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Titling assets through joint tenancy works well, until it doesn’t. Going without an estate plan and relying on titling assets through joint tenancy to a surviving spouse can be a workable plan but then again, it can become a nightmare, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel in “After husband’s death, wife needs to create revocable […]

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Why is the revocable trust so appealing? You can change it whenever you’d like. You do not have to have a lot of money or assets in order to benefit from the use of trusts, according to Barron’s in “Why a Trust is a Great Estate Planning Tool – Even if You’re Not Rich“. Many […]

extended family

Protect your assets from being mishandled. As you prepare an estate plan, consider creating trusts to protect assets through the generations, according to the Times Herald-Record in “Leaving inheritances to trusts puts you in control“. For many parents, the inheritance equation is simple. They leave their estate to their children “per stirpes,” which in Latin […]

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Life insurance isn’t taxable to beneficiaries but there can still be a tax involved. An Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust or “ILIT” can be a key part of your overall estate plan, according to JD Supra in the article “Estate Planning: The Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust“. An ILIT can be used to take the life insurance […]

man helping a woman on a wheelchair

Estate planning is crucial for parents with children with special needs. Parents want to give support to their children to develop through the years and continue after the parents are gone. Parents with children with special needs have an even bigger challenge, according to the Austin American Statesman in “How to plan your estate when […]

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How do you help you and your family in the next phase of life? You’ve taken care of your children from their infancy through their college years. What more should you do for them? While you are planning for your later years, you can also make things easier for them, according to The Christian Times […]

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There are new tax laws in the country. However, there is still time to make necessary adjustments. If you have not already reviewed your estate plan and taken the new tax laws into consideration, now is the time to do so, according to Reuter’s article “Your estate plan needs an update even if it is […]

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Here’s another reason to be excited: WE DID IT!! Michael worked the phones with the NYS Dept. of Health and coordinated with the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys to get NYS into compliance with the Special Needs Fairness Act that he worked so hard to pass and succeeded in […]

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Special needs trust may be answer to new tax reforms. Some of the people who were concerned about the new tax reform law were people with disabilities, according to The Hill in “Restructured tax code would unduly burden people with disabilities.” However, the concerns raised in that article did not materialize. Not only will they […]

man on a wheelchair

A special needs trust is restrictive and the third-party trustee sometimes needs to be replaced. It can be quite challenging for the beneficiary to replace the trustee. If a special needs trustee is not up to the job or intentionally mishandles the trust, it can be difficult for the beneficiary to change the trustee, according […]