Long-term care is extremely expensive these days, and if you use the average length of stay coupled with the average costs associated with nursing home care you may be looking at a bill that exceeds $250,000.

This is why so many individuals angle toward Medicaid eligibility. These people rely on Medicaid to cover their long-term care expenses when they reach an advanced age because Medicare does not cover them.

Of course Medicaid is a program that is intended to help people who have significant financial need. For this reason there is a $2000 upper resource limit.

Before you dismiss the possibility of being eligible, you have to understand that a lot of your valuable property does not count toward this figure. Your home, your vehicle, and your personal possessions are not countable in a Medicaid eligibility context.

There are also provisions in place that allow the healthy or community spouse to retain his or her half of assets that do count toward that upper resource limit. There is a ceiling on this however, and there is a change in place for 2012. The community spouse may now keep countable assets of up to $113,640. In 2011 that number was $109,560.

Trying to position yourself to become eligible for Medicaid can be a bit complicated for the layperson. If you are interested in learning how to qualify for Medicaid while retaining a significant percentage of your assets, the wise course of action is to sit down and discuss the matter with an experienced and savvy Somerset County, NJ elder law attorney.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Surprising numbers of people are going through life without a last will or a living will. In fact, the percentage of people who do not have an estate plan in place exceeds that of those who do. This is rather remarkable when you think about it.

Compare this to auto insurance. Of course we are all required to carry insurance, but suppose this requirement did not exist. Only the most irresponsible of people would choose to risk their investments in their automobiles by not carrying insurance. And this is with the knowledge that they are probably not going to total their cars.

Yet, everyone is going to die for sure but most people don’t have an estate plan in place.

You may say that you’re a risk taker and you will get around to it when you get around to it. This is well and good, but if you die without an estate plan or become incapacitated without having executed a living will it is your family who will be paying the price. This is something to keep in mind if you are one to adopt a cavalier attitude with regard to estate planning.

It is really not that difficult to take action and execute these important documents. All you have to do is make a simple phone call to a good Middlesex County estate planning lawyer, set up an appointment, and record your wishes in a legally binding manner for the well-being of those that you love.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When you get your first real job you are probably going to be introduced to the basic foundation of estate planning in the form of life insurance. If you are married at that time you will immediately recognize its value as a vehicle of income replacement that would enable your spouse to weather the storm should you pass away unexpectedly.

As your family grows your financial responsibilities will inevitably grow as well. For this reason it is important to keep track of your life insurance coverage and be ready to increase it as this becomes necessary.

Most people are well aware of the use of life insurance as an income replacement vehicle but it has other uses in estate planning as well. Life insurance is utilized when small business partners enter into buy-sell agreements as a succession planning tool. To explain briefly, the partners take out life insurance policies on one another and the proceeds are used to buy the share that was owned by a deceased partner from his or her family.

Life insurance is also used to balance inheritances. If you want to give a very valuable asset that is not liquid to one heir you could make another heir the beneficiary of an insurance policy that has a similar value to balance things out.

Estate planning involves the utilization of many different tools and life insurance is one of them. If you would like to sit down and discuss a comprehensive plan for the future with an expert, take a moment to pick up the phone and arrange for a consultation with a good Morris County NJ estate planning lawyer.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

There is a famous scene in the movie A Few Good Men when Jack Nicholson says quite dramatically “You can’t handle the truth!”

When it comes to making preparations for the eventualities of aging, it is a good idea to be realistic and come to terms with the realities that you may be facing. If you are prepared should a particular scenario arise the matter will be far easier to address, and this is what intelligent advance planning is all about.

With this in mind you would do well to be aware of the fact that some seven out of every 10 people who are at least 65 years of age are going to need long-term care eventually. This is a fact of life, plain and simple–the “truth,” as it were. You can pretend that it is not so or you can be proactive about preparing for the possibility.

The suggestion here is to consider doing some research in advance. Identify the long-term care community that you would prefer should you need such care. You can ask questions of the facilities themselves, consult with extended family members and friends, and tap into online resources that provide rating systems and reviews.

Doing some cost comparison evaluations can be useful as well because long-term care is extremely expensive these days.

As they say, it is better to be safe than sorry. If you would like some professional advice regarding the implementation of a comprehensive plan for aging, simply get in touch with a good Middlesex County NJ elder law attorney to arrange for an informative consultation.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When some people think about marriage images of a fresh-faced childless couple who have never been married before come to mind. However, in reality a very high percentage of marriages do not fit this description. Upwards of half of all marriages end in divorce these days, and more often than not people who get divorced eventually remarry.

In the majority of these cases at least one of the people entering the marriage has children from a previous marriage. This creates a particular estate planning scenario.

It is very likely that you want to provide for your new spouse after you pass away. But at the same time, your children are probably going to be a priority as well.

There are no assurances with regard to how your new spouse will plan his or her estate after you die. So, you may not want to leave everything to your spouse directly with no type of controls in place that protect your children.

One course of action that would be available to you would be the creation of a qualified terminable interest property trust. With these vehicles you provide income for your spouse for the rest of his or her life. But, you name your children as the beneficiaries who will assume ownership of the assets in the trust after the death of your spouse.

The best way to devise a plan for the future as a parent entering into a new union is to sit down and discuss the matter with a professional. Should you be seeking answers, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and arrange for a consultation with a licensed and experienced central New Jersey estate planning lawyer.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

There are multiple objectives to be taken into consideration when you are arranging for the eventual passing of your assets to your loved ones after your death. You have to do what is necessary to mitigate your estate tax exposure if you are in taxable territory, and you would also do well to consider the personal proclivities of the people on your inheritance list.

