Finances and Business
Trusts
Trusts
In General
There are a variety of situations in which other people may make decisions for you.
Wills and trusts can both be used to direct where and to whom your property passes once you have passed on.
Trusts
Trusts can also be used to allow someone else to manage your property during your lifetime if you wish to have someone else do this, or if you become incompetent.
Health Care Documents, Finances and Business, Guardianships and Conservatorships
There are a variety of situations in which other people may make decisions for you.
Health Care Documents
It can be very important to have a valid Advance Directive for Health Care in place, so that if you are unable to direct your own health care, the person you want to make health care choices for you will be able to direct doctors and hospitals, and will be able to have access to your health care information.
Elder Law includes a wide range of subjects, including matters relating to Medicaid, including asset protection, Medicaid spend down, look back periods, avoiding or dealing with disqualification for Medicaid, and planning for a situation where one spouse needs to enter long term care, but the other may be able to remain in the home.
Many people chose to have trust based estate plans, instead of relying only on Wills.
There are many good reasons to do a trust.
One reason is that a trust will often allow you to avoid probate after your death.
Something that some people don’t think of relates to money passing to their children.
If you do not have a Will and are not married at the time you die, your children WILL get your assets (if you have children).
Some people believe that if they only have a small amount of assets they do not need a Will. While it is true that some assets can (with proper planning) pass outside of probate, and that other assets can pass with a small estate proceeding or affidavits of heirship, it is often difficult to
After a divorce is completed, there is usually still a lot of work to be done.
With blended families, the standard provisions for intestate succession (the distribution of money if you do not have a Will) can produce results that are very different than a person might prefer, or even expect.