No matter what you do, aging is something you cannot escape, and it affects all family systems. It can be challenging for adult children to imagine their parents as seniors and to understand and respond to the reality that each parent will age differently. Even if you are in the fortunate circumstance where your aging parents can go it alone for a long time there will come a day when assistance or long term care will be needed. There are things to consider as you help your parents live their best possible aging scenario. Managing their welfare takes time, research, and planning.

Your parents and their abilities to remain independent are most easily defined by activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living ( ADLs and IADLs
). Activities of daily living address daily functional mobility like getting in and out of bed or a chair, self-feeding, bathing and personal hygiene, the ability to use the toilet, and the ability to get dressed. These are essential daily living requirements that promote dignity and physical as well as emotional well- being for your elderly parents. If your parents are having difficulty managing these ADLs, it is an appropriate time to find help for them whether it is you or another qualified caregiver.

IADLs include all ADL activities and more. The additions are grocery shopping and cooking, medication management, laundry, and other housework, bill paying and finance management, using a telephone, and driving or using public transportation. Recognizing your parent’s limitations in any of these categories is a sign that you need to develop a care plan that provides appropriate assistance. The degree of change or sometimes multiple changes is an indication that staying at home may no longer be appropriate and safe for your parent. If you require assistance in determining suitable care needs, you can set up a comprehensive geriatric assessment by a medical professional. Take an honest look at the stage of life your parent is experiencing and then find the support and help they require.

Your aging parents’ geographical location is critical to consider as a family. Families are fortunate when one adult child lives nearby and can ensure their parent’s well-being. Video chat either online or through a phone application is one way to daily check on a parent. A friend may live close by and can do wellness checks and provide information about behavioral or health changes. If none of these options are viable, it may be time to discuss the idea of your parent(s) downsizing into another more supportive location and living arrangement. 

Having this discussion is best before a parent’s adverse health event. Making residential changes without a previous plan in place can negatively impact on the parent, especially when experiencing a health care crisis. When aging at home cannot be appropriately managed, it is time to consider the alternatives. These alternatives may include independent living communities, assisted living communities, nursing homes, or living with a trustworthy and capable relative or family member.

All of these assessments and changes in your parents’ lives impact their financial outlook. Making necessary residential changes can often be very costly, and your parent may need additional financial support from government or community programs to offset the difference in expenses. It is critical to take advantage of all possible financial help. As an adult child, you may have to begin managing their finances and retirement funds more actively. There are various federal, state, and non-profit groups that provide free tax assistance for seniors.

Some of the better organizations to help you navigate what is available are online and include Benefits.gov , Area Agency on Aging , and Benefitscheckup.org. These groups can help you assess the best strategies for housing, healthcare, financial assistance, legal aid, transportation, in-home services, prescription drugs, energy and utility support, and nutrition. BenefitsCheckUp is part of the National Council on Aging and is considered the nation’s most comprehensive online service for seniors with limited income and resources. The information available canvases all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Caring for your aging parents should not be the job of one family member. The commitment should not be a burden, and responsibilities should be shared. Look for caregiver support organizations and forums as well as involving all family members. Everyone should do their part. The goal is to find the best blend of options and resources to allow your parents to age happily and well. Your parents’ health changes require that programs and opportunities change too. Caring for your aging parent is a dynamic process that must be retooled as their needs change.

We help families who are trying to navigate the maze of long-term care either for themselves or for an aging parent. Please give us a call so we can discuss your particular needs. If you’d like to discuss ways we can help, please  contact  our office at 973-226-0050.

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You should never ignore concerns about your memory or that of a loved one.  There are many resources available through a simple internet search, and professional associations that provide education and guidance through a maze of questions you may have regarding how to approach someone you suspect may be experiencing memory loss, or how to ask for help if that someone is you.  There is even a free online memory test you can take in the privacy of your own home.  But, did you also know that through many years of research, there is a link between diet, exercise and Alzheimer’s disease?  It is never too late to start making proactive changes to your diet and lifestyle now to help lessen the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.  Even if you have been given an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, a study published in late October by Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, noted that it is possible to improve cognition with modifications to diet, exercise, and sleep.  

