When a big change happens in a person's life, such as a marriage, the birth of a child, a major change in employment situation or a big financial gain or loss, a lot of the person's thoughts might be on the present and the immediate ramifications of the change....
One of the needs individuals can have as they grow older are long-term care needs. Federal estimates predict that, currently, the likelihood of needing some sort of such care at some point in the future is about 70 percent for individuals turning 65. Long-term...
When it comes to the Massachusetts estate tax, a very critical number is $1 million. This is the state's exclusion amount. Whether or not a deceased's estate will be subject to the state estate tax depends on whether this threshold is crossed.What things are...
What trends are occurring when it comes to how common elder financial abuse is matters greatly, given how harmful such abuse is to its victims. A recent survey indicates that we might be starting to see an encouraging trend on this front: a decrease in elder financial...
There are certain things state law requires a person to do in order for a will to be valid. There are other will-related actions that such laws do not require, but do make available as an option. In Massachusetts, one of the things that falls into the latter category...
From an estate planning perspective, informal probate may be better than formal probate, and bypassing the process altogether may be the best approach of all. Yet is avoiding probate a realistic goal?As a law firm that focuses on estate planning, we would answer that...
One of the great hopes a person typically has when it comes to retirement is that they will have enough saved up to properly cover their retirement. Thus, one retirement-related thing a person may put a good deal of focus on is how much in retirement savings they...
As a person gets older, their financial situation can shift greatly. One of the big financial changes people generally experience as they go into their elderly years is the entry into retirement, and the major shift in income situation that goes along with...
Keeping an estate out of probate is at the top of many people's estate planning wish lists. Probate does of course have its place in the estate administration process, but it can create unnecessary headaches and lengthy time commitments when not needed. For those in...
Dementia can impact all kinds of things in a person's life and can cause a person to have considerable long-term care needs. Given this, a trend that a recent study indicates is occurring is an encouraging one. This trend is a fall in dementia rates.The study's...