V. reached out to the heirs and waited patiently for the checks. How many checks do you think came in? None. Some people might say, “Oh, my family wouldn’t do that to me.” Well, some heirs may want to help out, but in some cases, they’ve already spent their inheritance. Unfortunately, the IRS doesn’t care who pays the taxes, as long as they get paid. Executors are personally liable. So, Mrs. V. had to come up with a way to get $20,000 to pay the IRS. To this day, I do not know if she took out a loan or if she was able to recoup the money from the heirs. Having an amateur executor is probably the worst situation. They don’t know to how set expectations, and they end up getting into messy situations. This is a good reason to check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor." Request your free consultation

Here are our tips for cleaning out the decedent’s home and getting it presentable for sale. Identify the estate clean-out problems For example, did the decedent die recently, or has some time passed? Sometimes folks become ill and move into a facility, leaving their home behind. We often see these homes in disrepair (leaks, mold, gas shut-off, rotting food, etc.). Alternatively, if the decedent was living at home and died suddenly, then there may not be so many issues. Remember, in New York, you won’t be able to get into the house right away after someone passes. You will need to get permission, and that process should be built into your timeline. Next is the amount of clutter. This depends on the square footage of the home. Was the decedent a hoarder? How much are the heirs taking with them? Whatever the heirs take will reduce the amount you have to clear out. Lastly, are there property-specific issues? We’ve discussed in the past how New York co-ops are a very unique animal! Lofts can present specific issues, as well. Make sure you take into account elevator access, permission from the Board, etc. when you develop your clean-out plan. Find the best clean out service for your estate There are two types of services: clean-out and cleaning. Clean-out service means the big, burly dudes who carry out the furniture, etc. A cleaning service provides vacuuming, wiping, dusting, etc. The best service for an estate situation does it in one shot. Work with a team who is experienced in sizing and estimating the deal and is big enough to provide crew and trucks to handle it in one day. There’s no apartment in New York that can’t be handled in one day with the right team. We had a recent bad example: GotJunk sent 1 truck and 2 small guys for a 2,500 square foot loft! There was a lot of stuff, and we had to do the clean-out over two days. That’s two days of cost, as well as inconveniencing the other neighbors in the building. Second, make sure the service is reputable and insured. Buildings will require a COI (Certificate of Insurance); they won’t let anyone in to do the job. Co-ops and neighbors also appreciate well-manned crew. They don’t want bubble wrap and tape littering the halls and elevators. Keeping the common areas clean goes a long way in maintaining the relationship with the neighbors and co-op board. Lastly, a good clean-out service will get the home broom clean. They not only clear out the junk but actually bring in the broom to clean. We’ve dealt with some clean-out companies who left bits of extension cords and zip-ties and tape on the floors. While it may not be a big deal, it does shift the burden and cost on to the next step: the cleaning service. How to choose a cleaning service The goal is not to clean the home so someone can move in and eat off the floor. You need to have the home presentable for sale. A sell-able condition may mean different things for different situations. If you are selling to the typical retail buyer, then you should get the home as pristine as possible. However, if you know the home will only attract investors, broom-cleaning is fine. If the house situation is borderline toxic, you may need a professional crew. For example, there could be bodily fluids from the decedent’s death. Or maybe the level of mold in the bathroom or kitchen is dangerously high. If you encounter these situations, you can search for a local crime-scene cleaner. It might sound extreme, but they can provide a next-level cleaning service. As we’ve discussed before, there are a lot of moving parts to the probate process. To dig in deeper, check out my book, “How Probate Works.” Request your free consultation

Probating bitcoin is more complicated than usual probate. We’ve discussed the 3 stages of probate generally. Here, we’ll describe some specifics of the process for when the decedent owned bitcoin. How to find out if deceased had bitcoin First, did the decedent even own bitcoin? We previously discussed three steps to take to find out if the decedent owned bitcoin. To recap: Check for hardware wallets, which are little devices that look like a USB drive, calculator, or small smartphone. Check the decedent’s phone and computers for software or soft wallets. If you have no idea what those apps are named, just do a Google search for the most popular software wallets. New programs and apps come out all the time. Look for instances of 12 or 24 words. You could find these on a piece of paper, etched into metal plates, or anything else you come across that may be a seed phrase to the decedent’s wallet. Get letters testamentary for bitcoin Once you determine that the decedent owned bitcoin, you need to get letters testamentary. Is this practically necessary? Do you really need letters testamentary for someone who had self-custody (held in a private wallet and not on an exchange). Probably not, unless bitcoin is held in exchange. If the decedent held the bitcoin privately, there is no gatekeeper to get past. Once you have the decedent’s key or PIN, you have possession of the bitcoin. Is this legally necessary? Absolutely. Say you walk into the decedent’s house, find cash, pick it up and walk out. Sure, practically, you can do that. But it doesn’t mean you should! Taking possession of the bitcoin without letters testamentary is no different taking personal property, cash, or jewels from the estate without proper authority. Take custody of the deceased’s bitcoin Now that you confirmed the decedent owned bitcoin and you have letters testamentary, how do you take custody of the decedent’s bitcoin? Generally, you want to move it out of the decedent's wallet into a new wallet for the purposes of the probate process. If the bitcoin was held on an exchange, submit paperwork (death certificate, letters testamentary, claim forms) to authorize the withdrawal. This is similar to the process involving a brokerage account. If the bitcoin was held in self-custody (ex. a hardware or software wallet), make sure you have all necessary device(s), seed words, pins to access the wallet. I recommend moving it into a new wallet for probate. For the executor who knows how to cover their own tail, I recommend moving the bitcoin to a 2-of-3 multisig with a reputable custody service (Casa, Unchained, etc.). The reasons are that the custody service will hold a third key; in case the executor dies during probate, and to minimize risk of the executor being held personally liable for losing keys/custody. There is more of a chance of someone losing the information than there is for other disasters. As an executor, you don’t want to put yourself in that position. There’s no perfect solution, but the 2-of-3 multisig creates levels of redundancies and backups. Sound complicated? It is! And it’s exactly why you should consider naming a professional bitcoin executor. Should executor sell or hold bitcoin? Now that the executor has possession of the bitcoin, should the executor sell or hold during the pendency of probate? This is the toughest question. With stocks and other volatile assets, the general rule is to sell and liquidate. Why? Because executor’s job is to preserve value, not grow the estate. Executors will only get blamed if the price goes down; there’s no reward or upside if the estate goes up. BUT, some bitcoiners are pretty hardcore and may direct that they don’t want the bitcoin liquidated into dollars. If decedent or the heirs really want to keep the bitcoin holding, the executor should prepare paperwork to document that the consequences are not his fault. Holding the bitcoin poses pretty considerable risk for the executor, so most won’t do it. Again, if this is important to you, consider hiring a professional bitcoin executor! You need someone willing and comfortable bearing the risk under the right circumstances. Even if the decedent tries to spell it out in the will, the executor may not be comfortable taking the risk of holding the bitcoin. If this is the case, it may be beneficial to find and name a professional bitcoin executor in your will. Close an estate with bitcoin Many folks think once the executor collects the assets/bitcoin, they can turn around and immediately relay it to the heirs. NO, the distribution of the estate does not occur immediately after the executor gets his hands on the hardware wallet. The executor must wait for all debts, expenses, and taxes to come in and pay those first. Only after all those final debts and expenses are cleared can executor safely distribute bitcoin. If an executor pays out the bitcoin before he settles taxes and debts, and then receives a tax bill, he’s going to have problems. The executor

How does receiving an inheritance change your own Solo Ager estate plan? A family inheritance will increase the size and complexity of your estate, so let’s discuss what that means for Solo Agers. Increases the size of your estate How does this inheritance result in a more complex probate for you later on? The more you have, the higher the risk of conflict. This is because there is more at stake. If your niece and nephew were going to each receive $20,000; that’s a nice chunk of change, but not worth hiring lawyers for. But if they are now going to receive six figures each, it gets more complicated. Also imagine if you plan to leave the niece $100,000 and the nephew $300,000; the niece could feel she’d have the funds to hire an attorney and make it worth the fight. Then there’s taxes, and we're not just talking about estate tax. When you have more assets, you’re more likely to have capital gains issues. Or, even ordinary income tax clearance issues on your final 1040. The higher your net worth, the more complicated or diverse are your assets. If you inherited a bunch of stock and bought/sold them to organize your estate, it could cause issues getting the tax clearance on your 1040 if you die shortly after. It also depends what you are inheriting. If your current estate is made up of bank, brokerage, and real estate, then it’s probably pretty straightforward. But what if you inherit commercial real estate, a share of a small business, art, Bitcoin, etc.? Those are new assets that can add twists to your plans. Maybe the executor you appointed isn’t equipped to deal with these types of assets. This leads to the next question: Do you now need a professional executor? As Solo Ager, you may have chosen a friend or distantly related family member as executor. Now that your estate is more complex than you originally planned, the more burdensome and difficult it is to administer the estate. You’re now asking more from the executor than you did initially, and maybe it’s time to consider hiring a professional executor. Reduce amounts to your heirs Receiving an inheritance could compel you to reduce the amount you give to your heirs. It seems counterintuitive; if you inherited more, why would you give less? For example, our client recently inherited a large amount of money from his father, who passed away. His initial estate plan was to give a good chunk to his niece and nephew (25% of his estate to each and 50% to charity). Since he received dad’s inheritance, his estate is significantly larger. In our client’s opinion, 25% of his now-large estate is a bit too generous for each of his heirs. On top of all this, the niece and nephew have already inherited from our client’s deceased father, too! In this situation, our client felt it was appropriate to reduce the heirs’ shares and bequeath those funds to others. Leave more to charity Along the same lines, you may decide to leave more to charity. If your estate is bigger, you have more options to give to good causes. You can give (more) to charity, since you have enough to leave good amounts to friends and family and still have funds left over. Now that you have more to leave to charity, there are different techniques and strategies available to you. For small estates, it’s not worth the legal and accounting fees to set up certain plans. But now, the amount you’re leaving to charity is large enough to cost-justify a trust or other planning tool that better suits your legacy and goals. We have Solo Agers who are grateful to have inherited from older family members, and they have told us how it’s impacted their own estate plans. We wanted to share with you so that you can be prepared, too. If you have not already done so, please click the link below to get a free copy of my book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan.” Free copy of "The Solo Ager Estate Plan" Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”

Does the MTA covid death benefit have beneficiaries, and if not, who should inherit? The MTA is paying a pretty generous amount (about $500,000) to the estate of any employee who passed away with or from covid. The requirements seem to be tightening up a bit, but we’ll see what comes of it. Have your MTA Covid death benefits been paid to the wrong person? We’ve had a few of these cases. Although well-intentioned and hardworking, the folks at MTA don’t seem to be experienced with estate issues. They are probably also overwhelmed because Covid benefits are a new thing. Because the benefit is significant, MTA is probably getting a different energy from these heirs as opposed to heirs just looking to claim the decedent’s last paycheck. For example, Mr. S. was confused because MTA told him they would pay benefit to him. Since he was named as beneficiary on son’s pension, Mr. S. was told that the Covid benefit would go to him, too... even though Mr. S.’s son had a surviving wife and kids. It seems that the son never updated his beneficiary designations when he got married and had kids. We see this happen often, and it is a main reason why we don’t recommend using beneficiary designations. In another example, the MTA paid the full amount to Mrs. B., but her husband died with no will and with kids from a prior marriage. When you die with no will, your estate is supposed to go roughly half to your surviving spouse and half to your kids. Should his children from a prior marriage have received part of the benefit? It was actually the kids who called us to ask this, because dad’s second wife (Mrs. B.) got all the MTA Covid death benefit money. Does the MTA Covid death benefit have named beneficiaries? While possible, it is highly unlikely. This emergency benefit only came into existence less than 2 years ago. It’s an automatic benefit, not something employees signed up for, like a pension or life insurance. If naming a beneficiary is not the case, it’s highly unlikely that Mr. S. being named on the pension carries over to the Covid death benefit in the example above. I can’t think of any other scenario where beneficiary designation from one policy gets automatically transfers to another. That’s like saying, “I named my wife as beneficiary on my life insurance, so she should get my IRA, too.” We ended up confirming that there was miscommunication with the MTA in Mr. S.’s case. Who is supposed to inherit the MTA Covid Death Benefit? In the absence of beneficiary designations, death benefits get paid according to the will, or if no will, then according to default inheritance law (intestacy). This has been consistent in our dealing with the MTA. They are requiring proof of a court-appointed executor or administrator before they pay anything to anyone. In our experience, the MTA has been handling this properly, yet sometimes heirs have a misunderstanding. So in Mrs. B.’s case: If a spouse has received funds and no funds were paid to the kids, either: There was a will that the kids didn’t know about and they were disinherited under that will; or Maybe the spouse received funds not as the wife, but as the executor/administrator. If this is the case, the funds may pay out to the kids when estate is closed; or MTA paid the benefit directly to Mrs. B., even though she is not the executor/administrator; or B. received the check in her capacity as executor/administrator, and she is not fulfilling her duty as fiduciary. So, with $500,000 per claim, has the money run out? The program still exists, but the MTA is tightening qualifications for the benefit. When we first worked on these claims, “Covid” just had to be on the death certificate. Now the MTA wants medical records, and Covid needs to be the primary cause of death. They now have departments and committees dedicated to determining whether this benefit will be paid out. If you have questions about your family’s eligibility or rights, please contact us. We've worked on several MTA Covid death benefit claims and have developed relationships with the MTA. We can get this done for you! If you want to learn more about how probate works in general, don’t forget to check out my book, “How Probate Works,” available on Amazon. Request your free consultation