This study, summarized by the Wall Street Journal, acknowledged that the methods tested would not prevent Alzheimer’s, but through their findings, healthy individuals, as well as those with mild cognitive impairment who followed personalized recommendations over the 18 months of the study, did show improvement in cognition.   The study included 157 participants who varied in age from 25 to 86 and who all had a family history of Alzheimer’s.  A small group in the study had mild cognitive impairment and were asked, after going through certain measurements and many tests, such as blood, genetic and cognitive function, to adhere to a little over 20 recommendations of food selection, daily vitamins and personalized exercise plans.  Those who followed at least 60% of the recommendations showed significant improvement from their baseline in cognitive testing.  Participants who followed less than sixty percent of the recommendations experienced cognitive decline similar to the control groups.  Cognitive decline is a precursor to memory problems.

The larger group of participants studied were healthy individuals who had no memory loss though some in this group had less than ideal cognitive testing.  After 18 months of following recommendations, all participants showed improvement in cognitive testing compared to their baselines and the control group, even if all the recommendations were not followed.  Results showed that younger participants did better in general than those who were over 60 years old.   Some of the measurements that went into developing a personalized plan included body fat and muscle mass, since the memory center of the brain, the hippocampus, is known to shrink as belly fat increases.   Because cholesterol, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure are linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s, these values were monitored throughout the study.   

In reviewing sites such as the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, a free memory test was found that will test how quickly and accurately you recognize repeated images during a timed test.  On the Alzheimer’s Association website, one can find many recommendations for diet and lifestyle modification to follow, which are also listed in the Wall Street Journal article.   Some examples of diet modification include limiting red meat, adding foods to your diet that are high in omega 3’s, such as a certain type of fish, and foods high in antioxidants, such as strawberries and blueberries.   A mix of aerobic exercise and resistance training/weight lifting was recommended for good brain and heart health.   Hours of sleep and quality of sleep were other factors that can affect mood and memory.  It is generally recommended that a person try to get at least 7.5 hours of sleep each night and reduce caffeine consumption and ‘screen time’ well before bedtime to improve the quality of sleep.  As for general brain health, meditation for stress reduction and learning a new skill, such as a foreign language were recommendations to keep you mentally sharp.   There are many other ways to start now to improve or maintain your brain health with numerous online resources to help.  If you have a family history of Alzheimer’s, don’t let another day go by worrying about what may happen.   Educate yourself and take steps now that could minimize your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Sources:  https://www.wsj.com/article/the-link-between-diet-exercise-and-alzheimers

Alzheimer’s Foundation of America at https://www.Alzfdn.org

Alzheimer’s Association at https://www.alz.org

 If you’d like to discuss ways we can help, please  contact  our office at 973-226-0050.

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Let’s go through a scenario. Kevin stands at the door of Winnie’s nursing home room, tears streaming down his face. The medical staff just finished inserted a feeding tube into Winnie – an act Kevin knew she didn’t want. Unfortunately, Winnie couldn’t express her wishes due to advanced dementia, and she had no legal documents that expressed her wishes not to be fed by artificial means.  Kevin had no choice but to sit back and watch his wife go through a procedure she didn’t want.

The situation with Kevin and Winnie could have been avoided through the use of proper advance directive. An advance directive is actually a collection of documents. What that includes differs depending on your needs and wishes, along with what the law allows. However, it usually means at least a Living Will, and a Power of Attorney for Healthcare.

The purpose of this set of documents is to allow you to control what happens to your health care in case you cannot speak for yourself. If certain criteria are met, your doctors must consult with your advanced directive before making decisions about your care.

Usually, what this means is that two doctors agree that an individual is terminally ill, permanently unconscious, or at the “end-stage” of a condition. Once that happens, and the individual cannot express their preferences, doctors turn to the advance directive to figure out what the individual wants.

A Living Will determines what happens to an individual making it, unlike a Last Will and Testament, which determines what happens to their money and possessions. A Living Will describes what healthcare providers can and cannot do to prolong your life and/or ease your pain when you cannot express those preferences yourself. For example, do you want to be placed on a ventilator if you cannot breathe on your own? Do you want a feeding tube and IVs set up, and if so, for how long? Do you want to be an organ or tissue donor?

A Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare lets you choose someone to make healthcare decisions for you when you cannot. They still must follow your Living Will, but they will be able to make decisions not explicitly considered by your Living Will, in accordance with the facts of the situation. In most states, there are “default surrogate consent laws” which allow family members to make treatment decisions on your behalf, but who is chosen to make these decisions and what they choose to do may not be in accordance with your wishes, as it hopefully would be with a Durable Power of Attorney.

