Shortly after the public was informed about the untimely death of the 27-year-old pop superstar Amy Winehouse stories began to circulate about her estate.

The word was that Winehouse had in fact planned her estate impeccably. There were reports that she was proactive about getting her financial affairs in order after her divorce from Blake Fielder-Civil, an individual who was incarcerated at the time of her death and is still behind bars.

Now we are hearing a different story as probate records are released. According to Forbes, the fact is that Amy Winehouse did not have a last will in place when she died. Her estate was handled under intestacy laws of succession. Given the fact that she was no longer married and had no children her parents were her legal heirs under the succession rules.

Another interesting aside is the fact that her estate was worth considerably less than original estimates. Early stories valued her financial resources at around $16 million, but the Forbes piece says that her estate was comprised of about $4.6 million worth of assets after her final expenses were satisfied.

The public will never know if Amy Winehouse would have wanted her estate to be distributed to her parents and her parents alone. And, it may well have been possible that her legacy could have been more robust had she taken steps to prevent asset erosion during the transfers.

As we can see with this case, estate planning is important for people of all ages. If you are one of the many who is taking a risk by going through life without an estate plan, right now would be a good time to stop the procrastination and assert your wishes with the assistance of a good Smithtown NY estate planning lawyer.

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

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Social Security is going to be an important part of most retirement plans. While there is nothing wrong with planning your retirement around your Social Security eligibility you should beware of being over the reliant on the program.

When you are a younger adult retirement can seem so far away that it is largely irrelevant. The concept may be somewhere in the back of your mind but you may not give it much thought. And even if you do find yourself thinking about it in earnest you may gain peace of mind by assuming that Social Security will be there for you when the time comes.

The fact is that Social Security is best viewed as a basic safety net. Depending on how much you pay into the program throughout your life your Social Security benefit may well provide you with the basics, but it is not going to deliver any modicum of true financial freedom.

There is no getting around the fact that people tend to get more mature as they get older and come to make wiser decisions. But at the same time, the individuals who are prescient enough to think ahead are those who wind up in an advantageous position later on.

If you develop a long-term financial plan and have the discipline to stick to it throughout your working years you should be able to accumulate the resources that you need to retire comfortably. The best way to proceed toward this end is to sit down and discuss your future with a licensed, experienced Long Island retirement planning attorney.

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

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If you are going to use a last will to you state your final wishes and arrange for the transfer of assets to your family members after your passing expert advice is required.

There are marketers out there who want you to take on the task for yourself with the benefit of a handy-dandy generic document that they will sell you. The recommendation here is to steer clear of these easy-way-out notions for the benefit of those that you love.

Throughout your life you rely on expertly crafted legal documents any time you enter into important business transactions. For example, you are not going to sign a mortgage agreement that was downloaded by an amateur off the Internet.

So, why would you even remotely consider attempting to arrange for the distribution of your financial resources to your children, grandchildren, and others that mean so much to you via a generic fill-in-the-blanks piece of paper that you purchased online.

There are some do-it-yourself projects that can be rewarding on various different levels and there is nothing wrong with rolling up your sleeves and taking on a particular type of job on your own. However, you have to know where to draw the line, and when it comes to legal matters with significant financial ramifications professional expertise is required.

If you recognize the common sense in the above and want to do things correctly, right now would be a good time to take action to arrange for a consultation with a licensed, experienced Smithtown NY estate planning lawyer.

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

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There are many different very good reasons why you would do well to work with an experienced Long Island estate planning lawyer when you are making provisions for your loved ones. The fact that the typical layperson is not aware of all the options that may be available is perhaps at the top of the list.

If you did not know any better you may go forward with the overly simplistic belief that the only sensible choice for you would be to have a last will drawn up. While it is of course possible to do so, it is best to have your situation evaluated by an expert before you make any decisions.

Depending on the size, scope, and form of your assets any number of approaches may be optimal. Getting the resources into the hands of your heirs quickly and efficiently is part of the equation, but making sure that little if anything is lost while doing so is also an important consideration.

With the above in mind, a revocable living trust can be a very viable alternative to a last will because of the efficiency that these vehicles provide. However, you have to be certain that the resources that you place in the trust are administered appropriately.

You don’t want to appoint a trustee who is not prepared or qualified to handle the fiduciary responsibilities involved. There are professional entities that can be brought in such as a trust company or the trust section of a reputable financial institution.

Should you be interested in working with an expert to potentially create a trust and arrange for its administration, take action right now and make a convenient appointment to speak with a seasoned and savvy Long Island estate planning lawyer.

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

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Medicare is a government program that we all pay into while we are working. If you have contributed into the program sufficiently it will be there for you when you turn 65 to help you pay your medical bills.

However, it is very important to go forward with the knowledge that Medicare does not pay for every last cent of your health care costs after you become old enough to be eligible for coverage. One very significant potential expense that Medicare does not cover are costs incurred for living assistance.

The majority of individuals who reach the age of 65 are going to either require in-home care or spend some length of time in a nursing home and/or an assisted living community. These facilities are very expensive, and typical costs can reach well into the six figures by the time all is said and done.

While Medicare does not pay for long-term care there is another option in the form of Medicaid. Because of the fact that this program is intended to assist people with very limited financial capabilities there is an upper resource limit of $2000.

In spite of this, since some types of assets are not considered to be countable in a Medicaid eligibility context you may still be able to qualify even if your overall resources are well in excess of $2000.

Obtaining Medicaid eligibility to pay for long-term care while hanging onto a significant percentage of your assets is possible, but it takes intelligent and informed advance planning. If you would like to explore this option, simply take a moment to arrange for a consultation with a good Long Island elder law attorney.

