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Estate Plan

Apr 27
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6 Major Reasons For Planning Your Estate

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Estate and asset protection planning provides solutions to the following types of concerns:

Estate_planning

How will I avoid the cost and inconvenience of probate for my spouse and children?

If you have ever been confronted with needing to administer an Estate for a loved one who died without a will or estate plan, they quickly realize the time and expense associated with the probate process.  For many clients, the best solution is a revocable trust, often referred to as a living trust. This document when funded will enable you to avoid the probate process.

 

If I can’t make legal, financial, or healthcare decisions for myself, how can I be sure my wishes are carried out?

Again, a revocable trust may provide the answer. In addition, every client needs a durable power of attorney and a health care proxy appointing a trusted individual to make financial and health care decisions for you when you no longer can yourself.

 

How can I make sure my wealth and possessions end up in the right hands when I’m gone?

Wills and trusts are vehicles for passing on your assets to those you choose. Many clients are concerned about funds they leave to their children being at risk of their children’s creditors, spouses upon divorce, or simply bad decisions their children may make. For them, a family protection trust can provide the protection they seek. In addition, proper planning will prevent the payment of unavoidable estate taxes upon your death.

 

My spouse needs more care than I can give. Will we lose everything to pay for care, or are there options?

Not if you plan properly, the earlier, the better. There are a number of planning options available to spouses of nursing home residents to protect their financial well-being while qualifying their ill spouse for Medicaid coverage of nursing home fees.

 

My child is disabled. How can I provide for her future?

We have helped many parents of children with special needs plan for their children through the creation of a special needs trust funded with life insurance.

 

What legacy will I leave?

Your greatest legacy of course is the children and grandchildren you raise, if any, and the memories you leave with your family, friends, and work colleagues. However, support of charities and an estate plan that provides for your family and smoothly passes on what you leave behind will also contribute greatly to the legacy you leave and your family’s welfare for decades to come.

Contact us today for more information (401) 274-0300

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Apr 06
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Protecting the Elderly from Financial Exploitation

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Elder Law involves protecting all aspects of the individual – and sometimes it involves protecting them from themselves from exploitation by swindlers.  A comprehensive Estate Plan can address, minimize and prevent your loved ones from exploitation by swindlers.

How Many Seniors Are Being Exploited?

Seventeen percent of Americans over the age of 65, or 6.8 million people, have been taken advantage of financially through high fees, inappropriate investments or outright fraud, according to a new survey. The findings, the results of a survey done by Public Policy Polling for the Investor Protection Trust, represented an improvement over a similar study taken in 2010, which discovered 20 percent of seniors had been victimized. Investor Protection Trust is a nonprofit organization devoted to investor education and protection.

Those involved in the study said seniors, over time, have become better educated about financial matters, and that both the children and health care providers of seniors are more aware of medical problems that might diminish older people’s ability to make decisions about money.

What to Do When A Loved One Gets Exploited

Sadly, family members learn of a parent being the victim of being exploited financially only after the fact, the funds have been absconded with, and mom or dad reluctantly share their experience. In such cases, you should:

  1. Notify the police and provide them with whatever information you have as to what was taken and who the perpetrators were;
  2. Contact your insurance companies – often homeowners policies will contain coverage in the event of theft and criminal activity.

Want to make sure your loved ones are protected from being exploited? Here is a checklist of things to do when someone has been exploited. An estate plan consisting of Trusts and restricted bank accounts may be an initial step toward preventing your loved one from becoming a victim.

Contact us to discuss a plan that helps the ones you love.

Read the Full Article from Chicago Tribune.

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Feb 16
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A Last Will And Testament Is NOT An Estate Plan

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A Last Will And Testament Is Good Enough, Right?

Will

The Reading Of The Will

Will readings. Family gathered around the table, dressed in black, all sitting in a lawyers office while the lawyer reads to the family. That is how Hollywood has projected it and how it works. The decedent signed the document during their life and the family all learn at the same time who got what.

While that can happen in real life, rarely does it occur. More importantly, and the bigger point of this article, this should NOT happen.

A Will As Part of the Estate Plan – Not the Entire Plan

A Last Will And Testament is a proper and necessary document that all people should have. But the Will is only PART of the documents a person should have as part of their estate plan. A Will is the beginning – not the beginning and the end! A Will should be accompanied with Trust, Durable Powers of Attorneys, Health Care Powers of Attorney, Deeds, Conveyances, Bequests and an overall goal to ease administration and ensure the wishes of the deceased are followed, and followed efficiently.

A Will does not avoid probate – it causes probate

A Will alone does not ease the administration of Estates, it only guarantees that there will be a probate estate to administer. The Probate Courts and the Probate Process is a lengthy, time consuming, expensive process that typically takes over a year to complete.

The attached article explains the impact of not having a full estate plan. While a will is a part of the estate plan, it is not the entire plan. Sadly, this lesson comes too late for some, like Mr. Sacks.

 

The Man who Mistook his Will for his Estate Plan

Meeting and discussing your estate plan with an attorney experienced in drafting and preparing estate plans is an important first step in ensuring your goals and objectives are met. Contact our office for a free consultation on planning your estate, the proper way.

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Jan 20
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Long-Term Care Insurance: 4 Must Follow Rules

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Long-Term Care Insurance – To get or not to get?

For those who can afford it, Long-Term Care Insurance is becoming increasingly popular as a means of paying for nursing home or home care. The problem is choosing a good policy and being able to afford it.

Here are a few Long-Term Care Insurance rules of thumb:

  • Only buy policies that are approved in your state. Generally, these are individual, as opposed to group, policies. A group policy may be just as good, but since it is not regulated you must be extra careful in seeking professional assistance in examining it. In addition, if you do require Medicaid assistance despite the fact that you own a Long-Term Care Insurance policy, owning an individual policy will protect you from estate recovery; owning a group policy will not.
  • Buy enough coverage. It will not do you much good to have insurance coverage if it is insufficient to meet your cost of care. Anticipate your need for the insurance to occur at least ten years off and anticipate the inflation in Long-Term Care Insurance costs to exceed the growth in your income by at least 5 percent a year. However, there is another school of thought that recommends purchasing enough coverage to pay for assisted living if you can only afford the lower premiums.
  • Buy home care coverage. If you have nursing home coverage and not home care coverage you may feel compelled to move to a nursing home in order to save money. Do not put yourself in that bind.
  • Only buy the insurance if you can afford it. The guidelines above will all increase the cost of the policy. But if you cannot afford them, then do not buy the insurance. How do you know if you can afford a certain premium? A rule of thumb is that payment of the premium should not affect your standard of living. So you can afford the premium if you are using money that you would otherwise set aside to add to your savings. An alternative would be to purchase an annuity that pays sufficient benefits to cover the long-term care insurance premiums.

Long-Term Care Insurance is not an option for you? You can still qualify for nursing care without spending your entire life savings. How? A properly drafted estate plan using Income Only Trusts can achieve the same goal.

Want to lean more? Contact our office for a free consultation.

Long-term care insurance information, form, Folders and stethoscope.

Long Term Care Insurance Policy

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