You can get assets from point A to point B in a number of different ways and it is your estate planning attorney’s job to make the appropriate recommendations given your unique situation.

Asset protection is a priority for many people, and one tool that is often utilized to this end is the generation-skipping trust. As the name implies you skip a generation when you name a beneficiary. The beneficiary need only be an individual who is 37.5 years younger than the grantor, so it doesn’t have to be your grandchildren as a matter of law but most people will name their grandchildren as the beneficiaries.

Your children don’t own the assets and they aren’t the beneficiaries so they cannot be targeted by claimants of any kind. Yet, they can benefit from the resources that you placed into the trust throughout their lives.

These trusts provide asset protection, but they are perhaps more commonly utilized as a way to mitigate estate tax exposure. Two generations benefit from the resources, but only one imposition of taxation takes place in the form of the generation-skipping transfer tax.

To learn more about asset protection strategies, simply take a moment to arrange for a consultation with an experienced and savvy central New Jersey estate planning lawyer.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

It is wise to consider the recipients when you are planning your estate. On the surface it can seem as though estate planning involves a pie that you are slicing up so that you can give pieces of this pie to the people on your inheritance list. However, the slices can be delivered in various different ways and the best way may vary depending on the proclivities of the person receiving the slice.

Some people don’t respond very well to receiving a large influx of money that they did not earn. We can all envision an arrogant or overly self-satisfied individual who could have developed these traits as a result of receiving a large inheritance. This is something that most people would not want to facilitate.

But short of this a sincere and relatively humble person could experience an underlying sense of conflict if he or she was to come into sudden wealth that was not earned. Granted, this may be a pleasant problem but it can be troubling to many people and we have all seen examples of high-profile individuals who had plenty of financial resources live troubled lives.

One thing you may want to consider if you have concerns about spoiling an heir would be to provide for this individual via the creation of an incentive trust. With these trusts you include conditions that must be met before distributions will be made. These conditions can guide the beneficiary toward a path of personal achievement.

For example, you could allow for distributions that are tied to academic or career benchmarks. You have the control and you can stipulate anything that you think would be useful to the beneficiary in the long run.

Incentive trusts can provide a solution for some people. Don’t hesitate to pick up the phone to set up a meeting with an experienced Somerset County estate planning lawyer if you would like to learn more about them.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

One of the reasons why it is advisable to reach out and develop an ongoing relationship with an estate planning attorney is because of the personalized attention that you will receive. Each individual is different, and every family has a different dynamic. Everyone is going to pass away someday and the wise individual is going to plan ahead intelligently.

The only way to do this effectively is with professional guidance, and in fact it is very likely that you are going to have to update your estate plan over the years. When your attorney gains an understanding of your situation while devising an initial plan he or she will be well-positioned to make the appropriate recommendations as things change in your life.

Your attorney may examine your situation and recommend a revocable living trust. These vehicles provide for an efficient transfer of assets after your passing, but you have total control of them while you are still alive. You may choose to serve as the trustee and the beneficiary while you are living and you can make changes as you see fit. As the name implies, you can even dissolve the trust if you choose to do so.

In addition to the control and flexibility that revocable living trusts provide, you can also include incapacity contingencies and this is part of the appeal as well.

The creation of a revocable living trust is an option that is available to you. To explore this and other estate planning instruments, simply take a moment to arrange for a consultation with an experienced, dedicated central New Jersey estate planning lawyer.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Many people take to ruminating when they get serious about planning for the future. Of course you have to take care of the pragmatic hand-to-mouth matter of preparing your assets for eventual distribution to those that you love. However, you may ask yourself how you will be remembered and how you may be able to make an impact even after you are gone. This is what legacy planning is all about.

Depending on your resources and the exact nature of your intentions there are various courses of action that can be undertaken. There are people who start charitable family foundations, but of course these are not practical for a lot of us.

A very viable alternative would be to contribute into a donor advised fund, and this could have positive tax implications as well. The best way to contribute to charitable causes is something that should be discussed with a qualified estate planning lawyer.

There are other possibilities as well, such as establishing a commemorative scholarship or contributing toward some type of building project that aids the community as a whole. This can include a new hospital wing or an addition to an educational facility. If you put your mind to it there is little doubt that you would be able to come up with some ideas on your own that have particular meaning to you.

Crafting a robust legacy can be quite rewarding as you reach the latter stages of your life. If you are interested in finding out how to actualize your own unique vision, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone to arrange for a consultation with a local central New Jersey legacy planning attorney.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If you are like a lot of small business partners your share in the business may be one of your single most significant financial assets. So of course the value of the business share is going to make up a large portion of your estate. Because of the fact that you are probably going to want to spread this value among multiple different people selling the share in the business would probably be necessary.

Should your family members sell the share to the highest bidder your remaining partners would have no choice but to work with the buyer whether they liked it or not. This is not going to be very agreeable to your partners, and of course you wouldn’t want to be in that situation either. The solution to this challenge is often found via the execution of buy-sell agreements.

One such agreement is called the cross purchase plan. The partners in the business get together to determine how valuable each share is. They then take out life insurance policies on one another. The point is for the combination of the policies to equal the agreed-upon value of a business share. When one of the partners passes away, the others collect the insurance policy proceeds. These funds are used to purchase the share that was owned by the deceased partner from his or her heirs.

There are particular challenges involved in small business succession planning. The best way to address them is with the assistance of a licensed Somerset County estate planning lawyer who has a background assisting members of the business community.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.