Other documents may be part of an advance directive by law, or they may be worth including on your own volition. These include Do Not Resuscitate orders and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, among others. You might also consider an advance directive in case of a mental health crisis.

This is a difficult subject to consider, and it always seems like it won’t be necessary. But nearly 70 percent of Americans don’t have plans in place for a worst-case scenario, which means for some of them, decisions may be made for them with which they would not agree, if they had the capacity to choose. For that reason, it is worth thinking about implementing an advance directive even if it seems unnecessary now.

If you or a loved one would like more information about advance directives, please don’t hesitate to reach out. If you’d like to discuss ways we can help, please  contact  our office at 973-226-0050.

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Health systems and hospitals have been coping with unprecedented challenges during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. There has been a need to increase and safeguard healthcare staff as well as non-COVID-19 patients, testing and treating infected patients, expanding critical care unit capacity, procuring personal protective equipment (PPE), and canceling non-emergency patient procedures. The American Hospital Association estimates that healthcare systems are losing an average of 50.7 billion dollars
a month. This financial crisis is jeopardizing the telehealth industry as insurance groups seek to lower rates for virtual appointments. Without payment parity equivalent to an in-person appointment, many health care systems will be unable to continue telehealth services.

COVID-19 has brought telehealth from a niche service to a common practice in less than a year. The assurance of physical distance, preservation of PPE, and limiting infection spread has been invaluable. Yet, despite the advantages telehealth provides, insurance coverage, prescribing, and technology access remain limiting factors. The federal government created the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act ( CARES Act ) to address these concerns, removing many barriers to promoting telehealth expansion. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ( CMS ) created a toolkit to encourage state Medicaid agencies to adopts CARES Act standards, and many private insurers followed suit. Still, telehealth’s subsequent explosive increase in patients became unprofitable. The resulting financial strain on the healthcare system and insurers may force telehealth provision limitations, although the public health crisis remains.

Early in 2020, the use of telehealth saw an increase from 13,000 to 1.7 million Medicare recipient visits per week. During the height of the national lockdown, between mid-March to mid-June, the number of Medicare recipients receiving telehealth care was more than nine million. Meanwhile, private insurers, mimicking the CARES Act policy changes, saw telehealth claims increasing upward of 4,000 percent from 2019. The CARES Act intended to last until the public health emergency was over. With the advent of this flu season and the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus, there is a call for telehealth’s expansion to become permanent.

However, many private insurers are changing their telehealth coverage policies for non-COVID-19 issues due to financial losses. United Healthcare will no longer waive co-pays and other fees for non-COVID related appointments. Other insurers like Anthem BlueCross BlueShield will extend coverage through the end of 2020; however, only the first two telehealth sessions will be free for the consumer. Telehealth billing standardization remains elusive as each private insurance plan, and many state-funded Medicaid plans have varying rules and dates for what telehealth treatments have coverage. Some patients are paying more, while others are paying less. Costs are confusing, and patients may be delaying healthcare to avoid a surprisingly expensive bill.

America’s Health Insurance Plans ( AHIP ) is a trade, and political advocacy association of health insurance companies with certifications for Medicare Advantage and other CMS governed health plans. Working with public and private sectors, AHIP implements solutions to lower out-of-pocket costs, which can be a barrier for people seeking telehealth medical care. AHIP’s website lists many insurance providers and general information about their coverage, often addressing telehealth. If you or a loved one requires telehealth coverage, it is the optimal time to review your health care coverage for 2021 as the insurance industry is in its annual enrollment program.

Diminishing coverage for telehealth visits will continue to impact Americans this winter and beyond. Patients are paying more while health care practices are earning less, and the risk of infections increases. Health insurers seem to be driving patients back to the in-person appointment model. Telehealth is truly innovative and protective during the coronavirus pandemic, but its continuation will suffer unless it can also become profitable.

If you’d like to discuss ways we can help, please  contact  our office at 973-226-0050.

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It’s an unfortunate fact that seniors can be large  targets for financial abuse and scams. Sadly, the elderly are often taken advantage of by complete strangers — and sometimes even their own family members. That’s why it’s important that planning is in place to help seniors protect themselves and their assets.

