Category: Estate Planning
Can a Trust Buy a House with a Mortgage? Using Your Trust Fund to Purchase a Home Borrowing from a trust can be an alternative to taking a jumbo mortgage, defined as above $417,000 in most markets and $625,500 in some high-price areas such as New York and San Francisco. In some cases, a trust […]
Most of the time, patients who have advance directives — somewhere — and don’t bring them to the hospital have simply left them at home. But lawyers’ offices and safe deposit boxes are also popular locations. All of which are useless if a person can’t direct his own care, or if family members are at […]
Talking to your adult kids about your finances and how you plan to divvy up your money after your death may be one of the most important conversations you’ll ever have. But … the majority of families aren’t comfortable talking about money—at least with one another. What’s getting in the way? The heavy legal work […]
“Family members are already on emotional overload—adding a financial and legal decision aspect to what they’re already going through is enormous,” said Carol Steinberg, president of Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, a national nonprofit focused on the care and needs of people with the disease. “Therefore, the more decisions made earlier on and with the input […]
Before he died in 2010, at the age of 90, Albert made out a will – with a clause. Which brings us back to the Ravenholt family reunion. To receive their share of Albert’s wealth, his nieces and nephews are required to attend… Just as in life, the greatest gift is truly made in values […]
Sudden wealth can be a life-changing experience that can improve your life and the lives of those around you, but only if you keep it. Those with more assets are bigger targets for lawsuits. Don’t let your sudden wealth suddenly get stripped from you. Protect your assets before you get the windfall and you will […]
The death of a Medicaid recipient’s spouse can affect the amount of assets the Medicaid recipient has, and therefore his Medicaid eligibility. Scenario: One spouse, the institutional spouse, is in a nursing home and is qualified to receive Medicaid benefits to pay for their care. The other spouse, the community spouse, remains at home. Typically, […]
There are three main strategies business owners can (and should) use in order to maximize the amount of money they put in their pockets when they sell their companies. Your business is your livelihood. It may also be your family’s source of revenue. So if you are planning to sell the business, you will want […]
Whenever a U.S. taxpayer dies or gives away valuable art—or any time it changes hands other than through a sale—Uncle Sam has an interest in knowing its true value. The art panel protects that interest, by vetting values submitted by taxpayers or executors; in other words, they make sure the deduction for the donation of […]
Cultivating a family legacy is not that different from tending a garden: land with poor prospects, at first glance, has to be coaxed over time –patiently and carefully–until it has a fertile life of its own. Case in point: The Morris family of Pennsylvania, which nursed its garden into an arboretum, an estate that lives […]
