On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Monday, February 2, 2015. A lot of people have questions about taxes on insurance proceeds. If you are the beneficiary of a life insurance policy you would not be asked to pay Federal income tax on this influx of financial resources. However, this does not mean that there is no cause for concern with regard to taxation as it applies to insurance policies.The Federal estate tax is a factor. The life insurance policies that you o...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Tuesday, March 24, 2015. Dementia is not an easy illness to manage. Family members are forced to care for and financially back their loved ones when they are no longer able to do so for themselves. In most cases, individuals do not have adequate estate planning for incapacitation, such as dementia, which means their families are left to foot the bill and make difficult medical decisions. According to the director-general of the...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Monday, March 16, 2015. Though life expectancy tables can predict that individuals will live a certain number of years, the fact of the matter is that there is a large variety of factors that play into how long a person might live. Mortality tables and estimates do not account for these factors, which only promotes underestimating Americans' life expectancy. Most Americans assume that they will live past 65, which means they do...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Friday, March 13, 2015. There are many cases throughout the country where parents did not review their estate plans carefully and family members are now fighting over the estates. For example, if you as a parent say that you intend to leave a large portion of your estate to your children but you don't actually update your will to reflect that, the courts will either automatically revert to your previous Will or, if you did not ...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Aid & Attendance is a special pension that offers veterans and their surviving spouses additional funding/assistance for another person to help with eating, dressing, bathing and other daily maintenance matters. Not all veterans will qualify for this special pension; therefore, if you are looking to apply it is best to meet with an estate planning attorney who has experience with the Aid & Attendance ...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Friday, March 6, 2015. In most cases, if your estate has credit card debt the executor of your estate will need to use any funds left to pay those debts. There are different instances, however, where this is not the case.For example, if one of the people on a joint credit card dies, the person who is alive will be responsible for paying that lingering credit card debt, even if he or she was never actively using the card. Author...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. You are about to start your estate planning process, which is great, but even if you have a Will or Trust set up, there are major errors most individuals make during the estate planning process that can cost them (or their heirs) greatly in the end.Mistake Number One: Not Setting Up Secondary GuardiansWhen you set up your Will with your estate planning attorney you will already set guardians for your chi...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Tuesday, February 24, 2015. Any time you are looking for solid and unbiased consumer information you know that you can find it in Consumer Reports magazine. The folks there do a fine job of analyzing products and services in a very fair and balanced way. They then pass along their findings to the public so that we can proceed with a foundation of useful information before parting with any of our hard-earned money.Consumer Repor...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Wednesday, February 11, 2015. It is possible to will one's IRA to a family member or other chosen beneficiary. On receiving the IRA, the beneficiary is able to make withdrawals right away, but there are considerable tax implications for doing so. In fact, those who take money out of an IRA they have inherited will face similar tax issues to those they would face for taking money from their own retirement accounts.Withdrawal Opt...
On behalf of The Elder and Disability Law Firm, APC on Thursday, February 5, 2015. As with all professional services, there are fees associated with creating a trust-based estate plan. Many people with assets will have to use a more comprehensive estate plan that includes a trust. This is because a trust will protect the individual's assets, prevent excessive estate tax and offer a wide variety of strategies for distributing the estate.Pros to a Trust-Based AttorneyAttorneys who wo...
