Durable Power of Attorney – An Important Part of Your Estate Plan
When speaking with clients about their estate plan, the conversation usually turns to deciding on the beneficiaries of the estate and signing a Will. Although a Will is an important part of the estate plan, some overlook how important it is to naming someone to make...
New ABLE Account Benefits
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently posted to remind those with disabilities that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made major changes to Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE) Accounts. ABLE Accounts are designed to help people with disabilities and their...
Should Your Trust Be Named As Beneficiary of Your IRA?
Qualified accounts, such as IRA’s and 401(k)’s for example, are often a significant part of a family’s estate. How these accounts are passed at death can have a significant impact on not only the manner of distribution to our beneficiaries but the...
Protecting Your Home From The Costs Of Long-Term Care
There are several planning options when it comes to protecting assets from the rising costs of long-term care. For purposes of this article, we will focus on the use of an irrevocable trust to protect the home and other assets and whether it is still a viable...
IRA Distributions to Special Needs Trusts: Minimizing Income Taxes
For many parents, the majority of their savings is held in some kind of a retirement account, often an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). At age 70 1/2, an IRA account holder faces the Required Beginning Date, when he or she must take mandatory distributions from...
A Simple Way to Organize your Special Needs Planning Documents
If you are like most people, you didn’t assemble your special needs plan all at once. You may have created a special needs trust in 2001, purchased life insurance to fund it in 2005, established a guardianship when your child turned 18 in 2008 and drafted a...
Housing Options for Adults with Special Needs
Fifty years ago, most people with even moderate special needs were institutionalized throughout their adult lives. Now, thanks in part to societal changes and decades of litigation, most people with special needs, including those with very severe special needs, live...
Make Sure Your Estate Plan Doesn’t Put Your Child at Risk
Most parents of children with special needs are well versed when it comes to the government benefits like Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) that their child receives. Most know not to give the child any money outright and to establish a standalone...
Special Needs Planning Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Unlike some areas of law like “employment discrimination law” or “patent law,” special needs planning does not focus on one specific legal principle or topic. Instead, it encompasses a broad array of subjects that people with special needs and...
Say a Little Prayer: Aretha Franklin Had No Will, and a Child With Special Needs
According to court documents, legendary singer Aretha Franklin did not have a will when she died, despite reportedly having a son with special needs. The lack of a will opens up the intensely private singer’s estate to public scrutiny and unnecessary costs, and means...
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