A recent column by financial planning expert Liz Weston answers a question that many people with elderly parents have. When a parent has to transition into an elder care facility, such as a nursing home, how will this affect the elderly parent’s finances? Nursing homes and other eldercare facilities are notoriously expensive, costing as much as $150,000 a year or more. If your elderly parent hasn’t taken appropriate steps these costs can quickly reduce their savings. If the parents haven’t … [Read more...] about Nursing Home Expenses Can Eat Away at Savings
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Your Living Trust Needs a Will
The primary benefit of creating a revocable living trust is the ability to choose how you want to distribute your property after you die and avoid the necessity of that property first having to go through probate. In this regard, revocable living trusts are superior to last wills and testaments because wills do not allow you to avoid probate. When people understand how living trusts work and realize that they can pass property without having to create a will, they sometimes believe that this … [Read more...] about Your Living Trust Needs a Will
Aging Americans Face Increase in Elder Abuse
If you are a baby boomer approaching retirement age, one of the many issues associated with aging that you might need to think about is the possibility of becoming a victim of elder abuse. According to studies, as many as 2 million seniors are abused every year, though many researchers believe that abuse is widely under reported. Because seniors are often very reluctant to report being victimized by abuse, are unable to recollect it, or were not aware of it occurring, experts say as many as … [Read more...] about Aging Americans Face Increase in Elder Abuse
What You Need to Know About Witnessing a Will
Anyone who creates a last will and testament needs to have the will witnessed by two adults. While the witnessing requirements are often viewed as very simple, there are some details you should be aware of. In the Testator’s Presence When you agree to act as witness to a will you must sign the document in the presence of the testator. (The testator is the person who created the will.) It’s very common, for example, for everyone to assemble at the same time and sign the document … [Read more...] about What You Need to Know About Witnessing a Will
Your Probate Estate And Why it Matters
A lot of people creating an estate plan choose to create a revocable living trust primarily because the trust allows them to minimize the size of their probate estate. But what is a probate estate, and why would you want to minimize it? Here’s what you need to know about probate, probate estates, and how living trusts enter into the equation. The Property You Leave Behind Everything you own after you die must go to new owners. The probate process is the legal process that allows this property … [Read more...] about Your Probate Estate And Why it Matters
