Year: 2018
If business is in the estate plan, there is a better chance it will survive. If you have worked for years to build your business, it is likely to close, if a plan for it to continue is not included in your estate plan, according to the Savannah Morning News in “Thinking the unthinkable: Businesses […]
The choice of a nursing home is crucial and how is one assured of high quality care? Recently, some researchers looked at the quality of care that traditional Medicare enrollees receive versus Medicare Advantage enrollees, according to ElderLawAnswers in “Are Medicare Advantage Plans Steering Enrollees to Lower-Quality Nursing Homes?“. It turns out that Medicare Advantage […]
Staying out of a facility in the senior years needs careful consideration. More people can live at home rather than a facility for longer than ever before. However, seniors need to make the appropriate plans, according to a doctor in a recent article in The Roanoke Times “Staying at home as we age.” Before deciding to […]
Pennsylvania considers barring felons from obtaining guardianship of an elderly person. Many states have guardianship laws that sometimes prove to be ineffective in protecting the elderly from abuse. Therefore, state legislatures are looking closely at guardianship laws, according to the Reading Eagle in “Bill would require background checks for guardianship.” One issue that has caused controversy […]
Sharing ownership of your home with your child to avoid probate is still a bad idea. Joint tenancy of your home with your child quickly becomes a bad idea when the child has a creditor who can attach the home to pay off the child’s debts, according to the Napa Valley Register in “Can new […]
An estate sale is a good way to get rid of unwanted items. However, sometimes things end up badly. Colorado police filed a report about an estate sale that went badly but the case was dropped for lack of suspects, according to Fox News in “Colorado house ransacked after estate sale mix-up.” The incident, which turned […]
It has been nearly impossible for the family of the deceased to gain access to digital accounts in the past. However, there is some progress. In response to the problem of digital accounts of the deceased being accessed for an estate, some state legislators have slowly been passing new laws to permit access to digital accounts […]
The wishes you have expressed in a medical directive don’t do any good if no one knows about them. The system of medical records used in the U.S. does not make it easy for doctors to know that you have a medical directive and that you have expressed your wishes ahead of time, according to […]
Some estate battles are predictable and quite costly to both finances and family. If the main instrument used to distribute an estate is a will that has to go through probate, the legal issues can often lead to huge battles that could be avoided by using a trust, according to the Times Herald-Record in “Trusts […]
A trust is a good estate planning tool. However, it is not necessarily for everyone and every plan. Despite extensive advertising by non-attorneys selling trusts, the real fact is that not everyone needs one. If they do need a trust, there are many important decisions that need to be made to avoid a disaster. There […]