As we age, it can become increasingly difficult to manage our assets. Most of us will, at some point, need assistance with these details to help ensure that our financial and other assets aren’t depleted. If you or an aging loved one are looking for ways to safeguard assets, a Living Trust is often the best way to do so. Living Trusts allow seniors to rest assured that their finances and assets are managed by a trusted person.

Living Trusts help protect and manage the assets of those who cannot do so themselves due to age, illness, or disability. Many seniors assume that a will is the only protection they need. However, trusts are designed to safeguard the assets of the living, while wills only outline what happens to a person’s assets when the pass away. Furthermore, wills must go before a probate court and taxes must be paid on inheritances, while Living Trusts allow beneficiaries to avoid probate after their loved one’s passing.

To establish a Living Trust the owner, or grantor, places assets within the trust. The grantor then appoints a trustee to manage it and names beneficiaries to receive the assets of the trust when the time comes.

There are different types of Living Trusts. Let’s take a look at each and the ways these trusts can benefit seniors.

A Testamentary Trust protects an elderly person’s assets when a spouse dies. Assets of the deceased are transferred into a trust — enabling the appointed trustee to make all financial decisions regarding those assets. This helps a surviving spouse by protecting him or her from fraud or mismanagement of assets. Trustees can help the surviving senior generate income from remaining assets via sales or investments and take advantage of tax benefits.

A Revocable Living Trust safeguards seniors by making it more difficult for non-trustee family members to mismanage money or assets. The grantor (senior) can amend or revoke the trust at his or her own discretion without the consent of the beneficiary. This type of trust allows the grantor to stay in control of assets by either serving as a trustee or appointing one. In this case the grantor, serving as trustee and beneficiary of the trust, appoints a successor in the event he or she becomes incapacitated or dies. This appointed person is then responsible for disposal of the trust’s assets.

An Irrevocable Living Trust is one that cannot be changed or revoked by the trustmaker. This means that the grantor/trustmaker gives up his or her rights to the assets once they are transferred. Seniors over 65 who are eligible for Medicaid often choose to transfer assets into an Irrevocable Living Trust to avoid having to dispose of assets in order to remain eligible for Medicaid coverage or long-term care benefits.  Once assets are in an irrevocable trust, they cannot be counted for Medicaid eligibility purposes, but there could be a penalty for transferring assets to an irrevocable trust.

An elder law attorney can assist in determining the best way to set up this type of trust and how to best transfer assets based on Medicaid stipulations. An Irrevocable Living Trust can provide income for seniors and their spouses. It also protects their property and other assets from being seized to pay for medical costs, without impacting Medicaid eligibility. This type of trust can also remain in place for a surviving spouse after the grantor’s death.

The sooner assets are placed in an Irrevocable Living Trust the better, as a penalty will be assessed by Medicaid during the first 5 years the trust is in existence (if Medicaid is required during that time).

Ultimately, Living Trusts give seniors more control over their assets than a will, allowing them to set parameters and stipulations and appoint a trusted advisor to help them make decisions. If you or your loved one would like more information about setting up a Living Trust, we can help. Contact our firm today to discuss how we can tailor a trust to your specific situation and needs.

 If you’d like to discuss ways we can help, please  contact  our office at 973-226-0050

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These days, good news on the health front is so welcome. Now there is some, for the huge numbers of people suffering from Alzheimer’s dementia and ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). Researchers have found links between those two dread illnesses, and the new understanding is showing promising results in the laboratory using drugs and genetic alteration.

The developments for both conditions center around relatively new insights into brain function. It seems that brain cells require a certain fluidity or agility to move between two rates of neuronal firing. Any further explanation plunges into the deep weeds of physics and neurology, but a recent interview on National Public Radio with researchers likened the healthy process as similar to the fluidity with which water changes from vapor to dewdrop to ice. In the case of the two illnesses, it seems that brain cells that should act with comparable fluency turn “sticky” instead. Dr. J. Paul Taylor, a neurogeneticist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, likened the disease process to what happens when honey is left in the refrigerator. Dr. Taylor won the 2020 Potamkin Prize for Alzheimer’s research.

Also quoted in the NPR interview was biophysical engineer Cliff Brangwynne, of Princeton and also with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He likened a healthy brain cell to acting like people coming and going at a party, chatting with each other, but the cells in ill brains have lost that ability to communicate fluidly.

