NC and SC Estate Planning and Elder Law Firm

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 a durable power of attorney for health care to protect your medical care wishes should you become incapacitated. These are important things to take advantage of when you are creating an estate plan. There are, in fact, other things you can accomplish with a comprehensive estate plan.

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 injury or illness. One of the best things we can do is to prepare how we can for the unexpected.

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 provides extremely limited coverage for nursing home care. If you or a loved one needs to stay for a longer period of time or needs to move into a residential facility, then Medicare cannot be relied upon.
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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. With age, we tend to become more reliant on others to look out for us and, in some cases, provide us with the care and support we need to stay safe and healthy.

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 the beneficiary with special needs. What exactly can the proceeds of a special needs trust be used for? We will take a look at that here.

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 settling into your new home. It may include updating your driver’s license and vehicle tags. It may include updating your mailing address.

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.

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.
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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 that needs to be accomplished during the process.
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The idea of establishing a trust may be intimidating for some people. Trusts have developed a reputation as only being for the wealthy. The truth is, however, that many people could benefit from establishing a trust as part of their estate plans.

While you might not necessarily think of estate tax is a hot news topic, it has been recently. This has been, in large part due to the “For the 99.5% Act” that Senator Bernie Sanders proposed on March 25, 2021. The sweeping changes in