Life insurance is a popular tool that is often used in planning a person's estate. This also applies of course to the estate planning regarding a married couple and their children. Traditionally, in Texas and elsewhere, the purchase of life insurance was designed to pay taxes at death.
Life insurance retains a key role in estate planning
New rules demand emergency plans for long-term care providers
Texas is a state that has its share of natural and man-made disasters. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are concerned that residents of health care facilities will be well protected and cared for during a future emergency. The owners of long\-term care facilities must comply with new rules being formulated by the CMS to assure that facilities are prepared to take care of patients during disasters and emergencies.
Long-term care may be worst financial problem in post-retirement
After retirement, the average person has about a 50 percent chance of needing to be cared for in a nursing or similar institution. The chances are that for many the cost of such long\-term care services will be out of reach. For an average 2.5 years stay in a Texas institution, the cost is estimated to be in the range of $200,000. When it comes to being prepared for such an event, most people procrastinate, and if they do think about it, they create an unreasonable expectation that someone or some agency will come along and pay for it.
Estate planning requires regular review to keep the plan current
In Texas, the preservation of one assets, preparing plans for how those assets may satisfy certain needs in one's elder years, and also having a plan for the distribution of assets to family and best friends are all major considerations to keep one's affairs in top-notch condition. It is also highly recommended by estate planning experts that everyone review and update their estate plans every five years. Estate planning attorneys are ready to assist clients in keeping their documents and planning tools up-to-date.
Long-term care laws may often be used to save family home
It's a common scenario in Texas and elsewhere: an elderly couple enjoying retirement face a crisis when one of them gets ill and incapacitated and needs to enter a nursing home or similar facility right away. The spouse at home is in relatively good health and is still active but there is no long\-term care plan that has been put in place to contend with the crisis. Does he or she have to sell the house to finance the rather exorbitant institutional charges that are demanded?