Davidov Law Group

Probate is a very big factor to consider when you are planning your estate. There are potentially numerous different parties that would have an interest in your estate. For this reason, your estate must be probated when you use a last will to arrange for the distribution of your personally owned property.

The process of probate is in place to allow the business of the estate to be conducted before the inheritances are distributed to the heirs. Final debts must be paid during probate, including any taxes that may be due. An inventory of all of the probate property must be conducted. This can be very tedious and time-consuming.

Property appraisals may be necessary, and liquidation can come next. Ultimately, the heirs to the estate will receive what they are entitled to according to the terms of the last will.

The person who takes care of all of this business is the executor of the estate. The probate court supervises the administration. If someone wanted to challenge the will they could present an argument before the probate court. They do not need to start a separate action to challenge the will.

Once the estate has been probated and closed the heirs can finally receive their inheritances. However, this can take time. Exactly how long will depend on the specific circumstances in question.

If there is in fact a challenge the matter can be stalled for a very long time. It took about 15 years for the highly publicized case of Anna Nicole Smith versus the Marshall family to be decided. Both original litigants had passed away by the time the final decision was handed down by the Supreme Court.

Admittedly, this is a rare case, but even routine cases can take months. It is not always easy to immediately liquidate property and sort out all claims that may be made by interested parties.

Because of some of the pitfalls that go along with the process many people decide to implement probate avoidance strategies. It is possible to arrange for asset transfers to your loved ones outside of probate. When you do so you facilitate faster and more efficient distributions after you pass away.

There are other positive consequences that can come about when you utilize more advanced estate planning strategies that enable probate avoidance.

Probate does provide structure and certain protections. It is not inherently negative. The point is that you do have options.

Whether you ultimately decide to implement probate avoidance strategies or not, you should certainly have an understanding of the process when you’re planning your estate. We have assembled a rather extensive library of free special reports on virtually every aspect of estate planning and elder law. Our report on probate is available to you right now absolutely free of charge. If you would like to access this valuable report, click this link and follow the simple instructions: Free New York Probate Report.

Medicaid planning is important for many senior citizens because of the high costs that go along with long-term care. The stark reality is that most people simply cannot pay these expenses comfortably out-of-pocket. This is because we are talking about an average annual expense exceeding $136,000 for nursing home care.

One of the misconceptions that is harbored by far to many people is the idea that Medicare will pay for everything once you become eligible for coverage. People who pay into the Medicare program sufficiently are eligible for enrollment at the age of 65 under currently existing laws.

Medicare is important, and it is very helpful, but it doesn’t cover everything in full, and it doesn’t cover long-term care at all. That’s right, you’re going to have to look elsewhere if you need assistance with your long-term care expenses.

That “elsewhere” is Medicaid for a great many people. The majority of elders in nursing homes are indeed enrolled in the Medicaid program. Many of these people were not poor throughout their lives, but long-term care expenses are so extreme they really have no other choice.

There are upper asset limits that you must stay within to qualify for Medicaid. Therefore, a common practice that people engage in is the Medicaid “spend down.” It’s kind of self-explanatory: you spend or give away your assets in advance of applying for Medicaid so that you can get within the upper asset limit.

This involves careful advance planning if you want to do it effectively. The upper asset limit is only part of the equation. You also want to consider Medicaid recovery efforts, and you should carefully evaluate the well-being of your spouse if you are entering a long-term care facility and your spouse is still healthy enough to live on his or her own. There are complex rules governing what is allowable for the healthy or community spouse.

When is it too late to start planning ahead with Medicaid eligibility in mind? In a way it is never too late. Even if you should have started earlier, you can improve your situation by working with an elder law attorney to take the right steps.

However, to be optimally prepared you should get started at least five years before you have any intentions of applying for Medicaid eligibility. This is because of the fact that the Medicaid program examines your financial transactions going back five years to make sure that you have not given away anything in an effort to spend down.

If Medicaid finds evidence of a spend down within five years of your application you will not be deemed immediately eligible for the program. You will be penalized, and this penalty will delay your eligibility. It is important to speak with an elder law attorney, and find out what you need to do to protect your loved ones.

People sometimes take on do-it-yourself projects to save money. Unfortunately, in some cases these efforts wind up costing more money in the long run. This certainly comes into play when you’re talking about estate planning.

There are certain simple steps that you can take to arrange for the transfer of assets to others. Joint ownership is one of them.

Sometimes called the “poor man’s estate plan” with joint ownership you simply add another person as a co-owner of your property. This could be your home, your bank accounts, and your brokerage accounts.

When you die there is just one owner left, and this person would still own the property after you die. This is the long and short of it.

The truth is that this poor man’s estate plan can actually make you poorer.

What happens if the co-owner decides to utilize the funds for his or her own purposes? The answer is that you can do nothing about it because this person owns these resources just as much as you do.

What if someone sues the co-owner? While you are still alive you may watch much of it go down the drain if the co-owner is the target of a lawsuit or if he or she is involved in a messy divorce. Creditors of the co-owner could also target these funds.

What if you tell the co-owner to distribute the money among family members and he or she doesn’t do it? Once again, there is nothing to stop the remaining owner from doing anything he or she wants to do with the money.

When you consider how easy it is to plan your estate properly with the benefit of legal counsel buying into risky notions like joint ownership is probably not a good idea.