In late 2019 Congress passed the Secure Act which represents some of the most significant changes to IRAs and qualified retirement plans since 2006. One of the most important and far reaching of these is the elimination of the opportunity to receive distributions from these accounts over the course of the beneficiary's life. Many people [...]
Keeping all of your key documents in one place makes it easier to grab these in the case of an emergency or find them in any other event in which you might need them. But if it's been some time since you cleaned up the family filing cabinet, this might be a great opportunity [...]
An online will makes it simple to be under the impression that you can complete all of your estate planning in a matter of just a few hours and be completely protected if something happens to you. However, as any estate planning lawyer can tell you, review of hundreds of estate planning documents that have [...]
Long-term care involves not only a loss of personal autonomy; it also comes at a tremendous financial price. Proper planning can help your family prepare for the financial toll and protect assets for future generations. Long-term care can be very expensive, especially around-the-clock nursing home care. Most people end up paying for nursing home care [...]
Ronald C. Morton, Morton Law Firm, PLLC You may be afraid of losing your home if you have to enter a nursing home and apply for Medicaid. While this fear is well-founded, transferring the home to your children is usually not the best way to protect it. Although you generally do not have to sell [...]
Starting a business is an exciting and sometimes overwhelming proposition. Founders of companies often spend years putting most of their focus, planning and attention in building the business, scaling it and making it sustainable. One big way that too many entrepreneurs fall short is planning ahead for what will happen after they exit the company. [...]
There’s this lingering myth of “old money families” where wealth is easily passed from generation to generation. But studies have shown wealth attrition to be more common, as bad investment decisions, mismanagement and dilution of assets between heirs eats into the family fortune. Overcoming the challenges that plague wealth stewardship comes down to two core elements – [...]
By John Jurgensen Feb. 25, 2021 My mother was the reason I initially resisted “The Father.” The new film stars Anthony Hopkins as a man struggling against the effects of dementia. That synopsis was enough to trip my avoidance instinct, despite the time that has passed since my mom’s death, on Feb. 18, 2017, at [...]
Women who have significant assets set aside in investments should be prepared to accomplish both estate planning and asset protection planning together. A recent advisor authority study found that as the pandemic has raged throughout 2020 and 2021, many women investors have become more concerned about the state of their finances and are worried about [...]
Retirement plans often make up a significant portion of the assets of parents of children with special needs, or of individuals who have become disabled as adults. In such cases, the question arises as to whether the retirement plan can be put into a special needs trust. The answer, as with many legal questions, is [...]