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

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If you do not leave behind instructions with regard to how you feel about certain medical procedures your family members may be asked to make difficult decisions. For example, consider the matter of being kept alive via the use of artificial life-support measures.

There are those who feel as though they would like to be kept alive for as long as possible regardless of what it takes even if they were to be in a terminal condition with no realistic hope of recovery. On the other hand, there are others who would prefer to let nature take its course and refuse life-support under these circumstances.

Only you know how you would want to proceed. If the decision was to fall into the hands of family members there could be disagreements at a time when your loved ones should be pulling together to support one another. We all saw an example of this during the highly publicized Terri Schiavo case that was in the news several years ago.

You can remove the possibility of disagreements and be certain that your wishes are carried out by executing advance health care directives. One of these is a living will with which you state your preferences regarding matters such as the use of life-support systems.

To alleviate any potential disagreements among family members you can also put a durable power of attorney for health care in place.

With this document you state who it is that you are empowering to make medical decisions in your behalf should it become necessary. You would have presumably discussed your general point of view with your attorney-in-fact so that this individual would be acting in accordance with your wishes.

These important documents are a must for anyone who wants to be comprehensively prepared for all eventualities. Putting the wheels in motion is as simple as picking up the phone to set up an appointment with a good Long Island estate planning lawyer.

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

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As you are looking forward to the future you must endeavor to gain an understanding of entitlement programs for seniors. If you are like most people Social Security will be an important part of your retirement income stream so you need to know what to expect from the program.

The majority of people set their retirement dates to coincide with the time when they become eligible to receive Social Security benefits. People who were born in 1954 and earlier who are not yet receiving Social Security become eligible at the age of 66. The age of eligibility then rises by two months each year until 1960. Those born during this year and after become eligible at the age of 67.

Medicare is also going to be there for you if you paid into the program sufficiently. The age of Medicare eligibility is 65 for everyone as of this writing. It is however useful to recognize the fact that the eligibility age could be increased as a way to slow government spending and this is something to keep an eye on.

Medicaid is a program that many seniors rely on to pay for long-term care because Medicare does not cover it. There is a relatively modest upper resource limit of $2000, but valuable personal possessions such as your home and your car don’t count toward this figure. And, the healthy spouse may keep his or her half of community property up to a particular limit without impacting the eligibility of the spouse that needs living assistance.

Understanding senior entitlements is important as you are planning for the latter stages of your life. The best way to get the information that you need is to sit down and discuss things with a licensed and experienced Long Island retirement planning lawyer.

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

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Many people remember Anna Nicole Smith as a reality television show star who passed away in 2007. However, the event in her life that helped catapult her into the public consciousness was her court battle with the son of her late husband over his estate.

Smith was a former Playboy Playmate Of The Year who was working in a Houston area gentleman’s club back in 1991. She met a billionaire oil tycoon by the name of J.Howard Marshall who became enamored of Smith. A relationship of sorts ensued that culminated in the two getting married in 1994. At the time J.Howard Marshall was 89 years of age and Anna Nicole Smith was 26.

Marshall died a little over a year after the marriage. Smith claimed that Marshall wanted her to have half of his fortune, but his son E. Pierce Marshall disagreed. This led to a long and acrimonious legal battle that actually wound up continuing on after the deaths of both Smith and the younger Marshall.

The Supreme Court finally put the matter to rest last summer after some 15 years of legal wrangling when they found in favor of the estate of E. Pierce Marshall.

This situation underscores the reason why it is important to update your estate plan when you get married, making your wishes absolutely 100% clear.

If you are currently unprepared or if your existing estate plan could in any way be construed as ambiguous, protect yourself by taking action. Pick up the phone right now and make an appointment to sit down and record your wishes in a legally binding manner with the assistance of a licensed and experienced Long Island Estate Planning lawyer.

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

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A lot of senior citizens would prefer to stay in their homes even after they require living assistance. There are a number of reasons for this, and one of them is the fact that it can be comforting to remain in familiar surroundings rather than entering an assisted living community or a nursing home.

Another motivation that you may have to stay at home would be the fact that long-term care is extraordinarily expensive these days. When you combine the average length of stay with the typical costs you may be looking at a bill that is somewhere in the vicinity of a quarter of a million and perhaps more before it is all said and done.

Part of the plan if you want to remain in the home would be to engage the services of an in-home health aide. The national average cost for this type of professional caregiver is $21 an hour. If you don’t need around-the-clock assistance you can decide how often you need care and manage your financial outlay judiciously.

In addition to this you could alter your home to accommodate your physical limitations by installing things like grab bars, handrails, walk-in showers, step chairs, and other relevant improvements.

It takes foresight to be ready to handle all the contingencies that you may face as you reach an advanced age. If you’re ready to get started planning for the future the intelligent first step is to sit down and devise a course of action with the assistance of a licensed, experienced Long Island elder law attorney.

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

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The best way to be totally prepared for the future is to recognize that there are different phases that we all go through as we age. There are a number of things to take into account, and if you anticipate them in advance you can steer clear of some unpleasant surprises.

One thing leads to another and it is a good idea to think this way and plan comprehensively in a step-by-step manner. The first thing to take into consideration will be your active retirement years.

Far too many people find themselves unprepared when the typical retirement age starts to appear over the horizon. It can take time, focus, and a good deal of discipline to accumulate the necessary financial resources and it is never too soon to get started.

After this period of time you may enter what are called the twilight years which could include incapacity or the need for living assistance. There are certain steps that must be taken to prepare for these eventualities, such as the execution of durable powers of attorney and the implementation of a plan for handling long-term care expenses.

And of course the last stage will be passing along your legacy to your loved ones when that time arrives.

If the above makes sense to you, the intelligent first step would be to set up an appointment to speak with a good Long Island estate planning attorney who will assist you as you develop a long-term, holistic plan for the future.

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

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