Long Island Elder Law & Estate Planning

Long Island asset protection attorneys provide invaluable help making effective use of legal tools to keep your money and property safe. There are many possible sources of loss that you could experience, with the biggest risks you face determined by your own unique situation. However, for most people, the risks of losing wealth increase as you age – so it becomes increasingly important to make an asset protection plan as you are getting older. Long Island Asset Protection Attorneys

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC is here to help. Our Long Island asset protection attorneys can guide you through the process of identifying risks to your wealth and can help you to make appropriate use of legal tools to minimize the risks that are most likely to result in financial loss. You should give us a call as soon as you begin building a nest egg to put an asset protection in place. If you don’t already have a plan and you are getting older, it is especially important to act now.

Why Asset Protection is Vital if You’re Getting Older

Asset protection becomes vital as you get older for three primary reasons: you are more likely to suffer an incapacitating illness, you are more likely to need nursing home care, and you are more likely to pass away.

If you become incapacitated, someone will need to take over the management of your assets to avoid losses. If you haven’t made a plan, your loved ones would need to go to court and initiate guardianship or conservatorship proceedings so a guardian or conservator could be appointed to manage your wealth and make decisions on your behalf.

Losses could occur during the interim time period when your assets are not being managed before a guardian has been appointed. If the court selects a person without the knowledge or ability to manage your assets appropriately, losses could also happen. Using a power of attorney or otherwise making an incapacity plan could allow you to avoid these undesirable outcomes.

If you must go into a nursing home, Medicaid may be your only source of payments for expensive care. Medicare won’t pay for nursing home care under most circumstance, unless you happen to need skilled nursing care and unless you meet very specific eligibility requirements. As a result, if you have too many assets to qualify for Medicaid, you may have no choice but to spend your money on care — losing the chance to leave a legacy.

A Medicaid plan can help you to avoid this undesirable loss of wealth due to high nursing home bills. Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC can work with you to structure ownership of your assets so your money and property will not count as disqualifying resources for Medicaid eligibility. With an advanced plan, you can get covered when you need Medicaid to pay for nursing home care so you won’t have to worry about paying for the costs of services you need.

Finally, when you pass away, there is a risk of loss due to both the slow process of transferring assets and the high costs of estate tax if your estate is a larger one. You don’t want to lose a good portion of the inheritance you intend to leave to loved ones because your estate owes a large tax bill. If you have assets that must be managed very carefully by new owners, you also don’t want those assets to be in limbo for the months that it will take for the probate process to be completed.

Long Island asset protection attorneys can help you to use tools like trusts to facilitate the timely transfer of assets upon your death in order to avoid or reduce estate tax and to make sure new owners take control quickly.

Getting Help from Long Island Asset Protection Attorneys

Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC will work closely with you to create an asset protection plan that is right for you. We can customize your plan to your needs and to the needs of your heirs or beneficiaries so you will not have to worry about your wealth being lost as you get older or when you pass away.

To find out more about the asset protection process and about the tools that our Long Island asset protection attorneys can help you to utilize, join us for a free seminar. If you are ready to begin the process of creating a customized estate plan that works to protect your wealth, give us a call at (631) 265-0599 or contact us online today.

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About Mark S. Eghrari, Estate Planning Attorney

Mark S. Eghrari is an attorney in private practice in Smithtown, New York. He has been in practice since 1988. Mark S. Eghrari provides extensive estate and tax planning services to individuals and businesses. Mr. Eghrari’s primary focus is helping clients avoid probate, minimize or eliminate Federal and State Estate taxes and protect their assets from the high cost of nursing care, if they become ill.