Two out of three American adults are unprepared from an estate planning perspective, and this is not confined to younger people. Less than half of individuals that are 55 years of age and older have estate plans in place. Why do they ignore an event that is one of the certainties of life? In this … [Read More]
What Are the Medicaid Rules for Healthy Spouse Income?
Medicaid is relevant to senior citizens that will qualify for Medicare because Medicare does not cover long-term custodial care. This is the type of care that you would receive in a nursing home, and there are in-home caregivers that provide custodial care for seniors. Of course, Medicaid is a need-based program. In Connecticut, you cannot … [Read More]
Estate Planning: Keep It Simple
The vast majority of American adults do not have estate plans in place, even though most people that are surveyed feel that inheritance planning is important. Why do they fail to take action if they know that this is a responsibility that should be addressed? There are a variety of different answers to this question, … [Read More]
Impact of Pandemic Is Eye Opening From an Estate Planning Perspective
Though COVID is an ongoing threat for the vulnerable, the worst of the pandemic is behind us. At the same time, there were some valuable lessons learned. From an estate planning perspective, the tenuous nature of life as we know it was clearly demonstrated. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, … [Read More]
Estate Planning Missteps Can and Should Be Avoided
A wise man once said that “Experience is something that you get just after you need it.” Clearly, we learn from our mistakes, but these can be hard-won lessons. With this in mind, we are going to look at some of the commonly made estate planning errors in this post so you can learn from … [Read More]
Can I Leave an Inheritance With Strings Attached?
In some cases, a person will have reservations about leaving a loved one a direct, lump sum inheritance. Let’s look at some of the ways that you can approach this type of situation. Complete Disinheritance First, it is important to clear up a detail that some people have questions about. There are those that assume … [Read More]
Federal Estate and Gift Tax Exclusion Increases for 2023
We have been sharing updates about changes to government parameters that are relevant to estate planning and elder law matters. Each year, certain figures are adjusted to account for inflation, and there was a significant level of inflation in 2022. In this post, we are going to take a look at the federal estate tax … [Read More]
Make Estate Planning a New Year’s Resolution
People often resolve to take care of matters that they have been placing on the back burner when a new year comes along. Now that 2023 is underway, a lot of resolutions are being considered. From an estate planning perspective, two out of every three American adults are completely unprepared. This even extends to older … [Read More]
Is Estate Planning Only for the Rich?
A lot of people think that estate planning is something that is only important for very wealthy people. They think that you do not need to work with an attorney to map out a comprehensive strategy unless you are a multimillionaire. In reality, this is patently false, and we will look at the subject in … [Read More]
Are These Items Missing From Your Estate Plan?
A comprehensive estate plan will cover a number of different bases. However, some people fail to consider key details. With this in mind, we will take a look at some of the estate plan components that are sometimes omitted in an effort to raise awareness. Letter of Last Instruction If you were leaving the country … [Read More]
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