As elder law attorneys, we are forced to educate clients about some uncomfortable realities. If you stick your head in the sand, difficult situations can be all the worse when they arise if you are completely unprepared. With this in mind, we will look at the importance of incapacity planning in this blog post. The Twilight Years When you are thinking about the life that you will live when you are a senior citizen, you probably envision the active retirement years. Without question, if you …
Succession Planning With Buy-Sell Agreements
There are some estate planning situations that are out of the ordinary, but there are many tools in the estate planning toolkit, so there is always a solution. One of these scenarios is succession planning for small business partners. We will explain this dynamic through the utilization of a simple example. Let’s say that you and one partner open up a restaurant, and it becomes very successful. You pour everything that you have into the business over the years, and your partner does the same. …
A Look at Two Asset Protection Structures
If you are establishing a small business, you should carefully consider the business structure that you utilize. Asset protection should certainly be part of the equation, because you can lose a great deal of personal property if you do not take the right legal steps. In this blog post, we will look at two business structures that are often used by people that have asset protection concerns. Limited Liability Companies One of these asset protection structures is the limited liability company. …
Living Trusts: The Pros & Cons
The legal device called a revocable living trust is one of the most widely utilized asset transfer vehicles in the field of estate planning. There are pitfalls and limitations that go along with the utilization of a last will, and these are avoided if you opt for a living trust as an alternative. One major benefit is the consolidation of assets. When a will is used, the executor must spend a lot of time and effort identifying and inventorying assets that comprise the estate. On the other …
How Do You Preserve Medicaid Eligibility?
As Long Island Medicaid attorneys, we assist clients that face somewhat complicated situations. One of them is the matter of giving a gift or leaving an inheritance to someone with special needs that is relying on Medicaid as a source of health care insurance. This is an inherently challenging circumstance, because the Medicaid program is only available to people that can prove that they have very limited resources. We should point out the fact that Supplemental Security Income is another …
Smithtown Elders Should Consider Incapacity Planning
As elder law attorneys, we help clients address the eventualities of aging. Our office is in Smithtown on Long Island, and census statistics paint a very clear picture with regard to the age demographic. According to Census Reporter, the median age is 45.3 years. Nationally, the median age is 38. To break it down by the older age groups, 18 percent of people in town are between 50 and 59 years of age. The figure for people 60 to 69 is 11 percent, and 8 percent of the residents of Smithtown …
Nursing Home Lawyers Share Inconvenient Truths
The nursing home lawyers here at our firm are in a position to save our clients a great deal of money. But first, we have to share some inconvenient truths that some people do not fully understand. When you reach the age of 65, you will qualify for Medicare if you or your spouse have worked for at least 10 years. This health insurance program will certainly provide you with a basic underpinning. However, you should be aware of the fact that there are out-of-pocket costs that you have to …
A Living Trust Can Provide Streamlined Estate Administration
People often think of estate planning as an exercise in document creation. Indeed, you have to execute a last will or some type of trust to express your final wishes in a legally binding manner. This being stated, it is also important to consider the estate administration process, because someone has to make sure that all of your assets are distributed in accordance with your wishes. If you were to use a last will, you would name an executor to act as the trust administrator. This can be a …
Is It Better to Have a Will or a Trust?
There are many tools in the state planning toolkit. Personalized attention is key, because there is no one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter estate plan. Every situation is unique, so your estate plan should be custom crafted to suit your needs. For some folks with very limited resources, a simple last will can be the right choice. However, it is really not the best option for most people that have a reasonably significant store of assets to pass along to their loved ones. One of the problems …
Why Would You Use a Qualified Domestic Trust?
To understand the value of a qualified domestic trust (QDOT), you have to digest some information about the estate tax. There is a federal estate tax in the United States, and it carries a hefty 40 percent maximum rate that can take a major toll on your legacy. We also have a state-level estate tax here in New York, but to keep things simple, we will stick to an explanation of the federal parameters here. Fortunately, the majority of people do not have to pay the tax, because there is a …
Are Assets In an IRA Counted By Medicaid?
Before we address the question that serves as the title of this blog post, we should explain why Medicaid can be relevant to you, even if you are going to qualify for Medicare as a senior citizen. The United States Department of Health and Human Services tells us that 40 percent of people that reach the age of 65 will eventually need living assistance. Many of them will require nursing home care toward the end of their lives. The Medicare program will not pay for the custodial care that you …
Five Inheritance Planning Tips
There are a lot of things to think about when you are planning your estate. Many people do not understand all the intricacies, and in some cases, their families pay the price. A little bit of knowledge can go a long way, so we will provide a handful of inheritance planning tips in this post. Do not buy into do-it-yourself estate planning notions. Rolling up your sleeves to take care of some things on your own without professional assistance can save you money, and it can be fun in some …
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