Insurers Must Now Cover COVID-19 Tests

Incentivizing Insurers to Cover COVID-19 Tests According to a statement on the website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, most consumers with private health coverage can go online or to a pharmacy or store, buy a test, and…

Do I Really Need to Contact an Estate Planning Lawyer?

Do I Really Need to Contact an Estate Planning Lawyer? Many younger people assume they don’t even have an estate worth dividing up and sharing with their loved ones after they’ve passed. Fortunately, they couldn’t be further from the truth.…

How to Choose Your Probate Executor or Trust Trustee

One question estate planning clients often struggle with is who to appoint as a probate executor for a will or a trustee for a trust. Although people often only look at such decisions they make as the “honor” or “privilege,”…

Capital Gains and Home Sales

There’s a good chance that the profit from your home sale will not be taxable. Unmarried individuals can exclude up to $250,000 in profits from capital gains tax when they sell their primary personal residences, thanks to a home sales…

Who Gets Copies of the Will After a Death?

Fans of murder mysteries may assume that distributing a will is simple. There is one copy, which the decedent’s lawyer keeps on file, and after a death all heirs are brought in to hear the lawyer read the will aloud.…

The Child Tax Credit for 2021

The Child Tax Credit is for individuals who claim a child as a dependent if the child meets certain conditions.  The CTC was created in 1997 and has been expanded several times since, most recently in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic…

How to Pick an Executor

There’s a key aspect of creating an estate plan that you shouldn’t gloss over: choosing whom to carry out the wishes outlined in your will. This person will essentially be making important decisions on your behalf. Select someone who’s trustworthy,…

How Payable-on-Death Accounts Compare with Trusts

Payable-on-death accounts are a type of bank account that, at the owner’s death, lets the money remaining pass directly to the beneficiaries named by the account owner. They offer an easy way to keep money out of probate. What is…

5 Options to Pay for Assisted Living

It’s not always the easiest of conversations, but long-term care can be an expensive necessity that comes toward the end of life. If you or a loved one is struggling to pay for assisted living, there are options that can…