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If I don’t need money from my IRA, do I have to take distributions?

It is not unusual for a client to contact me and ask to review their estate plan. This may be precipitated by a recent diagnosis or simply by the passage of time. I have a checklist that I use when reviewing an estate plan if they have a taxable estate.

Using an online service to prepare your will can result in costly mistakes and may altogether fail to properly transfer your assets. Even if you have a relatively simple estate and plan to leave all your assets to your spouse or children, an estate planning attorney provide for family situations that an online will cannot.

In my practice as an Elder Law attorney, clients often inquire about the benefits of gifting to reduce taxes or to qualify for Medicaid. As a senior with the unexpected need for long term care in the future, the consequences of gifting may have unexpected results.

What is probate? When a person dies and leaves a Will, and there are assets in the Decedent’s individual name that do not pass by operation of law, there is a legal process that takes place that is called probate.

Do I need a health care proxy? Could my husband make medical decisions for me if I couldn’t make them for myself?

Consider this scenario: An individual executes a will in 1995. The Will leaves all of his personal property (household furnishings and other personal effects), to his friend who is also the named Executor. The rest of his estate he leaves to his two sisters. When he died in 2012, his two sisters had predeceased him.

Someone told me to avoid probate, so I have added my two children as joint owners on my accounts or put them “in trust for” my children. Does this protect my assets from Medicaid too?

My father is about to enter a nursing facility. He may have to spenddown some of his money in order to qualify for Medicaid. I was told that he could pre-pay his own funeral and he may be able to pay for his children’s funeral as well. Is this true?

My sister recently passed away and I just found out that I was named executor of her Will. I am really busy with my job and family and really do not want to serve. Can I decline or resign from being executor?