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Life Events that May Require a Review of Your Estate Planning

Senior Couple

Estate planning is never a one-and-done type of a deal. You may have a totally solid estate plan in place today, but it can be worthless with time if you do not update it.

Regardless of who you are, your life circumstances will evolve continuously as your finances, family situation, goals and the law may change, necessitating the need to update your estate planning documents. If you do not experience a major life event, you should review your estate plan at least yearly to update its terms.

However, numerous life events prompt you to update your estate plan to save your loved ones from conflicts and court cases. Below are some major life events that require you to review your plan immediately:

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When Does a Medicaid Penalty Period Begin?

Medicaid

When you apply for Medicaid, the government will “look back” at the previous five years preceding the date of your application. Specifically, Medicaid evaluates how many gifts of money you gave to individuals or entities, with some exceptions. These gifts are added up and then divided by Medicaid’s penalty divisor to determine how many “penalty period” months they attach to your application.

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Who is Responsible for a Deceased Family Member’s Debt?

Debt

After the loss of a loved one, one of the last things you want to consider is any debt they’ve left behind. When a family member dies, their assets, including life insurance policies, vehicles, real estate, bank accounts, and retirement investments, among other things, comprise their estate. The estate may be bequeathed to heirs, but it can also be used to settle outstanding debts of the deceased. A professional probate lawyer, such as The Mattar Firm, can help you and your family navigate what constitutes the estate and which debts will need to be settled from the estate.

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Own Rental Property? Here’s How Proactive Estate Planning Can Help

Rental Property

A comprehensive estate plan needs to address all your assets. This plan may be straight forward for most people as they only include the most common items, such as personal property, their residence, and financial accounts. Other assets, such as retirement funds, life insurance, and annuities, do not necessarily require inclusion in the living trust. This all is contingent on the classification of account.

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Naples Estate Planning Lawyer Explores Healthcare Proxies

Estate Planning & Will

The city of Naples has hard working people who want to feel safe as they go through their daily lives. It takes more than a seatbelt and good brakes to feel safe in Naples. People need to know that if something does happen to them that there is someone who can speak on their behalf and make the right medical decisions. That is why the people of Naples need to become familiar with health proxies.

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When to Update Your Sanibel Will

Last Will 2

You have recently made the good decision to go see an estate planning lawyer to get your will done. You outlined all of your final requests, and your attorney put in plenty of clauses and provisions that will make sure that your estate is handled just as want it. Now you are done, right? No, you are not. There are many reasons why your will should be reviewed and updated on an annual basis.

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Things You Need to Know About Managing Someone Else’s Money

Managing Money

There are many different situations where someone may ask you to help manage their money. As people get older, the skills necessary to maintain a monthly budget start to wane. When this happens, the elderly usually reach out to family members for help with their finances. Sometimes the courts will step in and determine that a person is unable to handle their own finances and will appoint someone to manage their accounts. In this situation, the money manager would regularly report to the courts and the actions of the money manager would be closely monitored for fraud.

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How to Make Sure your Fort Myers Estate Planning is Individualized

Estate Planning

When you are getting estate planning done in Fort Myers, you have many options on how you can put together your legal documents. An experienced estate planner will have many different ways to structure your will or trust, and there are many different ways to protect your assets as well. If you want your Fort Myers estate to match your personal views and needs, then your estate should be individualized.

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Can I Refuse to Serve as Executor?

power of attorney 2

A family member passes away and you mourn the loss of a loved one with the rest of your family, as anyone would. A few days later, you get a letter from your loved one’s attorney indicating that you have been named as the executor for their estate. This is a tremendous responsibility that can consume months of your time. Is it mandatory that you accept this position, or can you refuse?

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How to Find a Fort Myers Estate Planning Lawyer

estate planning 2

If you were to ask 10 Fort Myers residents about estate planning, you would probably get 10 different answers. One of the consensus answers may be that estate planning is only for elderly people with significant financial resources. If you have a family, own a house and/or a car, and are worried about how you will care for your family after you have passed away, then you are a prime candidate for estate planning.

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