EL SEGUNDO HERALD October 8, 2015 Page 17 Legal Aid for Elders Before You Run an Estate Sale, Complete Your Estate Planning Community Briefs from page 3 Whole Kids Foundation Grant Program United Health Foundation and Whole Kids Foundation will provide $150,000 in the first round of grants to support innovative projects nationwide that will improve children’s health and nutrition. The program is open to educators, individuals and nonprofit organizations seeking to break down barriers to basic, but critical information and resources, such as where food comes from and the importance of eating healthy foods. Preference will be given to projects that have a case study and are ready to expand across at least one grade level. The grants are part of United Health Foundation’s “Helping Build Healthier Communities” program, which provides resources to local nonprofits with programs aimed at expanding access to care, improving health outcomes and building healthier communities. Letters of intent for the program are due Nov. 30. Applications for the grant program are due Dec. 15, and the grantees will be announced in March 2016. The amount of each grant will range from $15,000 to $25,000. For more information on how to apply, visit www.wholekidsfoundation.org/ health-kids-innovation or email grants@ wholekidsfoundation.org.• By R. Christine Brown, southbayelderlaw.com The estate sale has moved from a do-ityourself enterprise into a big business. Seniors eager to empty their nests before their kids do it, as well as heirs who just don’t want to deal with the accumulations of a lifetime, are turning to e s t a t e s a l e p r o f e s s i o n a l s . B u t d o n ’ t f o r g e t t h a t y o u r estate plan is as important as your estate sale! Estate sales have become big business as aging Americans decide that they’d rather let someone else handle the details, according to the Detroit Free Press article, “Estate sales boom with aging demographics” (September 6, 2015). What is an estate sale? It is an auction where one’s household belongings are put up for sale. They are popular for buyers because estate sales often contain older, valuable possessions that can be purchased at a discount. In fact, some people even make a living out of buying items at estate sales and selling them for retail elsewhere, such as their own shops or on eBay. As a result, there appears to be two groups of “sellers” who might consider having an estate sale. The first group are people who have inherited the estate. What typically happens is a group of siblings will inherit the house and the possessions of their parents. Rather than going through everything themselves, the siblings hire professionals to go through the house and auction off what can be sold for profit. This is an excellent way to dispose of an estate because when everything is sold, it avoids any sibling fighting over who gets what. Estate administrators who fear that heirs might fight over possessions should consider an estate sale. The second group are the elderly owners of the property themselves. Many older people are now choosing to sell their possessions in what might more accurately be called “preestate” sales in an effort to downsize before they go into assisted living facilities. This is also one way they can make sure that their children do not argue over who gets what. If “stuff” is sold before the parents pass away, then there is nothing to fight over. Contact an experienced estate planning attorney who can help arrange the estate sale process and identify the best estate sale professionals for your situation. While you are at it, get your estate plan created or updated. For more information and articles on estate planning and elder law topics, please visit our website and sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter. You can also friend our law practice’s Facebook page (R Christine Brown). • • Always avoid foreign lotteries. Many lottery scams offer high dollar winnings to the recipient from a foreign lottery. This is most likely a scam. Furthermore, playing legitimate foreign lotteries via the mail or over the telephone is illegal under Federal law. • Look for that personal touch. If the letter, email or text claims you’re a winner, then they should know who you are. Look for the personal touch in the correspondence. How does the communication start? Is your name included? Is it spelled correctly? Or does the message begin with a more general ‘Hello’ or ‘Dear Valued Customer.’ If the header is general like this, it is because it has been sent to millions of other people, too, promising each that they have won as well. • Remember the rules of the lottery. Many scams can be spotted immediately because they do not clearly disclose the terms and conditions, including the rules and how to claim your winnings. You will never have to pay money in advance if you’ve won a legitimate lottery. If you received a check with the lottery letter and deposited it into your bank account, never send funds from the deposited check until it officially clears, this can take weeks. Under Federal Law, financial institutions have to make the funds available to account holders within days. Just because the money is available in your account, doesn’t mean the check is good. Lastly, always remember that in order to win a lottery, you must enter in the first place. • Call for help. If you fear you have been scammed, don’t wait to find out - take action immediately. If you believe you have been a victim of fraud using Western Union, call Western Union’s fraud hotline at 800-448-1492. Additionally, contact authorities and other applicable financial institutions and notify them you think you’ve been the victim of a scam. If you sent a money transfer through Western Union and it has not been paid, you can generally receive a refund. Once the scammer picks up the funds, the money is gone and you generally may not receive a refund. Good, smart people across the country fall victim to scams every single day because they get swept up in the excitement of the message in front of them. If you receive a claim of lottery winnings, take a step back and look at the situation rationally; if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. • Seniors 7 Tips To Avoid Lottery Scams (BPT) - You think this is the happiest day of your life. Before you is a letter, email or text message informing you that you’ve just won the lottery. You might even receive a check with the letter stating it is part of your winnings. The communication states all you have to do is pay the processing fees or taxes and provide proof of your identity - and then the money will be yours. It seems too good to be true. That’s because it is! What you are looking at is the first correspondence of a lottery scam, intent not on giving you the money it promises, but instead on taking as much of your money or personal information as possible. Thousands of people each year fall victim to scams such as these, and scammers are constantly altering the ploy to keep it new in the hopes of tricking people just like you. The good news is there are some things you can do to help protect yourself from falling victim to a scam. Keep these tips from Western Union in mind: • Never hand over your personal information. If the correspondence starts asking for personal information, this should be your first clue that it might be a scam. Never provide your personal and banking information to people or businesses you don’t know. • Never send money to someone you have not met in person. Western Union Money Transfer is a great way to send money to friends and family near and far, but you can be at risk of becoming a victim of fraud if you do not know the person you are sending the money to. • Look for unprofessionalism. Many scammers give themselves away with the nature of the letter, email or text they send. If the message is poorly written, contains typos or sentences that lack professionalism, it has the red flags of a scam. City Council from front page would install 24 stand-alone solar pedestrian lighting fixtures with the total cost in the $35,000 to $45,000 range. The lights would no longer be part of the Southern California Edison network and thus not require trenching. Advantages include the highest overall lumen output with the best sidewalk lighting However, the City would be responsible for any maintenance and replacement. “The choice of species did not sit well with Tree Musketeers Executive Director Gail Church, who expressed concerns about the Richmond Street plan.” Councilmember Dave Atkinson lamented that there is currently no light in the 100 and 200 blocks of Richmond. He expressed his support for the pedestrian lighting option, feeling it will save the City money. “It will also make Richmond Street look like, ‘Wow!’” he said, adding that most other cities have nothing like it and that “this brings back nostalgia as well as the modern capability of solar.” Pointing out that members of the community worry that the loss of the ficus trees will rob Richmond Street of its character, Councilmember Marie Fellhauer opined that bringing in the pedestrian lighting can “kind of make up for it” with its old-fashioned look. Tuesday’s meeting also included recognition of the many volunteers who provide community service throughout the year with the announcement of each group and the names of the individuals within. Those in attendance took photos with the Council members. The Council also proclaimed October 4-10 as Fire Prevention Week, inviting the community to practice fire prevention and safety year-round and urging citizens to have working smoke alarms. Later, Mayor Fuentes and Fellhauer volunteered to be the two Council members forming a Centennial Celebration subcommittee to get the ball rolling on plans to commemorate the City’s 100th anniversary in January 2017. At the conclusion of the meeting, Fellhauer introduced her newly adopted son Klaus (born on September 16) to the community and brought the infant up to the dais for a photo and Council congratulations. “We’re over-the-moon happy for the Fellhauer family,” Fuentes said of the arrival. • Like Us on Facebook
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