A living will lays out your preferences for life-sustaining medical treatment. I wrote about this in the November edition of South Shore Senior Newspaper titled "The Big 6 Disability Planning You Need Now." The Living Will is one of the Big 6 Disability Planning tools you need to keep your affairs out of the probate [...]
Couples often bring children into a marriage from a prior marriage or union and then have children together. This is often referred to as a blended family or better known as the "Brady Bunch" family. Blended families highlight the need for careful estate planning to make sure the needs of each spouse are met, as [...]
The astronomical expense of long-term nursing care is no longer news. Costs can run around $15,000.00 or more per month, depending on location. Hundreds of thousands of people presently need that kind of care and the numbers are rising. Ten thousand “baby boomers” a day turn 65, and it’s projected that seven of ten of [...]
Aging is something you cannot escape, and it affects all family systems. It can be challenging for adult children to imagine their parents as seniors and to understand and respond to the reality that each parent will age differently. Even if you are in the fortunate circumstance where your aging parents can go it alone [...]
Although it can be useful to have another party available to keep track of bills when you’re sick or away, adding a child’s name to a bank account is putting you and them at risk! Read on to learn more because you may be surprised. First of all, the money in your account could be diverted [...]
Congress has passed a bipartisan appropriations bill. In the contents of this spending bill is a piece of legislation known as the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE), the first significant change in retirement legislation since the Pension Protection Act in 2006. The President signed the Act into law on December 20, [...]
Welcome to the new decade, replete with new challenges to protect yourself against ever-inventive scam artists. One concern has a simple fix but requires your commitment to add two additional digits when signing or writing documents, letters, emails, and more. The National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) is reporting that the dawn of this decade creates [...]
Our Elder Law Care Team will often hear our clients and the folks at our educational estate planing and elder law workshops confuse the words "Medicaid" and "Medicare." The words look alike and sound alike but the meaning and benefits of these two government programs are much different and it is in your best interest [...]
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. If you already have a Trust I recommend you have it reviewed by a qualified estate or elder law attorney because of changes in law and [...]
Powerful Durable “power of attorney” (POA) and Health Care Proxy disability planning documents are critical because when you or your spouse become incapacitated they will keep your affairs out of the dreaded Probate Court. They will allow your loved ones "helpers" to make your financial and health care decisions and not some stranger picked from [...]