When it comes to legal maintenance for our lives, Lee suggests checking in on four broad categories.
First, he suggests making sure everyone has advanced directives in place, including powers of attorney. Second, he suggests making sure that an up to date will is in place. Third, he suggests making sure it will be easy for surviving friends and family to get the assets that are promised to them. Finally, he suggests checking into any liability concerns.
Many people in northwest Ohio own motor vehicles, which means that many people pass away while owning a motor vehicles.
Just like bank accounts, motor vehicles can be co-owned in survivorship. However, government-required forms may need to be signed by both vehicle owners at multiple times.
Attorneys are often asked how frequently a will should be updated. There are several benchmarks that should trigger updates to an individual’s estate planning documents.
Wills should be updated whenever the law changes and whenever an individual’s life circumstances change.
Trusts are set of rules related to assets. Trusts that can be changed are called revocable trusts, and trusts that cannot be changed are called irrevocable trusts.
Up until very recently, trusts were necessary to avoid or decrease estate taxes. Trusts help people avoid probate for the assets in the trust. Trusts can also set up rules on how assets are used by heirs. Finally, trusts are used to gradually distribute assets to people who might struggle if given a large sum of money at once or who may have creditors who would try to seize money if it were readily available.
As Lee’s uncle Steve prepares for the end of his life, one of his goals is to be sure his paperwork is in order before his death.
As part of this process, Steve has worked with Lee to identify account numbers and passwords and to be sure that his wife is a co-participant on each account.
Being eligible for Medicaid is often a key component to a person’s long-term care plan if the individual wants to protect assets from being used for long-term care. The two primary requirements to be eligible for Medicaid, which we touched upon in this blog post, are as follows: The applicant must have a financial net worth of less than $2,000, and the applicant must not have given anything away in the previous five years to be at that financial level.
For assets that could incur capital gains taxes when sold, giving the asset away before it’s time to consider needing long-term care can miss a chance to avoid capital gains taxes.
Among the requirements needed to be eligible for Medicaid, an individual’s financial net worth must be less than $2,000. That individual must not have given away property to become that poor within five years before the application.
Medicaid eligibility means that the government will pay for a person’s long-term care, which includes nursing home care as well as in-home care.
Long-term care and asset protection plans that are undertaken early almost always help the individual later.
While Lee recommends that people hire licensed attorneys to help with wills and to advise whether or not they should be updated, there are four major considerations to keep in mind when deciding whether a will should be updated.
For many people, it can be a struggle when the need for long-term care arises later in life. Medicaid is often the tool used to avoid having to pay out-of-pocket for long-term care. But to be eligible for Medicaid, a person must be almost completely impoverished.
There are several tools available to shield assets so that an individual can become Medicaid eligible. The tools normally involve an individual giving up either all ownership, partial ownership or control of assets.
Estate planning can be one of the best gifts you leave behind for friends and family. Not only can you decide what gifts you will leave your loved ones through estate planning, but having an estate plan in place usually saves family or friends time and money.
From a practical standpoint, here are the four estate planning documents that should be prepared before death: Last Will and Testament, a power of attorney for finances, a power of attorney for healthcare, and a living will.
Generally, the best estate plans are prepared by local attorneys. Documents that are prepared based upon information found online often cause more difficulties for friends and family post-death.