When you contemplate creating an estate plan to distribute your estate assets after you are gone you likely envision using a Last Will and Testament to accomplish that distribution of assets. A Will certainly can be used to distribute your assets; however, there is another popular option. A living trust can also be used as the primary vehicle for distributing your estate. Of course you should consult with your estate planning attorney before deciding which option is better for you; however, learning the benefits of using a living trust to distribute your estate may help you make your ultimate decision. [Read more…]
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How Living Trusts Can Help Ensure Continued Access to Medical Care
Access to affordable healthcare is a hot topic across the nation these days. If you are fortunate enough to have good employer sponsored health insurance right now, don’t make the mistake of becoming complacent. Once you reach your retirement years, everything changes with regard to healthcare. Like most seniors you may be looking forward to relying on Medicare to cover most healthcare needs; however, Medicare doesn’t cover everything. Specifically, Medicare won’t cover long-term care expenses. Consequently, you may need to qualify for Medicaid. Living trusts can help you do that. Specifically, creating a Medicaid trust now, as part of an [Read more…]
Top Estate Planning Mistakes
Creating a well thought out estate plan is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself and to your loved ones. If you are new to estate planning, however, it is easy to make a mistake. In an effort to prevent you from making one of those mistakes, the Lincolnshire estate planning attorneys at Hedeker Law. Ltd. discuss the top estate planning mistakes. Waiting Too Long to Start Planning One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to the need for estate planning is the idea that you need to reach a certain point in your life or [Read more…]
Who Should You Trust with Trust Administration?
A comprehensive estate plan will incorporate numerous estate planning tools and strategies into the overall plan. One of the most popular additions to a well thought out estate plan is a trust. If you choose to include a trust in your estate plan, you will need to decide who to trust with your trust administration. Choosing your Trustee is something you should do with care after giving the matter plenty of thought given the importance of the Trustee to the overall success of your trust. What Type of Trust Are You Creating? At its most basic, a trust is a [Read more…]
Lincolnshire Probate Attorneys Help You Decide If Your Estate Will Be Taxed
Ultimately, the success, or failure, of your estate plan won’t be clear until it comes time to probate your estate. Creating a successful estate plan requires you to consider a wide range of inter-related goals and objectives. One of those is the impact federal (and sometimes state) gift and estate taxes will have on your estate. Failing to factor in estate taxes when creating your estate plan could result in a significant tax obligation that must be paid when your estate goes through the probate process. The Lincolnshire probate attorneys at Hedeker Law, Ltd. help you decide if your estate [Read more…]
DOJ Warns Seniors about 10 Common Financial Scams
Sadly, seniors often make excellent victims for unscrupulous scam artists. To help protect our nation’s seniors, the United States Department of Justice has published a report entitled “Fighting Fraud – Senate Aging Committee Identified Top 10 Scams Targeting Our Nation’s Senior’s.” Below are summaries of those ten scams. IRS Impersonation Scam –While there are multiple variations of the IRS impersonation scam, criminals generally accuse victims of owing back taxes and penalties. They then threaten retaliation, such as home foreclosure, arrest, and in some cases, deportation, if immediate payment is not made by a certified check, credit card, electronic wire transfer, [Read more…]
The Latest on the Alzheimer’s Crisis in America
As the population of older Americans continues to grow at a historic rate, issues that impact the elderly are now taking center stage in the American conscious. One of the most worrisome of those issues is the Alzheimer’s crisis. The prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease appears to be increasing right along with the increase in seniors in America. Whether you are nearing your “Golden Years” yourself, or you have a loved one who is, you undoubtedly want to know the latest on the Alzheimer’s crisis in America. What Is Alzheimer’s Disease? According to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA), Alzheimer’s disease [Read more…]
Waukegan Special Needs Planning Concerns
If you are the parent of a child with special needs, you need to address your child’s needs in your estate plan to ensure that he or she is well protected both during your lifetime and after you are gone. The Waukegan special needs planning attorneys at Hedeker Law, Ltd. understand the unique estate planning concerns that the parent’s of a child with special needs face. By including a special needs planning component in your comprehensive estate plan now you can address each of those concerns in a way that provides much needed legal and financial protection for your child. [Read more…]
Can My Estate Avoid Probate?
When you think about estate planning, you likely focus on ensuring that the distribution of your estate assets after you are gone occurs according to your wishes. A well thought out estate plan, however, can do much more. For example, have you given any thought to the legal process that your estate will have to go through after your death? This process, known as “probate” can be time-consuming and expensive. The good news is that your estate may be able to avoid probate with careful estate planning. What Is Probate? Most people leave behind an estate when they die. That [Read more…]
How Lincolnshire Living Trust Lawyers Can Help with Incapacity Planning
When you contemplate the need for estate planning, you probably think in terms of planning for the distribution of estate assets after your death. Creating a roadmap which can be used to pass down your assets is certainly an important part of estate planning; however, a well thought out and comprehensive estate plan should accomplish much more than just deciding how your assets will be distributed. One important addition to a comprehensive estate plan is incapacity planning. The Lincolnshire living trust lawyers at Hedeker Law, Ltd. explain how incapacity planning fits into your estate plan. You Don’t Have to Be [Read more…]