We often get hired when someone has died, but no one wants to be the executor. Sometimes there was a will with nominated executors who don’t want to serve. Other times there was no will, but none of the next of kin want to do the job. So they hire us as the professional executor. Being executor is too much work Most folks who’ve been an executor before avoid doing it again. They know first-hand how time-consuming it can be. Generally, we’re referring to people other than surviving spouse or children. The job is a bit easier for surviving spouse or children, because there is a lot of shared knowledge and possibly even shared assets. Other relatives or friends who have served as an executor before know how time-consuming it can be. Or perhaps they’ve heard enough horror stories from friends. (Plus, if you’ve heard our prior podcasts, you know how difficult it can be!). Too old to be executor Some nominated executors simply feel that they are too old to be an executor. This doesn’t necessarily mean they’re incompetent. Perhaps they were nominated many years ago when they were younger, but now they know that being an executor can be stressful. Perhaps now they are used to low-stress retirement life, and they don’t need any new stress. No need to increase that blood-pressure medication! Also, in terms of logistics, being an executor requires a lot of legwork, doing things in person, running around town for real estate, waiting in line at banks, going to the courthouse, etc. This may not seem appealing when you expected to relax in your old age. There are also tasks that can be done electronically, and an older person may not be very tech-savvy. Can I be estate executor if I live far away? The executor may live out of state or abroad, but it could cause some issues. The main issue is that the executor may be unfamiliar with local customs and laws. For example, if you are an executor residing in Colorado for a New York estate, you will be bewildered by how NYC co-ops work Perhaps an executor from Europe assumes that wiring funds to the heirs works best. You would be shocked to find out that wiring could be a huge mistake. For the same reasons as an older executor, there’s too much legwork to get done from afar. The number of flights alone would be cost-prohibitive and a pain. Unfortunately, many probate documents need original, wet signatures. We have sent documents overseas, and even one document in one envelope can cost $150! So, if neither you nor your family members want to be someone’s executor, remember that there are folks like us out there who can handle it. Declining to serve as an executor is very common, and there is no reason to feel guilty about it. You might be better off remembering your loved one fondly instead of remembering the frustrating estate work. If you fit into the criteria above, please check out my book “How to Hire an Executor” available on Amazon. Request your free consultation

We’ll discuss how to sell a loft in probate. This is yet another type of apartment that is unique to New York. We’ve talked about co-ops in the past, which seem mind-boggling to many people (even New Yorkers). What is an artist-in-residence? It is too much to cover in depth, so this is a link from Street Easy, a local real estate blog: https://streeteasy.com/blog/sohos-artist-in-residence-law-101/ To live in a loft that has been converted from commercial use, the buyer is supposed to be an artist who lives in their studio. In other words, a work-living space. Not that many people are professional artists, but buyers may be required to be a “certified” artist. This impacts probate by sorting through paperwork to confirm that the decedent was an artist-in-residence. This requirement also limits your pool of buyers. There’s a process to get certified as an actual artist by the City of New York. As with any bureaucratic process, apparently there are lots of workarounds. And there must be, because I've never seen an actual artist living in these multi-million-dollar lofts. Note that there is an income requirement; you can’t just make finger paintings and declare yourself an artist. It’s a niche issue, so make sure to work brokers who have deep experience. Otherwise, you will end up wasting a lot of time and limiting the number of potential buyers. Cleanout: the elevator problem Many of these were warehouses converted into lofts. That means there is not a traditional lobby with an elevator. The elevator goes directly into the living space. There is a key to each floor, so the elevator won’t randomly go to someone else’s loft. While this living situation is cool and unique, it leads to some issues from the executor’s perspective. For example, when you are using the one elevator that leads to all the floors, you are denying the other residents use of the elevator while you are cleaning out the decedent’s loft. This is not unique to probate; it happens when anyone moves in or out. It’s just one more twist for the executor to deal with. We experienced an odd situation where we didn’t have the key to the door that led from the elevator to the loft. The locksmith drilled, held the elevator door open with one hand, and then had to undo everything to let someone else on. Then he had to start over again to help us. The positive side is that these elevators are huge, since the lofts used to be warehouses. You can fill it with stuff and might only need two or three runs before giving the elevator back to the rest of the building. Unique layouts of New York City loft apartments There are no rooms; just a huge open space! You can get an architect and a contractor to put up some walls, but in its raw form, it is just a huge open warehouse floor. Again, this is not unique to probate, but to anyone selling a loft. You’ll have a narrow set of buyers who are interested in living like that. Executors, since you have many other things to worry about, make sure you are working with a broker who is familiar with selling these lofts. Lofts are very unique, but plenty of buyers love the space and uniqueness. And as a double-whammy, many of these lofts are co-ops, as well! So, you may deal with extra problems and rules. To read about various probate-related situations, check out my book, “How Probate Works,” available on Amazon. Request your free consultation

How do you probate a Bitcoin miner’s estate? We’ll cover: what a miner looks like, whether to keep the miner running through probate, and how miners will probably have yet another wallet to figure out. The Bitcoin mining machine The word “miner” can apply to the individual who engages in active mining or to the device itself. Confusing, right Did the decedent own a miner? A miner is a supercomputer dedicated to solving complex math problems to earn Bitcoin. The process of solving those math problems is what makes the Bitcoin network secure. This machine is not an ordinary laptop or PC. The miner itself looks like a prehistoric computer or heater, and often worth at least $10,000! Executors – make sure you Google what it looks like! You don’t want to accidentally throw away Uncle Bob’s “large old computer...” It could also be mistaken for a space heater, because it actually does throw off a lot of heat. Keep in mind that the decedent could own a hosted miner. Because the machines are huge, hot, and noisy, people may not want to keep them in the house. Instead, there are miner "farms" that handle the cooling, electricity, and noise reduction. This allows shelves upon shelves of miners to be in one place and under the right conditions. A decedent may own a machine at a hosted facility and pay rent for the facility to provide those solutions. Running a Bitcoin miner throughout probate Should the executor continue running the Bitcoin miner throughout the probate process? As we know, probate can take a long time. Running miners for a year or more could generate significant income. You need to do a cost-benefit analysis. Do you unplug the miner and sell it or keep it running? Just like any other operating business, don’t over–think it. Does the executor have the capability to keep running the miner, or is it better to sell it immediately? For example, an executor is not equipped to continue running a retail store for an estate, so it’s better to sell quickly. But an executor could maintain a rental property until ready to sell. So, if you have a hosted miner, it may be easy enough to pay the miner farm rent to keep it running. But, if the machine is in the decedent’s home, you probably don’t want it there while you are preparing to sell the home. Some factors to take into account are: Electricity cost vs. revenue. It takes a lot of power to run the machine. If you are spending a lot of money on electricity and the current price of Bitcoin doesn’t justify it, the executor may want to sell. Risks: If one of these machines blows out in the home, it could cause problems. If the machine itself is worth $10,000 and it blows out, then the heirs lose that money. Another Bitcoin wallet We’ve talked about wallets that executors may miss (https://anthonyspark.com/e270-3-Bitcoin-wallets-executors-overlook/), and miners may have another one! The miner’s earnings usually have to go through a “pool” before it gets to the wallet. It’s hard to win the calculation contest at home on your own little device, so many people join pools where miners combine their computer power and divide up the earnings. Because of that multi-layered setup, you may need to find yet another seed phrase for another wallet. Hopefully this is a good overlap of probate experience with bitcoin miner knowledge. My book, “How Probate Works,” will show you how probate works in general. I don’t have a Bitcoin chapter yet, but you will get a sense of how the probate process applies to your situation. As always, if you have questions about Bitcoin and probate, let us know! Request your free consultation

Many of our Solo Ager clients ask if I’ll serve as their successor (not primary) executor. The short answer is yes. We discuss why solo agers ask for successor executors. Planning to be a future Solo Ager They may not be Solo Agers at the moment, but they are planning for when they will could become a Solo Ager. It’s smart: planning two steps ahead. Married, no kids Mrs. M and her husband named each other as their executors in their wills, which is common. At some point, one of them will die first. The husband named his brother as his successor executor (in case Mrs. M predeceases him). Mrs. M doesn’t have siblings or other close family members. She doesn’t want her brother-in-law acting as her executor if her husband predeceases. Mrs. M needed a successor executor of her choosing. That is why she reached out to our office, and we are happy to work with her. Girlfriend, no kids, wants to disinherit Mr. C named his girlfriend as his executor, since he wants to disinherit his family members and leave everything to his girlfriend. He is also disinheriting his nieces and nephews (next-of-kin). If his girlfriend predeceases him, Mr. C is leaving his estate to charity. If his girlfriend predeceases him, Mr. C needs someone like a professional executor to handle everything, since there is no one else. Also, since Mr. C is disinheriting family, a professional executor is a good choice. Along those lines, even if his girlfriend is alive, she may not want to accept her role of executor. She probably won’t want to deal with a messy contest and engage in a court battle with the heirs. The girlfriend has the option to decline and let a professional executor to step-in to handle the mess. She will still get the inheritance check at the end, but she wouldn’t have to deal with the heirs. Mr. C set up the will to give her options: she can serve as executor if she’s ok with the situation, or she can let the professional executor take over. Sometimes we get calls asking us to act as successor executors, and we are happy to help. If you want to learn more about Solo Ager situations, click the link below for a free copy of my book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan.” Free copy of "The Solo Ager Estate Plan" Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”

We’ll share 3 recent problems we encountered while selling probate real estate: a bad septic tank, firing a broker, and co-op listing prices. We’ll share these stories with you and add key takeaways for executors and those facing probate. Septic tank problems in probate Any leak or other problem involving a septic tank is a huge headache. Septic water leaking into the ground soil is an environmental violation. In our case, a problem appeared during the septic inspection (thankfully it was not a full-blown leak). It required our whole team (me, the other attorney, and the real estate broker) to work together quickly to save the deal by replacing the tank. As we’ve mentioned several times before, selling probate real estate quickly is key. Otherwise, the estate bleeds money while the property sits on the market (not to mention impatient heirs and looming IRS deadlines). Takeaways: You need a great team (broker, executor, attorney) who understand probate, the need for speed, and the risks to the executor. These are tough situations that require competent professionals. The team must be able to communicate well and do it quickly. It is best to have a local executor: someone who understands local laws and customs. How to fire a real estate agent This situation is never easy, but being an executor is not for someone who avoids conflicts. Speed and risk assessment are two things that are important during probate. So, if you have a broker that is taking too long to sell, it will anger the heirs. Taking too long to sell also puts the executor at personal risk for the loss of property value. The executor can’t just let it sit and let the bills accumulate. A real estate agent who is not a good fit may make poor pricing decisions on your behalf. Perhaps the agent is a slow communicator or a poor evaluator of buyers. You don’t want to waste time on buyers who cannot close. Takeaways: Take time to choose the broker carefully. Make sure they understand probate’s unique risks and priorities. You should try to hire an executor with a trusted network of reliable, experienced agents. If the executor doesn’t have a specific real estate agent to work with, a savvy executor knows to sign a limited listing agreement so he can get out of it quickly if needed. Co-op pricing strategy This is kind of NY-centric, since there aren’t a whole lot of co-ops elsewhere. We’ve talked about why co-ops are a pain for probate, and pricing is one of those reasons. In probate, you want to price aggressively (low) to sell with speed. You wouldn’t want the neighboring unit to sell faster than yours because you wouldn’t come down $10,000. But you don’t want to list too low, because you must get a good value for the heirs. On top of this balancing act, the co-op adds more complexity: the co-op board must be satisfied with the price, so it can’t be too low. The co-op has the right to reject deals that don’t preserve the value of the building as a whole. Because of this, co-ops listings can: Make the price too high for the market but make the co-op happy. Then it sits for months. Make the price lower and get buyers, only to have them frustratingly rejected by the board over and over. This ends up being a waste of time, and the co-op goes back on the market. Takeaways: You need savvy executor who can set realistic expectations for heirs and explain to them that co-ops are just difficult to deal with. In this situation, an executor outside of NY with no knowledge of co-ops would be a huge disadvantage. We hope these anecdotes were helpful to you. To learn more about how probate works, check out my book, “How Probate Works,” available on Amazon. Request your free consultation

Many non-US heirs need a professional executor to get federal transfer certificates. What is a federal transfer certificate? It is an IRS document, specifically, Form 5173. It is used to confirm through the IRS that there is no estate tax due, or it’s already been paid. The certificate allows the financial institution off the hook for taxes. In absence of this, they can be liable! For example, lets’ say E*Trade has a brokerage account for a decedent who was a non-resident, non-citizen. If any tax was owed, but E*Trade releases the funds prior to the tax being paid, then E*Trade owes the IRS those taxes. This transfer certificate is the IRS’s way of letting E*Trade know that it is safe to release the funds to the executor or heirs. Because of this liability, banks and brokerages will not release the money without this certificate. When is a federal transfer certificate required? First, the decedent should be a non-resident alien (NRA). Second, the decedent’s assets must be US assets: stocks, real estate (but not bonds, cash, checking account, etc.). The executor must send the certificate to the financial institution, or else the bank cannot and will not release funds. If estate is large enough that it requires a federal estate tax return (706NA), just file the return instead using the federal transfer certificate. After filing the federal estate tax return, you will receive a closing letter from the IRS stating that they agree with your return and that the matter is closed. You can take the closing letter to the bank, and they will release the funds without the federal transfer certificate. You do not need to do both. Recently, we’ve found that some institutions interpret to mean that if there there is a US professional executor (as opposed to a foreign executor), then no federal transfer certificate is needed. Hurray! Right? Unfortunately, this is usually not the case. Even if the law has changed, most financial institutions have not caught up. They are still requiring federal transfer certificates. But, even if a federal transfer certificate isn’t required, the US executor is personally liable for estate tax. For that same reason, I, as a professional US executor, will not release the funds until I have filed the estate tax return. I will apply for the tax clearance anyway, so it’s really just a similar situation with the same result. Somebody has to make sure the taxes are paid so it doesn’t come back to hurt them later on. How to get a federal transfer certificate There are detailed instructions on the IRS website: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/transfer-certificate-filing-requirements-for-the-estates-of-nonresidents-not-citizens-of-the-united-states The application information for the federal transfer certificate is substantially similar to the estate tax return (706NA). The IRS website says it can take 6 weeks to 6 months to respond to the application for certificate. However, as we know, it has been taking much longer these days. We have discussed previously about the numerous IRS delays, and as a result, the turnaround time is unpredictable. It could take years, unfortunately. We trying to set the expectations as realistically as possible. Even if we file immediately, it won’t move the IRS any faster. This can be very frustrating, especially for the heirs. If you want to learn more about professional executorship, especially if you are in another country, my book “How to Hire an Executor” will help shed more light on the topic. FREE Copy of "How to Hire an Executor" Complete this form for more information and to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony's Amazon best-seller, "How to Hire an Executor" Request your free consultation

