Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Aug 27, 2018 |
Retirement accounts take careful planning. Choosing your beneficiaries is an essential step in the process and must be taken seriously. Learn more about retirement account beneficiaries and some tips to make it go smoother.
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Jul 06, 2018 |
It is essential not to leave anything out of your estate plan. Make sure to include these 6 important things to ensure that your heirs rightfully recover your assets upon your passing.
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | May 18, 2018 |
No one likes to think about the end of their life, but it can happen before you expect it. Will your spouse, children, and other family members be provided for, or will they be fighting in court for years over what’s left of your estate? The more money, assets, and property you have, the greater your need for an estate plan...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Apr 30, 2018 |
A power of attorney is a highly important aspect to consider when you begin your estate planning process. A durable power of attorney can help you handle your finances and estate when you become unable to do so...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Apr 28, 2018 |
Giving your house to your children can have tax consequences, but there are ways to accomplish it tax-free. The best method to use will depend on your individual circumstances and needs.
Leave the house in your will
The simplest way to give your house to your children may be to leave it to them...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Apr 26, 2018 |
The main purpose of a will is to direct where your assets will go after you die, but it can also be used to instruct your heirs how to pay your debts. While generally heirs cannot inherit debt, debt can reduce what they receive. Spelling out how debt should be paid can help your heirs.
If someon...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Apr 15, 2018 |
No one wants to think about his or her death, but a little preparation in the form of a prepaid funeral contract can be useful. In addition to helping your family after your death, a prepaid funeral contract can be a good way to spend down assets in order to qualify for Medicaid.
A prepaid or pr...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Apr 07, 2018 |
What does retirement look like to you?
This is an essential question to ask when beginning to plan for retirement. A good starting place is to start jotting down your ideas and, if married, your spouses ideas for retirement. Maybe travel is in your plan. If not travel, then how do you plan to s...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Apr 05, 2018 |
While the execution of wills requires formalities, the reality is that most property passes to heirs through other, less formal means.
Many bank and investments accounts, as well as real estate, have joint owners who take ownership automatically at the death of the primary owner. Other banks and...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Apr 04, 2018 |
People sometimes try to save money by not consulting with a qualified attorney when executing their will, instead using a pre-printed form or online program. A recent court case offers yet another example of the hazards of doing this. Deciding the long-running case, the Florida Supreme Court has...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Apr 01, 2018 |
After Marias husband died, Marias daughter Debby persuaded her to sell the family home and move into Debbys mother-in-law cottage. That way they could stay close, and Maria could invest the money from the sale so that she could live comfortably. The house sold for a handsome s...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Mar 30, 2018 |
Many people, especially seniors, see joint ownership of investment and bank accounts as a cheap and easy way to avoid probate since joint property passes automatically to the joint owner at death. Joint ownership can also be an easy way to plan for incapacity since the joint owner of accounts can...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Mar 28, 2018 |
A power of attorney may seem like a simple document, but there are several important decisions that need to be made when creating one. From whom to appoint to what powers to grant, care and consideration should be put into each choice.
A power of attorney is one of the most important estate plan...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Mar 24, 2018 |
The phrase life estate often comes up in discussions of estate and Medicaid planning, but what exactly does it mean? A life estate is a form of joint ownership that allows one person to remain in a house until his or her death, when it passes to the other owner. Life estates can be used to avoi...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Mar 22, 2018 |
When leaving a home to your children, you can avoid probate by using either joint ownership or a revocable trust, but which is the better method?
If you add your child as a joint tenant on your house, you will each have an equal ownership interest in the property. If one joint tenant dies, his ...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Mar 21, 2018 |
Estate planning is something that should be started long before you think you need it and revisited regularly when you need to make changes. Divorce, remarriages, new children and/or grandchildren, as well as other life events, can alter the way your estate is handled after you die.
But despite your best efforts, you may inadvertently leave out some less obvious provisions that not everyone may think about. Don’t forget to include these provisions in your estate plan.
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Mar 16, 2018 |
Older parents are becoming more common, driven in part by changing cultural norms and advances in infertility treatment. Comedian and author Steve Martin had his first child at age 67. Singer Billy Joel just welcomed his third daughter. Janet Jackson had a child at age 50. But later-in-life paren...
Posted by Brad Sarkauskas | Mar 15, 2018 |
You may be afraid of losing your home if you have to enter a nursing home and apply for Medicaid. While this fear is well-founded, transferring the home to your children is usually not the best way to protect it.
Although you generally do not have to sell your home in order to qualify for Medica...