What is estate planning? Many people mistakenly think that estate planning is intended for the wealthy only. Not true. Estate planning is a continuous process that should begin as soon as you have measurable assets. As life goes on and your life goals change, your estate planning and estate trust should reflect your objectives. Without a congruous estate trust, you risk putting undue financial burdens on your benefactors, including estate taxes that can exceed 30 percent of asset value.
You may be wondering why it’s so important to have an understanding of your parents’ plans and wishes regarding their finances. Gaining a better understanding of their estate plan or estate trust may be difficult to talk about at first but if you don’t begin the conversation now, a sudden change in your parents’ health or an untimely death can quickly lead to an estate planning nightmare. If their wishes are not clearly known or if a will is not in place, the court system will decide how your family’s assets should be divided, through intestacy laws.
As part of creating a life care plan to meet your future medical and financial needs, consider two types of living trusts – a revocable living trust and a living trust plus. A revocable living trust provides you with full use of the established trust income and principal for life. When you die, the assets included in the revocable trust may continue to be held in trust for beneficiaries, such as your children, or may be distributed.
Having a last will and testament helps ensure that your wishes regarding your trusts and assets distribution are honored after death. But even though you may think you have everything in place, you should take a careful look at several of the following common errors made in a last will so you may avoid them.
Medicaid and Medicare oftensounds rather complicated. To keep it simple, think of them as health insurance services for people that are over the age of 65. They can also sometimes be used by those under 65 who have certain disabilities. Medicare is available to people that have end state renal disease no matter what their age might be.
Parts of the Services
Each year thousands of people avoid hiring estate attorneys and create their own wills, powers of attorney and other estate planning documents with prearranged online tools and how-to manuals. This do-it-yourself strategy can really hurt you in the future, when overlooked mistakes create ambiguity that makes your final wishes after your passing impossible to implement. An estate attorney helps ensure nothing is overlooked.
How to Inventory Assets For An Estate Plan
When making a will, taking an inventory of your assets should be your first step. Grouping assets together is the easiest approach. This allows you to organize the assets such as bank accounts, money markets and certificates of deposit together, rather than lumping it with real estate, automobiles and jewelry, which makes it much harder to prepare their distribution later.
Residents in a nursing home have the same rights as any other citizen. In addition, many states have regulations and laws specifically for Nursing Home residents. They have a right to privacy and dignity; and to participate in their healthcare plan. Living in an institution often makes an individual more dependent on others for their care, and they are particularly vulnerable if they’re disabled. Knowing the nursing home resident’s rights helps preserve personal dignity and protects against negligence or abuse.