How will your executor handle a Bitcoin winter (or crash) like the one we’re living through now? We’ll compare a few likely scenarios depending on who you’ve chosen as your executor. But first, a few assumptions: You’re a “maxi” (a Bitcoin maximalist – someone who really values Bitcoin in and of itself, and not just its conversion to dollars); You want your heirs to inherit the actual Bitcoin you’ve accumulated, not just the fiat dollar value on your date of death; and You believe Bitcoin’s value in dollars will probably be very volatile for several more years. You understand that even if it’s “down” during your probate, you want your executor to hang on to it. So here are a few scenarios: Professional executor, but doesn’t “get” Bitcoin There are many attorneys and banks who are savvy in executorship and probate. In fact, banks have whole departments with trust officers that handle this. Once you find these experienced folks, do they have knowledge of Bitcoin? Maybe, but they probably have knowledge of crypto in general. Bitcoin maximalists consider themselves separate from the rest of the crypto universe. If your professional executor has only a light understanding of crypto in general, they will associate Bitcoin with the current crypto crash. During a crash, can they withstand psychological pressure to sell? Probably not. That’s the most likely outcome with a professional executor that doesn’t understand Bitcoin like you do. Maxi amateur executor Say you chose your buddy who is a fellow maxi but has never been an executor before. He probably has similar values as you and wants to hold on for dear life (“HODL”). But, he has very little knowledge of the probate process or experience being executor. If Bitcoin is going through a winter cycle during probate, the heirs may demand that he sell the Bitcoin so they can get their inheritance in cash. Can this amateur executor withstand threats of lawsuits, accusations of breach of fiduciary duty, and sob stories from heirs? Between dealing with that and also trying to HODL, it’s going to be a lot of pressure. If the executor doesn’t understand how to defend himself, he might be convicted enough to protect his own stack of Bitcoin. But he might give in to pressure from the heirs and sell their UTXOs so they leave him alone. Understandably, you want your executor to be experienced with Bitcoin, but you also have to weigh whether the executor can withstand the pressure. Professional Bitcoin Executor Your best bet is to find a professional Bitcoin executor. Investor Michael Burry, from the movie and book Big Short, ran a fund holding money for other people. He shorted the real estate market right before the crash of 2008. While the real estate market was doing well right before the crash, his positions were losing a ton of money. His investors wanted their money back and threatened to sue him. Burry kept saying no and told them to trust him. He even took technical steps to keep the investors’ money in place to prevent investors from withdrawing. In the end, the recession happened, and all of those shorts exploded, allowing his investors to make 400 times their money. At the end of the movie, Burry sends out a one-liner email: “You’re welcome.” In our estate scenarios of a Bitcoin winter, you need someone like Burry who is both convicted AND knowledgeable. You need someone who can carry out your wishes and do a probate-version of a side pocket to make sure he withstands the pressure and delivers the Bitcoin to your heirs. I hope to fill a similar role, and hope others will, too. I have the experience as a professional executor, and I am beginning to see the light of Bitcoin values. While this topic is very specific, you can still learn about hiring a professional executor in my book, “How to Hire an Executor.” Request your free consultation

Our solo ager clients often ask “who should draft my will? Should I do it myself or hire a lawyer?” Default: hire a reputable estate planning lawyer The benefit is that you will have peace of mind that your will is done correctly, as opposed to using a computer program. Software is pretty good, but a human (in this case, an experienced attorney) will spot problems that a DIY will can miss. A drawback is that hiring an experienced attorney can be costly, especially compared to using computer software. Make sure to find any attorney who specializes in estate planning, not the guy who does DUIs and wills only on the side. (No offense to either subset of the profession, but these are just completely different skillsets). DIY will tips Will preparation software is a fine option these days, because it is much more developed than it was even five or ten years ago. Watch our previous episode where we reviewed some DIY options. You may want to use a software program if you think you’ll make revisions quite often. Each revision with an attorney can be expensive. Simply changing a name can cost more than you’d think. Even if you just want to swap out “Joe” for “Bob” in your will, the attorney still has a duty to look over your entire estate plan and each document to make sure they are accurate and confirm that your situation hasn’t changed. If you decide to draft the will yourself, please consider hiring a lawyer to at least supervise signing ceremony. This will ensure that the will is signed correctly, including the affidavits and the witnesses. You’d be surprised at the problems that can arise if the will isn’t signed properly. You can usually find a local experienced estate planning attorney who can supervise the signing for a fraction of the estate planning cost. In this case, the attorney will not review your will for errors, but will simply supervise the signing process. Keep in mind that even if you’ve drafted a perfect will yourself, it is all for nothing if you fail the technicalities of the signing ceremony. It sounds like signing should be something simple, but we’ve even seen inexperienced attorneys mess it up. Can my professional executor draft my will? Sure, a professional executor can draft your will. I used to do a lot of estate plans, but now I’m 100% focused on being best executor possible for you. Being a professional executor is time consuming, and it doesn’t leave a lot of room to be good at extra jobs on the side. Personally, I don’t have the software, fancy paper, or setup any more to draft wills. I would be doing it from scratch, and that’s not an ideal situation. However, I am happy to do a non-legal advice review of your draft plan to check for any glaring red flags. It’s a good idea to have a review to point out obvious mistakes that could blow up your whole estate plan. If you want learn how probate works for Solo Agers, check out the link to my free book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan.” Free copy of "The Solo Ager Estate Plan" Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”

Sometimes the small personal effects can have a big impact. It may be the irreplaceable keys to the loft, the invaluable smartphone, or treasured photos in the wallet. What are personal effects? They are usually personal property; items of particular significance that are carried or worn. These can be wallets, jewelry, phone, keys, etc. Items above a certain value, like a diamond engagement ring, fall into a different category. If she died in a care facility? Sadly, more often than not, some personal property will go missing at a care facility. It’s a sad indictment of humans everywhere. When a lot of people pass through a patient's hospital room (EMTs, nurses, doctors, visitors, janitors, etc.), there is bound to be a set of sticky fingers with no way to figure out who did it. Personal property sitting on a patient’s nightstand is an easy grab. The thief may not be a habitual thief but could simply be a person who sees a crime of opportunity. We’ve had this happen in many of our estates, sadly. The family knows that their loved one had a piece of jewelry at the care facility, and now it’s gone. Heirs understandably get mad, and there is not much anyone can do. Unfortunately, this is something below the district attorney’s radar and is typically hard to prove. If she died at home? In New York, when someone dies in their home, the police come and put up yellow police tape. You then need Letters Testamentary to enter. The police search the home for personal effects and put them into the evidence room at the police precinct. So, if you do get into the home and can’t find something, check the police precinct. Also, the police purge non-cash valuables within 1 year. They can’t hold things forever, or they will run out of room. If you are looking for the decedent’s keys or special photos, etc., you need to get to the precinct as soon as you can. A year may sound long, but time seems to go fast when you’re probating an estate. Sometimes it can take a year to get Letters Testamentary, so you need to move fast! Be aware that you will need to find the correct police precinct. We had an estate where we thought the personal effects were at the local precinct, but they were stored at the main one. This sounds like a pain, but at least the police secure the property and there is a paper trail of what they found. If you want to learn more about how probate works in general, don’t forget to check out my book, “How Probate Works,” available on Amazon. Request your free consultation

Today we describe some real-world examples of mistakes made by non-professional executors dealing with probate real estate. Making it personal with tenants Often times, a non-professional executor is a family member or friend who has too much history with the tenants. For example, one of our executors helped the decedent in her final years and felt that the tenants were taking advantage of the decedent (late paying rent, not cleaning up after themselves, poor property upkeep, etc.). So, when the decedent passed, the executor has lots of bones to pick with the tenants: where the tenants parked, the condition of property, etc. If tenants want to be difficult, they can make probate very difficult. As we’ve talked about before, it can be very hard to get rid of bad tenants in probate, so picking a fight isn’t helpful. For the sake of probate, it’s often best to let it go and move on. In our example, the executor got into huge fight with tenants and the tenants called the police. A huge production was made, and we had to spend months in litigation to get them to vacate. When a professional executor is involved, he or she doesn’t have that blood-boiling history with tenants. A benefit of hiring a professional executor is that we don’t get emotionally invested. Knowing what renovations are worth doing In the past, we’ve discussed certain renovations that almost always make sense (Episode 254: Best Renovations to do Before Selling Probate Real Estate) These include a fresh coat of paint, cleaning out the home, etc. We recently had an executor who believed the decedent’s home was fine to sell as-is. Let me tell you that the place was not fine. But the executor had the position that if “it was good enough for my aunt to live there, it’s good enough for buyers.” Perhaps it was something sentimental to her that the house looked a certain way, but that’s not what buyers are looking for. Because of this, the executor declined even a basic paint job. It is almost certainly going to be a struggle to sell. Choosing the right broker Choosing the right broker is tricky, even with a normal sale. You need to pick the right fit for the property and the right demeanor as a seller. Of course, it’s even harder in probate. Even if you find an excellent broker for the neighborhood, you also need someone who understands probate issues. For example, I am dealing with a situation where neither the buyer’s broker nor the seller’s broker understood that the seller was in probate. So, the day before closing, they said they “need something called Letters Testamentary before we can proceed.” Only then did they learn that the heirs were not in agreement, so there was no property to be sold! It was a huge waste of everyone’s time. That was an extreme situation, but there are many other nuance situations where if you don’t have a broker experienced with probate, time and money are wasted. For example, we have an executor who hired the dreaded “friend” broker. Friend brokers can be great, but this is not the time to repay favors to a friend via estate work. Estates are complicated already. The second problem was that the broker was from out of state and didn’t understand local customs. Third, the broker listed the home at a high price. In probate, you want to sell fast, but listing at a high price psychologically pegged the executor’s mind to that unrealistic number. A probate-experienced broker would avoid that situation. High prices turn away buyers who know the area and know that the seller has unrealistic expectations. When an offer finally came in, the out-of-state broker prepared a binding contract and had the executor sign it. (In New York, a lawyer usually prepares or reviews the contract, because there are a lot of nuances that can cause disadvantages and risk). As a result, this executor unknowingly made some big concessions and promises she didn’t need to make. These are things we’ve seen a lot lately. We share these scenarios to help you avoid future problems and consider the importance of hiring a professional executor. If you are interested in learning more, please check out my book called, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon. Request your free consultation

When someone passes away, it is the executor’s job to gather the decedent's assets. What are the Bitcoin wallets executors may overlook? We’ve discussed how to look for common bitcoin key storage (Episode 253 3 Steps When a Bitcoin Owner Dies), such as hardware wallets, software wallets, and seed phrases. But a professional bitcoin executor will also find these others. Wallets on nodes Think of a node as your own server on the bitcoin network. Bitcoin is a digital currency, and the way it travels through the world is through nodes. Nodes are intentionally inexpensive and meant for individuals to be able to afford and maintain. Nodes are meant for the individuals to be the backbone of the system, not big companies. If a professional bitcoin executor sees the decedent was serious about bitcoin, privacy, and decentralization, the executor knows to look for a node. These nodes can even be on a Raspberry Pi or an old laptop, as long as there is sufficient memory space. Why look there? Because these nodes will often have a wallet inside them. Lightning channels On a high level, the lightning network is a second layer on top of the main bitcoin network. The lightning layer relies on “channels” between lightning nodes. Say you use Vemno, and you are hanging out with your friend for dinner. Maybe you owe her $5 for the drink and she owes you $10 for dinner. Venmo is not actually transmitting money back and forth each time you do. Venmo keeps a tally of what is moving back and forth between you, and at the end of the day/week/month, it totals a net amount of dollars to be transmitted from your bank to your friend’s bank (or vice versa). Think of it like an abacus where you move the beads back and forth. Here, the main network is the banks and Venmo is the connector/second layer. Venmo has to hold some money to make sure those transactions happen. Similarly, if you and I transact with bitcoin, we’re not going to send bitcoin to each other every time. We could set up a lightning channel between us. Let’s say we regularly send $100 between ourselves, so we probably have a channel with about $500. That $500 is locked into the lightning channel between us. Upon my passing, my executor should close the channel and find out what is owed you and to my estate. A professional bitcoin executor will recognize a lightning wallet, and search for node to close channels to release channel funds. The example of $500 may not seem like a lot of money. But, if the channel was established a while ago, and bitcoin has gone up in value, it might have a significant value. Hopefully I got this right. If you are more technically savvy in cryptocurrency, please feel free to correct me! Alternative exchanges We’ve talked about the main exchanges before. Nowadays, even non-Bitcoin enthusiasts have heard of Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and other large exchanges. There are even more alternative exchanges that focus on privacy, international exchange, etc. They may not even be companies, but decentralized software. A professional bitcoin executor will also recognize alternative exchanges and know how to recover funds on alt exchanges such as Bisq or HodlHodl. This topic is constantly evolving, and we will try our best to keep you up to date. Please send us your questions and we will do our best to respond! If you want to learn more about professional executors, please check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor.” Request your free consultation

