If you are planning your estate or dealing with a loved one’s passing, you may wonder when the court gets involved. Specifically, you might be asking whether the court will appoint an estate executor. The answer depends on whether a valid will exists and who has been named to carry out your wishes. Understanding how … [Read More]
Elder Law Answers: What Can My Spouse Keep If I Apply for Medicaid?
The possibility of needing nursing home care raises difficult questions for couples. Medicare will not pay for long-term custodial care, leaving families to look elsewhere for solutions. This is where Medicaid plays a vital role because it does cover long-term care. However, many couples worry that qualifying will leave the healthy spouse with little to … [Read More]
Do You Need a Will If You Have a Living Trust?
A revocable living trust can be the ideal centerpiece for your estate plan. But does having one mean you can skip creating a will altogether? Let’s take a closer look at how these estate planning tools work together and what may be missing from your plan after you create your trust. Living Trust Benefits This … [Read More]
Legacy Planning: Lasting Gifts Money Can’t Buy
You’ve built a life with depth and meaning. You’ve made decisions that reflect your priorities, invested in relationships, and carried forward values from earlier generations. When you think about what you’ll leave behind, your estate plan should do more than divide property. It should preserve the parts of your story that cannot be measured in … [Read More]
Do I Lose Access to Assets in a Trust?
If you’ve been thinking about creating a trust, you might wonder if it means giving up control of your assets. This concern comes up often, especially among people who are new to estate planning. The truth is that you don’t automatically lose access to assets just because they’re placed in a trust. It all depends … [Read More]
Can I Give My Children Advance Inheritances to Minimize Estate Taxes?
If estate taxes could apply to your estate, a simple response may come to your mind. When the end is near, you can simply give your children their inheritances in advance, right? In reality, it may not be that simple. Let’s look at the matter of gift giving as a way to get around estate … [Read More]
What’s the Difference Between a Standard Will and a Living Will?
There are some terms used in the field of estate planning that have overlapping elements. This can be confusing to someone who has no legal background, and this is one of the reasons why legal counsel is invaluable when you’re planning your estate. With this in mind, a lot of people can use some clarity … [Read More]
Long-Term Care Planning Can Preserve Your Legacy
Everyone knows that some seniors need help with their day-to-day needs. However, a “that will never happen to me” mentality can arise when you have always been strong and independent. Is long-term care planning really necessary if you have taken good care of yourself? The answer is open to interpretation, but the statistics speak for … [Read More]
Digital Legacy Planning: Can I Preserve My Social Media Accounts?
For better or worse, your social media accounts are probably a very significant part of your life. This is how you maintain contact with family, friends, and colleagues, and you have established a presence that is built on a long-standing foundation. From an estate planning perspective, you may wonder about including your social media accounts … [Read More]
5 Key Facts About IRA Inheritance Planning
If you have saved money in an IRA, you are not just planning for retirement. You are also creating a valuable asset that can support your loved ones after you are gone. But leaving an IRA to your beneficiaries is not always as simple as naming a person on a form. The rules for inherited … [Read More]
( By appointment only )