Thomas M. Boles, 33°, G.C. Director of Development 1761 East Woodcrest Avenue La Habra, California 90631-3260 Tel . 562-691-4227; Fax 562-691-5327

Earl E. Ihle, Jr., 33° Director of Major Gifts 1733 Sixteenth St., Washington, DC 20009–3103 Tel. 202-232-3579, Ext. 143, Fax 202-387-1843 Or call 800-486-3331, Ext. 143 council@srmason-sj.org

Careful planning can extend personal control and independence throughout your senior years.

This month, we are again pleased to welcome a distinguished contributor to this column. Bro. Robert S. Bersch, 32°, is a member of the Valley of Roanoke, Virginia, and the managing attorney of his law firm, Bersch & Rhodes. Among other honors, he has earned the professional designation of Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) from the National Association of Estate Planning Council in recognition of his 39 years experience in the fields of estate and tax planning, probate, estate and trust administration. It is an honor and pleasure to welcome his paper "Control and Independence" to the Scottish Rite Journal as a service to our Brethren and their families.

The two statements I hear most from clients as I help them with estate planning are "I want to stay in control as long as possible" and "I never want to become dependent on anyone, if I can help it."

These are desirable goals, and they have a much better chance of being achieved if you do advance planning with wills, powers of attorney, and advance medical directives. Once these documents are written, it is just as important to keep them up to date with periodic reviews. Every state has laws of intestacy governing what happens to your assets if you do not have a valid will at death.

You can override these laws and control what happens by making a will. It is a privilege we all have, and it is important that an attorney who specializes in estate law professionally prepare your documents. Many self-prepared wills fail because of structural irregularities and improper wording. What may seem logical to the layperson most often does not conform to legal interpretation.

For example, suppose you write your own will and say, "I give Bill all my automobiles, and I want all my stocks and bonds to go to Charles." Bill would get the vehicles, but Charles would not get the securities. The word give is strong enough, but the word want is precatory, that is, language expressing a wish, not an order. Thus, in legal terms, want is too weak to accomplish the desired gift to Charles.

Also, it is important to realize that state intestacy laws do not recognize your charitable intentions. Should you wish to support your favorite charity after your passing, you must say so in a will. To be certain the right charity will receive your assets, it is advisable to call the charity to obtain the charity's proper name and its Tax ID Number and to list these details exactly in your will.

If your estate value exceeds the federal estate tax exemption amount of $675,000 for deaths occurring in the year 2000 (increasing in steps to $1 million by the year 2006), you need to do tax-oriented estate planning to eliminate the estate tax. If the tax is not eliminated entirely, at least plan to bring it down to the lowest achievable level. If you allow part of your estate to be taxed, the estate tax rates begin at 37% and reach the top bracket of 55% on an estate of $3 million or more. Additionally, watch out for the tax on Generation Skipping Transfers (GST). The GST is a flat 55% of the value of the gift. There is an exemption available from the GST that protects or shields the giver's first million dollars of GST gifting from the GST as well as an annual amount of $10,000 per recipient that is not subject to the GST.

A General Durable Power of Attorney allows you to enable one or more people you trust completely to be available to sign your name for you on legal documents such as checks, tax returns, deeds, and contracts. If you are disabled or if you are out of town or unavailable to sign for yourself, these persons can act on your behalf. You can control these people by retaining control of the document until you want them to act. Without the document, they have no power to act for you even though they are named in it, and you can take away their power by taking back the document or revoking or destroying all originals of the document. In using this document to empower others, you do not give up any power yourself. You can still act for yourself, but so can they when you give them the document. This document can be changed or totally revoked by you at anytime, and it automatically ceases to be valid at your passing.

In the medical care arena, you can maintain all the control the law allows by having an Advance Medical Directive (some states use Living Wills and Medical Powers of Attorney). This document lets you, if you feel so inclined, make the decision for yourself by saying "If I have a terminal illness in which the quality of life is over and which cannot be reversed, keep me comfortable with pain medication and comfort care but do not use heroic measures to keep me alive artificially on life support. Instead, allow me to die naturally with dignity."

This document can be amended or revoked, and it is the only written legal document I am aware of that can be changed or overridden orally. If one day you find yourself in intensive care and you change your mind and do want the heroic measures used, if your doctor is with you and you can communicate with him or her, your oral instructions will override the written directions in your medical directive.

If you want to stay in control and avoid dependency on others, you will want to review and update your will, power of attorney, and advance medical directive at the first opportunity and continually review and update them every couple of years. If your feelings change, your assets change, or your family relationships change, your review and update should come even sooner. Together, the steps outlined above can assure that the control and independence you have desired throughout your life will continue as long as you wish.

Ill. Thomas M. Boles, 33°, G.C. (left in photo) has worked extensively in fund-raising for children's programs throughout our Fraternity. For more information on planned giving, call Bro. Tom at 562–691–4227 (Fax 562–691–5327) or the Scottish Rite Foundation, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A., at 202–232–3579, ext. 143. Ill. Earl E. Ihle, Jr., 33°, is our development team's Director of Major Gifts. He has been a member of the Fraternity for 25 years and served in 1978 as Master of Lafayette Lodge, No. 111, Baltimore, Maryland. He is also a member of Boumi Shrine Temple in Baltimore, the York Rite, and a dual member of the Scottish Rite Valleys of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. You can reach Bro. Ihle toll free at 1–800–486–3331, ext. 143.