Business valuation is tricky even under the best circumstances. And the probate process adds a few more twists. Not turnkey The first twist is that you are probably not selling a turn-key business. Some people come to us with valuation approaches such as 1) Comparables (what similar businesses have sold for in the area) and 2) Discretionary income (meaning, what sort of income does this business throws off, multiplied by the number of years you expect to earn that). Both approaches assume the business is fully operational, which isn’t always the case when the owner has passed away. You can’t use the grocery store where the owner is alive and running it as a comparable to the store in the midst of chaos since the owner passed. In probate, the business often stops upon owner’s death. Even if the business doesn’t stop, the quality of the business tends to head downhill. People usually notice when the business isn’t run by the owner anymore. It's kind of like an “inmates running the asylum” type of situation... Not great for business, and therefore not great for the valuation of the business. Buyers typically want to step into a seamless, ongoing operation. With a probate business, the buyer is not purchasing an ongoing business, but rather has to re-jumpstart a business that may have been temporarily closed for months. The buyer can’t walk into the restaurant and be open for business the next day with the menu ready to go. No keyman Without a keyman, the business doesn’t work. The keyman is so crucial to a business that you can buy “keyman insurance” in case he passes away. When a small business loses its keyman, it loses a lot. First, there is no transfer of knowledge. If you buy a business from a living owner/operator, he can tell you the tips and tricks of the business. These tips are unlikely documented anywhere, just things that the owner knows. Second, there are no relationships with customers. Without the owner, maybe some of the best customers don’t come anymore. There are no relationships with vendors who give the business a good deal. They may want to reset their prices and not give the new owner a grandfathered-in deal. Additionally, if the owner/operator doesn’t own the property, the quality of the relationship with the landlord is huge for determining the value of the business. Without a lease, there is no business. Also, since the landlord doesn’t know the new owner, he may want to renegotiate the lease. Lastly, the keyman is important because valuation is sometimes based on discretionary income (the amount of income the business throws off). Small businesses don’t necessarily report on paper all that they earn. How can the seller convey to the buyer what the business is actually worth – the real income? That conversation between seller and buyer often happens when no brokers or lawyers are present. If the owner passed away, there is no side discussion of actual discretionary income. Without that conversation, is almost impossible to value the business based on discretionary income. Rapidly declining value In probate, a non-operational business rapidly declines in value. First, inventory may be expiring and rotting with every passing day. This is assuming that in the absence of the owner, the business ceases to function or functions poorly. If the business closes for a couple weeks or months, that may not feel like a long time to an heir who has never run a business. But that is enough time for its most loyal customers to find a new favorite store. Not only that, but closed businesses attract theft and vandalism. A closed business is an easy target for a crime of opportunity. Lastly, even while the business is non-operational, it is still bleeding expenses (rent, security, taxes, utilities) while no revenue is coming in. For those reasons, the faster you sell in probate, the better in order to keep the value from falling farther. The longer the business sits, the more money it loses. We have experience in this area and have seen these scenarios first-hand. If you want to learn more about how probate works, please check out my book, “How Probate Works,” available on Amazon. If you are dealing with a situation like this, please feel free to reach out to me. Request your free consultation

To my surprise, we keep getting calls from Solo Agers in California asking me to serve as their executor and trustee. Let's explain why this is surprising. California is a leader of professional executors and trustees I thought that California has a robust and developed industry of professional executors. For instance, California has a state licensing agency: Professional Fiduciaries Bureau. You have to apply to receive a license to be an in-state professional fiduciary. There are also trade groups like the Professional Fiduciary Association of California. There is a whole infrastructure for personal executors in California that you don’t see in other states. This led me to believe that there is an abundance of professional fiduciaries in California. Yet, solo agers can't find professional executors in California While Californians are able to find professional executors, it is hard to find a professional executor that is focused on Solo Ager issues. So, these Solo Agers feel like they’re put into a cookie-cutter plan. For example, some Solo Agers are being told to just leave everything to their kids – even when they are estranged, or they don’t have kids! Yes, I can be executor outside of NY, including California For the above reason alone, I want you to know that even though I am based in New York, I can be a professional executor for someone outside of New York, including California. Just keep in mind that there are some drawbacks when you choose an out-of-state executor. There may be travel costs and slightly less familiarity with local customs. The trade-off is that you’ll have a professional that you are comfortable with. A professional executor is well-versed in administering an estate generally, even if not specific to a certain location’s customs. Whether you live here or across the country: If you are looking for a professional fiduciary to focus on your Solo Ager issues, it would be my honor to help you. If you want learn how probate works for Solo Agers, check out the link to my free book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan.” Free copy of "The Solo Ager Estate Plan" Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”

Our clients want a professional executor for many reasons. Most commonly they have no heirs, or their family lives abroad. But those aren’t the only reasons. We’ll share a few recent examples of why clients want a professional executor. 19 Heirs! Mr. and Mrs. K. are in their 70s, and they want a professional executor for when they pass. They have 19 nieces and nephews as heirs, scattered across the US. Mr. And Mrs. K. do not want to choose from the 19 heirs for a couple of reasons. First, they don’t want to sow discord by singling out one heir to be executor. When just 1 out of 19 has more authority or power, the others may become jealous or suspicious. Secondly, Mr. And Mrs. K. know what probate can be like from past experiences. They understand that having 19 heirs across a dozen states is going to be a headache for the executor. Even having two heirs in different states is a hassle, especially when original wet signatures are required on certain documents. Having a professional executor is beneficial Mr. and Mrs. K.’s of situation. Son cannot manage own finances People from all walks of life can benefit from hiring a professional executor, not just Solo Agers. For example, Mr. and Mrs. J. have an adult son who, for various reasons, has not taken flight from the nest. Although the son doesn’t live at home, Mr. and Mrs. J. financially support him, including paying his rent. Understandably, Mr. And Mrs. J. don’t feel comfortable having their son handle their estate. Since he is financially dependent on his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. need a professional trustee to continue to manage funds and financially support their son when they’re gone. Executorship would be too much Some clients don’t want to burden a loved one with the responsibilities of executorship. Ms. H. is single mom with 2 adult daughters. One daughter lives in Europe, so it is unrealistic for her to be the executor. The other daughter lives nearby, but she is busy raising her 3 young kids. It is simply not realistic to ask either daughter to execute an estate, given distance and everyday business of their own lives. Being an executor is a whole job on top of whatever job(s) you already have in life. As we’ve discussed many times, the probate process can be long and difficult. Not understanding the documents and requirements of probate adds to the difficulty of administering an estate. Let alone, dragging 3 small children with you to the banks! These are all great reasons for considering a professional executor. If you want to learn more about how a professional executor can help, check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon. Request your free consultation

After someone dies with Bitcoin, among all the other chaos, are questions about taxes. How do you pay capital gains from during the decedent’s life? Or if he was a long-term holder, how much capital gains tax will the heirs owe? What about estate tax? Final year capital gains tax from trading If decedent was not a true holder, and was buying/selling, there are probably realized gains. You have to sell something to owe capital gains tax. But how does an executor sort through to find the basis, the sales prices? It's still complicated, because at least for now, cryptocurrency is not a well-established industry and is constantly evolving. First, check the decedent’s devices for apps that track basis. There isn’t a main app out there right now, so Google “cryptocurrency tax tracking” to see which apps are popular at the time. If you find an app, it’s somewhat good news. The downside is that some of these apps don’t work very well. Next, check the exchange that the decedent was using (Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, etc.) Some of the exchange platforms do basis tracking, but again it’s not that good yet. Even traditional stock exchanges don’t always track the basis. So, it’s a bit unrealistic to expect the crypto exchanges to do as good a job of tracking basis. When someone is alive, it’s easier for them to track their own basis. But, like any other estate, things become a bit messier when you're doing it for someone who has passed away. It takes work to reconstruct the portfolio to find the values. What happens if you don’t find the basis? You can’t wait around forever; at some point the executor must take a position on the basis. Then the executor files the 5495 with the final 1040, holds his breath and waits to see what the IRS says. Obviously, this is what the executor does after LOTS of legwork to come up with the best guess for the basis. Filing with the IRS should not be the first step, and you should have a very strong argument supporting your guess. Long-term Bitcoin gets stepped-up basis Like all other capital-appreciated assets (homes, stock, etc.), Bitcoin will get stepped-up basis. As a quick review, the basis is your adjusted purchase price. If you bought a house twenty years ago, your purchase price is your basis. Same with stock. If you bought stock for $50 a share ten years ago and now it’s worth $500 a share, you made a ten-fold increase. Capital gains are calculated by what the asset is worth now (when you sell) vs. what you paid for it (when you bought it). When a person passes away, there is a very rare freebie from the IRS called the “stepped-up basis.” If you bought Bitcoin for $1 and it’s currently trading at $100,001, your gain is $100,000. You’d owe a lot of tax on that. But, if you pass away and your heirs get it, their stepped-up basis becomes $100,001. If the heirs sell it the next day for $100,002, their capital gain is $1. Long-term Bitcoin holders may have SIGNIFICANT gains, so passing it on to the heirs could be a huge tax benefit. Estate tax on Bitcoin Is there estate tax on Bitcoin? Yes, it is an asset, just like anything else. Estate tax is a tax of your net worth upon your passing. Your executor or heirs need to put together a balance sheet or list of all your assets, minus liabilities, and present it to the IRS. The good news! Most people do not need to worry about estate tax because, currently in 2022, the tax only applies to estates over $12mm (and $24mm married). However, there are probably some Bitcoin holders that are very close to being over the exclusion amount. Earlier, we discussed the stepped-up basis to avoid the capital gains tax. But, if your gains have gone up so much that you’ve shot past the estate tax threshold, you’re trading capital gains tax for estate tax. If your estate is worth that much, you should consult with an attorney or an accountant. This topic was based on a question from one of our listeners. Thank you and please keep the questions coming! If you want to learn more about probate in general, please check out my book, “How Probate Works.” I don’t have a Bitcoin chapter yet, but you will get a sense of how the probate process applies to your situation. Request your free consultation

What happens during a late probate, meaning you don’t begin the probate process until many years after death? In a recent case, we probated an estate 40 years after death. This case study shows just a few problems with late probate. Creditors get impatient Creditors are usually patient, and they understand that when someone first passes, they won’t get the decedent’s money immediately. Once the creditors know that the estate is opened and the attorney is involved, they sit tight for a bit. BUT, if it’s been a decade – or four in this case - they understandably get impatient. Creditors need someone to sue to get their money; they can’t sue a dead person. If no one is appointed as executor, then there is no one to drag into court. Eventually, if the heirs don’t probate, then creditors will ask the court to appoint someone (usually the Public Administrator, a court-appointed stranger) to be executor/administrator. The creditors aren’t going to request that an heir be appointed; it will be a court-appointed person who has no relationship to the estate. Multi-generational probates If you wait decades to probate, then you will likely end up with multi-generational probate. As time lapses, more people will pass away. For example, granddad passed away 40 years ago, and no one probated his estate. Eventually, his kids and grandkids will pass away too. Granddad died in 1970 and was survived by five sons at the time. Since then, two of the sons and even some grandsons have passed away. In this situation, courts will usually require you probate in reverse: starting with the grandsons’ estates, then the sons’, then you will be allowed to probate granddad’s estate. Why? Granddad’s estate requires someone to represent the interest of his five sons. But, if two sons died, there is no one to represent those sons. Someone needs to be appointed for the deceased sons’ estates. But, if those sons had sons (grandsons of the granddad) who passed away, then you can’t set up the two sons’ estates until you set up the grandsons’ estates. That’s why you have to work backwards: you set up the grandsons’ estates, which allows you to set up the sons’ estates, which allows you to set up granddad’s estate. If this all sounds like a mess – it is. We get calls from grandkids who haven’t probated; they just keep living in the grandparent’s home after his passing. But now the grandkids want to sell the home and they don’t realize the amount of work ahead of them. A lot can happen in 40 years. In this case, it took a week’s worth of emails and phone calls just to figure out who is who in the family tree. Tenants get too comfy and won’t leave If tenants stay in the decedent’s property even for a year, they get very comfortable living there. They are used to staying in the house without rent increases and act as if it is their own place. The tenants generally do not want to leave. This is true of both family members of the decedent and also unrelated tenants. If the tenants act like this after a year or two, imagine if the tenants have stayed in the house for decades. Because they have been maintaining the home for decades, they get upset when an executor comes in and tells them that they have to pay more rent or leave. We’ve highlighted three of the problems that can happen if an estate is probated late, especially after 40 years. These are problems that can be fixed but be ready to have a lot of patience through the process. If you want to learn more about how probate works, check out my book on Amazon, “How Probate Works.” Request your free consultation

What happens if you become a Solo Ager later in life? How does this happen? How does this affect you toward the end of your life? And what are some consequences to your probate estate? Let’s review “Ms. B.’s” situation and discuss. How Ms. B. became a Solo Ager late in life Ms. B. was married with a daughter, so she was not your typical Solo Ager. Her adult daughter moved far away out of state. The daughter was not quite estranged, but not much involved either. They stayed in touch and were friendly, but the daughter was effectively estranged, as she was not there to see to her mother’s care. Then, Ms. B.’s husband got sick and passed faster than anyone expected. So, Ms. B. was alone, rather unexpectedly. Ms. B. did not have a solo-ager plan, or a support network established, because she did not expect to be in this situation. How Ms. B. got a court-appointed guardian As is common, sadly, soon after her husband passed, Ms. B. degraded physically and mentally. As mentioned earlier, because she didn’t expect to be a Solo Ager, Ms. B. had no support network. Once she was hospitalized, there was no one to whom the hospital could release her. So, she was shuffled from rehab to a nursing home. Wanting to go home and understandably frustrated, she was deemed “uncooperative.” This led the nursing home to petition the court for a guardian appointed for Ms. B. (a court-appointed stranger). The court-appointed guardian was a nice attorney, but he had never met Ms. B. before. Now, this court-appointed guardian is responsible for carrying out her wishes, and he understandably has no idea what those wishes are. His job is to help her get out of the nursing home and to keep the nursing home from compelling her to take medication that she didn’t want. Unfortunately, the guardian was unable to remove Ms. B. from the nursing home before she passed away. Why a court-appointed guardian makes probate harder Though Ms. B.’s court-appointed stranger was a nice, professional attorney, he had no prior relationship with Ms. B. As with most guardianships, there is a disjoin between the guardian (who has control of the funds) and the estate. The guardian, upon Ms. B,’s death, has to make sure the court approves of how he conducted himself during Ms. B.’s life. The guardian has to keep records of how the money was controlled and spent under the guardianship. If the court approves of how the guardian conducted himself, then the guardian gets released. This may sound simple, but we’re talking about a check register that could span a few years. (When we saw Ms. B.’s register, it was pretty thick). Also keep in mind that Ms. B. was not his only client; he probably has dozens of others. The accounting procedure could take months or years after the client passes away. During this time, the executor (me, in this case) and the heirs are stuck waiting. There are things we need to take care of, and that is hard to do without knowing about or having access to the estate’s funds. For example, Ms. B.’s apartment needed repairs to leaks and mold, as well as some renovations just to get it ready for sale. The accounts are stuck with the guardian until the accounting is complete. Until then, the executor has to bootstrap and even take out loans to take care of the necessary expenses. How can one avoid this situation? If you even suspect that a guardian may soon be required or forced upon you, then you should make a revocable trust. When creating a revocable trust, YOU choose the trustee who will manage your funds. Secondly, it's a seamless transition from the person managing your money while you were alive to the same person managing your money after your death. Lastly, this could help avoid court delays during probate. I hope this helps you understand what could happen if you become a Solo Ager late in life. Below is a link to my book that sheds some additional light on the topic. Free copy of "The Solo Ager Estate Plan" Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”