Millions stand to benefit. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or other dementia. More than 16 million Americans provide unpaid care for such people. Between 2000 and 2018, deaths from heart disease have decreased 7.8% while deaths from Alzheimer’s have increased 146%.

As for ALS, Johns Hopkins estimates that the illness affects as many as 30,000 in the United States, with 5,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Estimates suggest that ALS is responsible for as many as five of every 100,000 deaths in people aged twenty or older, most commonly in people over age sixty. The disease process causes terrible suffering.

Pharmaceutical company Bayer and Dewpoint Therapeutics are partnering to produce treatments using this new technology for dementia, ALS, and other cancer conditions as well.

Diseases like Alzheimer’s and ALS can cause not only emotional stress for families, but financial stress as well. We help families deal with legal and financial issues related to caring for a loved one with a serious disease. If you’d like to discuss your particular situation, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

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Many parents find talking to their kids about their wealth uncomfortable. Talking about how much money or property you have is usually viewed as taboo.  Asking someone else about what they have is often considered impolite. But failing to talk to kids about how much they may inherit could leave them unprepared to handle even a modest amount, and often results in the money being squandered quickly.

Baby boomers are considered the wealthiest generation and are set to pass that wealth on to their children. It’s estimated that $68 trillion will be passed down from boomers within the next few decades. By 2030, millennials will hold five times as much wealth as they do today.

Many who have substantial wealth are concerned that if their children know the extent of their wealth, this will take away any motivation for the children to be productive and involved citizens. Parents with substantial wealth often want their children to learn how to live in the world as “normal” people, and to be productive and successful in their own right. Some may go so far as to hide their wealth to encourage their children to work and build their own wealth.

But the degree of wealth is relative. Even those who are not as wealthy may not want their children to know how much they have. With the rising costs of health care, they are concerned that all of their savings will be needed for retirement, medical expenses, and long term care. If this becomes a reality their kids would not receive an inheritance they may have been counting on.

Failing to prepare children for what they may inherit can hinder their ability to handle money wisely. Many find they suddenly feel separated from their friends, isolated, even confused about how to handle relationships. Others will be wasteful and spend their new found money irresponsibly. Those who inherit even a modest amount are likely to be just as irresponsible; stories of inheritances being squandered on an expensive sports car, lavish vacations, and fast living are all too common.

Experts agree it is important to talk to children about money and wealth during their adult years to help them learn how to be better stewards of wealth. This doesn’t mean parents have to take a show their children all of their bank accounts, business interests and other evidence of wealth. Instead, experts suggest talking to children about their values, the opportunities money can provide and what you as parents want to accomplish with the money you have. Most parents want their children to think about helping others, and many want to encourage entrepreneurship. It can be helpful to give children a small amount of money at a young age to teach them how to save and invest, spend wisely, and to show them the importance of supporting charities.

One of the most effective ways to teach children about values and spending and investing money is to be an example. Parents need to let their children see them using their money in ways that reinforce their values. Some parents show how they value family relationships by spending their money on family vacations or buying a second home where the entire family can gather for summers and holidays. Others involve their children in choosing charities to support and provide children their own money to donate. If your children see you living your values, chances are they will adopt similar values as well.

We help families determine how to leave money to children in a beneficial way, how to plan for unexpected health care issues, and how to make sure appropriate people are named to step in and help if needed. We welcome the opportunity to talk to you about your planning needs.
  If you’d like to discuss ways we can help, please  contact  our office at 973-226-0050

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First, the “recruiters” or “marketers” bogusly involve themselves with their targeted Medicare seniors. Typically, the scammer targets the victim through door-to-door visits, telemarketing calls, and booths at public events or health fairs. Some schemes even target retirement communities, offering free ice cream sundaes or gift cards to learn about this fantastic new genetic testing technology.

The deception begins with the offer of “free” screening, testing kit sent to your home via the mail, or an onsite cheek swab for genetic testing followed by obtaining the person’s Medicare information for fraudulent billing activity or identity theft. If the scam artist (“recruiter”) is working with an unethical doctor, they will pay that doctor a kickback in exchange for ordering the test. Once the lab processes the test, Medicare will reimburse the lab, and the lab then shares the proceeds of that reimbursement with the scammer. Genetic testing fraud occurs when an analysis or screening is performed but not ordered by a Medicare beneficiary’s treating physician and not considered medically necessary. If Medicare denies the claim, the recipient who permitted the screening becomes responsible for the entire cost of the test. The average price of personal genetic analysis ranges from 9,000 to 11,000 dollars.

