A trust is established by people looking to maintain control of their assets while avoiding the probate process, which is the process by which a family takes the decedent’s will to court. As part of probate, the court reviews the estate and then gives authority to distribute the decedent’s assets.
A frequent question I get from clients who are considering putting their house into a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust is,“If my house is in the trust, can I sell it if I so choose in the future?”
Our practice produces many important documents for elderly clients. Clients may forget where these documents are located within their home, lose track of the documents’ location over the course of a move, or may pass on without sharing the actual documents (or their location) with their children, executor, or guardian.
There are a few smartphone apps that can assist individuals and families to keep track of important documents such as wills or advanced directives (healthcare proxy, etc.). This tool works in conjunction with the app’s ability to catalog the contents of entire homes. This umbrella function helps with ongoing organizational efforts as well as moving assistance.
We’re heading into the 2016 tax season. By the beginning or middle of February, you should have received all your tax statements, which might include:
If you haven’t received all your tax forms by mid-February, you should contact the relevant institutions as soon as possible to make sure they have the right address for you and that they did send the forms. It’s important to make sure you “have all your ducks in a row.”
Thinking about buying real estate property as a home or investment? Before you negotiate the terms and sign a contract, there are some important things to consider. By doing some simple, preliminary research, you will make informed decisions and circumvent avoidable issues.
Unless you have a crystal ball, it’s impossible to predict what the future holds. Should you become unable to make your own decisions, it is imperative to appoint someone to take care of your affairs and make healthcare decisions on your behalf. Additionally, in order to ensure that your assets are passed on to your loved ones without problems, high legal fees and time delays, it is important to start your planning today.
A “life estate” is an ownership interest that a person retains in real property while transferring a remainder interest to one or more individuals.
Life estates are sometimes used as a planning technique by individuals who wish to safeguard their residence or other real estate.
Reverse mortgages have become more popular in recent years. For many of Long Island’s seniors, the ever-increasing cost of living on a fixed income is a daily challenge. Often seniors look to the equity in their homes to relieve some of their financial pressure.
A reverse mortgage is a secured loan on your home. It allows you to convert a portion of the equity in your home into cash. It is called a reverse mortgage because instead of making monthly payments to a lender, as with a traditional mortgage, the lender makes payments to the borrower. The payout may be received as cash, an income stream, a credit line, or any combination of the three.
A timeshare is a property owned with others with certain rights to use the property. For example, this may be the right to use a vacation condominium one week out of the year, every year. Most timeshares are real property…
If you inherited a piece of real property and have, or want to sell it then you should consider the tax consequences. The sale of real property is a taxable event that must be reported on the seller’s income tax…