Avoiding 4 Main Obstacles to Digital-Era Estate Planning

January 22, 2025
Brian Hicks
Estate Planning, Our Blog, Probate & Trust Administration

Identifying the digital property you own and managing it is more necessary than ever. From smart home devices to online investments and bank accounts, we’ve gone way beyond using the internet to email family and social media to connect with friends. In...

What Makes a ‘Good’ Nursing Home? 10 Points to Consider

January 16, 2025
Brian Hicks
Elder Law, Estate Planning, Medicaid Planning, Our Blog, Senior Living

If you are looking for a nursing home for yourself or a loved one, you want to choose a good facility. But what makes a nursing home good? Though good can be hard to define, some qualities are key to...

IRS Announces 2025 Gift and Estate Tax Exemptions

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released its tax inflation adjustment figures for tax year 2025. Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Effective January 1, 2025, you will be able to make individual gifts of up to $19,000 in the calendar year (an increase...

Estate Planning for Parents of Children With Mental Illness

January 2, 2025
Brian Hicks
Estate Planning, Our Blog, Special Needs Planning, Wills & Trusts

Mental illness in the United States is more common than most people may think. More than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness and one in six U.S. youth aged 6 to 17 experience a mental health...

The Great Wealth Transfer: Managing Your Inheritance Wisely

December 26, 2024
Brian Hicks
Estate Planning, Our Blog

We are in the midst of one of the most substantial intergenerational transfers of wealth in history. Referred to as the “Great Wealth Transfer,” it is expected to continue for another couple of decades. Baby boomers are the primary source...

Who Holds Your Will and Other Estate Planning Documents?

December 19, 2024
Brian Hicks
Estate Planning, Our Blog, Wills & Trusts

Once you've taken the step to create a will and get your estate plan in order, you need to figure out what to do with the will itself. Keeping track of the location of your current will – as well...

Estate Planning Checklist: 5 Initial Steps You Can Take

December 12, 2024
Brian Hicks
Estate Planning, Our Blog, Wills & Trusts

Most of us spend little time thinking about death or losing the capacity to manage our own affairs. These are unpleasant topics and banishing them from our minds is easier than entertaining them. Death, however, is inevitable, and becoming incapacitated...

An Elder Care Lawyer Can Help You Get Medicaid Home Care

December 5, 2024
Brian Hicks
Elder Law, Estate Planning, Medicaid Planning, Our Blog, Senior Living

The over-65 crowd is growing dramatically. Millions of Baby Boomers are transitioning into older adulthood and are living longer than previous generations. According to recent U.S. Census Bureau data, the U.S. population over the age of 65 is expected to...

10 Do’s and 1 Don’t for the Trustee of a Trust

November 21, 2024
Brian Hicks
Estate Planning, Our Blog, Probate & Trust Administration, Wills & Trusts

Whether it feels like an honor or a burden (or both), you may have been appointed to serve as the trustee of a trust. What sort of responsibilities do you face in this role, and what can you do to...

I Don’t Need SSI or Medicaid. Why Get a Special Needs Trust?

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a federal program that typically provides cash stipends to people who have paid into the Social Security system and who can't work because of a disability. (In some cases, it is possible to receive...