Something we see quite often with our older clients is a joint bank account – parent’s money, child added to the account for convenience of the parent. It really can be very convenient, so, despite the list of problems I’ll get to in a minute, for some families in some situations, adding a child to your bank account can be…
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted last year, the federal lifetime gift and estate tax exemption doubled. Every year the lifetime gift tax exemption and estate tax exemption amounts are adjusted for inflation. For 2019, the exemption increased to $11.4 million for individuals and $22.8 million for married couples. That means, for example, that estates valued at less…
There are so many ways for parents to leave inheritances to their children as you can imagine. These are a few of the common approaches that parents seems to like, each of which can be tailored to a given family. IF YOUR CHILDREN ARE MATURE ADULTS: Outright Distribution If your children are adults, and you have no concerns for their…
This is another installment in our series on Medi-Cal planning. In this blog post we discuss common eligibility problems and a few of the tools we can use to solve them. Once we have analyzed our client’s situation and see why they are ineligible, either because they have too much income, too much assets, or both, we can create a…
The population of seniors in the United States is growing rapidly. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that people 65 and older will make up 20 percent of our country’s population by 2030. Along with this increasing population come increasing reports of elder financial abuse. It is only going to become more and more important for all of us,…
In this continuing series of posts we will focus on Medi-Cal for our over-65 clients who need assistance with long-term care. Here, we continue our discussion of the issues we discuss in our first appointment with our clients. What About Veteran’s Benefits? One preliminary question we ask our clients has to do with their prior military service. In some cases,…
In this series of posts we will focus on Medi-Cal for our over-65 clients who need assistance with long-term care. We will take you through the laws and what we do for our clients, from the initial meeting until we receive that eligibility letter, to help them qualify, apply for and receive Medi-Cal, for long-term care. The Initial Appointment –…
Estate Organizers specialize in handling the personal, tangible property items during the process of settling an estate, as well as assisting the professionals, individuals, and families involved. When a client finds us, or an attorney first refers a client to an Estate Organizer, the person has usually just suffered a loss. Not only is this person handling the new, and…
Lost in her latest romance novel, Lydia didn’t notice her husband’s return until he dropped a burlap sack on her lap. She glared at him. “What’s this?” she asked. “Open it,” her husband, Dan, replied. “It’s a gift from my grandfather.” Lydia opened the bag and looked inside. “Guns? He left you guns?” Dan took the bag from her and…
The Golden Years May Have a New Name: The Bankrupt Years In the past month or so, a number of articles in the news have come out showing that seniors are declaring bankruptcy at an increasing and alarming rate. The debt burden on seniors is going up due to student loans, credit cards, and lack of retirement savings. Often, the…