Why should will updates be done periodically for seniors?

It’s important to keep your will up to date.

Will updates are easy to overlook. However, I’ve been practicing elder law for many years, and, believe me when I tell you, the statement that is the title of this article is one I have heard more than once. Wills that were drafted 30 years ago and more, also known as “sweetheart” wills, that have not been updated could be leaving a lifetime of assets to an unintended party.

I am often asked to review the wills of clients, many of whom are concerned about asset protection to avoid Medicaid spend down impoverishment. Many of the wills I review are “sweetheart” wills. Typically these wills simply leave everything to the surviving spouse. When both spouses are gone, the estate goes to the kids. They are pretty simple and work well for the first 65 years of life when everyone is healthy, and life is humming along. After that age though, when a lifetime of assets have accrued and Medicare and Social Security benefits become part of the equation, most clients really do require trusts and a solid estate and asset protection plan.

The “Sweetheart” Will

Here’s what happens if you have a sweetheart will, your husband (or wife) enters a nursing home and then the spouse who is not in the nursing home dies. The will leaves the entire estate to the sweetheart/the spouse in the nursing home. Now that spouse will have to spend down all of their spousal estate before becoming eligible for public benefits to pay for his or her nursing home expenses. Not good.

When you reach retirement age, you definitely need to protect your assets from disability or catastrophic illness, in addition to the usual tax planning. Having your will reviewed every few years will also make sure unintended parties are not going to be benefiting from your assets. A properly drafted will along with proper trusts will protect your sweetheart and make sure your assets go exactly where they are intended.

The beginning of the year is a great time to review and update wills. Give my office a call to schedule a will review.

The post Importance of Will Updates: Mom And Dad Unintentionally Made The Nursing Home The Beneficiary Of Their Will appeared first on Felinton Elder Law and Estate Planning Centers.

Why Consider a Plan to Protect Your Assets?

I have always loved making plans.

Ever since I was a kid, I would help my mother plan the weekly grocery list. I loved planning menus for dinner. I loved planning goals throughout high school and college and then my life’s goals. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a planner.

The advantages of planning are numerous. Plans help organize time, resources and activities in order to achieve specific goals. As an Estate Planning and Elder Care Attorney, I help my clients make successful plans that preserve their assets so they can enjoy a quality of life throughout their lives.

It is my lifelong passion to help people, even those with minimal assets, create long-term care plans that will provide and maintain quality of life while giving access to quality care with the assets they have. A well-thought out plan can do just that.

Crafting a Long-Term Care & Asset Protection Plan

When it comes to a plan to protect your assets – considering asset protection and making this kind of long-term care plan – it’s important not to wait until you are in physical or cognitive decline before establishing a plan to protect your assets. You will best be served by putting a plan in place while you are of sound mind and body.

As an asset protection attorney, I can accomplish so much more to help clients prior to being admitted to a nursing home. The luxury of helping clients during what is often called a pre-planning stage, means that I can utilize many more asset protection tools.

Avoiding Crisis Situations

Once you or your loved one is admitted to a nursing home, this considered a crisis situation. Even during this time there are still traditional asset protection tools and government assistance benefits that can be used. For married couples, we can often save 100% of the assets and obtain Medicaid benefits if we are contacted and can get papers filed within 90 days of being admitted to a nursing home facility. For single individuals, protection may be somewhat more limited though there are several ways we can help save most and often all a single person’s assets.

Without pre-planning, assets will be depleted rapidly on care until they are gone. Once your assets are gone, the options for care are extremely limited. Please do yourself and your loved ones a favor and seek guidance to create a solid plan to preserve your assets now. It doesn’t matter if they are limited. There are ways to preserve them. The best time to seek guidance is before or at least as soon as there is a noticeable decline in either physical or cognitive ability.

The post Make A Plan To Protect Your Assets Sooner Rather Than Later appeared first on Felinton Elder Law and Estate Planning Centers.