Every bitcoin estate plan must include a simple, easy-to-understand letter of instruction to your heirs or executor. If you don’t, all of your hard-hoarded bitcoin may disappear. Explain Bitcoin to a Child Keep it super simple! Write the letter like you are explaining bitcoin to a child. Do not give the whole history of bitcoin, block chain, sound money, etc. Just write enough to get them past this treacherous stage: handling new and complex assets while grieving. In your letter, write about: High-level concepts; Major pitfalls to avoid when working with cryptocurrency; and Immediate to-dos or checklist. Bitcoin vs Banks Most of your heirs understand banks and brokerage accounts. So, explain how bitcoin is different. Explain that cryptocurrency can be lost forever if handled wrong, unlike dealing with a bank. There is no password recovery. If your heir is a little more financially savvy, explain that bitcoin is like a bearer instrument. Bearer instruments are certificates where whoever holds them owns the money. (Cash is essentially a bearer instrument). When you give someone your bitcoin keys, that person has complete no-consequence access to your funds. No one will check their ID or verify their signature. Where You Store Your Bitcoin In your instruction letter, explain where you store your bitcoin keys. You should have a rough inventory of what you’re holding so your heirs know what to look for. Most bitcoiners have a little bit on an exchange (Coinbase, Binance, Gemini, etc.). You may also have some hot wallets online (apps, browser extensions, etc.). Lastly you may have cold wallets, which are not connected to the internet at all (hardware or paper certificate). It is important that your instructions are in a letter, not in your will. Your holdings could change, and you won’t want to update your will for every change. Next, explain how the heirs can access the items on your inventory. Exchanges are simple to explain, because they are more similar to banks than anything else. You heirs will send the death certificate and letters from the court and the exchange will turn over possession to the heirs. Wallets are a little different. A good solution for a hardware wallet is to give a clone wallet to an executor or heir and give the PIN to someone else. Or you can split up a seed phrase and pass phrase among different heirs and they must collaborate to access your bitcoin. Bitcoin letter of instruction example If you're reading this, I'm either dead or incapacitated. If I'm not dead or incapacitated, PLEASE STOP READING NOW. This letter is about my Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, and how to access them. I won't even try to explain everything about Bitcoin here, but I want you to know enough to not get robbed or lose everything. Some important high-level concepts: (1) Cryptocurrencies can be lost, forever! There's no FDIC, or bank customer support to stop payment or reverse a bad transaction. Once it's gone, it's gone. (2) There's no password reset or "recover lost password." If you lose the passwords (known as seed phrases, I'll explain below), Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are gone forever. (3) Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are "bearer" assets, like cash. Whoever holds it, owns it. So if you hand someone the seed phrases, it's like handing them an untraceable bag of cash. Nervous enough? No worries, Just follow these instructions, and you should be fine. On Exchanges I hold some Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on the following exchanges: - Binance.com/Coinbase.com/Gemini.com This is the easy part: just ask my executor or probate lawyer to contact the exchange with an original death certificate and letters testamentary, and they'll give further instructions on how to transfer my Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Now it gets harder. On Hardware Wallets I also hold some Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on hardware wallets. What's a hardware wallet? It looks like a large USB thumb drive, and my passwords/seed phrases are securely stored inside the device. You need my PIN code to access my hardware wallet. My hardware wallet (and duplicate copies) are located: - Describe locations You should automatically receive an email with the PIN within six months of my death (I set up a "Dead Man's Switch"). Just remember: anyone who has both my hardware wallet and PIN has full, irreversible access to the Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies inside. Seed Phrase If you cannot find or access any of the hardware wallets, you can still recover my Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using my "seed phrase." This string of 24 ordered words is the secret password to control the funds, even without the hardware wallet device. I've given the first 12 words to these trusted people: Bart, Lisa, and Maggie And the second 12 words to: Moe, Larry, and Curly Contact whoever you need to complete the 24 word seed phrase. And remember: whoever has the full 24 word phrase has full, irreversible access to the Bitcoin and other

One of our podcast listeners asked: “Is it possible to open a Binance account that is funded by a trust account? If so, does that by default make that particular Binance account a trust account with the beneficiaries named on the bank account that is used for funding it?” Great question! To answer it, we need to break it down a bit: What is a trust account? There are a lot of different names for a trust account at a bank: ITF (in trust for), Totten trust, TOD (transfer on death), POD (paid on death), and other similar names. Basically, it is beneficiary designation that is added to your bank accounts. It’s the same concept as life insurance policy: when you completed the forms, you most likely named who gets the account when you die. They become the beneficiaries on this particular policy. A trust account at a bank is not the same as creating a Trust for estate planning purposes. I believe the question here is: “Does the Binance account take on the beneficiary designations that are on the original bank account?” Do beneficiary designations transfer with funds? The answer is NO. If you send money from your Citibank bank account to a Vanguard account to buy some stock, the Vanguard account does not automatically inherit your Citibank beneficiary designations. You’d have to fill out forms at Vanguard to name beneficiaries. Beneficiary designations do not follow the dollars. That’s the case for moving from bank account to crypto exchange, as well. How to name beneficiaries on cryptocurrency exchange What is a cryptocurrency exchange? The big ones like Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, are like E-Trade or Robinhood for cryptocurrency. And as of now, you can’t name beneficiaries on the account. A main reason is most likely due to the fact that the laws are not set up for that yet. Therefore, cryptocurrency exchanges don’t offer that feature. So, you will need to make a Last Will and Testament or move your crypto off the exchange to a wallet that can be governed by your revocable trust or your will. If you want to learn more about probate in general, please check out my book, “How Probate Works.” I don’t have a Bitcoin chapter yet, but you will get a sense of how the probate process applies to your Bitcoin situation. Request your free consultation

There are many excellent probate lawyers who would be terrible executors. Why? Let’s break down what you need to have to be a professional executor. The right support team Probating an estate takes a LOT of hours. It is not reasonable for those hours to be charged on an attorney’s billable time; your estate will go broke in no time. Some lawyers who are just starting out might do everything on their own, but that’s a recipe for burning out quickly. The attorney must have well-trained, experienced paralegals and support staff. This is a huge asset for an executor while carrying out their duties over a period of months or even years. We’ve had some clients ask if they can just hire the paralegals! Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work that way. Think technically, not strategically Some probate lawyers tend to think more technically, not strategically. That’s not a bad thing; competent probate lawyers will know the steps to get from point A to point B. But sometimes the question is, SHOULD we be trying to get to point B? You may need to step back and see the bigger picture. A good executor thinks strategically and sees around corners. For example, a good lawyer knows which forms to send out to complete the court probate package. A good executor also knows which forms to use but also knows that some forms alarm heirs and cause them to clam up. A good executor won’t just send out the forms to the heirs but will take the time to explain the forms and walk the heirs through the process. Pessimists make good lawyers Lawyers are supposed to expect the worst, it helps them to draft all those contract clauses to prepare for worst case scenarios. But such pessimism may paralyze an executor, who has a duty to reasonably keep the probate estate moving forward. The executor’s job isn’t to make sure that nothing bad ever happens, but to keep the process going to get the checks into the hands of the heirs. The mindset is a bit of a balancing act. A good executor will be aware of the downsides, because they could be personally liable for things that go wrong. But the executor should be able to weigh the situation and embrace whatever solutions are available to keep things moving. There is a difference between being aware that something bad could happen and being crippled by the possibility. A good example of this is closing an estate with an accounting reserve. Meaning, you’re 95% sure the estate is ready to close, and you are ready to get the checks to the heirs. But there is a 5% chance that could be a tax issue or creditor. Since the executor is personally liable, it’s tempting for him not to make any distributions until he is sure that there are no issues. One solution is to close the estate but hang on to a reserve amount to handle any possible problems. This will move things forward to settle the estate. Hopefully this will help you identify what kind of executor you want for your will. If you decide to hire a professional executor, call them and interview them before making the decision. To learn more, check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon.

Let’s talk about 3 common suggestions that are bad bitcoin inheritance plans. Why so negative? Why talk about bad bitcoin inheritance plans, rather than the good? Well, sometimes the process of elimination can help focus our thoughts, so we better understand what makes the good plans “good.” Sharing you private keys This is just terrible security while you’re living. Why? Because sharing your private keys with someone gives them immediate, irreversible, and unfettered access to your bitcoin hoard. “But I trust my spouse (or kids, or best friend,” you say. I’m sure you do at this moment. But we’ve all seen thing change faster than you realize. Maybe a great marriage suddenly veers to divorce. Or who would suspect their own child so controlled by drug addiction would poison them to get their Bitcoin? And it doesn’t need to be so dramatic, just basic carelessness. Will your loving spouse, child, or best friend know how to keep your private keys as safe as you would? Will they get fished, or simply lose their keys? And if they do have sole and unhacked possession of your private keys when you die, will they know what do you? Or upon your death, will they be relying guidance from a “trusted third party” to understand how to probate your bitcoin? “Just” educate your heirs For many, their plan is to “just educate” their heirs so that heir will know what do when you die. Um, do you remember how long it took for you to accumulate your current bitcoin knowledge? How many mistakes did you make? How many BIG mistakes did you make? Now imagine your heirs are grieving, stressed, and have a lot to do during probate. And on top of that they’re supposed to navigate transferring self-custody? It’s just unrealistic Even if, by some miracle, you cram their heads full of update to self-custody knowledge today, will they stay up to date? Do they want the knowledge enough to stay apprised of protocol updates, multsig best practices, current use of QR codes or air-gapping? Or will their knowledge be obsolete by the time you pass? Treasure maps You think you’re writing a simple letter of instruction, but to your heirs it’ll feel more like a treasure map. Why? Remember, your herirs will be grieving, stressed, and have a lot to do during probate. And no matter how much you “educate” them, it’s unlikely they will know know what to do upon death, and will have to rely on “trusted” third party. And these letters/maps go out of date faster than you think, Do you really want to spend your life constantly updating your letter of instruction? By the way, this problem is the same for any will or trust, not just Bitcoin Inheritance letters of instruction. If you want to learn more about probate in general, please check out my book, “How Probate Works.” I don’t have a Bitcoin chapter yet, but you will get a sense of how the probate process applies to your situation. Request your free consultation

Hurray, you’re finally in contract and ready to close on the sale of the estate’s business. You already did all the hard work preparing to sell the business, now make sure you cross the finish line and close the sale properly. Maintain status quo until sold Make sure you maintain your insurance payments. In the rare chance that there is a slip and fall accident between the time your insurance lapses and the closing occurs, it will be your problem. Maintain your security plan, whether it’s an alarm system or driving by to check on the place. We have had an attempted burglary in one of our situations. It’s like the burglars have a sixth sense that the owner passed away and that the building is not well-attended. They notice that there are no cars or customers coming and going from the business. Keep up to date with all of the business vendors. If the business is not operational, let the vendors know not to come by anymore. You don’t want boxes of inventory stacked up, just like you don’t want piles of mail stacked up outside of a decedent’s home. It’s pretty obvious that the place is vacant if no one takes the items inside. Allow buyer’s final inspections Make sure that the lease is transferable. The buyer may need to have an introduction with the landlord to make sure they get along and agree on new terms. Even if you provide a fully audited inventory of the estate assets, sometimes buyers want to do their own inventory. Cash registers, coolers, machinery, the condition of the parking lot - the buyer will want to see these for himself. Sometimes you can’t capture the condition of these types of things in a report or photographs. Transfer all paperwork While most of the paperwork happens at closing, some paperwork needs to be put in motion ahead of time. For example, making sure that the buyer can take over the lease from the landlord. There may be a whole bureaucratic process to make sure the buyer gets the necessary licenses and permits to operate the business. Maybe it’s a permit to have a cafe on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant or obtaining a liquor license. Think you’re done? Not quite. Even if you’ve sold and liquidated the business assets, you probably still need to wind down or dissolve the corporation and business bank accounts. You probably did the sale in the form of an asset sale (meaning, the buyer bought the stuff), and not a sale of the corporate stock. The estate is now left with an empty corporate entity. Dissolving the corporation involves getting certain tax clearances, notifying the Department of State, emptying business accounts, and notifying the IRS with a corporate tax return. It’s a long process, but it has to be done. We’ll cover this in a future episode, but please comment below if you have questions or comments in the meantime. If you want to learn more about how probate works, check out my book on Amazon, “How Probate Works.” Request your free consultation