Examples of genetic testing fraud can include, but are not limited to, the following screenings or tests:

 What is the best way to avoid the genetic testing scam? If you receive a genetic testing kit in the mail, do not accept it unless you are sure your
physician ordered it. Make certain it is sent from the doctor-approved company before opening it. If your physician did not order the test, refuse the delivery of it or return it unopened to the sender while keeping a record of the sender’s name and the date the item was returned. You can also report the sender’s information directly to the HHS OIG Hotline. Be skeptical of anyone offering a free genetic testing kit in exchange for providing your Medicare number. Once they have your Medicare data, it is easy for a scammer to compromise your data in additional fraud schemes. Guard your Medicare information, and if anyone other than your physician’s office is requesting your Medicare number, do not
provide it. Medicare has a fraud hotline, and if you suspect you are a target, report the incident immediately. Again, you can report or submit a complaint to the HHS OIG Hotline.

Be sure to always review your Medicare Summary Notice (MSN) or Explanation of Benefits (EOB). Certain words or phrases indicate a questionable genetic test may have been completed. Words like laboratory, molecular pathology, and gene analysis are suspect and may indicate fraud, which you should immediately report as a billing error or possible fraud to your Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) or the Health and Human Services Hotline.

Genetic testing is a fantastic tool made possible by scientific advancement, human genome sequencing, and increased computing capabilities. Twenty-five years ago, obtaining personal genetic information was inconceivable, but today the data can be obtained with a saliva sample. The test can provide information about your ancestors and assess your disease risk. Because the tests are expensive, it did not take long for scam artists to find ways to extract illicit financial gains from Medicare and its beneficiaries. Be aware of how scam artists target you and your personal information to avoid being a victim.

We hope you found this article useful. If you have any questions, please  contact  our office at 973-226-0050

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In the absence of a will, the court will appoint a state administrator to handle probate. Probate law varies by state, but there are steps in the process that are common. Probate is the legal process for authenticating a deceased person’s will, reviewing their assets, paying their outstanding debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to their inheritors. After an asset-holder dies, the court will appoint a valid will’s executor to administer the probate process.

First, an executor is appointed and is normally the person named in the will. It is the executor’s responsibility to initiate the probate process. An executor can be a family member, a financial advisor, or any person the testator deemed capable of administering their estate. The executor files the will with the probate court, which initiates the probate process. A court officially appoints the executor as named in the will, giving the executor legal authority to act on the testator’s behalf.

The executor’s function is to locate and oversee all of the estate’s assets and to determine each asset’s value. The majority of the deceased’s assets are subject to the probate court, where the deceased lived at the time of their death. Real estate is an exception, and probate may extend to any county where the real estate is located.

The executor will pay any taxes and debts owed by the deceased from the estate. A notice of death is published and creditors are given a limited time to make claims against the estate for any money owed to them. If the executor rejects the claim, the creditor may take them to court, where a probate judge will determine the debt’s validity. The executor is responsible for filing the deceased’s final, personal income tax returns. The executor’s last task, via court authorization, is to distribute what remains of the estate to the beneficiaries.

Probate is required for any asset or account that does not have a joint owner or beneficiary named.  If a joint owner or beneficiary is named then title changes automically and probate becomes unnecessary.

If a person dies without a will, they are said to have died intestate. An estate can also be deemed instate if the will presented to the court is found to be invalid. The decedent’s assets of an intestate estate follow a similar probate process, beginnign with the appointment of an administrator. An administrator functions like an executor, receiving all legal claims against the estate, paying outstanding debts, and the decedent’s taxes.

Administrators must also seek out legal heirs, including surviving spouses, parents, and children. The probate court will determine the distribution of the estate among its legal heirs. In the absence of any family or other heirs, remaining assets go to the state.

The more complex or contested an estate is, the longer the probate process can take to finalize. The longer the process, the higher the cost. Probate without a will typically costs more than probate with a valid will, but neither scenario is inexpensive. Probate court files an estate’s assets as a matter of public record, so if you want to keep your estate private, it is best to pursue other estate planning options such as a trust.  As estate planning attorneys, we can help you determine what planning tools are best for you. Contact us to schedule time for a private cconversation to further determine how we can help.

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