If you want Medicaid in Connecticut to pay for your long-term care, one thing you should NOT do is give away your assets – unless you think you won’t need Medicaid within the next five years. When you apply for Medicaid for long-term care in either a nursing facility or…
Articles Posted in Estate Planning
Business Owners: One Thing You Need to Protect Your Business
What would happen to your business if you were unexpectedly incapacitated? How long could your company survive if you weren’t there to make the decisions that keep the operation moving? What kinds of calamity might come about even in a short period of time if certain contracts weren’t signed, deals…
Out-of-State Property and Probate: What You Need To Know
During a time of grief and sadness, the thought of having to go through probate can understandably bring on additional anxiety and confusion. And, if your loved one owned out-of-state property, you may now be tasked with dealing with an additional layer of cumbersome paperwork and probate proceedings. So you…
Revocable Trusts vs. Irrevocable Trusts: What’s the difference?
By Lara Schneider-Bomzer So you’ve been doing your estate planning homework. You’ve learned that perhaps you should have a trust in addition to a Will. But then you hear that there are different types of trusts! In this blog post I’ll help you understand the difference between the two main…
Annuities as Asset Protection for Couples: Smart Move if You Do it Right
By Lara Schneider-Bomzer Purchasing annuities is a good way for married couples to protect assets, but doing it wrong could mean huge penalties. Here is what you need to know about annuities as it relates to Medicaid planning in Connecticut: If your spouse is residing in a nursing home or…
Does Power of Attorney Allow You to Manage Someone Else’s Social Security?
If a loved one has named you as their POA (Power of Attorney), you now have written permission to help manage that loved one’s financial decisions during his or her lifetime. It’s a powerful document. It puts complete trust and authority in you to handle the financial matters of the…
Your Retirement Accounts & The SECURE Act: What You Should Know
(Note: this post has been updated due to potential IRS changes) Do you know about the new changes that could affect your retirement accounts? Some are positive, others may require you to make some new planning decisions. Either way, the goal of this new legislation is to improve retirement security…
How to Transfer a Car After a Death
When you die, someone is going to benefit from the use of your car. Wouldn’t it be nice to decide now exactly who that person should be? You can do that today – it’s easy! When registering a vehicle, you can designate a transfer-on-death (TOD) beneficiary, not unlike what you…
Trusts and the Probate Process: What You Should Know
If you’re confused, or unfamiliar with trusts as part of an estate plan, you’re not alone! Some people need to have a trust, others do not. Then there’s the probate process. Does having a trust impact the probate process? Should you have a trust to avoid the probate process? To…
What is a Conservatorship?
When you are putting your estate plan together, one of the advance directives you will want to create is a Designation of Conservator. It is probably something you haven’t thought about, or maybe even knew it existed! But it is really important. What is this Designation of Conservator? …