NC and SC Estate Planning and Elder Law Firm

Giving back to causes that are important to you may be a priority. If there are charities whose mission you support, providing them with financial resources to continue pursuing their goals can be fulfilling in so many ways. In addition to bringing you joy and a feeling that you are contributing something bigger than yourself, there can be other benefits of charitable giving. These benefits, however, can vary depending on how you do the giving. For instance, have you ever heard of charitable giving through an estate plan? By using different Read more . . .

Where do you live? It sounds like a simple enough question, but the more you really dive into it with some people, it can get more complicated than anticipated. With many people owning multiple properties in different states, and sometimes even splitting time evenly between them, what is considered to be the permanent residence or “domicile” can be difficult to determine. A person’s domicile is considered to be the place where he or she lives with an intent to permanently stay. There is no uniform way of defining or determining domicile and, often, a number of different factors will be considered in its determination. In some states, you can even file a Declaration of Domicile in order to formally establish your intent to make a certain location your domicile.
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In a family and among loved ones, there can be a range of concerns and issues. Perhaps you have a grandchild who is not good with money. Maybe you have a sibling struggling with an addiction. While we all have our concerns and struggles, you may still want to provide your loved one with an inheritance, but worry about where the proceeds will go to. Will the inheritance be immediately wasted away? Will creditors eat up all of it? Will it go towards perpetuating an addiction? Fortunately, a spendthrift trust may solve the dilemma you face.
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The unique care needs of a child with special needs can run a wide range. Some children with special needs will be able to live independently. Others may need or eventually need 24-7 care. Oftentimes, a child with special needs will fall somewhere in between, needing assistance on occasion, but not all the time. No matter what type of care your child with special needs may have or eventually have, there are plans that can be put in place to help ensure they maintain quality of life far into the future.
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There are so many different kinds of people in our lives that we care about and want to provide for. Do you have a loved one with whom you want to provide financial support, but worry about where this support will end up? From creditor issues to poor money management skills, it can be stressful to go back and forth on whether or not you want to risk giving assets to someone who may so easily lose everything. Here, we discuss the spendthrift trust, the possible solution to this problem you may have been grappling with.
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Do you have a loved one with special needs? If so, he or she may be receiving needs-based government benefits such as Medicaid or Social Security to help cover essential and basic costs. While these government benefits can act as a critical financial resource for many, they do not cover much more than the basics. As such, you may want to provide financial support for your loved one with special needs. This, however, can be tricky considering you do not want your financial report to jeopardize your loved one’s continued receipt of those need-based government benefits. Here is where a Read more . . .

Prenuptial agreements, or “prenups,” seem to have developed a bad reputation over the years. Allegations of dooming a marriage or preparing for a divorce before the marriage has even begun have become intertwined with the concept of a prenup. A prenuptial agreement, however, can be an extremely valuable legal tool. While there may be controversy surrounding prenups, we invite you to look past the common misconceptions surrounding them. Prenups have many uses, even in the Read more . . .

You may have heard the term “special needs” in a variety of contexts. You may have even heard of special needs in the estate planning context. This is because there are several critical aspects of estate planning that should be addressed when planning for a person or a loved one with special needs.
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If you have a rather sizeable estate, it can be incredibly important to consider all of your estate planning options as the federal estate tax can take a large chunk of your estate’s value away from your heirs. The federal estate tax exemption will allow you to avoid some taxation as the exemption amount is subtracted from the value of the estate and only the remaining amount will be subject to the federal estate tax. In 2019, the federal estate tax exemption was at $11.
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Many people may not think about Medicaid benefits until they actually need them. Medicaid provides critical benefits to individuals in need throughout the U.S.
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The costs of long-term care in the United States are hitting all-time highs. While the majority of us will require some type of long-term care, whether it be in-home care or nursing home care, the costs can be devastating. Any savings can be quickly eaten up by long-term care bills.
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