Long-term care providers could soon have access to a newly developed tool that can accurately predict the life expectancy of dementia patients.
While most of us had stockings and menorahs on our minds, President Trump on Dec. 20 signed the Secure Act that makes the most significant changes in retirement accounts we’ve seen in years.
Sometimes, despite best intentions and best efforts, an estate plan leaves unintended problems for heirs, trustees and others to solve. For example, a trust may have become outdated because of changes in tax laws, the birth or death of family members, or special circumstances like an heir’s disability.
Many people have tens of thousands–even hundreds of thousands–of dollars in their IRAs. If you have an asset that large, shouldn’t you devote more effort to planning for its ultimate disposition?
Geckos are amazing and resilient creatures. They can climb up vertical surfaces. Some geckos can fly. If you cut off a gecko’s tail, they’ll grow it back. These five tips for making an estate or trust administration go smoothly create the acronym ‘GECKO’. So, keeping the amazing lizard in mind, read on for some helpful advice on how to ease the process of estate or trust administration. [Read More]
Even if your asset base doesn’t measure up to the Bill Gates standard, you may consider using trusts in estate planning. This is because they can help your heirs in many different ways.
The most common question I get asked in our Mutual Interview is, “What’s the difference between a will and a trust?” The answer is based on the way each gets treated while you’re living and after you die. Whether you choose one or the other depends on your goals for your plan. [Read More]
The start of a new year—and a new decade, to boot—is a great time to assess your financial situation and look ahead. You’ll want to consider moves for the long term, but it’s also critical to pay attention to the details in the short-term, so you don’t miss an important deadline.
Elder law issues can be complex. One wrong word or move can mean the difference between a good result and disaster should you become incapacitated or if other unexpected issues should occur in your senior years. An elder law attorney can help you plan for what will happen, if you should become mentally or physically incapable of taking care of yourself and your own personal business matters.
A will and a trust are separate legal documents that typically share a common goal of facilitating a unified estate plan. While these two items ideally work in tandem, since they are separate documents, they sometimes run in conflict with one another–either accidentally or intentionally.
