Category Archives: Estate Planning
Successful Aging In Place Happens At The Community Level
When you decide to age in place and start looking for advice about how to prepare, most of the articles you find are about home renovations to accommodate the mobility needs of seniors. You can read all about benches for your shower, chairlifts on the stairs, and converting a room on the lower floor… Read More »
The Most Fun Part Of Estate Planning: Taking Inventory Of Your Memorabilia Collection
What is it with old guys collecting old stuff and talking endlessly about it to anyone who will listen? Your grandpa had his coin collection, your dad had his baseball cards, and the neighbor who lived down the street had a garage full of model trains. Some guys love vinyl records, some love old… Read More »
Do Risky Investments Have Any Place In Your Retirement Plan?
Money is only one of the things you need to think about when you plan for retirement. Estate planning lawyers may break the ice by asking you what you would like to spend money on in your old age and what your idea of a comfortable retirement looks like. Beyond those first few conversations,… Read More »
Difficult Decisions When Balancing Your Responsibilities As A Parent With Your Estate Plan
Before commercial flights take off, flight attendants instruct passengers that, if the oxygen masks descend due to a decrease in cabin pressure, they should put on their own oxygen masks before trying to assist their children with their masks. A similar principle applies when it comes to securing your own financial future while helping… Read More »
Reality Check: Depending On Your Family For Elder Care Is Less Affordable Than You Think
An aging in place plan that takes family togetherness as its cornerstone sounds idyllic. Think of the affordable family meals and the multigenerational social events. Think of the money your children will save on childcare if you babysit your grandchildren while your kids work on evenings and weekends. Your son-in-law adores you, and the… Read More »
Florida Senate Introduces Bill To Protect Elder Abuse Victims From Creditor Harassment
Debt collection communications can stress you out at any stage of your life. If you are in a strong enough financial position that you are talking to an estate planning lawyer about placing your assets in a trust so that creditors cannot get them, or even spending down your assets in order to qualify… Read More »
Reality Check: Will The Nursing Home In Your Town Still Be There When You Need It?
Nursing home planning is an important part of your estate plan. Whether you choose to age in place or move to an assisted living facility, there is a good chance that, at some point during your retirement, you will need the kind of assistance with tasks of daily life that you can most easily… Read More »
Disinheriting Your Children: Do’s And Don’ts
Another holiday season has come and gone, and your children and grandchildren are getting more ungrateful by the year. They complain about the gifts you give, and when they visit you, they complain about the food and about the condition of your house, and they never offer to help. You do your best to… Read More »
How To Protect Your Assets From Medicaid Estate Recovery
A popular saying in the world of estate planning goes that the goal of your estate plan is to ensure that you do not outlive your savings. In today’s economic climate, where most of us are in debt and those of us who have savings are unlikely to have them much longer, does this… Read More »
How To Protect Your Future Self From Financial Abuse
Last month, a court in Fort Pierce sentenced Sherri Lynn Smith, 52, to 51 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release after she pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Between 2016 and 2019, Smith worked as a caregiver to an elderly couple in Broward County, and they… Read More »