All trusts should be reviewed every few years to make sure that they are up-to-date with the law and meet your current goals. Following is a checklist of trust features you can review yourself. But be aware that these only refer to revocable "living" trusts, not to irrevocable trusts. Do you have the right
While a will is one of the most important estate planning documents you can have, there are things that it won’t cover. Your will is just one part of a comprehensive estate plan. A last will and testament is a legally-binding statement directing who will receive your property at your death. It is also
As life circumstances change (births, marriages, divorces, and deaths), it may become necessary to make changes to your will. If an estate plan is not kept up-to-date, it can become useless. The best way to make changes is either through a codicil -- an amendment to the will -- or by creating a new
If you want to make a gift to family members but have exceeded the annual gifting limit, there is another way. Payments for a family member’s education or health care expenses are exempt from the gift tax. The annual gift tax exclusion for 2020 and 2021 is $15,000. This means that any person who
Long-term care costs can add up quickly. For veterans and the surviving spouses of veterans who need in-home care or are in a nursing home, help may be available. The Veterans Administration (VA) has an underused pension benefit called Aid and Attendance that provides money to those who need assistance performing everyday tasks. Even
Increasingly, several generations of American families are living together. According to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census data, 64 million Americans, or 20 percent of the population, live in households containing two adult generations. These multi-generational living arrangements present legal and financial challenges around home ownership. Multi-generational households may include "boomerang" children who
Congress sets the amount that an individual can transfer tax-free either during life or at death. The current estate tax exemption is so high that very few estates will have to pay an estate tax. In 2017, Republicans in Congress and President Trump doubled the federal estate tax exemption and indexed it for inflation.
Medicaid planning can be a difficult and confusing process. The following are some common mistakes people make when planning to apply for Medicaid. Thinking it's too late to plan. It's almost never too late to take planning steps, even after a senior has moved to a nursing home. Giving away assets too early. First,
All long-term care costs rose sharply in 2020, but assisted living facility costs increased the most, according to Genworth’s latest annual Cost of Care Survey. The across-the-board rises were due in part to increased costs brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. In the past year, assisted living facility rates grew 6.15 percent for a median
Tucked in the federal spending bill that passed at the end of December 2020 are some changes aimed at simplifying Medicare enrollment and addressing coverage gaps. But Congress chose not to deal with the biggest problem. Currently, Medicare enrollment begins three months before the month of your 65th birthday and continues for three months after your birthday month (for
