When you begin estate planning, there are a variety of options that are available in order to plan how your estate will be distributed and may seem very similar, however, they all have distinct benefits. Two main estate planning tools commonly used are wills and/or trusts, but their main features…
Articles Posted in Caregiving
Common Reasons to Contest a Will
When a deceased individual, known as a decedent, leaves a Will, family members and friends that have reason to believe something may be wrong with that Will may be able to have a court rule that the Will is invalid in some situations. The following are examples of common situations…
Negligent Wound Care in Nursing Homes
Part of the important tasks of caregivers in nursing homes is the care of wounds. Many patients have wounds of various types. Staff members must take note of any scrapes, lacerations, pressure ulcers, or other wounds, and take steps to properly treat them. This wound care is part of the…
Trusts: Your Right of Withdrawal
Every trust document is different; the terms of a trust can vary greatly, giving the beneficiaries either a broad range of power or can limit a beneficiary’s power to only include specific rights. Some of the differing terms of trust include: how the income and principal investments are able to…
Securing Quality Care – Nursing Home Appeals
Nursing Homes Elderly adults end up in nursing homes for a variety of reasons, including rehabilitation after a hospital stay, voluntary admittance in order to have assistance with their daily care, disability, as well as problematic behaviors associated with mental conditions such as dementia. In order to be admitted and…
Ongoing Challenges – Housing and the Elderly Population
The cost of living continues to grow every year, making it difficult for those who have saved for the future, but did not anticipate how dramatically their expenses would increase. Several of our previous posts have noted the concern that have been raised regarding our nation’s ability to cover the…
Back to the Basics – Understanding Contested Estates
Probate and Contested Estates When an individual dies, their transfer of property through the legal system is known as probate. During this process, the court determines the validity of a legally formed will or a how property will be distributed if it has not been designated to be inherited by…
Sumner Redstone Sues Claiming Elder Abuse
Sumner Redstone, the 93 year old media mogul who has infamously alienated both family and friends over the past few years while determining the terms of administration for his estate, added another dramatic chapter last month when he made claims of elder abuse against two of his former girlfriends. The…
Dementia on the Decline and How it Impacts Elder Care
A study released in late November in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal reported that dementia rates for individuals over the age of 65 years old is down almost 24% from rates found in 2000. There are a variety of reasons why this decline may have happened, including elders with higher…
Back to the Basics – The Gift Tax
Putting your assets in an irrevocable trust has a number of benefits, including: allowing the settlor, also known as the maker of the trust, to establish how his or her assets will be kept and eventually distributed, it allows the settlor to have access to the income produced by the…