The following are three recent questions from our Solo Ager readers. Thanks for your questions! As a side note before we begin: I’ve noticed that a more popular phrase is “Elder Orphans” rather than “Solo Agers.” I feel like “orphans” sounds like a bit of a downer. Please let us know what you think in the comments. Can I disinherit with a poor man’s will? A “poor man’s will” is a slang term for not having an official will, but rather, using your beneficiary designations to patch together an estate plan. You can disinherit people this way, but it probably won’t work out the way you hope. Too often, beneficiary designations do not reflect your final wishes. People often forget who they named as beneficiaries on their accounts. That kind of information doesn’t show up on your monthly statement; you have to call the bank. Another reason is that your account balance is continually changing. Maybe you want to leave your bank account to your nephew, but you like your niece more, so you leave her your larger brokerage account. Then, you leave the other brokerage account to your brother. What if one brokerage account over-performs and the other account tanks? Now your wishes are out of whack. When doing a poor man’s will, you don’t have the structure to run your estate. People like to avoid probate because the process is long, but probate actually gives structure to the process after someone passes away. Structure is important to make sure debts, taxes, and expenses get paid. You could run into the situation where no one knows who is supposed to pay for the funeral. Or maybe the IRS is hunting down all possible heirs to pay the taxes. Without a probate estate, there are no funds to pay an executor. If all the assets have a named beneficiary, there is no operating account for the estate. Most people don’t want to do the executor work without compensation. The way to disinherit without using a poor man’s will is using an “in terrorem” clause with a disincentive payment. An in terrorem clause is when you disinherit someone by cutting them out of the will if they object to the will. But that only works if that person is going to get something. (It doesn’t work to say they get nothing, and if they object, they get more of nothing!). Who will scatter my ashes if I move out of state? One reader asked who will scatter her ashes if she moves out of state, away from her executor (in this case, I’m her professional executor). The executor can still honor those wishes out of state. FedEx delivers ashes, and we work with the local funeral director to make sure the ashes get shipped correctly - The estate will pay for the shipping costs. Alternatively, the estate can pay for the executor to fly out of state if there are sufficient funds. Who should I hire to make my funeral arrangements? One reader asked if they should hire me, as a professional executor, to make funeral arrangements. Is hiring a person better than buying a prepaid funeral arrangement? I am not a fan of prepaid funeral plans. With all due respect to my funeral director colleagues, I’m not a fan of prepaying for anything. If you want to set aside money in an account for your heirs to pay for the funeral, that is fine. Locking yourself into a prepaid plan is not the best idea. Funeral homes are not great managers of other people’s money. For example, we had an estate of a deceased funeral director and had to open the funeral home books to see who was owed what. We were tasked with refunding money to people who had prepaid funeral plans, since the funeral director passed. The records were not well-kept, and it was quite a mess. You can use legal documents for choosing who will be in charge of your funeral plans, and you can have a separate account with funeral funds available. This allows you to change your plans. Suppose you buy burial plots in one state and then you move to another state. Don’t lock your plans in too much because you don’t know how your wishes will change in the future. A similar question: is the professional executor a “one-stop shop?” Yes, if you ask me to serve as your professional executor, I will have annual check-in calls with you. I can’t just meet you once and put my name on your documents. We don’t have to be best friends, but we need to have a relationship that gives me a general sense of how to carry out your wishes. Another question: should I name my funeral director as my executor? No. Unless your funeral director is a unique individual who has significant experience serving as executor, then it’s a definite no. They might be excellent at managing final affairs and ceremonies but acting as an executor is a completely different skill set. Just because death relates the two roles doesn’t mean the skill sets are related. Again, we appreciate your questions. Please keep sending them in! If you don’t have a copy of my book, the Solo Ager Estate Plan, click the link below. Free copy of "The Solo Ager Estate Plan" Complete this form to recei

Hiring a professional executor is particularly useful for non-US heirs. Most state rules make it tough for you to be a US executor if you are not from or currently living the US. US Executor Qualifications Many states outright prohibit non-US citizens or residents from being a US executor. Some states are a bit more nuanced. New York allows a non-citizen to be executor, but only if they’re also a New York resident. You must prove that you are a New York resident not only when applying for executorship, but also whenever you are acting as the executor. For example, we have a non-US citizen heir who moved to New York for the purpose of being an executor. Then in the past two years, he moved out of state. When he tried to use his letters at the co-op, the co-op would not accept his letters because he was no longer a New York resident. In order for your letters to be valid, you must stay a New York resident. Can you be a US executor if you live abroad? Sometimes it can be done, but it’s challenging. New York may allow it, but only if you have a US co-executor. This is a pain because it means more paperwork during probate. For anything that requires a signature, you’re basically doing the work twice. If you are overseas, you’d have to go to an apostille or a consulate. Just the postage alone to sign each document can be quite expensive. Further, even if the court allows it, you now have an overseas co-executor who has to get US notarizations, which is often a frustrating process. And more, the co-executor may even have to fly into New York for mundane tasks. You’d think that in 2022, you’d be able to accomplish these tasks online or over the phone. Nope. There are a surprising number of tasks that require in-person visits. Banks and co-ops are two of the biggest culprits. We have a situation where a retail store in Colorado is part of the estate. The store security system won’t speak to the executor, unless it is in-person. Also, the bank in Colorado requires an in-person visit to close the decedent's account. What if the non-US court has appointed an Executor? Many ask: what if I’m a non-US citizen, non-resident, but I’m the court appointed executor in Spain, England, etc. of an estate with US assets? Then, can I be a US executor? No, because the probate procedure will be slightly different. It’s called “ancillary probate.” All of the rules of about citizenship and residency discussed above still apply. Even if you are a citizen/resident of Spain and are appointed there, you still need a US co-executor. Better yet, hire a professional US executor to collect the US assets. Because of the complexity of being a non-US citizen executor, people seek our help to make the process much easier. We work with international heirs often, and we are familiar with administering these types of estates. If you want to learn more about professional executors, check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon.

As the default recommended multisig quorum, there must be lots of 2 of 3 multisig holders out there. So let’s make sure your 2 of 3 multisig also works as well upon your death as it does while you’re alive. Three things to think about: who has your third key; access to keys 1 and 2 upon death; and consider a 2 of 4 multisig. Who has your third key? Your best candidates are a custody service, a professional executor or lawyer (who also understands bitcoin custody and opsec), or family and friends. Ideally, this keyholder will have an ongoing understanding of both bitcoin custody and security, as well as probate and estates. This means someone will keep up to date as technology and best practices evolve, and not just a fleeting understanding. We discussed in depth “who should hold keys as part of your bitcoin inheritance plan?” in E256. Access to keys 1 or 2 upon death Presumably, while you’re alive you have sole access to keys 1 and 2. So how will your 3rd keyholder get access to one of your keys upon your death? One of the benefits of multisig is that you don’t need such extreme security measures. Why? Because even someone gets one of your keys, they’d still need to get another key to be able to access your bitcoin. So how to make sure a second keys is available upon your death? A few ideas: Share a full seed phrase with a family or friend, who would share with your 3rd keyholder upon your death Give a hardware wallet clone to family/friend, who would share with your 3rd keyholder upon your death Store a copy of your seed phrase or a hardware wallet clone in a safe deposit box Write a full seed phrase in your will/trust All of these brainstorm ideas trade some security to increase the chances your estate will actually be able to access your bitcoin upon your death. Consider 2 of 4 (or more) multisig 2 of 3 multisig means your 3rd keyholder must somehow get access to keys 1 or 2 (your keys) upon your death. In our experience, too many things go wrong and go missing upon death. And not just bitcoin. Far less esoteric things like bank accounts, atm cards, birth certificates get lost in the shuffle and chaos of probate For that reason, I’d prefer to have a quorum of keys ready immediately upon death. For example, a custody service such as Unchained Capital or Casa has key 3, and a professional bitcoin executor (me) has key 4. I prefer this setup because keys 3 and 4 are immediately ready, and we can still fall back onto keys 1 or 2 as backups for redundancy. What are the drawbacks of 2 of 4 versus 2 of 3? Setting up is a bit more complicated While alive, validating receive addresses may be more complicated And non-2 of 3 multsigs currently standout on the blockchain, and are therefore less private. But Taproot should solve this. If you want to learn more about probate in general, please check out my book, “How Probate Works.” I don’t have a Bitcoin chapter yet, but you will get a sense of how the probate process applies to your Bitcoin situation. Request your free consultation

Probate is already a slow process, and recent IRS processing delays are making probate even slower. Most probate cases must receive IRS tax clearance in order to close the estate. Otherwise, the executor and heirs are at risk for lingering tax problems and getting hit with unexpected tax bills later. Once the heirs understand this, they are fine with taking the time to close the estate properly! The Taxpayer Advocate is a government entity whose job is to oversee and review the performance of the IRS. The Taxpayer Advocate’s recent annual report https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/reports/2021-annual-report-to-congress/ breaks down the extent of the IRS delays, why we can’t get any answers, and what to expect this year. We are in the frustrating position where we have to tell clients repeatedly that we are “waiting on the IRS.” Hopefully this blog helps to clarify the situation. Is the IRS having processing delays? “Delays” an understatement. The following are quotes from Taxpayer Advocate’s sub-report: ”PROCESSING AND REFUND DELAYS: Excessive Processing and Refund Delays Harm Taxpayers https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ARC21_MSP_01_Processing-Delays.pdf” “At the close of the 2021 filing season, the IRS had 3 million returns awaiting manual processing” “As the IRS is preparing to begin the 2022 filing season, it is poised to carry over millions of unprocessed returns and millions of pieces of taxpayer correspondence, resulting in even longer delays for taxpayers who have been patiently waiting for far too long” “Taxpayers who have filed their tax returns continue to wait, and wait, and wait for any update from the IRS” These direct quotes match our experience without a doubt. It can take months to get any response from the IRS. We even include a copy of our letter with a pre-paid envelope and simply ask them to stamp the copy and mail it back to us. In years past, it only took a few weeks to receive our stamped copy. Now, it’s taking them months to just open the letter. When we do finally get a response, it’s often a punt: just a letter saying they need six more months to a year to respond. Even worse, when we finally get a real response, sometimes it’s incorrect. So, if there’s an issue (even a non-problem, IRS mistake), it resets the clock, and we have to wait another 6 months or more for the IRS to look at it again. Can I contact the IRS for a status update? Clients naturally ask if we or they can call the IRS for an update or timeline. It is very unlikely. From Taxpayer Advocate’s sub-report: “TELEPHONE AND IN-PERSON SERVICE: Taxpayers Face Significant Challenges Reaching IRS Representatives Due to Longstanding Deficiencies and Pandemic Complications https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ARC21_MSP_03_Telephone.pdf” “In 2021 the IRS received 282M phone calls. Customer service representatives only answered 32M (11%.) “A taxpayer contacted by the IRS regarding her deceased mother’s return was told to call in but has been trying unsuccessfully for over a year to get through to the IRS” IRS aims to respond to taxpayer correspondence in 45 days. As of Jan 1 their turnaround time is nearly 1 year” In our experience, we don’t even have the 11% chance of talking to someone. We deal mostly with estates, which are a higher level of complexity than a standard tax filing. We are not going to get a call back from a customer service agent; we have to wait for our file to get to a higher-level agent or even an IRS attorney. So, yes, over one year for ANY sort of letter or reply sounds accurate! Will IRS processing and communication improve? This is unlikely; the IRS has a big hole to dig out of. The IRS didn't complete processing all 2019 returns until June 2021, “Thus, the unprecedented processing and refund delays taxpayers experienced in 2021 could be as bad, and potentially worse, in 2022.” We can only hope that our client’s files are at the top of the 35.3 million pile. Please know, we are waiting along with you, and we're frustrated, too. Unfortunately, we’re all in the same boat. In our experience, no one wants to try to close the estate without the tax clearance and bear the risk of the IRS coming after them. Request your free consultation

If you have a multisig, who should hold keys as part of your bitcoin inheritance plan? Multisig is a great way to reduce risk of theft or catastrophic loss by reducing single points of failure. Michael Flaxman does a nice job explaining why to use multisig. But what happens upon your death? You’ll want one (or more) of your keys held by someone other than you. Let’s review some good options for who. Bitcoin custody service Nowadays there are several businesses to fill this void, led by Unchained Capital and Casa. Some advantages of hiring a pro keyholder: Expertise. These guys appear to know what they’re doing. So you won’t have to worry much about them losing their keys, maintaining good opsec, or generally keeping up to date. Immortality (sort of). Even if the founder or your main point of contact dies, the business itself will carry on and be there after your death (unless they go out of business, of course) Handholding for your heirs. Both Casa and Unchained offer services to guide an executor or heir who is completely clueless about seed phrases, multisig, etc. So not only are they one of your And a few disadvantages: New. Custody services, collaborative custody, whatever they’re called, it’s all very new. So it’s hard to predict if they’ll stick around, change their focus, or what business standards they’ll adhere to. Only time can tell No probate expertise. While these guys are clearly experts in custody and security, they don’t have experience with probate and executor issues. No shame there, even most “estate planners” and financials advisors don’t really understand probate, either. Cost. Yup, they’re in business, so they charge fees (varies depending on the package and services you need). Unchained has a 2 of 3 service where there’s no fee now, only a $25 fee if/when you need them to sign a transaction. Bitcoin executor Just like with estate planning in general, it’s good to have a great executor to run your estate upon your death. Some pros of having a professional executor hold one of your multisig keys: Probate expertise. A professional executor will know all the ins and outs of probate, the courts, and tax issues. Highly regulated. For better or worse, a professional executor (usually an attorney or bank) is bound to all sorts of ethics rules, fiduciary duties, or banking regulations. So at least you know he has plenty of guide rails. And if anything goes sideways, your heirs will have well-established procedures for remedies against him. What are the cons or having a professional executor hold one of your multisig keys? Try finding one. According to our clients, it’s very hard to find a good professional executor. Bank have high net worth minimums, and even then have interviews and committees to decide if they want your estate. And apparently they’re aren’t many reputable individual/attorney professional executors out there. AND knows custody. So it’s hard enough to find a good executor. Now compound that by finding one who’s at least a little experienced with bitcoin. Else you’ve just added a new risk vector, some dude who’ll lose his keys, get phished, and let his hardware wallet firmware stagnate un-updated. Family or friends A trusted family or friend sounds ideal, right? Someone you already know and trust. If you have shared interests, they may already be down the bitcoin rabbit hole with you. Heck, they may even be an heir. The possible downside is that they simply don’t want the burden of being an executor (of sorts). Probating and settling an estate can be a long, time-consuming, and headache-inducing slog, So even if your family or friend has the expertise to handle the custody of your multisig key, they may not want that burden of responsibility. If you want to learn more about probate in general, please check out my book, “How Probate Works.” I don’t have a Bitcoin chapter yet, but you will get a sense of how the probate process applies to your Bitcoin situation. Request your free consultation

