Most people are aware that there are steps you should consider to protect your assets from being liquidated to pay for long-term care. And to protect your heirs from the burden of heavy estate taxes upon your passing.
However, are you aware of the related risks associated with the capital gains tax?
The practice of elder law is a little different than most other legal niches. As opposed to being defined by the type of legal issues they handle, elder law attorneys are more often defined by the individuals they help – primarily older persons.
Elder law attorneys work with this population and their families or representatives to advocate and address legal issues related to elder care such as health and long-term care planning, caregiving, navigating government benefits, financial elder exploitation, estate planning, legal capacity counsel, retirement planning, aging in place, and the like.
An elder law attorney offers knowledge, understanding, and guidance when it comes to the ins and outs of long-term care planning. In an ever more costly and changing care environment, they can help evaluate options and develop strategies for paying for long-term care costs and examine and advise on interrelated issues and concerns.
What happens when you lose your capacity to make decisions about your medical care?
The news depicts stories about people on life support and their family members fighting over whether brain dead means something different than dead. What if you were the one on life support? What would you choose?
Ideally, you would have already chosen, and your wishes would be clearly spelled out in your Advance Healthcare Directives. Unfortunately, only about 30% of Americans have made their wishes known.
You want to apply for Medicaid – a complicated process – but you’ve heard that hiring an attorney specializing in Medicaid planning is expensive.
So why not use one of those services that say they’ll do the same thing for less?
But do they really do the same thing? Continue reading
So you’ve decided a living trust is appropriate for you. You’ve met with your attorney, made all the decisions about how you want any money in the trust to be spent, you’ve signed the document and placed it in a safe place.
But you’re not done.
Funding your revocable living trust is just as important as setting up your trust in the first place.
The prospect of losing your spouse may be the hardest thing you’ll ever face. Taking the time to put things in order before they pass will give both of you peace of mind. Preparation will provide a sense of relief during a sad, life altering time. Here are some important things to consider, and talk about with your spouse and family members:
If your partner has been in charge of your personal finances, this is the time to find out everything they know about estate plans, bank accounts, savings, bills, policies, and insurance. Do you know what your income will be? Will it meet your needs, or will you need to make some adjustments? The more you know, the better prepared you will be. Continue reading
Few of us want to face up to the struggles advanced age can bring, much less plan for them. But since it’s a good bet that you’ll live longer than previous generations in your family, you have to ask yourself this question:
Will I be able to afford those extra years without demolishing my lifetime of saving when I need long-term care?
This is an important question since the cost of long-term care is a financial threat that can wipe you out in no time…especially in Connecticut.
So what do you do? Continue reading
It may seem odd to ask young parents to think about estate planning, but starting a family is actually the perfect reason to address some really important questions.
After all, becoming a parent isn’t just about choosing names and picking out nursery colors. It’s about being wholly responsible for someone else—a child—for life.
While it’s difficult to even contemplate the unthinkable, it’s imperative that new parents plan for every possibility to ensure that their children are protected, cared for, and financially secure.
Going through a divorce is an incredibly challenging and emotionally draining experience. It’s a time of upheaval, where everything you once knew undergoes a profound transformation.
Amidst the emotional turmoil, it’s easy to overlook practical considerations, such as updating your estate planning documents. Yet, failing to address these important legal matters during a divorce can lead to unnecessary complications and potential conflicts down the road.
There are two parts to making sure your estate documents accurately reflect your wishes during and after a divorce. First, you need to have them in place. Second, you need to be proactive about updating them in response to any changes in your circumstances.
Every so often, life has a way of throwing some curveballs.
Some are more minor in nature – a fender-bender when you are on your way to the store or a washing machine that suddenly stops working.
And, some are more serious such as a health scare or sudden death of a loved one.
Connecticut Estate Planning Attorneys Blog
