The Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was enacted to provide guidelines to the healthcare industry for protecting patient information and privacy. For minors, this is a non-issue because parents, as legal guardians, have access to their children’s medical information and are the ones making most of the medical decisions, as well as paying the expenses. However, once the individual turns 18 years old, he or she is no longer a minor. This means that the hospitals and doctor’s offices must safeguard the patient’s information from everyone, including the parents. While it makes sense that a…Read More
The wealth, property, and investments we accrue over a lifetime are often significant. While you have carefully managed your finances through the years, there may eventually come a time when you cannot handle such decisions. To plan for the likelihood that you are unable to manage your financial affairs, it’s important to have everything in order while you’re still of sound mind. For starters, you’ll want to execute a financial power of attorney. It’s perhaps the most important estate planning decision to make while you’re healthy. Assigning the duty to a trusted relative, loved one, friend, or professional can help ensure…Read More
If you think you only need to create discretionary lifetime trusts for young, troubled, or financially inexperienced beneficiaries, then think again. In this day and age of frivolous lawsuits and high divorce rates, discretionary lifetime trusts should be considered for all of your beneficiaries, minors and adults alike. What Is a Discretionary Lifetime Trust? A discretionary lifetime trust is a type of irrevocable trust that you can fund while you are alive – in which case you will gift your assets into the trust for the benefit of your beneficiaries – or after you die – in which case your assets will…Read More
No matter the time of year, it is always a good opportunity for members of the military and their loved ones to consider setting up — or revising an existing —estate plan. Military families need to consider special estate-planning issues that others do not. This is particularly true when one or more family members are deployed overseas. Beyond this, members of the military have access to special benefits and resources. This can become complicated and, for this reason, it is important to seek professional help if you are a military family. Whether you are just starting your service in the…Read More
The average American family has changed a great deal over the last few decades. The assumptions that a couple will share finances, tax obligations, and their last name do not necessarily apply in the 21st century. There are more options than ever before to keep your finances, identity, and future plans separate. This sense of independence leads many married people to question: can I make estate planning decisions without involving my spouse? The answer can be more complicated than you might expect. While it’s certainly possible to begin the estate planning process without your spouse, there are some things to consider.…Read More
Everyone who creates an estate plan wants to find a way to protect their assets from lawsuits and collections, ensuring that they and their loved ones will be able to enjoy those assets as needed throughout the years. In your own pursuit of finding a way to stop lawsuits against your assets, you likely have heard that a revocable living trust will do just that. Is this true? No. A revocable trust does not protect the assets within it from lawsuits. It might create some legal protections for assets you want to give to your loved ones, but it will do little to shield your own assets.…Read More
Everybody knows that a family doesn’t mean just people. Family also means your furry, feathery, and scaly loved ones, too! Your beloved dog, cat, fish, bird, snake, and so on all feel like real members of your family because they are to you. So, shouldn’t they be mentioned in your estate plan like everyone else you care about? With a pet trust, you can arrange for special, directed, or general care of your pets after you pass away. This allows you to find peace of mind in knowing that your critters will still live comfortably and happily when you are gone. What Should Be…Read More
A trust fund is used to hold assets you want to preserve for specific people. You can even establish a trust for an organization. Most people use trust funds to pass wealth on to their children because they can safeguard the assets and ensure they are used for specific purposes. In this blog, we explain how to use a trust to protect your children. What Are The Benefits Of Setting Up A Trust Fund? The greatest benefits of establishing a trust for your children is knowing that the funds will be available for your children. Another benefit is that assets held in…Read More
Tax season is coming to an end, and hopefully you have already sorted everything out with the IRS. All around your home office, you probably have stacks of paperwork related to your assets, property, and finances. Wouldn’t it feel like a bit of wasted energy if you had to just stuff that all back into a filing cabinet until next year? Here at Legacy Law Centers in Leesburg, we say you should take all that organizational momentum you’ve built up during the tax season and put it to good use by getting started on your estate plan! When you think about…Read More
On March 4th, 2019, the famous actor Luke Perry passed away due to a severe stroke suffered several days prior. The tragedy not only spread stroke awareness — strokes are not something that only happen to seniors, or people who have known heart conditions — but also shed some light on the importance of estate planning, especially when it comes to the creation of trusts. It is believed that Luke arranged the majority of his estate plan in a trust, which kept it in his control and kept it private upon his passing. Only some of it seems to have been arranged…Read More
