H. BROOK TRAVIS, M.B.A., J.D. Attorney At Law

Posted by Maria Mac Lean 
on Dec 05, 2014
 
Brook is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Defending Attorneys.  As Academy members, they are dedicated to educating their clients and providing the tools needed to protect their estates for the ones they love. His firm makes estate planning a positive and fulfilling experience. Brooks has been practicing law for the past 10 years and received his undergrad degree at Baylor. He received his MBA at Oklahoma University and went to law school locally here at Chapman University. Brooks’ father was a past president of the Rotary Club of El Paso, Texas. Brook has been married for 25 years with one daughter who is currently enrolled at Vanderbilt Law School and got her undergraduate degree at University of Notre Dame.

Brooks was there to make us aware of many things including government programs, such as Aid and Attendance through the D.A. The way it works is if you have served in the military for three months straight and one day of active service during a war and you are in pretty bad physical condition and you have suffered from one of these conditions such as having the limited ability of dressing yourself, bathing yourself, feeding yourself or taking medications and you're having trouble with two of those areas, The government will provide you with about $2000 in monthly support if you are a Veteran. Unfortunately many veterans are not even aware that this program exists. 

Another program available is if someone is bad enough to where they cannot drive and need long-term nursing care, Medi-Cal will sometimes pay for that nursing care. In order to qualify for this you need to be married and your spouse is going into a long term care facility; you have only $135,000 in assets, you own your home and, car but that's about it. And if there's only one spouse remaining he/she can only have $2000 to qualify. Unfortunately with these requirements many times people spend their assets at a point to where they are almost destitute. 
 
There are two different types of assets, ones that go into a Trust and those that do not go into a Trust. The assets which don't go into the Trust are Insurance policies, IRAs, 401(k)s, 457 plans  or retirement for government employees. The reason that they're not get put into the name of the trust is because most of those assets are pre-taxed dollars, so you haven't paid taxes on them yet; therefore, if you were to put those assets into the trust name they would all be taxable. The other thing that is a nice about those assets is that they will not go through probate. You can have a Trust and all your assets in the Trust don't go through probate and these other types of assets will not as well.
Also, to protect yourself you should have to have a Durable Power of Attorney to manage the other side of your assets, just like the Trust handles your Trust assets if you become incapacitated.
Many people don't realize that once your child turns 18, and if they are in a severe accident and end up in the hospital, and you as the parent go try and get their information, you would not be able to attain it by law. It is considered private information. It is best for parents and children to have a Power of Attorney and a HIPPA document on each other to avoid those kinds of complications. HIPPA documents allow doctors to share your private medical information with whoever's listed on the document. 
One of the main benefits for people who are married or people who are single, is that in a Trust you can name an incapacity trustee. The Trust is the only document that is available that will allow you to name someone that can actually take care of you.

Brook shared the 10 potential estate Planning and Trust mistakes: 
1. Failing to name a guardian for your minor children should you and your spouse pass away. 
2. Failing to plan for your incapacity.
3. Owning your assets jointly with your children.
4. Failing to protect your children's inheritance (from divorce creditors and taxes).
5. Failing to protect your children if you have a blended family.
6. Procrastination; when is it too late to do an estate plan?
7. How does holding title in property impact the value of your estate?
8. Failing to take advantage of the easiest way to build a sizeable estate in today's bleak economic environment. 
9. If you have a trust, failing to fund the appropriate assets into the trust. 
10. Failing to plan for your business and your estate plan. 

There are number of ways that you can protect yourself, your loved ones and your assets, just don't wait until it's too late. Should you need any help or have further questions Brooks would be happy to assist you.
 

  
H. BROOK TRAVIS, M.B.A., J.D.
Attorney At Law
(949) 454-8706
www.HBTravis-Law.com
HBTravis.Law@Cox.net