The costs associated with long-term care add up fast. Veterans and their surviving spouses who require nursing home care or in-home care on a long-term basis may find the costs insurmountable. But there may be help available. The Veterans Administration’s (VA) Aid and Attendance pension benefit is underused. The benefit offers financial assistance to veterans and surviving spouses who need help performing daily tasks. If …
You work hard for your money and you deserve some control over what happens to it. It’s only natural to worry about what will happen to your assets after your death. Even individuals of fairly modest means have an estate – and that means they should have a strategy for the distribution of their assets according to their wishes. This …
Many parents want to make sure their kids are provided for in the event that something happens to them – particularly if something were to happen to them while their children are still minors. Others, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., often want to leave gifts behind for minor children, as well. Sadly, these good intentions do not always have the intended results. It is …
It’s no secret that many of us have an aversion to writing a will and planning the handling of our estate once we’re gone. It’s unpleasant for us to consider these details because it forces us to deal with our own mortality. But we see over and over why it is so important that we do so. Consider the well-publicized situation that that took place …
Did you know that trusts are an important tool used in many estate plans? A trust is a legal arrangement that allows a “trustor” or “grantor” to transfer property to another person who then has fiduciary responsibility and is expected to conserve and protect the property. The person assigned fiduciary responsibility is called the “trustee.” The trustee holds the property for the benefit of one …
You’ve heard of outrageously wealthy people who passed away without a will in place. Their massive estates end up the coveted trophy of extensive legal battles. Yet is a will really necessary when you don’t have a famous last name, a massive estate, or really much in the way of assets out of the norm? When is a will really necessary?
The answer is in …
In the simplest terms, a trust is a legal entity that holds assets for the benefit of another. Almost anything can be put into a trust (i.e. stocks, bonds, real estate, valuable personal items, antiques, life insurance policies, cash, etc.) The creator of the trust, known as the grantor, decides what to include in the trust and designates another individual of their choice to have …
