Category Archives: Estate Planning
In Terrorem Clauses in Maryland Wills
Except for what goes on in criminal courts, legal proceedings do not generally make good television or good plot-driven fiction. Unless you are exceptionally long in the tooth and longer in the attention span, you have probably not read Bleak House by Charles Dickens; it is the only fictional representation of a probate court… Read More »
The Senior Mortgage Borrower
By now, the word has gotten around that young people cannot afford to qualify for a home mortgage and buy a home. Their only hope for doing this is their parents, who can leverage their cash savings or, if necessary, their home equity, to provide money for a down payment, or else leverage their… Read More »
Long-Term Care Reality Check
You might think that your estate plan adequately accounts for long-term care insurance, but you probably have an unrealistic view of how much you have to pay. According to a recent report on the CNBC Personal Finance website, 57 percent of the people who retired in 2024 will eventually need to spend more than… Read More »
Your Fabulous First Year of Retirement
In less catastrophic times, estate planning lawyers used to tell their clients to follow the four percent rule. They said that you can expect 25 years of retirement, and if you only spend four percent of your retirement savings per year, you will have enough to last the rest of your life. More recently,… Read More »
In Praise of Old Folks’ Homes
If you are old enough to have a stable job, you are old enough to be cringe. Since both of these describe you, it stands to reason that you have read the latest research on happiness. A recent article in the New York Times says that what determines how happy we are is not… Read More »
Senior Medicaid Isn’t Just for Nursing Home Residents
In Maryland, as in many other places in the United States and the world, we have an aging population. Meanwhile, the generation that is currently approaching retirement age has never known the financial safeguards that their parents’ generation enjoyed. This means that we are likely to see an increase in demand for applications for… Read More »
Medicare: So Many Moving Parts
If you are looking for a way to boost your self-confidence, consider congratulating yourself on your longevity. You have been receiving correspondence from the AARP for such a long time that their magazines and oversized postcards, clearly designed for the generation that takes print media more seriously than online content, no longer make you… Read More »
What Is Trust Litigation?
Estate planning websites are full of encouragement for the prospective grantors of trusts. They tell you how much money you and your heirs can save on taxes if you transfer money to them through a trust, as opposed to just letting them inherit it from your estate through probate. If you are afraid of… Read More »
The Five Wishes and Your Estate Plan
The most important parts of your estate plan have nothing to do with money, at least not on the surface. Anyone who has ever gotten a medical bill knows that medical decisions are financial decisions. In general, the more money you have, the healthier you are, because you can work in jobs with a… Read More »
Are Non-Probate Assets Overrated?
Probate is an unpleasant reminder that there is no such thing as a free lunch. You know how, in order to get your income tax refund, you must complete the process of filing your income tax returns, and even when you do that, the refund you receive is a lot less than you were… Read More »
