Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Should My Teenager Have Advance Directives?
Many Connecticut residents who are currently in their 40s and 50s have teenagers who are reaching the age of majority. Some have a year before leaving for college, while others may be heading to college in the coming months. If you are among the middle-aged population in the state that has a teenager who… Read More »
Why You Need a Will Even If You Have a Revocable Living Trust
Are you beginning to think about estate planning in Connecticut and considering creating a revocable living trust? For many people in the Canton area, with varying incomes and assets, a revocable living trust can be an extremely useful tool to have in your estate plan. A revocable living trust allows the person who creates… Read More »
Why a Large Injury Settlement May Require a Special Needs Trust
If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury due to another person’s negligence, a personal injury settlement can provide critical resources for medical care, therapy, and daily living expenses. However, for individuals who will require government assistance programs such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) because of long-term or permanent… Read More »
Federal Estate Tax Exemption Reaches a New Permanent High: What It Means for Your Connecticut Estate Plan
For years, Connecticut families with substantial assets planned around a looming deadline. The federal estate tax exemption, doubled by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, was scheduled to fall back to roughly half its size at the end of 2025. Many estate plans were drafted specifically with that shrinking exemption in mind. That… Read More »
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 »