Which scenario sounds better to you? In the first scenario, you receive an inheritance outright, resulting in money that can be snatched away from you through the following and more: Tax liens Divorce Creditor claims In the second scenario, you receive an inheritance through a trust and are named as both the trustee and a […]

Ordinarily, when you think of setting up a trust for your heirs to inherit your assets, you probably are thinking of human beneficiaries. Well, times have changed. As of July 1, 2014, it’s actually possible to designate pets as beneficiaries! This is based on the passage of the new Mississippi Uniform Trust Code–specifically, Section 91-8-408. […]

We looked at an interesting contrast between two estates last week. This week, I want to touch on the use of the conservatorship, another tool in the estate planning toolbox. Here’s the situation. A woman’s husband was medically incompetent with dementia and terminally ill, but had $16,000 in the bank. His children materialized out of […]

Here’s the story of two estates that looked virtually the same on paper as they crossed my desk. Each estate had a single parent who died and left assets to four children. Both estates also had a house and about $250,000 in liquid assets to distribute to heirs. Where they differed, as you might have […]

There are several opportunities to attend our 2-Day Trusts, Estates, and Elder Law Boot Camp for Advisors over the next few months, but first, we wanted to tell you why it’s worth attending! The 2018 Boot Camp for Advisors is built from the ground up for financial planners, life insurance agents, and accountants who want […]

We do special needs planning here at Morton Law, but I haven’t touched on it much recently. I’d like to do so here. Special needs refers to people with a mental or physical handicap that renders them unable to provide for themselves. Disabled individuals qualify for some kind of public assistance, usually Supplemental Security Income (SSI) […]

There are big changes afoot for inherited IRAs. Justices have made a unanimous decision in the landmark United States Supreme Court Case Clark v. Rameker, which was centered around the question of whether IRAs that a beneficiary inherits are considered “retirement funds” anymore. And it’s a valid question. IRAs are designed as retirement vehicles for […]

In last week’s blog post, we discussed how Robin Williams engaged in solid estate planning by establishing a trust. That affords his family the dignity of privacy and saves them a lot of time, money, and headaches going through the court system. Case Study of a Fighting Family This week, I thought it would be […]

Robin Williams’ death was a tragedy, no question about it. He was a brilliant and generous man who touched millions of lives with his sense of humor, and he’ll be sorely missed. However, in the midst of this tragedy, there is a silver lining for his family, and that’s the fact that he had established […]

Have you been tuned in to the recent Veterans Affairs benefits controversy? The reality of it is something we experience on our end every day, as we help elders submit claims for veterans benefits. We’ve seen claims that take a tremendous amount of time to process—sometimes from nine months to a year or more. This […]