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As the calendar year comes to a close, year-end estate planning presents a vital window of opportunity to safeguard your wealth, protect your loved ones, and ensure your final wishes remain fully up to date.
A special needs trust can help improve a beneficiary’s quality of life by paying for expenses that government assistance may not cover. For instance, while Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, may provide monthly cash assistance to eligible individuals, trust funds can help pay for additional needs such as transportation, technology, personal care, entertainment, and travel.
A special needs trust must meet specific requirements to protect the beneficiary’s eligibility for certain government benefits. Establishing a trust is only part of the process. The document must be properly drafted and reviewed for compliance with the eligibility rules of benefits programs. After approval, the trust must be carefully administered to ensure continued eligibility for benefits.
A charitable lead trust, or CLT, is an irrevocable trust that provides payments to charitable organizations for a designated period before transferring the remaining assets to family members or other beneficiaries. The charity receives the lead interest first, while your chosen beneficiaries receive what remains when the charitable term ends.
We asked twelve of our very own estate planning attorneys one question: What’s the one piece of advice you’d give a family just starting to plan for a loved one with a disability? Their answers, submitted independently, clustered around a handful of themes.
The number of female-owned businesses is growing every year, and that’s incredible. Whether you’re launching your first venture or scaling an existing operation, one important element that often gets overlooked is proper legal structuring. Setting up the right business entity can help protect your personal assets from certain business-related liabilities and provides a foundation for growth.
Whether you own a lake house, ski cabin, beach property, or mountain retreat, protecting what matters most requires strategic foresight. Many property owners overlook the distinct legal and financial implications of vacation home ownership. Between asset protection, insurance requirements, and estate planning considerations, safeguarding a family legacy involves more than simply holding the deed in your personal name.
Choosing the right business partner is one of the most important decisions you can make. Equally important is deciding what happens if that partnership changes. Death, disability, retirement, divorce, or even a disagreement between owners can create uncertainty that threatens the stability of an otherwise successful business.
People sometimes assume a loved one can automatically step in to manage their finances or make medical decisions if they become seriously ill or incapacitated. In reality, that authority depends largely on whether important legal documents have already been put in place.