Does a Revocable Trust Help Avoid Probate?
A revocable trust, also commonly known as a living trust, is an estate planning tool with a variety of potential benefits. To establish a revocable trust, the testator, the creator of the trust, designates a trustee and transfers ownership of certain assets to the trust. The trustee is then responsible for managing the trust...
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Clauses to Include in Your Revocable Trust
When thinking about what you can accomplish with an estate plan, you may have some of the basics covered. You have a will which can distribute your property to who you want and also name a guardian for any of your minor children. You may have advance directives such as living will and...
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Should Estate Plans Include Advance Directives?
We all hope to live long, healthy lives where we remain physically and mentally able to take care of ourselves and effectively communicate our wishes every step of the way. Life is, however, full of twists and turns. Some of them are expected and some are unexpected. None of us are immune from sudden...
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What is Medicaid Planning?
While the majority of Americans will need some kind of long-term care at one point in their lifetimes, many fail to put plans in place to cover the often extreme costs associated with long-term care. Some operate under the mistaken belief that Medicare will cover long-term care costs. This is not accurate. Medicare only...
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Why Your Aging Parent Needs a Durable Power of Attorney in Place
Does your aging parent have a comprehensive estate plan in place? Comprehensive means that, while it likely involves the establishment of a will, there are other critical estate planning documents in place as well. A comprehensive estate plan can be important at any age, but may become even more critical as we age....
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What Can Special Needs Trust Proceeds Be Used For?
A special needs trust can be an extremely valuable estate planning tool. Designed to provide a person with special needs funds to help ensure a certain quality of life is enjoyed without jeopardizing eligibility for need based government benefits, a special needs trust can cover a wide range of expenses on behalf of...
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Add Estate Planning on Your Moving To-Do List
Moving can be a great adventure! Sometimes a change of scenery and a new place to grow roots can be the start to an exciting new chapter of your life. As you embark on your fresh start, you likely have a long list of things to get done. There will be the logistics of...
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Why You Should Plan for Long-Term Care As Soon As Possible
Statistically speaking, most of us will need long-term care at some point in our lifetime. Usually, this will occur later in life. Because of this, many people delay thinking about it or planning for it. The cost of long-term care, however, may surprise you. It may even shock you because it is so...
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Things to Consider in Choosing Your Health Care Surrogate and Power of Attorney Agent
Estate planning includes much more than plans for after you die. In fact, many important legal tools that are included in a comprehensive estate plan provide protection for you and your wishes while you are still alive. The health care surrogate and power of attorney documents are two such examples. With a health...
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What Happens During Probate?
Have you heard of probate? It is the court-supervised process of administering a person’s estate after he or she dies. A notoriously lengthy and costly process, people often seek to establish estate plans that allow for avoiding probate, at least partially. Why can probate be so time consuming? Well, there is a lot...
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