Life insurance plays a big role in estate planning. In a general sense it may seem obvious that you can certainly purchase life insurance to leave behind some financial resources to loved ones after you pass away. However, life insurance can serve very specific purposes when certain circumstances exist. For example, life insurance is the operative solution at the root of buy-sell agreements. These agreements are often used by small business partners. To allow the remaining partners to retain … [Read more...] about Life Insurance and Estate Planning
Help Your Attorney Help You
When you make an appointment to speak with an estate planning attorney, you should be prepared to have a very open and honest conversation. You are going to have to discuss some of the most sensitive areas of your life, and this can be a bit disconcerting to some people. At the same time, you have to be forthcoming if you want your wishes to be carried out after you pass away without any surprises taking place because your attorney didn't know everything that was relevant. You may have heard … [Read more...] about Help Your Attorney Help You
Don’t Overlook These Details
Estate planning obviously entails making preparations for the transfer of financial assets to your loved ones after you pass away. However, there are some additional details to consider, and we would like to take a look at a few of them here. Incapacity Planning Individuals who reach an advanced age sometimes become unable to make their own medical and financial decisions. If you do nothing to prepare for this contingency and you do in fact become incapacitated, a conservator can be appointed … [Read more...] about Don’t Overlook These Details
Medi-Cal Planning for Single People – An Elder Law Today Blog
Nancy Watson feels worn out. Four years ago her father died and for the past three years she has been caring for her aging mother. At first, it was little things...grocery shopping, trips to the doctor, help with her mother’s medication, and things like that. But as her mom’s health deteriorated, Nancy’s burden has increased. The last six months have been very difficult. That’s because Nancy had to move her mom to a nursing home. Mom couldn’t live at home any more. Nancy thought her job would … [Read more...] about Medi-Cal Planning for Single People – An Elder Law Today Blog
Working Longer Comes With Rewards
Many people set a retirement date based on the age at which they become eligible to start receiving Social Security. Of course, there are those who can indeed retire as soon as they become eligible for Social Security benefits, but not everyone is in this category. Under currently existing laws, you can start receiving your benefit when you are as young as 62. If you do this, you must be willing to accept a reduced benefit. Your benefit would be 30% less than it would be if you waited until … [Read more...] about Working Longer Comes With Rewards
Is DIY Trust Creation Wise?
There are a lot of things that can be accomplished online, but you probably want to think twice before planning your estate using a download or worksheet that you get off the Internet from one of the web-based marketers. These sites offer tools that you can use to create a revocable living trust. We can get into the details regarding why you may want to steer clear of DIY legal documents, but we would like to make a different point here. All trusts are not created equal. Different trusts are … [Read more...] about Is DIY Trust Creation Wise?
Autism Awareness
April was set aside as the month during which we raised awareness about autism. This developmental disorder is growing rapidly, and it impacts a significant percentage of Americans to one extent or another. There are some telling statistics on the Autism Society website, including eye-catching estimates on cost of care. On average, the cost of caring for someone with autism throughout his or her life runs somewhere between $3.5 million and $5 million. Most individuals simply do not have … [Read more...] about Autism Awareness
Google Makes Afterlife Planning Simple
When you're planning for the eventualities of aging and your inevitable passing, you have a lot of details to consider. The first thing that is probably going to come to your mind is the future distribution of your financial resources. During our current era, this is not something that is strictly done with hard copy materials. A significant percentage of people pay all or most of their bills online, and a great deal of banking is done online as well. You have to think everything through and … [Read more...] about Google Makes Afterlife Planning Simple
Charitable Giving: Know Where Your Money Is Going
There are various different ways to give to charity when you are planning your estate. The correct choice for you is something that you should probably discuss with an experienced estate planning lawyer. Some people would like to derive income as they set aside a certain amount of money for charities. This can sometimes be done with inherent tax advantages built-in. To this end, you may want to consider the creation of a charitable remainder unitrust. Another option would be to create a … [Read more...] about Charitable Giving: Know Where Your Money Is Going
Incapacity Component Adds to Appeal of Living Trusts
There are some estate planning devices that accomplish multiple objectives, and living trusts are among them. The primary reason why individuals decide to utilize revocable living trusts is because of the fact that these trusts enable future distributions of assets to the beneficiaries without the hindrances of probate. Probate is a legal process that can take a lot of time. There are also costs that go along with this process. When you use a revocable living trust rather than a last will to … [Read more...] about Incapacity Component Adds to Appeal of Living Trusts
