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6 Events Which May Require a Change in Your Estate Plan

Creating a Will is not a one-time event. You should review your will periodically, to ensure it is up to date, and make necessary changes if your personal situation, or that of your executor or beneficiaries, has changed. There are a number of life-changing events that require your Will to be revised, including:

Change in Marital Status: If you have gotten married or divorced, it is imperative that you review and modify your Will. With a new marriage, you must determine which assets you want to pass to your new spouse or step-children, and how that may relate to the beneficiary interest of your own children. Following a divorce it is a good practice to revise your Will, to formally remove the ex-spouse as a beneficiary. While you’re at it, you should also change your beneficiary on any life insurance policies, pensions, or retirement accounts. Estate planning is complicated when there are children from multiple marriages, and an attorney can help you ensure everyone is protected, which may include establishing a trust in addition to the revised Will.

Depending on jurisdiction, this may also apply to couples who have established or revoked a registered domestic partnership.

If one of your Will’s beneficiaries experiences a change in marital status, that may also trigger a need to revise your Will.

Births: Upon the birth of a new child, the parents should amend their Wills immediately, to include the names of the guardians who will care for the child if both parents die. Also, parents or grandparents may wish to modify the distribution of assets provided in their Wills, to include the new addition to the family.

Deaths or Incapacitation: If any of the named executors or beneficiaries of a Will, or the named guardians for your children, pass away or become incapacitated, your Will should be revised accordingly.

Change in Assets: Your Will may need to be changed if the value of your assets has significantly increased or decreased, or if you dispose of an asset. You may want to modify the distribution of other assets in your estate, to account for the changed value or disposition of the asset.

Change in Employment: A change in the amount and/or source of income means your Will should be examined to see if any changes must be made to that document. Retirement or changing jobs could entail moving to another state, thus subjecting your estate to the laws of that state when you die. If the change in income modifies your investing, saving or spending habits, it may be time to review your Will and make sure the distribution to your beneficiaries will be as you intended.

Changes in Probate or Tax Laws: Wills should be drafted to maximize tax benefits, and to ensure the decedent’s wishes are carried out. If the laws regarding taxation of the estate, distribution of assets, or provisions for minor children have changed, you should have your Will reviewed by an estate planning attorney to ensure your family is fully protected and your wishes will be fully carried out.

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Administrative Professionals’ Day Luncheon at SIMT with a Play Me I’m Yours, Florence piano! Thank you to all of our professionals for doing such a great job!

Kendra Smith, an 18-year South Florence High School student, has won the Stellar Award 2015 for Youth Project of the Year for her own song Deep Down, produced by Florence’s Divine Records. Willcox, Buyck & Williams is proud to have sponsored Kendra’s trip to Las Vegas as a nominee, and to be the first to welcome her home in triumph.

Previous winners of Stellar Awards include Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson, and the Five Blind Boys of Alabama. The Stellar Award celebrates gospel music’s best and will be broadcast April 5 on TVOne.

We are proud of the scientists and the leadership at IRIX Pharmaceuticals. It has been our honor to represent this outstanding research organization; it has now demonstrated that Florence means business on the international stage. http://youtu.be/T-oicuPnINU

See full story here: http://www.scnow.com/news/business/article_b3f58e92-a2b1-11e4-a919-4b0a85d93a70.html

By JOHN D. RUSSELL Morning Newsjrussell@florencenews.com

FLORENCE, S.C. – Fifteen business people were honored Thursday night at Florence-Darlington Technical College’s inaugural Entrepreneurial Forum Gala.

The evening, at the Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology (SiMT), was part of a new effort by the school, which now offers courses in entrepreneurship. College President Ben Dillard has said one of the college’s goals is to give students the best opportunity possible to be successful. The school is hoping students will learn some lessons the honorees might have learned the hard way. The night conjured up warm feelings for honorees, who reflected on their own careers in different ways and offered advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.

The combined effects of an aging population and a sluggish economy have led to an increase in lawsuits alleging age bias in the workplace. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits age discrimination in the employment of persons who are at least 40 years old. The ADEA covers most private employers of 20 or more persons. It forbids age discrimination in advertising for employment, hiring, compensation, discharges, and other terms or conditions of employment. Retaliation against a person who opposes a practice made unlawful by the ADEA or who participates in a proceeding brought under the ADEA is a separate violation.

The ADEA takes into account that sometimes there is a correlation between age and the ability to fulfill the requirements of a job, and that even older workers must comply with employers’ rules and requirements that have nothing to do with age. An employer does not violate the ADEA if it takes an otherwise prohibited action where age is a “bona fide occupational qualification” necessary to the operation of a particular business. Nor is it a violation to differentiate among employees based on reasonable factors other than age or to fire or discipline an employee for good cause.

Before suing in court, an aggrieved person first must allege unlawful discrimination in a charge filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and then wait 60 days to allow the EEOC an opportunity to resolve the dispute informally before taking further legal action. Court remedies include injunctions (court orders stopping a discriminatory practice), compelled employment, promotions, reinstatement with back pay and lost benefits, and an award for attorney’s fees and costs of bringing the suit. If a court finds that an employer’s violation of the ADEA was willful, it may also award liquidated damages equal to the out-of-pocket monetary losses of the plaintiff.

It is not essential to an ADEA lawsuit that there be a “smoking gun” in the plaintiff’s favor in the form of derogatory age-based comments about older employees. In fact, remarks of that kind will not support liability if they have no connection to the challenged employment decision. In a recent lawsuit brought by an on-air television reporter who was fired, a boss’s comment that “old people should die” was an insignificant stray remark because it was made about the boss’s own father. On the other hand, it was very helpful to the plaintiff’s case that the same boss had stated repeatedly that she wanted to “go with a younger look” and she did not like having an older man appearing on the news.

Employers sometimes select older workers to be terminated as a money-saving measure, given their generally higher compensation and perhaps their being close to vested retirement benefits. There is no ADEA violation in a decision that treats employees differently because of something other than age, such as money. An employer will not be liable under the ADEA for terminating an employee solely to prevent his pension benefits from vesting. (That conduct might very well violate ERISA, however.) Such a scenario is distinguishable from situations in which employers face ADEA liability because they have made decisions based on the stereotype that productivity and competence always decline with old age.

BY JOHN D. RUSSELL Morning News jrussell@florencenews.com

FLORENCE, S.C. – Reamer King said he isn’t worthy of the annual Business Person of the Year award he received Thursday at the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce’s annual membership luncheon.

The King Cadillac Buick GMC owner was quick to say he didn’t deserve the award because his business success wouldn’t have been possible without the fantastic people at his dealership on West Evans Street in Florence. He started with 24 employees on a two-acre lot. Now he employs 100 people on an eight-acre lot.

http://www.scnow.com/news/business/article_aecb2fd2-5011-11e4-9b50-0017a43b2370.html