Wilson Law Group Blog

Planning for Asset Protection - "Creditors, Divorce, & Taxes, Oh My!!"

Asset protection is vitally important in our litigious society, and more wealth planning teams are needed who understand the intricacies of this area and can collaboratively implement advanced strategies. 

Medicaid, also known as Medical Assistance or Title 19, is a government program that subsidizes the long-term care expenses of needy individuals who meet specific asset and income requirements.  In short, individuals are expected to exhaust their own assets to pay for their long-term care expenses before government resources will be made available. 

Many clients want to know whether they should start drawing Social Security at age 62 or should they wait until full retirement age or even longer. Since the amount of monthly benefit will be reduced by 25% at age 62, compared to full retirement age, you cannot take this decision lightly.

Each state has laws that authorizes its residents to create a special Power of Attorney in which you designate an Agent to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to do so yourself. The Power of Attorney for Health Care (POA-HC) can also be used to provide instructions to your Agent concerning the type of care you do or do not want. This is an extremely important privilege, and every adult (age 18 or older) should have a POA-HC. Even adult children who live at home or who are attending college should have a POA-HC.

The most common method of managing property during incapacity is using the Power of Attorney. In a Power of Attorney you, “the principal,” name a chosen “Agent” to exercise legal authority on your behalf as if you were performing the task yourself. Powers of Attorney can be very broad, authorizing any act that you could have done yourself, or they can be very limited and authorize only certain acts.

One of the most common questions I, as an estate planning attorney, am asked is whether a will or a trust should be used to plan an estate. Wills are the most well known and have traditionally been used to transfer assets at time of death, but over the past 20 years there has been a significant movement toward utilizing revocable living trusts. 

You have two basic choices for transferring your assets on your death: the will, which is the standard method, and the living trust, which is rapidly growing in popularity. If you die without either a will or a living trust, state law controls the disposition of your property. And settling your estate likely will be more troublesome — and more costly.