Lots of people like to keep cash and valuables hidden at home. But what if you do too good a job of hiding them that even your executor can’t find them? They could end up lost or thrown away. Let’s discuss how to avoid that. Why people hide cash and valuables at home Some folks don’t trust banks or the government, in general. Perhaps they came from a country or grew up in another era where banking was much less reliable. Others want to hide valuables from home aides, cleaning staff, EMTs, etc. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual for items to go missing when someone gets transferred to a nursing home or when they pass away. Lastly, some folks want to be prepared for a recession or bank runs/panics. Panic bank/ATM runs could have easily been the scenario two years ago when we witnessed the toilet paper shortage. Where NOT to hide cash and valuables at home If you hide valuables too well, the executor/heirs probably won’t find it either. From personal experience, treasure hunting for hidden money and jewelry is just one thing on a long list of the executor’s tasks to do when cleaning out a home. The executor needs to document items for family members, and the home needs to be cleared out and in broom-clean condition to get it on the market in a reasonable time frame. There’s really not much time to tear up the floorboards to look for hidden cash... Here are some examples of where people hide things and why the executor/heirs might miss it: In the freezer, wrapped in foil or Ziploc bag. It’s not really reasonable for someone to go through every item in the fridge/freezer to see if there’s money in it. By the time we’re cleaning out the fridge, everything is probably rotting. We do our best to check, but often, there just isn’t much time before we need to move on to the next task. In the pantry, inside flour jars, sugar jars, cereal boxes. Again, there isn’t time to look through all of these things for hidden valuables. Sometimes we hire a cleaning company, and they certainly are not going to take the time to examine each item. Inside books or hollowed out books. It’s not realistic for an executor to take every book off of the shelf and leaf through the pages. We do tend to check the dictionaries and Bibles, which are more common “hiding places.” Taped on the underside of the drawer. Some public administrators will take out every drawer, examine it, then toss it on the floor. After doing so, it tends to look like someone robbed the place. We do our best to look around, but we also respect the emotional reaction of the heirs. We do not trash the place. Inside a cigar box. We do check these, but if the box is tucked away, we might miss it. Sewn into the lining of clothes. We might do a pat-down of some items, but generally, clothing is overlooked. Although one time, we found cash in a sofa cushion because we noticed a lump. Under floorboards. If there is an obvious discolored board, we’ll take a look. However, we’re not wrecking a house to find possible valuables. It’s time consuming and costly to pull up floorboards and get them neatly back into place. By the way, if the floorboard hiding place is so obvious that we can find it, chances are the home aid or EMT can find it, too. Good places to hide cash and valuables at home A fireproof safe costs money and it can draw attention, but it also means that your executor knows to look in there. Try not to worry about the home aid seeing your safe. Most crimes are crimes of opportunity. You are more likely to have cash or jewelry swiped off of your dresser than for a visitor to spend time trying to get into the safe. There is no need to buy a huge safe that is incredibly obvious. You also don’t want to get a tiny safe that is easy to carry away. A standard safe might weigh 50 to 100 pounds and can be bolted into the floor or the wall. Solo Ager Book This topic came up because we have been talking about hunting for Bitcoin keys after death. We thought this would be helpful to cover other types of treasure hunts. You can tell your professional executor that you have hidden things in certain places, but this may not help if you die years later and change the hiding place. If you want to learn more, click the link below to get a free copy of my book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan.” Free copy of "The Solo Ager Estate Plan" Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”

Selling probate real estate can be tough because properties are usually out of date, very “lived-in,” and attract discount buyers. Here are a few minimum renovations and repairs that executors should consider in order to receive a flow of serious buyers, without spending too much in estate funds. 1. Clean out the clutter Cleaning out clutter is more expensive than people realize. For example, cleaning out a one-bedroom apartment in the Manhattan area will cost between $1,500 and $2,500 for several cleaners/movers, a truck, and a dumpster. Though cleaning out is expensive, it is a MUST. It’s very difficult to sell a home with the deceased person’s belongings everywhere. Do your best to get the home at least broom-clean or better. Even buyers looking for a sweet deal aren’t really excited to clean up someone else’s mess so that they can move in. You’ll probably need to pack and ship some items to heirs anyway, so cleaning out the place completely just makes sense. 2. That fresh paint smell We’ve seen so many homes with outdated colors or tones. We have one right now with blood-red colored walls. Though certain colors may have been popular at one time, you need a neutral color like beige, light gray, or white to sell a home. Don’t try to get fancy with different shades of the same color. We had a house with at least eight different shades peach freshly painted throughout, and it was not appealing! Give the buyers a blank canvas to work with and let them pick their own colors. Don’t use wallpaper - stick with paint. Besides being aesthetically pleasing, a fresh coat of paint can help reduce odors. To put it bluntly, most probate properties smell like the person who lived there. Again, give the buyer a blank canvas that smells fresh. 3. Let there be light! For some reason, really “lived-in” places seem to feel dark. Maybe there are too many curtains, or the windows haven’t been cleaned. Most realtors will say that maximizing the light very important. You can do this by updating all of the lightbulbs to LED lights (which is a cheap fix, by the way!). It is also good to wash and fix the windows, if feasible (this may not be so easy in a high-rise building). You may want to consider getting rid of curtains to brighten the place. Additionally, getting rid of curtains can reduce odors trapped in the fabric. 4. Refresh the floors You don’t need to do a full reflooring, as this can be quite expensive. Just replace or remove the carpet. If you find hardwood floors under the carpet, leave it exposed. People tend to like hardwood floors. Sanding and refinishing old wood floors is way cheaper than putting new flooring in. If you have to put carpet in, choose a light, neutral color. 5. Minimum bathroom updates Bathroom updates can get expensive, but there are some minimum updates you can do to maximize its appearance. Don't replace the tub, just re-caulk it. You should consider replacing the vanity, as it is fairly inexpensive and easy to install. Many old vanities have stained outlines of where pill bottles and other items sat. It is also beneficial to update the showerhead and the fixtures. You can go to any hardware store and pick up inexpensive, shiny, updated fixtures. The $50 spent to replace a leaky shower head with a fancier one, will be worth it to help the home sell. If there are enough funds and the heirs agree to use the estate funds, then you can make costlier updates. However, I assume that most heirs want to maximize their inheritance and just get the home sold. Besides, you don’t know what taste the buyers will have. You might spend a lot of money on updates that look good to you, and the buyer ends up ripping it out to suit their own style. Request your free consultation

What do you do if someone dies owning Bitcoin, but you have NO IDEA how Bitcoin works? How do you recover the Bitcoin, so it doesn’t get lost forever? Right now, Bitcoin is delicately owned, meaning the tools of ownership are still being ironed out. It’s still very easy to have an accidental catastrophic loss. Here are the basic steps to find the keys to the decedent’s Bitcoin. Note that the steps below assume that the decedent’s Bitcoin is not on exchange, since the claim process for an exchange is very similar to traditional bank or brokerage. As exchange is a platform like CoinBase or Gemeni, where you have an account with that entity. Most hard-core bitcoiners have a personal custodied hardware wallet instead. Here, we are talking about those bitcoiners. 1. Look for hardware wallets Looking for a wallet is the first and easiest step, because it’s something physical to look for. A hardware wallet may look like a USB drive, a type of smartphone, or a pocket calculator. Not sure what you’re looking at? Open Google images and search for “hardware wallet.” If you find a hardware wallet, you probably need a PIN code to unlock the device. If you can’t figure out the PIN, at least you know the decedent owned a hardware wallet. If you can't figure out the PIN, make sure to try step 3 below (word lists). If you have the PIN, congrats. You’re able to unlock the device to access the decedent’s Bitcoin keys stored inside. (Note – the Bitcoin is not actually on the device. The device is a key to the Bitcoin). You can now use the hardware wallet to access, sell, or transfer the decedent’s Bitcoin. So, be sure to treat the PIN and device very securely. 2. Check phone and computer for software wallets You might want to scroll through the decedent’s phone to see what apps the decedent had. Google “top software wallet iPhone” or “best software wallet android” or “mac software wallet” to get an idea which apps to look for. Again, the software wallet may be password protected. If you can’t guess or find the password, at least you know the decedent has a software wallet. You can use step 3 for word lists (below). If you have the PIN, congrats. You’re able to unlock the device to access the decedent’s bitcoin keys stored inside. You can now use the hardware wallet to access, sell, or transfer the decedent’s Bitcoin. Keep this device in a safe place! Anyone who has control over the decedent’s phone has the power to access, sell, or transfer the decedent’s Bitcoin. So, be sure to treat the PIN and device very securely. Also, be sure that you remember the PIN, because the device can lock you out for a period of time after too many failed attempts. 3. Look for 12- or 24-word lists If you found a hardware or software wallet, but you can’t figure out the PIN or password, it’s still possible to access the decedent’s Bitcoin. The hardware wallet or apps are really just wrappers, ways to conveniently hold the Bitcoin keys, but are not the keys in and of themselves. Another format for decedent’s Bitcoin keys is a list of 12 or 24 secret words in a specific order (aka “seed phrase”). If you (or anyone else) has these words, you can use them to create a new hardware or software wallet, and therefore have full control to access, sell, or transfer the decedent’s Bitcoin. You’ll be looking for a card, note, or letter with the seed phrase on it. So, if you find the 12 or 24 words, do NOT: Share them with anyone; Copy/paste them onto your phone or computer; or even Take a picture of them. Just keep the paper secure until you can safely transfer the Bitcoin to a new account. It’s also important to mention that even though you trust your lawyer, you shouldn’t share the passwords with him or her. Just let the lawyer know that you are in possession of what you believe is the hardware/software wallet and password. Hopefully this gives you some insight for what to do and look for when dealing with a decedent’s Bitcoin. These questions and issues will become more common as more people start owning Bitcoin, but for now, most people are not sure how it works. If you want to learn more about how a professional executor can help , check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon. I don’t have a Bitcoin chapter yet, but you'll get a sense of how choosing a professional can make things easier, especially for something complicated like an estate that includes Bitcoin. Request your free consultation

Listener, Raymond, asks: “What happens to your clients if you die? By you, I mean Anthony S. Park. Who is your backup?” He posted this question on a professional executor video, so we’ll answer in the context of me being a professional executor as opposed to being an attorney. Thanks for your question, Raymond. Can an executor transfer his duties? If you name me as your professional executor, can I delegate my duties to someone else? No, the roles of a fiduciary (trustee, executor, etc.) are non-delegable. So, if I die, I can’t just say that my spouse, or paralegal, or law partner can take over. Why not? Because it's not my choice as to who should be your executor - you chose me for a reason. It’s not up to me to grab one of my colleagues to step in; there’s more to it than that. It should be your choice. By the way, this is not a limitation to just professional executors; this applies to any executor. The same principals apply if you name a spouse, nephew, or friend - they can’t just pass it along to someone else. Can you have a backup executor? Yes, you can and should name a successor in your will or trust. In your will, the appointment of a successor executor will be in the same or following paragraph where you nominate me as executor. For example, “I appoint Anthony S. Park as my executor, but if he cannot fulfill his duties, then I name __________ as my successor executor.” I recommend naming at least one successor executor, but no more than three. You need at least one back-up, but any more than three just feels like overplanning. I’ve had clients come in with a depth chart of up to seven successors. It's very unlikely that you’d get to the point where you need the seventh executor. That would be like a plane-crash involving all of the other executors! Naming that many people will probably cause more stress than you realize. Plus, if you’ve chosen your executors wisely, you won’t need such a long list. It is important to review your will every four years to make sure you’ve chosen your executors are still fit to act, if needed. What happens when a lawyer dies? I am both a licensed attorney and a professional executor. Like most good lawyers, I have backup counsel, as recommended by ethics rules and as required by my insurance carrier. I have a “notify in case of death” colleague who will take over my files in case I die. This doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she will be your attorney, but at least they can notify you that I passed. You could then keep the file with my colleague or retain new counsel. This is the same process for me as a professional executor. If something happens to me, you will be notified. As you may know, I have annual check-in phone calls with clients who’ve named me as their executor. We call to get updates from you, but also partly so you know that I’m still here! It’s a two-way street. If you haven’t heard from me in a year or two, you may need to make sure I’m still around! Again, we appreciate Raymond’s question, and we encourage others to submit their questions, as well. If you want to learn more about professional executors, check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon.

