Five Common Mistakes to Avoid in Divorce When it comes to divorce, it is important to be vigilant and educated about your rights under the law to minimize negative consequences. Throughout the process, it is possible to make mistakes that can have a significant impact post-settlement. To help you navigate divorce more…
Navigating the Divorce Process: Essential Information You Need to Assemble The idea of beginning the divorce process can be quite unsettling. Whether you find yourself in an unhappy marriage or your spouse has expressed their desire for separation, ignoring the situation and burying yourself under the covers is not a wise approach. Not…
Why You Should Work With An Attorney On A Medicaid Application It is not required to get an attorney to apply for Medicaid. When you enter a nursing home, the facility will generally offer to do it for you—for free! So why should you actually hire and pay an elder law attorney to handle it?…
When it Comes to Estate Planning, Put your Wishes on Paper and Leave Nothing to Chance Often, clients tell me, “I’m going to leave everything I have to my son John, and he knows to take care of the other kids.” People assure me that their families are extremely close, and there’s no question…
Estate Planning 101 The most common misconception about estate planning is that it requires a substantial “estate.” For many, the word “estate” conjures an image of vast wealth, like that of John D. Rockefeller or Howard Hughes. However, in reality, nearly everyone leaves an estate behind when they die. It could be millions or it could be…
BEING MARRIED MAY NOT MEAN WHAT YOU THINK WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR ESTATE People frequently assume that having a spouse means that your assets will all go to him/her if you die intestate (without a will), and conversely, if you do have a will, you can leave your assets to anyone that you want….
Estate Plan Exclusions The majority of estate plans that we prepare at our law firm leave assets to clients’ children in equal shares. Some clients make wills, and others create trusts. Some seek to keep assets protected from long-term care and nursing home costs or to minimize estate taxes. But generally the objective is to…
MEDICARE VERSUS MEDICAID IN THE NURSING HOME SETTING When we talk about Medicaid asset protection, I often hear from clients “but I already have Medicare,” or “I have money, so I’ll never qualify for Medicaid.” But in the context of chronic care, there’s a lot of nuance to these issues. Here are the key differences:…
WHAT NOT TO DO IN YOUR ESTATE PLAN We frequently discuss good estate planning practices in this column, but here are some things that you absolutely should not do when drafting your will or trust: Settle Scores With a limited exception for spouses, no one has the legal right to inherit from you. You…
PROS AND CONS OF ESTATE PLANNING OPTIONS Which estate plan is right for you? Here is an infographic created to highlight some of the pros and cons of estate planning options available. If you have questions about your options, please contact Michael Wagner, Esq. to review these and other options with you. He offers free,…
