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How Often Do You Update Your Estate Plan? More Often Than Your Resume? A resume is a “snapshot” of your experience, skill set, and education which provides prospective employers insight into who you are and how you will perform. Imagine not updating that resume for 5, 10, or even 15 years. Would it accurately reflect […]

Shocking to most people, the retirement account you leave for your spouse can be seized in a divorce, lawsuit, or bankruptcy. 3 Options Available To Surviving Spouses When your surviving spouse inherits your IRA, he or she generally has three options: Cash out the inherited IRA and pay the income tax. WARNING! The cashed-out IRA […]

Estate Planning Considerations for Benefits Open Enrollment The fall, generally late-October or early-November, is the time when employers send out summaries of employee benefits offered by the company and give employees the option to enroll in these benefits. These can generally include retirement plan options, health care, dental, vision, short and/or long-term disability, and life […]

How to Make Your Inheritance Last A 2012 study by Ohio State researcher Jay Zagorsky found that about one-third of Americans who receive an inheritance have negative savings within two years of getting their money, and of those who receive $100,000 or more, nearly one in five spend, donate or simply lose it all.  If […]

Introduction An inheritance is a blessing. It can enable you to start a new business, send your children to college or buy your dream home. Sadly, most families lose their wealth by the second generation. Therefore, it is important to tell your estate planner if you are expecting an inheritance. One way an estate planner […]

In my previous post, I explained why receiving an inheritance changes your estate plan (read here). Today, I will address some frequently asked questions regarding inheritances. Frequently Asked Questions Should I tell my estate planner I’m expecting an inheritance? Yes. While some people are hesitant to count their chickens before they hatch, looping your estate […]

Why Receiving an Inheritance Changes Your Estate Plan Receiving an inheritance is a huge blessing but, if not handled properly, can also become a curse. Often times, the inheritor does not know what to do with the new asset and runs into financial trouble, squandering most, if not all of it. This could happen due […]

Introduction – The Emerging Field of Elder Law As an estate planning and elder law attorney, one of my goals is to educate folks on how to get the benefits they are entitled to without wiping out all of their assets. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, someone who is 65 […]

Doesn’t Every Attorney Do Estate Planning? Let’s face it: many attorneys do estate planning. At least they claim to. Coupled with the emergence of companies like LegalZoom, there’s no shortage of options for the consumer. However, estate planning is much more than pieces of paper. Promote Your Values and Increase Family Harmony At the end […]

Introduction – Protecting Your Home From Medicaid Previously, we discussed what Medicaid covers and the financial eligibility requirements. Today, I want to get a bit more specific. In particular, I am going to discuss the largest asset most people own: their home. Depending upon the circumstances, the primary residence can present significant problems as it […]