Moving a loved one to senior housing facility may not be the easiest topic to address but may be necessary for some families. Usually, a move to a senior housing facility is prompted by the death of the senior’s spouse, an accident, or a poor health diagnosis. Apart from the emotional toll, finding suitable housing may prove difficult as well.
Here are some steps that might make the transition a little easier on families considering long-term senior housing:
Contact Legacy Law of Florida for assistance in planning the long-term care of your senior loved one. We are well experienced in Estate Planning and Elder Law, making us an ideal law firm to help you with your senior housing concerns.
Although a prenup may be a difficult subject to address, it is an important aspect of marriage that should be considered before tying the knot. Research has shown that nearly half of all marriages will end in divorce and one of the leading causes is finances. For marriages to last, couples need to be on the same page with handling their finances and a prenuptial agreement can help.
If any of the following are true for your and/or your future spouse, then you should consider a prenuptial agreement.
Prenups are not only used in the event of a divorce but also in the event of a spouse’s passing. A prenup can protect the inheritance of your children from a prior relationship by detailing how you want to have your estate distributed amongst all of your children. Florida laws do not protect the inheritance rights of stepchildren, so a prenup can also enable you or your future spouse to specify benefits for any stepchildren.
If you own your own business (whether from before meeting your fiancé or while you began dating) or you will be inheriting some or all of a family business, a prenup can help protect the business from your spouse if they attempt to make a claim for ownership during divorce proceedings. A prenup can also set guidelines for the income that stems from the business, especially if it is the main source of income for your family.
Being a stay at home parent is a full-time job without pay or benefits, so a prenuptial agreement can establish how much support and for how long the income-earning spouse is responsible for providing support in the event of a divorce.
Whether its school loans or a shopping addiction, one spouse may enter the marriage with a significant more amount of debt than the other. A prenuptial agreement can help protect the other spouse from having to continue to pay off a debt that they didn’t rack up themselves. On the reverse side, one spouse may have a significant amount in savings stashed away that they set aside prior to meeting their spouse. A prenup could help protect those funds during divorce proceedings.
If you know you will be receiving a large inheritance, including it in a prenuptial agreement can help protect it should you ever use the funds on community property during your marriage, like the purchase of a house.
Source: How common is divorce and what are the reasons? accessed Dec 03, 2016
Cheat Sheet, “Marriage: 5 Signs You Need a Prenuptial Agreement,” Megan Elliott, accessed Dec. 02, 2016
Whether it was your spouse or a parent or someone else close to you, mourning the loss of a loved one is a difficult time for anyone. Having to settle the financial and legal issues amidst your time of mourning can add to the stress you are already weighed down with. It is important to remember to take your time to grieve; these issues can wait a week or two without any repercussions. When you do find yourself ready to settle your loved one’s estate, here are a few helpful steps to guide you through this difficult time.
If you have been named the personal representative in the will for your loved one, bring the original will, the original death certificate, and the inventory of assets to your complimentary initial meeting with the probate attorney of Legacy Law of Florida.
When most people think of estate planning, they think “wills.” However, there is much more to estate planning than just creating a will. There are five components of a complete estate plan that will cover all areas of your life and death as well as protect your assets upon passing.
A will is a legally binding statement that dictates who will receive your property upon your passing. It is important to know a will only covers probate property which is property that is in an individual’s estate. Property that is jointly owned or has a named beneficiary, like life insurance, 401(k), or an IRA, can usually be settled without a will by automatically passing to the named beneficiary. A will can also name a guardian of any minor children you have.
A trust involves the transfer of property from one person (settlor) to the control of another person (trustee) to be held and used for the benefit of a third person (beneficiary). The settlor and trustee can be the same person.
Trusts can have multiple sets of beneficiaries—for example, a set of grandparents can be both the settlors and the trustees with their children named as the direct beneficiaries and their grandchildren as the next set of beneficiaries who stand to benefit from the trust when their parents pass away. There are many different forms of trusts and reasons to have trusts varying from tax planning and asset protection to ensuring for the care of a dependent or disabled adult child. Trusts can even result in tax advantages for both the trustee and the beneficiaries. Many small business owners, those who own more than one parcel of real estate, or individuals with investment accounts may benefit from trust planning.
Power of Attorney, or attorney-in-fact, allows you to appoint someone to act in your stead on financial and medical matters if you were to ever become incapacitated. Establishing a Power of Attorney in advance saves valuable time and money to avoid the expensive process of guardianship after you become incapacitated. There is also the risk someone other than whom you would have chosen could become your guardian if you do not designate this person yourself with a Power of Attorney.
Depending on your state’s laws and the choices that you make, a medical directive can include several types of documents including:
Medical directives – Medical instructions should you become seriously ill and cannot direct your own health care.
When creating your estate plan, you should also ensure any policy you own including life insurance, retirement plans, or 401(k) have beneficiaries listed, is up to date, and complete. The only way to ensure the money and assets you leave behind go to whom you want, is to ensure you have named beneficiaries. Naming beneficiaries on the direct policy can expedite receipt of benefits and reduce confusion compared to only naming beneficiaries in your will.
In today’s day and age, many families consist of a combination of stepparents, stepchildren, and/or half-siblings—commonly referred to as a blended family. Proper estate planning becomes especially important if you are a part of a blended family to ensure your estate is distributed as you desire. Under Florida’s intestate inheritance law, stepchildren do not have the same inheritance rights as naturally born or legally adopted children do, so the wording of the will also must be specific to include stepchildren. Simply listing that your estate should pass to “your children” can legally leave a stepchild out of the inheritance.
