Estate Planning Scams: What Seniors Need to Know
Creating an estate plan is an important step in protecting your loved ones and ensuring that your assets are distributed according to your wishes. Unfortunately, scammers know that people who want to safeguard their estates are often willing to act quickly.
Even a carefully drafted estate plan can be...
When Helping Out Puts the Roof Over Your Head at Risk:Should You Ever Use Your Home as Collateral for Your Child’s Debt?
It is the kind of phone call that keeps parents awake at night. Your daughter is on the line saying, “I need some help.”
She is not hurt. It is not a brush with the law. She is in financial trouble and needs backup.
The business...
A Refresher Course: The Rules and Planning Strategies for Taking Required Minimum Distributions
If you have substantial savings in a traditional IRA or employer-sponsored retirement plan, you likely know that required minimum distributions (RMDs) must begin at a certain age. RMDs are taxable and, depending on your balances in these accounts, can even push you into a higher tax bracket.
Beyond the...
The Window of Opportunity:Legal Steps to Take When You First Notice Memory Problems
You have been seeing the signs for months. Mom or Dad has not quite been themselves lately. They are forgetting things more often: appointments, addresses, payments, names. The other day, they got lost going to a place they have frequented for years.
When you try to bring it up,...
A Dementia Diagnosis Changes More Than Healthcare – Seven Steps to Take While You Can
With dementia cases in the United States estimated to double by 2060—and roughly 42 percent of Americans over age 55 at risk of developing dementia according to recent research1—a diagnosis is something that more and more families will face.
The statistics are sobering in the abstract. They feel different...
Too late to Plan – Navigating Legal and Financial Barriers After Dementia Progresses
Looking back, it often feels clearer. The signs were there—missed appointments, repeated questions, small but noticeable changes. You were paying attention; you just thought there would be more time.
The situation has now changed. If your loved one’s cognitive decline has progressed to the point where they may no...
What is Elder Law?
What is Elder Law?
As the population grows older, many elders must face the difficult challenges of aging, such as declining health, long-term care planning, asset protection and other financial concerns. The practice of elder law is designed to assist seniors with...
Turning Over the Keys: Helping Older Drivers Make the Tough Decisions
Turning Over the Keys: Helping older drivers make the tough decision
We all want to be in control, to go where we want at our leisure. As we age, however, our senses and reaction times begin to slow which can make getting behind the...
Guardianships & Conservatorships and How to Avoid Them
If a person becomes mentally or physically handicapped to a point where they can no longer make rational decisions about their person or their finances, their loved ones may consider a guardianship or a conservatorship...
8 Things to Consider When Selecting a Caregiver for Your Senior Parent
As a child of a senior citizen, you are faced with many choices in helping to care for your parent. You want the very best care for your mother or...