Is This File Important or Trash? Attorney Craig Hersch’s Timeline for Tossing Old Documents
To toss or to keep — that is the question many people struggle to answer when it comes to their estate planning documents. In his 2021 Sanibel Island Sun column, “When to Dispose of Old Estate Planning Documents,” attorney Craig Hersch offers insight. You can read the full version of Craig’s column — and others — at FloridaEstatePlanning.com. Let’s address ancillary documents first. Generally speaking, you can get rid of most old durable powers of attorney, health care surrogates, and living wills if they have been updated. Where this general rule doesn’t apply — and you need to take other action — is when one of three things has happened with your durable powers of attorney: the power holder has a copy of it, it has been used, or a copy of the power of attorney is on file with a bank or financial institution. If any of those three things are true, ask your attorney to take legal steps to revoke the power of attorney. Failure to legally revoke this could result in its continued use — and unintended and possibly adverse consequences. Next, let’s talk about wills. When you update your will, you might add an amendment — called a “codicil” — or you may create a whole new will. When you amend your will with a codicil, you
should retain the old one, since it (or parts of it) remains valid. When you update a will by restating it in its entirety, then it is usually okay to throw out the old one. The only reason you may wish to keep an old will (or a copy) is when you want to show a history of some act. If you have a revocable living trust, you usually want to retain the old trusts, even if they have been revised completely because new trusts usually build on old ones. As an example, let’s say that I have a trust dated Jan. 1, 1996, and I revisited that trust in its entirety on July 1, 2011. Maybe I kept the old trust because it had a provision in it that allowed me to amend it. Then, the new trust would keep the date of the old trust so I don’t have to re-title all of the assets that have been transferred to it. This illustrates why it’s a good idea to have that old trust around for proof! Finally, never toss Form 706 Estate Tax Returns of anyone you inherited from, including your spouse, parents, and grandparents. Also don’t throw away Form 709 Gift Tax Returns that you and your spouse have filed. In fact, it’s always best to give copies of those to your estate planning attorney.
Easy Cranberry-Apple Salad
Inspired by CookieAndKate.com
Take a Break
Want the taste of fall without the calories? Try this quick and easy salad, topped with homemade apple cider vinaigrette.
INGREDIENTS
For the dressing: •
For the salad: •
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dried pumpkin seeds
• • • •
1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• •
5 cups salad mix
1 1/2 tsp honey
2 Granny Smith apples, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 tsp Dijon mustard
• •
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled
DIRECTIONS 1. In a skillet over medium heat, toast the pumpkin seeds until fragrant, then set aside. 2. In a small jar or bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients, then set aside. 3. Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing until lightly coated, then toss and serve!
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