One of the greatest gifts you can provide for your loved ones is careful planning and organization of your estate documents in preparation for your passing. During a time of grief, it can be incredibly stressful for your personal representative (also known as executor) to identify and locate...
Estate Planning Blog – Surprenant, Beneski & Nunes
The Importance of Dotting Your “i”s and Crossing Your “t”s in Care Agreements
A New York appeals court case illustrates why it is very important to have properly drafted and properly implemented care contract when an elder is paying a family member for services. The Court ruled that a Medicaid applicant who transferred money to his daughter and son-in-law under a personal service agreement made...
Medicaid Spend Down Lists
There is a great deal of confusion regarding the spend down of assets for Medicaid qualification. For a single person, who can only keep $2,000 in countable assets in Massachusetts, that individual may find him or herself wondering what the money can be spent on without causing any Medicaid disqualification. Similarly, for...
New York Times Article: Seniors Seeking Vaccines Have a Problem: They Can’t Use the Internet
Older adults living alone often lack access or an understanding of technology, and many are unsure how to sign up for an appointment.
Annette Carlin feels trapped.
Before the pandemic, Ms. Carlin, who is 84, loved to go on walks in Novato, Calif., with her...
Forbes Article: Covid-19 Is Most Certainly A Retirement Story
The Covid-19 recession, like all recessions, threatens the wealth and retirement security of millions of workers. Job loss prompts people to stop saving, raid their nest eggs or go into debt by falling behind on their rent and mortgage payments. Most workers nearing retirement had
ElderLawAnswers Article: Using Estate Planning to Prepare for Medicaid
Long-term care involves not only a loss of personal autonomy; it also comes at a tremendous financial price. Proper planning can help your family prepare for the financial toll and protect assets for future generations.
Long-term care can be very expensive, especially around-the-clock nursing home care. Most people end...
AARP Article: Prepare a Digital Estate Plan for Future Caregivers
How to provide the information they’ll need to manage your online data
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by Amanda Singleton, AARP
My mother kept a little black book. Not the fun kind filled with suitors’ phone numbers; rather, a binder that contained her accounts, passwords and ongoing bills. When an out-of-the-blue...
AARP Article: Phone Scams
We may have entered the digital age, but the telephone remains a key weapon in a scammers' arsenals. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received about 1.25 million fraud complaints in 2020 in which a contact method was identified, and in nearly 1 in 3 cases a call was the swindler’s way in....
Don’t Be Fearful of Probate — Avoid It
Many of our clients, particularly those with substantial estates, are fearful of probate. They have learned that this process, during which the will of a deceased person is legally validated, can be expensive and time-consuming. When they contact us and begin working with our knowledgeable, highly competent estate planning attorneys,...
Use Estate Planning to Protect Your Family if You Die Without Warning
At Surprenant & Beneski, P.C., we are well aware that working with estate planners is the way to protect your family from the logistical, legal, and financial problems that may beset them when you die, especially if you die suddenly and unexpectedly.
While nobody likes to think about...