Original Documents are Important
Where is the best place to keep your original documents? In case of emergency, it is important to have them accessible.
Where is the best place to keep your original documents? In case of emergency, it is important to have them accessible.
In the state of Pennsylvania, a pet trust is used to designate funds and any wishes on behalf of a pet.
People sometimes think estate planning is only for the older generation. But it's really something to consider at all ages. In fact, there's more than one valid reason to create an estate plan no matter how old you are. In this article, we are going to take a closer look at the estate planning ne...
When Jerry Garcia the front man for the Grateful Dead past away in 1995, he left behind a collection of custom guitars to Douglas Irwin (the man who created them). However the rest of the band members of the Grateful Dead did not agree with this. The band argued that all the band instruments we...
I want to leave my bank accounts to my children when I'm gone. Can't I just make the children joint owners? That idea sounds better than it actually is. Yes, you would avoid court proceedings when you pass. But you'd put yourself at risk, at a time when you might need your money yourself. Your ...
The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes upcoming changes to its social security program every October that take effect on January 1 of the next year. These changes can make a difference in how you plan for or live during your retirement years. It is good practice to create what is know...
You might think that leaving your property to your heirs would be simple enough. You make a will or a trust, you do a transfer-on-death deed for your real estate, you put your kids on your bank account, you designate beneficiaries for your life insurance and retirement accounts, and you're done. ...
Whether you are starting from scratch or have an estate plan in place a letter of instruction (LOI) is an important part of any comprehensive plan. A letter of instruction can help your loved ones manage important information about you. A LOI conveys your desires, includes practical information a...
Mistakes can be made when it comes to inheritances and Medicaid. Those mistakes can be costly. When a person is drawing Medicaid benefits and inherits money or property, that inheritance jeopardizes the benefits. The inheritance must be handled carefully to minimize expensive penalties. What “c...
In this Covid-19 epidemic, a wrenching question especially demands an answer: if you or someone you love is taken down into life-threatening illness, how far would you want extreme life-prolonging measures to be tried? For us who are particularly vulnerable – seniors, those with compromised immu...
You should check your estate planning documents every so often, to make sure they're still good, especially with big life changes like births, marriages, divorces, and moving to another state. Children grow up, marriages dissolve, property gets sold, residences change. That's why we recommend tha...
This is a common question we hear. Read on for information to help figure out whether you need a trust and, if so, what kind fits your specific situation. For example, maybe you have a disabled child and you want a trust to permit that child to inherit without losing government benefits. Maybe y...
Most people dream of the day they can retire. The problem is that many do not move beyond dreaming to planning. Planning can be done no matter what your age, but experts encourage people to start as early as possible. Retirement planning can seem like a daunting endeavor for many people as they f...
For many people, real property, including their home, is a big part of their overall net worth. How the home and other pieces of real property is titled deserves careful consideration. Real estate constitutes the land and any structure, including vegetation, livestock, crops, and other natural r...
Many people have been told that it is important for people to “avoid probate.” But just because people may have heard that term, doesn't mean they know exactly what probate means, why it can be a problem or how to successfully avoid it. In this post, we will take a look at the term probate to und...
For those interested in information on Medicare, understand that applying for the benefit sometimes seems like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, Medicare is obviously a good resource because it provides medical benefits to seniors who are often on a fixed income. On the other hand, however, ...
Estate planning for the future inheritance of your children and grandchildren should include protective measures to keep assets from disappearing or being claimed by a creditor. A simple way to achieve inheritance protection is through a trust. A trust can pass your wealth bypassing probate. Thi...
In the America, some of our most vulnerable citizens are in our nation's nursing homes. When the novel coronavirus did hit, these nursing homes became its ground zero as many residents and workers did not receive testing, and staff found obtaining personal protective equipment a struggle. Some fa...
Due to several underlying variables, the US is seeing an increased amount of bankruptcy among seniors. While medical advances are keeping seniors alive longer, the associated healthcare costs in the quest for longevity are being off-loaded onto the older individual at a time when reduced income i...
Maintaining proper social distancing routines is crucial in stopping the spread of this virus. Call or email us to find out how we can help you complete your estate plan without taking a single step outside your safe home. Formerly, most states required that important legal documents must be sig...
As COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across America, those who are age 65 or higher experience a higher virus fatality rate. For this reason, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continue to recommend that older adults stay at home as much as possible, especially those with un...
There are demographic and cultural shifts occurring in the United States with a surge of baby boomer retirement on the horizon. The baby boomer generation continues to “gray” the country and is changing the way individual states set budgets and health care policies. More attention will be paid t...
Alzheimer's disease is becoming more prevalent among aging Americans, but you can check for the disease before symptoms emerge through a simple blood test. Alzheimer's disease has three typical biomarkers: plaques of beta-amyloid protein, tangles of tau protein, and loss of connections in the syn...
The duties of being named a property guardian include keeping careful records, taking care to keep the money separate from yours, and making sure to spend the money for their benefit only.
Family members often end up arguing over mom or dad’s favorite items when that parent dies. Arguments can take place over things like a coffee mug, a piece of jewelry or a painting. These types of arguments can be eliminated by filling out a personal property memorandum and keeping it with your will or trust.
Thank you for your interest. We look forward to hearing from you soon.