Estate planning can be as complex or simple as your financial and family needs. For those with just one possible heir and only a few large assets, a will might be all they really need. For those with multiple beneficiaries, complex assets or difficult family...
Year: 2021
3 estate planning documents that protect your children
It is easy for even the most responsible and diligent of adults to procrastinate about estate planning. However, few things help people confront the looming specter of their own mortality more quickly and realistically than adding children to the family. Whether you...
Are you too old to make an estate plan?
When it comes to age and estate planning, what you often hear is that people believe they are too young. They imagine doing their estate planning when they’re elderly, perhaps long after they retire. But could this work the other way around? Could you be too old to...
Did you know you have to repay the Medicaid benefits you receive?
Many people in New York won't qualify for Medicaid right away when they need medical care. Even after their income drops or ends abruptly, they may still have personal property that exceeds the limit for Medicaid applicants. Thankfully, certain assets, like the home...
It’s essential that you designate a health care agent you trust
When you are putting together an estate plan, one aspect of that plan should be your advance directive. An advance directive has two legal documents within it, your health care proxy and your living will. A health care proxy is important because it determines who will...
What is the role of an executor?
The executor will be responsible for initiating the probate proceeding of your will and fulfill the wishes that you expressed in it. Your executor will have a fiduciary duty to your estate, which means they will be held liable if they misuse your assets for their own...
Different types of guardianship in New York
The decision to seek an adult guardian is not taken lightly in New York. When an individual is deemed unable to make decisions regarding their personal life or financial affairs without placing themselves or others in harm’s way, the court will appoint a competent...
Setting up your long-term care plans? Choose a guardian and a nursing home
If you are working on your long-term care plans, two things you should include are your nursing home choice and guardian selection. You want to establish an individual who can care for you if you cannot take care of yourself, and you also want to take the time to...
Do you need a health care proxy?
If you are working on long-term care planning for yourself in the future, then one of the things that you should make sure you have a health care proxy. While choosing a nursing home and setting up a way to pay for your long-term expenses is important, having a health...
3 responsibilities to assume when you become a guardian
People with many different relationships can want to help a ward or vulnerable person. Parents, both biological and adoptive, serve as the legal guardian for their children while they are still young. Adults with special needs and those experiencing cognitive decline...