For over 80 years, Social Security has made guaranteed monthly payouts to eligible retired workers. Today, over 64 million people receive a monthly benefit from the Social Security program. The average retired worker benefit is $1,505.50 a month, as of January 2020. Generally Social Security income for the ordinary retiree…
Every estate plan should include a living trust. A living trust is different from a trust and should be part of your estate plan along with a last will and testament and power of attorney (financial and medical) documents. Why a living trust is an important estate plan document…
A power of attorney, including a heath care power of attorney, are crucial estate planning documents. This is especially important if you have Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or are suffering from another chronic and debilitating illness. Individuals who are widowed or alone should carefully consider who they can trust to manage…
A trust is an important estate plan document. Other estate planning documents include a last will and testament and intestate succession. Every state has laws that determine who your heirs are and what proportion of the estate the heir is entitled to receive. Heir refers to blood relatives and…
Adding trust instruments to your estate plan can help a surviving spouse and other beneficiaries have access to assets while the rest of the estate is wound up. Especially if there are young children or children with special needs ensuring continuity of financial security to survivors is at the forefront…
It is not uncommon in our region for people to own real property outside of New York State. Increasingly, people own other home or investment properties out of state and even out of the country. A will generally disposes of all of an individual’s assets. The rules are different however…
Some couples approach their estate planning lawyer seeking advice on creating a joint will. Generally, the estates lawyer will frown upon such a suggestion because in practice, joint wills are fraught with problems. A joint will can be created by a married couple and is a single will. A joint…
Despite the prevalence of aggressive, life-prolonging medical procedures, such as feeding tubes, ventilators, and dialysis, once a patient enters a long-term care hospital, L.T.C.H. for short, more than one-third of them will never return home. According to the New York Times, the median survival for such patients is 8.3 months.…
Parents with dementia and other memory loss disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, present extraordinary challenges for the parent and adult children tasked with assisting them. Drafting a will, making health care decisions, and taking care of legal and financial matters are just some of the items that must…
This is the last post on gifting digital assets. So far, we have examined digital assets generally and digital asset planning in the estate planning process and the business succession planning process. Today’s post will review how to handle digital assets in the estate administration process. Traditional estate administration process…