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You may create a trust online or in other ways, but is your trust funded? Trusts must be funded, but that does not mean just putting money in them. It means transferring the title of property to the trust, according to the Times Herald-Record in "How to transfer assets to a trust."

No one wants to end up in a nursing home.  However, if you do, it is best to have planned ahead. People who need nursing home care do not have a choice. One of the big problems is that staying in a nursing home for any length of time is incredibly expensive. It is also likely to get more exp...

Families are often silent about what should happen, if a parent becomes terminally ill or when a parent passes away. It is generally taken into consideration within a family, that a parent will some day pass away. However, it is not often discussed how painful this can be for the children...

An inheritance can be wasted in many ways, including avoiding work and making bad investments. There are many possible scenarios that could lead to a wasted inheritance. Fears that this will happen appear to be on the rise, because in the next few decades the largest transfer of wealth from ...

There are many ways to transfer assets. The challenge is sometimes conflicting instructions. It is important that all the different ways assets can pass down do not contradict one another, or an estate plan may not be effective. A common problem that creates conflict was discussed recently....

The government continues its campaign to fight the financial abuse of the elderly in U.S. with a joint webcast by federal agencies. The government has increased its efforts in recent years to combat the financial abuse of the growing elderly population in the U.S. Despite these efforts, many...

Legislators have been working to provide greater access to digital assets for estate administrators. Estate plans almost have to include plans for what to do with digital assets these days.  However, many people are still confused about what digital assets actually are. There are four differ...

Creating an estate plan can be easy.  However, there are many opportunities to fail. The ease of writing your own will or downloading some forms from the Internet, can make you jump to the conclusion that you don't need professional assistance.

You are young, or you don't have many assets and that means you don't need an estate plan. Wrong! It is true that if people do not own any real estate and do not have any other property of high value, it will not be too difficult for their families to handle their estates.

Sometimes little thought is given in the choice of executor. That can create problems. The person in charge of your estate is the executor. Instead of thinking about whether the person they are choosing is the right person, many people just pick a close friend or relative.

Planned giving is one way to leave a good legacy. Assets are often the first thought about estate planning.  However, that does not mean your other values have to be left out of your estate plan completely. You can use your estate plan for planned charitable giving, according to the Nash...

There are good ways and bad ways to give to charities. It often depends on the charity. People often decide to leave some or all of their assets to charity.  However, the best way to find out how to give to any specific charity is to talk to that charity, according to Mountain Xpress...

Joint ownership means you don't have to go through probate.  However, the risks are high—very high. A parent will sometimes decide to add a child to the deed to their home and that means an equal share. It also means that if the child has creditors, they can seek to make claims against t...

If you don't have an estate plan but do have minor children, it can become complicated. Most parents would choose to have their estate pass to their children, if they do not have a formal estate plan.  However, if those children are minor, some challenges can arise, according to My San Antonio...

Some parents want to give everything to their children right now … but wait! Unless you have an estate plan, before your children can inherit the estate it must to go through the probate process. That can be both expensive and time-consuming.

May is National Elder Law Month. No elderly person should have to suffer from abuse of any kind. Now is a good time for the elderly to get informed about their legal options for all sorts of things, according to News 4 San Antonio...

If your spouse has assets, it is likely that Medicare will take them into consideration. Medicaid is likely to ignore any spousal agreements and consider the assets of each spouse when determining eligibility, according to My San Antonio in "Protecting separate assets from Medicaid."

Digital assets need to be protected now.  However, they also need to be made available later. Protecting your digital assets before you pass away and making them available later, can create some conflicts. There are three basic complications, when it comes to planning for someone else to acc...

It may be wise to set up some review time for your estate plan, as life goes on. There are actually a few common things that can happen in your life that have an impact on your estate plan and they can be listed, according to the Huntsville Item in "When should you review your will?"

Conversations between family generations can be helpful in determining needs. Younger family members often end up helping their elderly loved ones, who may face the problems of aging. However, if the younger people do not know what to do and what the elderly person wants done...

Most states are not doing enough to fight crimes against the increasing elderly population. A few states have state level investigative units dedicated to fighting elder financial abuse.  However, that may not be enough, according to the Brookings Register...

Many elderly retirees have forgotten about retirement accounts that accumulated in their younger years. There are many Americans who have a retirement account through an old employer, but they have forgotten about them. It is important to remember that when you leave a job that had a 401(k) ...

You have been making plans your entire life and it is likely there are a few more during retirement. Americans have generally been making plans their entire lives and those in retirement need to make plans, even though those plans are some of the least comfortable plans for people at any age...

Individual circumstances determine the best type of trust to fit your unique circumstances. Much of the confusion over trusts, is a result of some impressive sounding names that do not actually describe what the trust accomplishes. Therefore, deciding on which type of trust is the best...

Flexibility can lead to the creation of a better legacy than anticipated. When people go to an estate planning attorney, they sometimes already have a good idea regarding what they want to accomplish with their estate plans. That is often a good thing.