Greetings, everyone! Long time, no talk, but now that Halloween is behind us, I want to be the first to wish you a happy holiday season, which is apparently already in full swing. Next year I understand that Black Friday will coincide with Labor Day weekend, so we have that to look forward to, as well. I'll get to more of that in a moment, but first I want to describe a planning strategy that might appeal to some of you.

The goal of what I will describe is to protect at least some of your assets from potential creditors' claims and from the need for a huge spend-down requirement if you need nursing home care at some future time.

Some of you may recall my message a while ago about so-called "domestic asset protection trusts" that New Hampshire has now authorized. They permit people concerned about potential liability claims to park assets in irrevocable trusts and avoid those assets from being reached by creditors - not their current ones, but potential future claims they may not be able to handle when the time comes. They can even be structured to allow the trust creators to receive income from the trust assets while their creditors are gnashing their teeth about not getting their hands on the protected principal. The only drawback has been that those assets usually remain "countable" (and thus need to be spent down) for Medicaid purposes if the creator needs nursing home care down the road.

So, here's my strategy for your consideration. If a trust creator has a job that's high in potential risk of claims - just as an unlikely hypothetical, let's say a lawyer who might royally screw up someone's estate planning, or maybe someone who's starting a business and doesn't want to risk everything if it doesn't succeed. He/she could set up a DAPT to hold critical nest egg assets that have to be protected no matter what.

Then, in order for those assets not to be required for a devastating spend-down before Medicaid benefits would be available, the trust creator might make the family's children the potential beneficiaries of the DAPT, which would keep those precious assets out of the calculation for Medicaid qualification purposes, yet still preserve the assets in the family for the next generation's benefit.

These are just the high points of the plan I'm describing, but certainly the most important ones for most people's purposes. After all, having your cake and eating it, too, is a central goal of estate planning.

OK, now back to my first theme here, which is more in the spirit of helping others beside ourselves - and a more fitting topic than avoiding legitimate claims.

As the calendar year-end approaches, we are all reminded more and more frequently that the charitable, cultural, educational, social service, and other tax-exempt organizations we have supported are again in need of that assistance. In fact, in New Hampshire alone, there are more than 10,000 tax-exempt entities that I'm sure would love to add us to their mailing lists. And just think how different - surely less vibrant and enjoyable - our area would be if we didn't respond when the Peterborough Players, Monadnock Chorus, Monadnock Hospital, and Monadnock Center for History and Culture - just to name a few of the biggies - and they suddenly went the way of the Sharon Arts Center. Remember that tragic loss? If you tote up the numbers of us who are enriched by and benefit directly or indirectly from all of them, you're talking about a 6-figure number.

Plus, if you're senior enough to require a minimum distribution from your IRA before year-end, please keep in mind that you can have at least some of those funds distributed directly from your IRA administrator to the non-profits of your choice, and those funds won't add to your taxable income, as they will otherwise. You won't even have to write the checks or address the envelopes; the administrator will do all that for you.

Also, let's say our investment account has had a great run in recent years, to the point that we've now got holdings that have appreciated so much that we can't afford the tax hit if we sell them. We can give a few of those enriched shares to those same organizations; they can sell them but pay no tax because of their tax-exempt status; and we'll receive a charitable deduction for their full value. What a beautiful concept that's a win-win for everyone. Maybe that should be estate planning's goal, too.

In the meantime, please enjoy the upcoming times with your friends and families. Remember that few people ever say in their final moments that they wish they'd spent more time at the office. It's something I have to keep reminding myself about, but it's always worth the effort.

Best wishes, Phil