When Does Someone Need Financial Guardianship?
When individuals cannot manage their finances, courts can appoint guardians. Financial guardianship is for those who need help handling money.
Instruction Letters: What Are They?
A letter of instruction, or letter of intent, is an essential part of estate planning. It includes any background information and details about your overall estate plan. Unlike a will, a letter of instruction is not legally binding. It can…
Medicare’s Post-Pandemic Telehealth Benefits
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the country quickly adapted to telehealth medicine. Telehealth medicine became essential, as it ensured people could maintain non-emergent medical services during the pandemic. To protect providers and patients and encourage social distancing, The Centers for Medicare…
Changes in the Memory Care Landscape
For specialized facilities that provide memory care, there is a booming market of opportunity. The number of adults with cognitive impairments is increasing, but the number of caregivers is decreasing, which requires more innovative solutions. While some facilities are stand-alone…
Grantor Retained Trusts & Unitrusts
A critical component of estate planning is wealth management, especially for individuals who want to protect their assets and minimize taxes. Two wealth management tools used in estate planning are grantor-retained annuity trusts (GRATs) and grantor retained unitrusts (GRUTs). These…
Preparing Graduates for Their Financial Future
Your child's financial future is important, whether they're graduating high school or college. You want to set a strong foundation for long-term financial stability by broadening their scope of financial literacy. Sharing the following tips can help prepare them. Budgeting…
How Do Estate Planning and Elder Law Differ?
The two have similar concerns, but elder law applies estate planning strategies primarily to issues facing seniors as they age. How Estate Planning and Elder Law Are Similar No matter what stage of life we’re in, we face challenges. Hope…
Taking Care of Caregivers is Important Too
In the hospital, Jeanette's father begged her to take care of her mother if he could not. Of course, Jeanette agreed. Years later, Jeanette's father passed. Her mother's hearing and eyesight failed, she could no longer drive, and she had…
Planning for Family Wealth and Taxes
To maximize wealth preservation and minimize tax liabilities, many legal strategies are developed for high-net-worth families. However, tax laws continually change and can impact new and existing estate plans. For example, the SECURE and SECURE 2.0 Act presents some challenges…
Trusts with Grantor-Retained Income
Some people seek estate and wealth transfer strategies that preserve assets while providing lifetime financial benefits. One such strategy is the grantor-retained income trust (GRIT). GRITs offer a unique opportunity for individuals to retain an income stream from tax-advantaged assets…