Elder law encompasses a wide range of concerns – some of which can affect you at any age. If you’re like most people, chances are that you’ve never even heard of the area of law known as elder law. That’s certainly true if you’re in your younger years when legal concerns all seem to affect everyone on an equal basis. As you start to age, however, you’ll notice that the impact of different types of laws on your life seems to change. By the time you’re a senior citizen, the laws that directly … [Read more...]
Why You Should Create a Pet Trust
A common misconception is that pet owners can leave money behind for their pets in their wills. While they may have good intentions, you simply cannot include your pet in your will and expect that they will be cared for. The reason is that a pet is considered property, just like a car or jewelry. As such, a pet cannot "inherit" money from you through your will. So, no matter how detailed your will may be with regard to your pet, you are not protecting your pet as you may think. Instead, you … [Read more...]
Why Considering an LLC is a Good Idea
If you are considering starting your own business or if you think you may need to change your business entity, you should think about a Limited Liability Company or LLC. There are a variety of business entities from which you can choose and each one has various benefits. Those benefits often involve protection from legal liability and tax consequences. Here are some of the reasons you should consider an LLC. How does an LLC work? One of the primary advantages of creating an LLC is the fact that … [Read more...]
North Carolina Estate Tax: Should You Be Concerned?
The federal estate tax may be something that only affects a relatively tiny number of estates each year, but it’s still a tax that most people would like to avoid whenever possible. That’s why the tax itself has been a cause for debate for many years now. Some in North Carolina have worried about this tax as well, since it can impact any estate that meets that $5.49 million threshold. Fortunately, the North Carolina estate tax is no longer a concern, since that tax was repealed in recent years. … [Read more...]
The DIY Will: Can it Ever Work for Your Needs?
Almost everyone knows by now that it is possible to create your own will. Indeed, many Americans do so every year, either writing them from scratch or using fill-in-the-blank form documents they download from the internet. Of course, being possible and being advisable are not always the same thing. All too often, estate planners end up fixing these types of DIY legal documents when they turn out to be less effective than the client thought. That raises an interesting question-: can a DIY will … [Read more...]
Using Medicaid Planning to Prepare for the High Cost of Nursing Homes
Do you have a plan in place to deal with the high costs of any future nursing home care? If not, then you need to discover how a Medicaid lawyer can help you protect yourself and your interests. We often hear about how important it is that we all prepare for the future. Whether it is business planning, legacy planning, or retirement plans, professionals continually remind us that it’s vital to be prepared for uncertainty. With more than half of us expected to one day require long-term care in a … [Read more...]
How Long Does Probate Take, and Why?
Most people give little thought to probate until they end up having to deal with the process as an executor or find themselves waiting to receive an inheritance. As a rule, probate is usually simple to avoid – just as long as you have the right estate planning tools in place to ensure that your assets have some other way of being distributed when you die. However, since most Americans have no estate plan – and even many of those who do rely on nothing more than a basic will – the clear majority … [Read more...]
Recognizing the Benefits of a Durable Power of Attorney
Many individuals will create a living trust to ensure that an individual they trust has the ability to manage their finances if they are unable. If an individual does not have a living trust as part of his estate plan, or even if he does, a power of attorney is a critical part of estate planning. Creating a power of attorney allows you to select the person you want to take control of and manage your property and affairs in case you become incapacitated in the future. This is one of many … [Read more...]
Video – Charlotte Estate Planning Attorney Discusses a General Power of Attorney
https://youtu.be/BWwoJ4tkZdQ Hello, my name is John Potter. I’m an estate planning and elder law attorney in Charlotte, NC. Today we’re going to talk about different types of property powers of attorney. For a variety of reasons, we have times when we need someone else to manage our affairs – whether we’re incapacitated due to illness or injury or just temporarily unable to handle certain decisions or actions. How Does a General Power of Attorney Work? With any power of attorney, you … [Read more...]
What are the Primary Purposes of an Estate Plan?
The broad purpose of an estate plan is to prepare you and your family for two events: possible incapacity and inevitable death. There are several options for estate planning. Which estate planning elements you choose will be based on the purpose of your estate plan. First, it helps to understand the primary purposes of an estate plan. Here is what you need to know. Planning for the possibility of incapacity The legal term “incapacity” means a person’s inability to comprehend the nature and … [Read more...]
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