When it comes to COVID-19, there is so much that feels beyond our control. With estate planning (wills or trusts and more), there are things that you CAN control. Here is a list of things you can do (from an estate planning perspective) that may help you feel a little more in control: #1 During this COVID-19 crisis, who are your emergency health care decision makers? Talk to your loved ones about your wishes regarding your medical care. First, who would you want to step up to advocate for you during a health care crisis? The two parts of Health Care Directives are the Designation of Health Care Surrogate and Living Will. With the Designation of Health Care Surrogate, you nominate someone you trust to make health care decisions for you in the…Read More
Do You Need A Will (Last Will And Testament) Or Revocable Living Trust? How Do You Choose? Are you interested in a will or revocable living trust? Wills and trusts are useful estate planning tools. They serve different purposes and can even work really well together. First, let’s go over key differences between wills and trusts. Will Characteristics: A will goes into effect only after you die. It only covers property that is in your name at your death. A will passes through a court process called Probate. The Probate court oversees the will’s administration and ensures the will is valid and that the property gets distributed the way the deceased wanted. Because a will passes through Probate, it’s a public record. A will lets you name a guardian for your minor children.…Read More
Do You Have A Revocable Living Trust? Will Your Family Have To Go To Court And Lose Their Valuable Privacy? Whether You Own A Little Or A Lot, You Need To Be Careful With Your Revocable Living Trust Do you have a revocable living trust as part of your estate planning? A solid estate plan can mean the difference between an expensive time in court or a smooth transfer of property for your family. When a high-profile celebrity passes away, we can learn a lot about the value of careful planning. Let’s take a look at what trust funding is and why it’s important. This Failed Estate Plan Is An Excellent Example Of Why You Need Properly Transfer Property To Your Revocable Living Trust In our opinion, Carrie Fisher’s plan failed, because it…Read More
Do You Have A Beneficiaries In Your Last Will And Testament, Life Insurance And Retirement Accounts? Here Are Some Important Things You Need To Know Beneficiaries Of A Last Will And Testament Have To Wait First, you use a Will (Last Will and Testament) to give assets to your beneficiaries, your beneficiaries don’t inherit automatically. Those beneficiaries will need to wait until the probate court process is over before they can inherit. In some cases, this can take many months or even years. If the estate is complex, the legal fees can deplete that inheritance. If avoiding probate is a top priority, consider a Revocable Living Trust as part of your estate plan. Go here to learn more about wills and trusts. Go here to learn more about avoiding probate. Your Last Will…Read More
How can we help seniors manage their finances? With these tips, seniors can manage their finances better. And if they ever need help, they can shift their financial management to someone they can trust. 1. Use direct deposit. First, use direct deposit for income form pensions, annuities, and Social Security benefits. Not only will this save a trip to the bank, it also avoids the risk of a paper check being stolen, lost, or forgotten. 2. Consolidate retirement accounts. Consolidating retirement accounts into fewer accounts may make it easier to evaluate and manage savings, as well as to take any minimum distributions that are required. Also, when moving money between retirement accounts, it’s a good idea to use a trustee-to-trustee transfer rather than moving the money yourself. 3. Consolidate financial accounts. It can…Read More
Are you a senior worried about identity theft? Or are you worried about a loved one with dementia becoming a victim of identity theft? Here are some tips on freezing someone’s credit. This is important if you’re trying to protect someone from elder abuse. What Does It Mean To Freeze Credit? A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report, making it harder for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name. To Place Or Lift A Credit Freeze, You Must Contact Each Credit Bureau Separately. Equifax: equifax.com or 800-695-1111 Experian: experian.com or 888-397-3742 TransUnion: transunion.com or 888-909-8872 Once a credit freeze is in place, it secures your credit file until you lift the freeze. You can do that online, by phone, or by mail using the special PIN the companies give…Read More
There Is A Lot More Than Just Price That Goes Into Choosing Legal Documents Or The Lawyer That Will Help You When you’re comparing our fees to your other options, I encourage you to really understand what you are actually getting for that price. If you use an online form, you might actually cause your family a lot of headache and heartache down the road. So you want to find a lawyer that can draft you excellent legal documents in accordance with the state laws that captures everything that you want to see about how your assets go to your loved ones under what circumstances, who’s in charge. In My Office, We Create Relationships With My Clients Instead Of Just A Transaction That is because your estate planning should stay up to date…Read More
Start with reviewing the following documents at least once this year. 1. Estate Planning Documents To help ensure that your property and money ends up where you want it, look over your will, trusts, and other estate planning documents at least once a year to see if there is anything you’d like changed. For example, you may want to make a change if you’re recently married or divorced, added a new child to the family, received an inheritance, or experienced any number of other major life events. Or you may simply want to make a change because you’ve changed your mind about some part of your estate plan. Review your choices for who would manage your finances and health care if you ever become incapacitated. Are you still satisfied with your choices? We…Read More
Life insurance is an important part of estate planning and taking care of the people you love after you pass away. Here are some common mistakes that you should avoid. 1. Not Naming A Beneficiary Too many people forget to name a beneficiary or backup beneficiaries. Those mistakes can result in your life insurance proceeds having to go through the probate court process. That can tie up your money for months and even open up the life insurance proceeds to your creditors. And that can wipe out your funds. 2. Naming An Individual As Beneficiary To Take Care Of That Money For Someone Else You might be tempted to list someone you know and trust as beneficiary of your life insurance, with the understanding that he or she would use that money to…Read More
“How Lucky I Am To Have Something That Makes Saying Goodbye So Hard.” – Winnie The Pooh We stood in a family huddle, crying in the driveway. We had just lost our beloved dog Buddha, age 14. My husband adopted him from an animal shelter in NC about a year before we got married. Buddha loved exploring, car rides, howling at fire truck sirens, the dog beach, running through piles of leaves and the feeling of cool tile on a hot summer day. When we lived in GA, he even had a “second family” that he would visit everyday to get treats. He was a husky/shepherd mix and he had a floppy ear that gave him a friendly look. We will miss him dearly. (Buddha, we will love you forever! You were such…Read More
