WisconsinChristianNews.com Volume 25, Issue 5 Three Biggest Mistakes Christians Make In Their Estate Plans Page 34
2). Leaving Unbelievers In Charge of Their Affairs The lack of wise younger family members to
By Attorney Alan Spiegel, McLario, Helm, Bertling & Spiegel Law Offices (See display ad on Page 40 of this issue of WCN) September 2024 As He commissioned His twelve disciples for their
deceased owner’s intention or not. In one situation, a person prepares wonderful and Biblical estate planning documents, but
of the family who shares your Christian world- view and pay and empower them to manage the estate or trust consistent with your beliefs. Many believers find paying a non-family mem- ber difficult to swallow when family members will do it “for free.” The saying is true, however, that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and the true cost of having an unbeliever handle God’s money is too often much higher, and much more painful, than the grantor of the authority could have imagined. When making your estate plan, think very carefully about the values of the individual you are picking to handle things, as this is your only chance to evaluate their work. 3). Giving the Wrong Assets to Charities and Paying Unnecessary Taxes The final common mistake made by generous Christians in their estate plans goes as follows: “I have a $50,000 bank account that I want to leave to my church, so I made them the benefi- ciary of the account. I have a $50,000 retire- ment plan that I want to leave to my kids, so I made them the beneficiary of that account.” At the time of death, the church gets a check from the bank for $50,000 with no tax due be- cause the account is not taxable at death. The children, however, get a total of $40,000 from the retirement plan because they have to pay income taxes on the funds they receive. The problem with this plan is that the church is a tax-exempt organization, so it would not have to pay taxes on the retirement account. So making the church the beneficiary of the taxable retirement account keeps them at $50,000, while making the kids the beneficiaries of the bank account increases their share by $10,000. The family, who aren’t allowed to run deficits every year, end up with more money by simply designating the right account to the right bene- ficiaries. Taxes are an important and confusing issue. Always work with professionals who can make sure you pay as little as possible within the bounds of the law. McLario.com
first missionary journey in Mark chapter 10, Jesus gave many instructions to them about how to interact with a hostile world. Those in- structions were summarized in verse 16, when Jesus instructed His new missionaries, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Christians today are also on a mission to spread the Gospel to a hostile world and would be wise to heed the words of the Author and Perfector of the faith as we do it. Finding the balance of wisdom (a/k/a shrewdness) and in- nocence is easy in many areas of life, but much more complicated in areas where issues of morality, government and family overlap in hard- to-understand ways. One of those complex areas is the area of planning for the distribution of our estates in the event of our passing into glory. In an effort to equip Christians to be wise and innocent, what follows are the top three mistakes made by well- meaning Christians as they attempt to steward their resources into future generations. 1). Having Designated Beneficiaries That Do Not Match Their Wishes Many believers have spent many hours and dollars on well-thought-out and complex estate plans like trusts and other transfer documents and leave this earth resting in the comfort that those plans will handle the transfer of all of their assets at the time of their death. What often really happens, however, is that it is discovered after death that beneficiary desig- nations on life insurance, retirement accounts, bank accounts and even real estate trump most estate planning devices, whether that was the
never gets around to taking off previously des- ignated beneficiaries on accounts or properties. Regardless of the person’s beliefs, those bene- ficiaries still control the distribution of the ac- counts or properties even after the establishment of a trust or other estate plan, un- less those beneficiary designations are changed at the time of the plan. In the other situation, a person prepares won- derful and Biblical estate planning documents and dutifully makes all of the beneficiary up- dates as directed by the assisting estate plan- ning attorney. Years later, however, relatives convince the person that it would be “easier” for them to name those relatives as the beneficiary of accounts or property instead of utilizing the trust. It is truly easier, for the relative who ad- vised the change, as they walk away with all of the assets, regardless of what any other docu- ments might say. To avoid this mistake, update beneficiaries every time you update your estate plan, and check beneficiaries every 5-7 years, when you check your estate plan with your estate planning attorney.
administer estates and trusts has reached epi- demic levels among aging Christians. In light of this lack of available wise stewards, many have decided that the next best option is to ask non- believer family members to step in. As you might imagine, this choice has led to disastrous consequences in many situations. Funds that could have been blessings to younger or less able beneficiaries have become sources of con- trol, abuse or division. Assets that could have been longstanding testimonies to the legacy of departed believers have been wasted on organ- izations and pursuits that would have never been acceptable to the deceased grantor. What is the solution? There are two. The first, lesser solution is to draft documents that precisely and Biblically dictate every move a future trustee will make. These documents are extremely time consuming and expensive to draft, however, and remove all of the flexibility and insight that might be gained from having a trusted person in the moment to exercise dis- cretion consistent with the original owner’s in- tentions. The better solution is to find someone outside
The Gifts Are Still In Operation By Bradlee Dean, Sons of Liberty September 2024
As the man stepped down, the two men walked over to him, saying also with a loud voice, “Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that?” The man praying in tongues asked the two men what it was that he was saying. Both men replied
Recently, I took the time to highlight the very reason that the Lord gave the gifts of the Holy Ghost to the Church, which is that they might not serve dumb idols (1 Corinthians 12:10)!
in unison, “You keep saying that ‘Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord’.” At this point, I said to myself, “Shutting up Lord, shutting up!” The lesson learned that day was that THIS MAN WAS AN OBEDIENT SER- VANT TO HIS LORD, as was he being led by the Spirit in bearing witness to His Glory (Romans 8:14).
Well, lo and behold this week, Paul Washer came out and talked of how the gifts of tongues are no longer in operation. What is it that this named preacher (Though I respect a lot of things he does say) does not understand? The Lord has NOT changed (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8). Let me give you a lesson from my experience in Israel from 1992.
Only the Lord knew the two men. Only the Lord knew
their language. And so it is for anyone to deny the Lord and His Spirit, who changes not, is only missing out as to what it is that He has for them. “…and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” – 1 Corinthians 12:3. By the way, I do understand why men question these things, and they should, all for good rea- sons. Furthermore, it is scriptural to do so (1 John 4:1-6). The fanaticism and fleshly nonsense that goes on in the American Church today is in so many ways shameful and unspiritual. Yet, this does not give anyone the right to deny what the Word of God teaches. Just ask me, sin- cerely. Read 1 Corinthians 14:26-28.
One day of a 12-day Holy Land tour we had was quite a learning experience for me, espe- cially when it came to the gift of “tongues.” While sitting on the bus, a man in front of me began to pray out loud in an unknown tongue, and little by little he began to get louder and louder. I knew that I went on this tour with a Pen- tecostal and charismatic group, but this was get- ting a little too “out there” for me. I thought to myself, “ok what are we doing and why is he sup- posedly praying so loud?” Was he looking for attention from the others trying to exhibit how spiritual he was or was he just losing his mind? The man continued, louder and louder, and as he began to exit the bus, I noticed on the outside that two men were looking angrily at him. This caught my attention. I thought, “what is their problem?”
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