Tag: Elder Law
“There’s much to plan for in life—college, your wedding, your first child, life insurance—and with more than enough to keep you busy, it’s easy to forget about your will.” Even during a pandemic, few people want to spend time thinking about death. However, having an estate plan means having some of the most important documents […]
“Many people work hard to acquire real estate and then later find that that real estate makes them ineligible for Medicaid to help pay for nursing home or in-home, long-term care.” The challenges begin when homeowners don’t do any Medicaid planning and decide the best answer is simply to gift their home to their children. […]
“It is surprisingly easy and common to make mistakes when designating beneficiaries on retirement and investment accounts.” A designated beneficiary is the person named on a retirement or investment account to inherit the asset if you die. That’s the simple part. What gets complicated is when people don’t think it’s such a big deal, says […]
“Your real estate holdings, life insurance, bank accounts and retirement savings won’t magically flow into your trust.” Failing to put assets into trusts creates headaches for heirs and probate hassles, says the article “Once You Create a Living Trust, Don’t Forget to Fund It” from Kiplinger. It’s the last step of creating an estate plan […]
“When dealing with the emotional pain of the loss of a loved one, family members also have to address daunting administrative tasks.” For most families, the process of estate administration or the probate of a will starts weeks after the death of a loved one. However, before that time, there are certain steps that need […]
“It is estimated that by 2040, the number of Americans living with Alzheimer’s, dementia or other cognitive disorders is expected to double to close to 12 million due to the aging population, according to a recent study by RBC Wealth Management and Aon.” The impact of these diseases will not just be on the individuals, […]
“Building enough wealth to sustain yourself in retirement is a monumental achievement. However, financial planning doesn’t end when you no longer rely on a paycheck.” How you handle money and legal matters during retirement is more important than during your working years. It’s harder to bounce back from financial setbacks when you aren’t getting a […]
“When do you need your estate plan to ‘go to work’ for you? While you may think the right answer is ‘after I die,’ the actual answer is ‘if I lose the ability to manage my own affairs.’” There are two different types of advance directives, and they have very different purposes, as explained in […]
“Although Social Security helps millions of seniors stay afloat financially, living on those benefits alone could mean winding up cash-strapped in retirement.” When originally created, Social Security was designed to prevent the elderly and infirm from sinking into dire poverty. When most working Americans enjoyed a pension from their employer, Social Security was an additional […]
“Attorney-client privilege requires that attorneys keep confidential and refrain from sharing all secrets and other confidences of clients.” One of the hardest parts of an estate planning attorney’s jobs is managing the death of a client. Estate planning attorneys are highly skilled at creating plans, while clients are living and at administering the plans after […]
