Preventing Elder Financial Abuse
Advice for adult children, so their parents in nursing homes and assisted living are safe from scammers.
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Advice for adult children, so their parents in nursing homes and assisted living are safe from scammers.
This is an important question to ask, because the answer could tell you whether you need to worry about estate taxes, beneficiary issues or probate concerns.
Good estate planning must consider more than what you want to happen to your property and for your beneficiaries. It also must consider what you intentionally want to avoid happening.
At such an emotional time, more paperwork is probably the last thing you want on your to-do list. However, taking a few key steps is critical to your financial future.
Even those who have saved and invested well may not be sharing their financial information with a spouse or loved one. It’s time to do that now.
Would your loved ones have necessary access to your bank accounts after you die to help carry out your last wishes and handle arrangements?
There are many stories of strange conditions in wills and trusts over time. For example, the German poet Heinrich ‘Henry’ Heine died in 1856 and left his estate to his wife, Matilda, on the condition that she remarry, so that ‘there will be at least one man to regret my death’.
Whatever the reason, whether your life is a bed of roses or a getting-worse-nightmare, there are things you can do now to insure what you leave will go to who you want. And when. And in what portion or portions.
In fact, many couples with no children mistakenly believe that they are less likely to need a last will and testament than couples with children.
This legal document can also be beneficial in many situations, such as if you want to leave an inheritance to someone but aren’t sure they will use the gift wisely.