Estate preservation is important to people of all ages, but it can become an especially pressing issue for senior citizens. Your estate is made up of all that you own, and preserving the value of your property and assets is essential to building a strong legacy. We can help.
The Law Offices of James A. Miller, P.C. offers comprehensive assistance with all aspects of estate preservation to clients in Worcester County and Middlesex County.
We know how hard you have worked to build up a nest egg and we understand how important it is to you to leave a legacy. We work with you to protect and preserve the value of your assets both during your lifetime and after your death.
What is Estate Preservation?
Your estate consists of property, money, an interest in business, investments, and all other assets that you have managed to acquire. Preserving your estate means protecting yourself and your heirs from losing all that you have worked for.
Estate preservation involves taking steps to make sure you don’t end up losing property due to mismanagement in case of incapacity, and taking steps to make sure you don’t end up losing all of your wealth if you have to face high nursing home bills.
It also involves ensuring your heirs do not squander the inheritance you have left to them, and do not lose the money you have left to them in divorce, bankruptcy, or as a result of claims made by creditors.
There are a wide variety of different legal tools which can be used as part of the estate preservation process, including revocable and irrevocable trusts; incorporation of business interests; a power of attorney in case of incapacity; and a last will and testament to provide instructions for asset distribution. Making the smartest use of all of these legal tools is essential to preserve the value of the estate you have acquired over your lifetime of hard work.
Why is Estate Preservation Important as You Age?
Estate preservation is actually important at all ages of life. As soon as you begin to build any wealth, you need to make sure you have structured ownership correctly to reduce risk of loss. You also need to make sure you have the right insurance coverage and an incapacity plan in place in case something unexpected happens to you.
The process of estate preservation becomes more important as you age, though, because there is an increased risk of something happening to you as you get older.
For example, many seniors end up needing to go into a nursing home. Nursing home bills are one of the most expensive necessary costs that a person can face, and it is often the need for nursing home care which ends up destroying a legacy. Nursing home bills total many thousands of dollars per month, and aren’t typically covered by insurance or even Medicare, except in rare cases where you require specialized medical care for a limited period of time.
The only way for nursing home bills to be paid, other than you paying them, is to qualify for Medicaid. Unfortunately, if you have built up assets and property which are a part of your estate, you aren’t going to be able to get Medicaid coverage unless and until you spend those assets down. You can, however, create a Medicaid plan which will allow you to protect assets through strategic structuring of ownership. You can qualify for coverage sooner, protect some or all of your assets, and keep your estate secure.
This is just one of many estate preservation issues which becomes more pressing as you age. Incapacity and death are also much more likely to happen to senior citizens, and thus planning for these eventualities also becomes ever more important the older you get. The job of an estate preservation lawyer is to make sure you have planned for these eventualities and anything else that life throws at you.
How can a Burlington Estate Preservation Lawyer Help You?
When you are ready to take control over the process of preserving your assets, give The Law Office of James A. Miller, P.C. a call. You will be assisted in the process of protecting your nest egg by a Burlington estate preservation lawyer with extensive experience and a commitment to providing the highest quality legal service to clients.
Give us a call today at 508-799-8885 or contact us online to learn more about the personalized service we can offer to protect your nest egg no matter what happens in your life or after your death.