Page 24

Encino Trust Attorney Answers, “What Should a Special Needs Trust Pay For?”

Trustees of special needs trusts shoulder an incredible amount of responsibility. In addition to providing care for the individual with special needs, they must also make sure the assets in the trust are spent wisely and will not disqualify the person from any benefits they may be receiving.

How to Qualify for Medi-Cal – Even If You Have Too Many Assets

Medi-Cal is a needs-based program meant to help those without considerable resources access medical care and benefits. Since it is needs-based, there are significant asset and income limits attached to eligibility, which can easily lead to a disqualification from receiving benefits if the assets are not monitored closely. However, there are several ways to prevent a Medi-Cal eligibility disqualification through the use of trusts. For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on how an irrevocable trust can help if a person expects to receive Medi-Cal benefits in the future and a First-Party Special Needs Trust if a person is ready to receive Medi-Cal benefits.

Encino Estate Lawyer: What Happens to Your Digital Assets After You Pass Away?

Digital assets and what happens to them after you pass away are fairly new concerns for people. However, this issue must be given significant thought, since so much of our lives are impacted by the digital age. To help alleviate these concerns and give more control to those managing estates of the recently incapacitated or deceased, Congress passed The Revised Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, otherwise known as RUFADAA. This act allows fiduciaries (executors, trustees, and agents working with a Power of Attorney) to manage digital accounts owned by others, while at the same time affording the account owner a level of privacy.

LA County Elder Law Attorney: How to Help an Elderly Parent Manage Money

A concern for many adult children with an aging parent is whether or not they can still handle money and make sound choices regarding their financial affairs. There are many reasons why an elderly parent would have trouble handling their own finances, usually due to some physical or mental ailment or the loss of a spouse who normally handled the finances, though there are other times when the parent just decides they would rather have someone else handle financial decisions, so they may focus on other things.

Encino Trust Lawyer Answers: “What is a Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT)?”

Family homes and other real property are usually the most valuable assets in an estate. While homeowners may want to leave these properties to children or other beneficiaries as part of an inheritance, tax burdens can throw a wrench into those plans. Unfortunately, without proper planning, most beneficiaries cannot afford the taxes that come along with inheriting property, which usually forces the sale of a family home or other property after the homeowner dies.

Should you name your kids as Co-Trustees

Naming your kids as co-trustees means that they must act together. If down the road they can’t agree or cooperate in making decisions then there is a deadlock. Absent some way of resolving a deadlock in the trust agreement, eventually this trust will end up in a court dispute between the two co-trustees. Examples of a dispute are where one child want to sell real estate and the other doesn’t. This often occurs where one of the children is still residing in the property.

Does your Estate Plan need to be redone? –The Straight Scoop on the New Tax Law

This law impacts you in several ways. First, we need to first make sure that your property will be divided according to your desires, and not dictated by Congress or by state law. For more than 50 years it has been common to use a written mathematical formula to divide the assets of a married couple when the first spouse dies to maximize estate tax savings. Likewise formulas have been used to provide funds for charitable causes and to benefit family and friends. With such increased exemptions impacting “formula clauses” in wills and revocable trusts, it is probably in your best interest to review your estate plan to be certain the plan will work as you intend.

Frankly, most estate plans should be reviewed every few years to make sure that the plan is not only consistent with the state of current law, but to also make sure that it reflects the family’s needs and circumstances. The new tax law provides a perfect reason for you to sit down and review your goals and make sure the important pieces of your plan still fit.

When the Unthinkable Happens…Are You Prepared?

Written By: Gerry Kane It’s “Date Night” Friday… The one night a week when you and your spouse spend time together…talk about the week…have a nice leisurely dinner…just the two of you. You’ve lined up a babysitter… You left money for the pizza delivery guy and a list of contact …

Making Estate Planning Conversations a Family Affair

Written By Gerry Kane If you’re forward thinking enough to design an estate plan when your children are young, your primary concern is protecting them if something happens to you. When your kids are teenagers, you still want to protect them but you have a little more to think about …

Intangible Estate Planning

“Intangible” Estate Planning – Thinking Beyond the Paperwork By Gerry Kane When you finally make the decision to plan your estate, you’ll hear the same words over and over again… Wills… Trusts… Revocable Trusts… Power of Attorney… Those words are the stock and trade of estate planning specialists.

Holiday Parties Without the Lawsuit Chaser

Holiday Parties Without the Lawsuit “Chaser” Written By Gerry Kane It’s that time of year again… Time to plan the office holiday party. It’s been a tough year everywhere and we’re all a little tempted to really let our hair down and kiss this year goodbye with a bang. Before …

Ten Commandments of Financial Management When Money Is Tight

Money problems can drive you crazy on a good day…

But when you’re trying to run a small business and the country’s economy takes the kind of hit ours has in the last couple of years, problems with your finances can take you and your business under in the blink of an eye.

Got Kids? Get an Estate Plan

Your estate plan allows you to plan for who will care for your children, makes sure that your property is transferred to the people you want to have it, determines who will handle the business affairs of your estate, and who will handle the property you leave to your children.