Your family and friends may know you for the thoughtful concern you display over their wellbeing. You may have already made plans to distribute your assets among them after you die, but what about your wellbeing? Is anyone looking after your needs as you continue...
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New York Elder Law, Estate Planning & Personal Injury Blog
Trust funding is essential
While there are a multitude of different trust types, they all have one thing in common: Every trust must be “funded” with assets in order to receive the intended benefit. Funding a trust is arguably the most important (and most neglected) step when utilizing a...
Patience from a personal injury attorney
Many attorneys who do not practice personal injury exclusively look at an accident case like a quick money maker. The key to properly representing your client is to allow the case to “percolate” is the term I like to use. If there is ample insurance money available,...
Health Care Proxy: Who Should Be Your Agent?
When creating an estate plan, one of the most important documents to include is a Health Care Proxy. A Health Care Proxy allows a principal to appoint an agent to make health care decision for the principal, but only when principal cannot make his or her own...
When is a gift tax owed?
It is not uncommon for the topic of gifting to come up during a routine estate planning consultation. A grantor can accomplish different things by gifting assets. Whatever the goal, once a client expresses interest in gifting, the question inevitably becomes: How much...
Motorcycle and car personal injury cases
Personal injury cases are any situation where someone is injured. Most commonly, people think of car accidents, but motor vehicles include motorcycles. As I’ve discussed in a previous blog, motorcycles do not get the benefit of no-fault coverage for medical bills....
Estate planning with a terminal illness in New York
If you just found out that you’re living with a terminal illness, you may begin to focus on how you can protect yourself, your assets and your family. You want to be sure that you are protected and that someone you trust can make financial and medical decisions for...
Should a college student have a health care proxy?
In New York State when a child reaches the age of 18, they are considered an adult. This means that an 18-year-old’s parents are not guaranteed to have the ability to make medical decisions (or access medical records) for them in the circumstance that medical...
Estate plans are not set in stone
You should never delay implementing an estate plan simply because you may need to change it down the road. As long as you have the requisite mental capacity, you can always amend your estate plan as your life progresses. When you are young, you may only need a Power...
How does Medicaid assess penalties against applicants in New York?
Because of the high cost associated with long-term care, most people who need such care look to Medicaid to pay for it. In New York there are two main Medicaid programs that cover long-term care: Community Medicaid (where the care is administered in the home by an...