Modern Estate Planning Blog

When you are young, or even middle-aged, it is hard to imagine that you could experience a disability. But, studies confirm that many of us will face at least a temporary disability some time during our lives.

A study in the Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities reports that only 3.6% of parents surveyed who have children with intellectual and developmental disabilities have established legal guardianship/conservatorship, Powers of Attorney or have secured residential placement for their child in the event the child outlives them.

Nearly every week, we receive calls from family members who are upset about a deceased loved one’s estate. Unlike in TV shows, real-life family feuds are no fun.

Unfortunately, many parents of children with special needs wait until their child turns 18 to consider creating a Special Needs Trust. Sometimes they even wait until their child eventually needs government benefits like SSI or Medi-Cal.

The number of adult children caring for their elderly parents is growing at a very fast pace. If you are a baby boomer and not already, chances are high that you might be facing this situation soon.

There are many issues to take into account when choosing a care facility for a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The facility must be equipped to handle a variety of issues such as memory loss, loss of speech and the eventual loss of all cognitive functions.

One circumstance that is especially relevant to elder care law is dementia. Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are almost exclusively conditions which appear late in life.

There are so many myths surrounding Medi-Cal eligibility! One of the most common myths is the belief that only 50% of the funds in a jointly-owned bank account will be considered as an asset for the purposes of calculating Medi-Cal eligibility.

Unless you were living under a rock, you most likely heard about the tax reform bill that was passed through Congress and signed by the President over the holidays.

Like many Americans, your home is probably your largest asset. However, if you have children who have grown and moved away, you’re left with an empty nest, quiet and big. You may be torn between keeping the house and passing it to your children someday or selling it.

What comes to mind when you think of “adverse possession,” if anything? Do you think of squatters taking over a vacant house or a person continually encroaching on their neighbor’s yard?

The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, which was created by Congress in 2014, allows people with disabilities and their families to save up to $100,000 in accounts for the benefit of a disabled person.

This year, veterans will receive the highest cost of living increase since 2012! Veteran beneficiaries will see a 2% increase. This will impact approximately 1.96 million military retirees and 4 million disabled veterans.

Longer lives are among the greatest achievements of our modern era. Advances in healthcare and other progress related to human safety have resulted in what the United Nations says is one of the most significant social transformations of the 21st century.

Millions of individuals are affected by dementia in their lifetime. Unfortunately, it is usually after a medical crisis like dementia hits that many families begin to think about estate planning.

If you have minor children, one of the most critical parts of your estate plan will be appointing a guardian to take care of them if something should happen to you. If you are lucky, you and your spouse have several great relatives to choose from.

Blended families are becoming more and more common in modern society, yet estate laws remain largely unchanged and still geared toward a “traditional” family structure. This poses an issue when it comes to leaving an inheritance for step-children in an estate plan.

Medi-Cal is a needs-based program, meaning that strict income and asset limits are adhered to and seniors can face penalties if they do not meet those limits.

As a Folsom elder law attorney, I get this question quite a bit. "Should I invest in long-term care insurance?" The answer is….maybe. Let me explain.

This tragic hurricane season and other disasters have taken a toll on many parts of the United States and the Caribbean. They have also taken a toll on the charitable organizations that step in when a crisis hits.