Category Archives: Estate Planning
Types Of Special Needs Trusts
The past few years have made it abundantly clear that money and health are both scarce resources. You might think that you will never need a special needs trust, but this probably reflects a hubristic view of your own future or a narrow understanding of medical special needs and of trusts. Contrary to popular… Read More »
Not Everyone Needs A Trust, But Do You?
You come from a sufficiently privileged background that, when you transferred from private school to public school, your new classmates called you a trust fund baby, but you never thought much about what it meant. It was enough, though, to leave you with the impression that trust funds were something that only rich people… Read More »
Found Family As Beneficiaries Of Your Will
People tend to use terms like “work spouse” disparagingly, but in certain professions, the people you meet at work become like family to you. The inheritance laws of the United States make it such that the testator of a will can leave any portion of his or her estate to anyone he or she… Read More »
Will Contest Clauses
On the one hand, a will is a legally binding document, your last flex to show your ungrateful children that they don’t get a penny and your favorite wildlife rescue shelter gets your entire estate. On the other hand, a will is just a wish that a dead person made before dying. A will… Read More »
Leaving An Inheritance Is Overrated
Imagining what your children will do with the money they inherit from you is more an exercise in wishful thinking than a concrete plan for most people. Most retirees do not have any savings left when they die, and what assets they do have disappear during probate as Medicaid and other creditors come to… Read More »
Think Twice Before Depending On Your Kids To Be Your Caregivers In Your Old Age
If you grew up in a multigenerational household, you probably have fond memories of family togetherness. You could find a friend in your grandparents when your parents were too impatient with your childish behavior, and your parents understood what the then-contemporary world was like in ways that your grandparents did not. You remember the… Read More »
The Student Loan Debt Crisis Is Coming Soon To Retirees
Living paycheck to paycheck gets old quickly, and by the time gray hairs appear on your head, it is downright exhausting. When you are in your 50s, you are at your peak earning potential, but try not to dwell on that thought for too long, because it is depressing to think that this month’s… Read More »
Medicaid Is for Seniors, Too
When we hear about Medicaid in the news, it is usually in the context where children are the beneficiaries. While Medicaid does provide medical care for the poorest children, the ones who do not have health insurance and whose parents cannot afford to pay the children’s medical expenses out of pocket, it also provides… Read More »
Five Things You Should Do To Provide For A Surviving Spouse
The late, great Benjamin Franklin famously said that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Many people spend infinitely more time on tax planning than death planning. Most people don’t want to come face to face with their own mortality. That sentiment is understandable, but given the inevitability of death, irresponsible. No… Read More »
Is the Eternal Youth Of 420 Friendly Seniors Just An Illusion?
Florida’s reputation as a paradise for potheads has a history almost as long as its reputation as a paradise for seniors. Perhaps only California, Amsterdam, and Tangier give Florida a run for its money as 420 friendly destinations. You know what else has been around a long time and is going to stick around… Read More »