Our Solo Ager clients often ask, “Do I have to tell an heir that I’ve named them in my will?” For one reason or another, you may not be sure what to do. We will discus the pros and cons of telling your heirs they have been named in your will. Do heirs have to be notified? You are not legally required to notify your heirs when you make your will. However, once you die and your executor begins the probate process, your executor is required to notify your heirs that they are named in the will. In fact, the executor must send a copy of the will to the heirs. This means the heirs will also see who the other heirs are and what they will inherit. Why not tell your heirs? First of all, nothing is final. There is a good chance you might change your will again before you die. It would be pretty awkward to tell someone that they are inheriting something, and then you change your mind. You don’t want to cause drama between you and your heirs, or among the heirs themselves. Suppose you have two nieces between whom you were going to split your estate 50/50. Then they find out that you’ve changed it to 75/25. This will create an awkward situation among all of you, especially if the nieces are sisters. You may find that once you tell your heirs what they will inherit, the heirs’ behavior changes. It could feel as if you are dangling their inheritance in front of them. Or maybe the ones inheriting the most won’t try as hard to win your favor or hang around as much, since they feel secure in what they plan to receive. When to tell heirs Generally, I don’t recommend telling your heirs what they will specifically inherit for the reasons described above. However, there are times when it makes sense to tell them. One reason is to help them plan for the future. Say you have a niece with school-aged children, and she is struggling to figure out how much to save up for college. You know that by the time her children are in college, you won’t be around. You can let your niece know that they will receive an inheritance to take care of those costs. This news could alter how aggressively she saves, which will make their lives easier now (not just when the inheritance comes). Just remember - once she relies on this information to set her financial plan, it will not look good if you change your mind! If you are not planning on giving much to your heirs or you plan to give mostly to charity, then set expectations for your heirs. Let them know that you plan to give your wealth to charities and for them not to expect a large inheritance. Doing this can help avoid hard feelings after your death. If you have a relative who’s expecting to receive a lot and they find out after you pass that it’s going to charity, it may tarnish your legacy in their eyes. But if you set expectations before you pass, then the heirs will be prepared. Free copy of "The Solo Ager Estate Plan" Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”

Jimmy Song recently published a great article about what the Taproot upgrade could be for Bitcoin estate planning (video here). Taproot is the recent upgrade to the Bitcoin protocol, and we’ll do our best to outline Jimmy's article in layman’s and through the lens of an experienced executor. What are scriptspends? Taproot has added programmable spend instructions called scriptspends. As Jimmy writes, “Taproot essentially allows you to have as many alternative conditions for unlocking your Bitcoins as you want, making the addition of recovery options to be easy.” In past blogs, we’ve discussed other solutions like an emailed dead man’s switch and sharding your phrase into several pieces. This upgrade potentially does away with all of that while using more elegant solutions. Cryptocurrency tools keep evolving for the better, and we can't wait to see ideas get developed. Potential recovery options with Taproot 1. Mutlisig With Taproot, you can “recover your UTXOs with a 2-of-5 multisig of 5 friends that don’t know each other.” I am not sure how this is different from existing multisig solutions. Perhaps Taproot just makes it easier to implement a multisig? If you can enlighten me, please send me an email or comment. 2. 1-year time lock You can “recover your UTXOs after a time lock of 1 year and locked to a key belonging to a known service like Unchained or Casa.” This seems to be a type of “unclaimed funds” mechanism, where after a year of inactivity, access switches to a key held by a third party. As long as you access this Bitcoin once a year to show that it is an active account, nothing happens. But inactivity after 1 year authorizes the scriptspend to automatically give a third-party a key to access. Perhaps this should be a default setting for new wallets. Just like searching for unclaimed bank accounts after someone has died, this recovery option gives someone a way to recover, rather than being lost forever. 3. Degrading multisig Jimmy writes that you can ”recover using a gracefully degrading multisig of 3 of your family members where 3-of-3 is for immediate recovery, 2-of-3 after 6 months and 1-of-3 after a year.” For example, after 6 months of inactivity you would need 3 keys to spend. But after an another 6 months, sort of assuming you don't have access to 3 keys, your multisig requirement would reduce to just 2 keys. And eventually to just 1 key. Again, in the name of avoiding catestrophic loss. This is all to make up for the fact that Bitcoin is not like a regular bank. If you lose your password, there is no password recovery. You need multiple contingency plans, otherwise, it’s gone. You’re probably more likely to lose your password than to be hacked! With scriptsprend, these options seem to be only limited by imagination of programmer. That’s very encouraging. Private recovery options Jimmy notes that “you only have to reveal the recovery method when you spend using it, so your friends don’t even have to know that they’re part of your backup plan! You just have to present them with what needs to be signed.” So, if you name 3 people as your multisig members, they don’t have to know that they are back-up signors to a transaction. Similarly, you don’t have to tell someone that they are your executor; they can discover that upon reading your will. The problem with this approach is that it assumes everyone knows how to (or is familiar with) use private keys. I’m not so sure this is realistic; we’re just not at that point in time yet. Maybe you have enough tech-saavy signors in your group to meet a quorum. Perhaps you can use Unchained or Casa as a back-up. Or maybe even a Bitcoin-savvy professional executor? In this stage of development, it’s probably not smart to rely on 3 family members with digital signatures. You'll need one or more people/companies who are familiar with the technical requirements. If you want to learn more about how a professional executor can help , check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon. I don’t have a Bitcoin chapter yet, but you'll get a sense of how choosing a professional can make things easier, especially for something complicated like an estate that includes Bitcoin. Request your free consultation

When you name me as your professional executor or trustee, we have an annual “check-in” call or email to make sure I’m up to date on your plan and wishes. We’ll review below what we chat about during our annual check-in. But first, why annually? As your executor and potential witness if your will is contested, it’s useful for me to be familiar not just with a snapshot of your wishes upon your death, but the trajectory of your wishes. For example, it helps me to track that year after year your niece was gaining your favor. Maybe she only made phone calls in the beginning, then she sent Christmas cards to you, and ultimately, she finally started visiting you. At each annual check-in, you talk about her more and more. On the flip side, if every year you report the same thing about your niece and she contests your will, then I’ll know what that relationship was like if I have to testify in court. 1. Are you alive? If you answer our check in call each year, then we’ll know you're alive! Of course, we care more than whether you are dead or alive. We’ll ask about your health and check to see if there are any signs of capacity issues. For example, are you becoming frailer each year? Perhaps you might need a trust or other sort of estate planning advice. 2. Does your plan still reflect your wishes? Does your plan still reflect who you want as your beneficiaries? Are any of your beneficiaries dead or incapacitated since we chatted last? Perhaps there is now someone you would like to cut out of your will or maybe a beneficiary is no longer worthy of an outright inheritance. Maybe your nephew is now a drug addict or gambling addict, and you need to put his share into a trust because you still want to give him something, just not all at once. Maybe one of your beneficiaries is now in a nursing home, and you want to make sure her share is protected (not counted as an available asset). 3. Have your assets changed? Have you bought or sold anything major? As your professional executor, I need to collect and distribute your property after your death. It would definitely help me to know that your summer home in the Poconos has been sold or maybe you bought a big piece of land in Montana. Also, are you significantly richer or poorer than when we last checked in? Did your crypto crash or your Bitcoin pop? There is a cost-benefit analysis involved, and the size of your estate plays a big role in that. 4. Do your assets still have correct titles and beneficiaries? If you have a trust, you probably want a good number of assets to be no longer owned by you personally, but rather owned by the trust. Is that trust paperwork in place with the bank? Even if you don’t have a trust, do you have beneficiaries on your accounts? Have you named who automatically gets your 401(k), life insurance, IRA, brokerage account, etc.? It’s important to make sure the correct person is named. Is your old girlfriend from ten years ago still listed as the beneficiary? As a caveat, we generally don’t recommend structuring your estate plan with beneficiary designations. There are many problems with that approach, and you can check out this link to learn more. If you do have beneficiary designations, we’ll make sure the designations are at least reasonably accurate. 5. Are we still a good match? The last thing we’ll check is if you and I are still a good match. Do we still like each other, and do we still trust each other? Am I still young and fresh and up to date on estate administration? Or maybe when I am older, you’ll want a younger professional executor. I mean, you should have an executor who is likely to survive you! Does my style of doing things match the way you want things done? There is no right or wrong answer. The check-in is usually a 15- or 20-minute phone call, or even a few emails back and forth. The check-in helps us keep in touch over the years and gives me a better picture of your wishes each time. If you want to learn more about professional executors, check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon.

If you hold bitcoin, 2022 may be the time to make your New Year resolutions to get your Bitcoin estate planning in order. Everyone approaches crypto differently: Entry level people will probably be on exchanges; more intermediary users may have their own software or hardware wallets. Hardcore bitcoiners probably have hardware wallets, cold storage and maybe even paper wallets – most likely in a multisig structure. Have you named beneficiary designations? Newer bitcoiners most likely hold their crypto on exchanges (Kraken, Binance, Coinbase, etc.). The most important question is: does your exchange allow beneficiary designations? This means filling out a form which says that, upon your death, your account should go to a certain person. (This is similar to naming a beneficiary on your IRA or life insurance). Some exchanges appear to be slowly adopting beneficiary designations. Having a beneficiary is a great way to make sure that someone knows that you own crypto! If beneficiary designations are allowed, are yours up to date? Does it reflect your current wishes, or is it still in the name of your girlfriend from ten years ago? This would not make your current spouse very happy; believe me – we've seen it before! No need to leave those emotional messes for your grieving family. It’s very important to make sure your beneficiary designations are up to date on all accounts, not just your crypto. Check your letter of instruction and devices Intermediate bitcoiners usually have multiple accounts and hardware wallets/devices. These bitcoiners have self-custody, which means they have more control over their bitcoin than if they were using an exchange. If you have self-custody, check whether you have a basic letter of instruction. This letter tells your heirs/family that you have cryptocurrency, where the accounts are held, and where any wallets are located. If you have software wallet, let your heirs know the name of the software wallet or app. They might think Kraken is just a video game on your phone! Be sure to continually update your letter of instruction because the wallets you have this year may be different from a year ago. If you haven’t touched your wallets or nodes in a while (which is totally normal for “cold storage”), there is a chance that those versions and firmware are not up to date. The latest security standards may not be in place. Less savvy heirs/family may be stressed about locating and accessing your bitcoin. It will be much harder for them if they find out they have to run updates before they can proceed. A lot of hardware wallets rely on batteries. Check in every once in a while, to make sure the batteries are able to power up. Does your multisig still work? I am not a hardcore user, so bear with me on this one. Advanced bitcoiners may have a multisig recovery and inheritance plan. That means that there is no single key to access their hoard of bitcoin; there are layers of protection. For example, you will need 2 out of 3 keys, etc. in order to access the account. As discussed above, make sure you have updated versions of everything and that everything still works. Imagine how hard it is for someone new to crypto to wrap their head around “multisig,” “hardware wallet signature,” etc. Another important thing to do is make sure all of your signers are alive. For example, you have a 2 of 5 multisig. You have at least 3 of the keys, your spouse has one, and your cousin has another. That way, if anything happens to you, your spouse and cousin can put their keys together with yours and be able to access the account. But, is your cousin still alive and able to perform his duties? Is he still a valid keyholder? Does he still have his key, and does it still work? You can’t just check your own keys; you have to check everyone’s, because otherwise it’s pointless. Multisig is new to me, so I am not sure how to confirm that a multisig actually works. Do you really need to do an annual test with all the keyholders, or do you assume that their keys work if yours do? It would be a shame to go through the trouble of setting up a multisig and then for some reason it fails upon your death. I would love to hear from someone more technologically advanced to help answer these questions. If you want to learn more about probate in general, please check out my book, “How Probate Works.” I don’t have a Bitcoin chapter yet, but you will get a sense of how the probate process applies to your Bitcoin situation. Request your free consultation

As we know, Solo Ager estate plans are a bit trickier than other estate plans. We recommend that our clients take a look at their estate plan every 4 to 5 years. However, for Solos Agers, we suggest a light annual review. 1. Your Executor The first thing you should review is whether your executor is still alive. This is important for Solo Agers because they often have non-traditional executors. Solo Agers often hire a professional executor like me because they don’t have family members who they feel comfortable appointing. This professional executor is probably not someone they keep in touch with on a daily basis. Is your executor still living nearby? Perhaps if the executor has moved far away, it’s not practical to have them named in your will any longer. Are you still confident your executor will fulfill his or her duties to your liking? Perhaps the executor is someone who is developing close relationships with relatives that you are planning to disinherit. Maybe your executor is getting older and declining. Maybe your assets have become more technologically advanced, and your executor isn’t familiar with the types of accounts you have (bitcoin, for example). 2. Who inherits Again, you want to make sure that the beneficiaries of your will and/or trust are still alive. It sounds depressing to have to think about such things, but a 5-to-10-minute review of your documents could prevent a headache for your executor when you pass. Are your beneficiaries still worthy of inheriting your money? Sometimes family members slowly stop keeping in touch with their aging relatives. As a Solo Ager, you may want to evaluate whether those people are still worthy of receiving your estate. Does it still make you feel good that you’re leaving your money to them? You may have set up a trust for a beneficiary, or you may have chosen to give them their share outright. It’s best to re-evaluate to see if that choice is still appropriate for that beneficiary. For example, you may have chosen an outright distribution to someone who has since started having drinking problems or gambling issues. Perhaps you’ve left money to someone who needs asset protection. Now, a trust or some other planning tool may be better. On the other side, you may have put a minor beneficiary’s share in a trust, and now he or she is an adult who can handle money. Many Solo Agers prefer to leave some money to charities. Take time to review if your charity of choice still exists and if it is still worthy of inheriting your money. Perhaps the charity was very efficient in serving the original cause, but now a change of management style has resulted in less money going toward the charitable cause itself. Does the charity still align with your values? Have your passions or interest changed? Maybe when you created your will, you were really into pets, and you left a large share to the ASPCA. Maybe now your passion is something else that you’d rather leave your money to. 3. Your Guardian You may not have a guardian in your estate plan. But, are you satisfied with what happens if you lose capacity? If you don’t have a trust or other mechanism in place, are you happy with the idea of a court-appointed guardian? You may have listened to our prior podcast in which we reviewed the Netflix move, “I Care a Lot.” The movie is obviously a dramatization, but it shows how bad it can be when the system takes over someone who doesn’t really need a guardian. It’s best to have a plan in place now before the court decides it’s a good idea to appoint a stranger as your guardian. If you are unfamiliar with court-appointed strangers, we suggest you check our podcast on the topic. In conclusion, an annual light review of your documents can go a long way in making sure your plan is strong. To learn about estate planning tips for Solo Agers, please check out my book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan,” available on Amazon. Free copy of "The Solo Ager Estate Plan" Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”