Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Using a Revocable Living Trust as an Estate Planning Tool for Elderly Adults
Are you currently thinking about your own needs after retirement, as someone in your 40s or 50s? Planning ahead is always beneficial. At the same time, you might be thinking about estate planning needs for an elderly parent who has not yet considered what they should do now in the event of needs that… Read More »
Can My Elderly Parent Gift Their Assets to Me to Become Eligible for Medicaid
Much too often, older adults do not plan for the future possibility of needing nursing home care or another form of long-term care, even though a large portion of older adults will require it at some point as they age. Nursing home costs are extremely high — much more than you or your elderly… Read More »
Do I Need a Living Will If I Already Have a Will?
If you are just beginning to think about estate planning — whether it is for yourself or for your elderly parents — you have likely started to look into the types of documents that are important for all adults in Connecticut to create as part of their estate plan. There are two types of… Read More »
Checking Off Your Elderly Parents’ Estate Planning Needs
Whether you have an elderly parent who recently fell or was diagnosed with a serious condition that will likely require long-term care, or you merely want your active yet retired parents to plan ahead for the future, it is important to understand some of the key elements of estate planning for older adults. The… Read More »
Can I Change Information In My Advance Directives?
Many Canton residents, and Connecticut residents more generally, avoid or delay creating essential estate plan documents because they are not entirely certain about what they want, or because they are under the misconception that they cannot change their mind later on. To be sure, it is a common misconception that once an estate plan… Read More »
Should I Create a Revocable or Irrevocable Trust for My Family?
Creating a trust is often beneficial for individuals who want to ensure that their assets are distributed to their loved ones in a timely manner and without the complications of probate. Yet trusts can also be beneficial for many other reasons, both to the beneficiaries and to the settlor (the word used for the… Read More »
What is a Directed Trust?
There are many different types of trusts that a person or entity can establish in Connecticut, and they have distinct aims and purposes. With the passage of new trust laws in Connecticut back in 2020, through which Connecticut adopted its own version of the Uniform Trust Code, more trust options became available in the… Read More »
What is a Lifetime Gift Tax Exemption?
Have you been taking advantage of the annual gift tax exclusion, or are you planning to do so in the future? For individuals or married couples in Connecticut with larger estates, the gift tax exclusion is often a helpful way to give assets to family members and other beneficiaries without incurring tax, and while… Read More »
Who Will Handle the Administration of Your Estate?
Who is going to handle the administration of your estate, and what is involved in this process? When you are beginning to work on your estate plan in Canton, one of the things you will need to think about is estate administration and who you want to name as an executor. While estate administration… Read More »
Should I Pay for Long-Term Care Insurance?
Should you be thinking about purchasing long-term care insurance for yourself and your spouse? Often, this is a question that middle-aged adults in their 40s and 50s begin to consider as they are assisting elderly parents with issues of long-term care, including Medicaid planning and paying for nursing home care. Most of us are… Read More »