Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the daughter of a DuPont Company worker is out of luck in her effort to collect his retirement benefits.

The justices, in a unanimous decision, said Kari Kennedy can collect nothing from DuPont because companies are bound by what a worker puts down on forms designating who is to receive retirement and other benefits after his death.

In this case, William Kennedy divorced his wife of 22 years and she waived her rights to the retirement money in their divorce decree. Kari Kennedy said her father wanted her to have the money after his death. But Kennedy never changed his beneficiary on the retirement account, after the divorce was final and the Court ruled that DuPont was right to pay $402,000 to Liv Kennedy, his ex-wife.

Divorce and Estate Planning lawyers are trained to advise their clients to check beneficiaries designations after a divorce, and to contact their retirement plan and annuity administrators to request change of beneficiary forms. Unfortunately many like Mr. Kennedy never get around to following the advice.

This is the time of year when most of us are pulling together our income records to take to the tax preparer. As you fumble through those retirement account statements, and search for records relating to taxes and investments - take an extra moment to think about who you might have named as your beneficiaries on retirement accounts, life insurance and annuities. If need be, call your agent or custodian and ask for a copy of the beneficiary designation.

If there has been a major change in the composition of your family due to birth, death, marriage, divorce or just a change of heart, consider making changes to your estate plan documents and beneficiary designations. Don’t just say your going to do it, do it.

James D. Perry

In addition to seemingly endless gift lists to satisfy, the holiday season presents many with the perplexing issue regarding service tipping.

Consumer Reports magazine states in the December issue that gratuities, in general, rose by approximately $5.00 over the previous holiday season. In general, Consumer Reports found that the experts they surveyed recommended a one-week service fee match for the total amount of the tip.

In my own case, the biggest tip will go to the caregivers for my parents. My Dad is 93 and Mom is 91. They are still able to live in their own home with the assistance of caregivers who come in each day to prepare meals, take them to the doctor, and any place else they want to go. They also provide an extra set of eyes and ears to report on how my folks are doing from day to day.

Most caregivers are unpaid family members who volunteer their services, or live in the home of their parent rent free. In these cases, when money is not available to show appreciation, I suggest that you take the time to write a genuine thank you note to the relative providing the care. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “the only gift is a portion of thyself”.

Where an elder has a 24-hour caregivers or neighbors who provide care, the decisions on a holiday gratuity are not the issue. Often they have little communication with relatives and family who have moved from the area. These elderly and dependent adults are easy prey to the darker side of care giving…the caregiver or neighbor who talks the elder into making a substantial gifts to the them in a will or trust.

Caregivers are one category of people the State of California would rather you left out of your will. If the person receiving the care is a “dependent adult” (a person who has physical or mental limitations that restrict his or her ability to carry out normal activities, or whose physical or mental abilities have diminished because of age) they will have to jump through a few extra hoops to leave anything substantial to their caregiver. This is because many dependent adults are too weak of body or mind to resist the influence of a caregiver who suggests a trip to the lawyer’s office to make changes to their will. As a general rule in California, gifts to caregivers by a dependent adult in a will or trust are void unless certain conditions are met.

There are legal ways to leave some part of an estate to a caregiver. The law specifically exempts gifts of $3000 and some small estates. For larger gifts, California requires the client meet with a second attorney to explain why they would want to make a gift to the caregiver. The second attorney must then certify that the client is not making the gift as a result of fraud, menace, duress or undue influence.

In a recent interpretation of this law, the California Supreme Court, in Bernard v. Foley, ruled that the definition of a caregiver includes relatives and friends who provide care for a nominal cost or no cost at all, not just professional paid caregivers. By widening this definition, many friends of dependent adults, that provide any ongoing health or social service, will find themselves falling within the definition of “care custodian”, which could in turn bar them from donative transfers intended for them in wills and trust.

When in doubt, any person desiring to gift money from a will or trust to a person who has provided them care giving service, paid or not, should make sure proper legal steps are taken to ensure that the gift will not be voided by failing to follow the proper legal procedures.

How about gifting those beaten down stocks?

As folks across the country opened up their brokerage statements, one thing was apparent–their stocks are worth less than they were the previous month or year – or ever.

With the dramatic decline in the stock market, many of us are holding stocks whose value has declined substantially. What to do? Well, this article in the Wall-Street Journal suggest you might consider gifting those stocks to family members as the tax benefit from the gift is that much greater.

With a new administration taking over the White House, Democrats controlling Congress, and the previous administration’s estate and gift tax measures reaching the end of their life cycle, most experts agree we can expect new estate and gift tax policies in 2009.

You don’t need a crystal ball to suspect the tax savings in the previous legislation will probably erode. The question is how much. So during these trying economic times, the advice in the Wall-Street Journal may be a good option to consider for your battered stocks.

Remember, we are always here to help.