It can be difficult to plan ahead for the eventualities of aging partially because of the fact that it’s hard to envision a time when you may not have the same level of mental capacity that you have right now.  But at the same time, you have to look at the statistics and plan for the possibilities so that a challenging situation does not become all the worse due to a lack of preparation.

Along these lines you would do well to understand how widespread incapacity is among elder Americans.  While there are other causes of incapacity,  Alzheimer’s disease is extremely common, striking four out of every 10 people who reach the age of 85.

Alzheimer’s brings many difficulties along with it, and one of these is dementia.  People who are suffering from dementia can find it impossible to make sound decisions regarding their finances and their health care choices.

If you were deemed to be incompetent by the court without any preparations having been made in advance you could become a ward of the state.  The court would appoint a guardian to handle your affairs, and you may have no choice with regard to who this will be.

The alternative is to take the matter into your own hands by executing the appropriate documents in advance of any mental or physical incapacity.  These would typically include durable powers of attorney for health care and for financial matters.

Incapacity planning is an important part of a well-rounded plan for aging, and if you would like to discuss this essential component with an expert, simply take a moment to arrange for a consultation with a good Indianapolis estate planning lawyer.

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Estate planning attorneys are going to routinely assist people who are endeavoring to prepare their assets for eventual transfer to their loved ones after they pass away.  However, professional advice can also be extraordinarily useful when you receive an inheritance, especially if it takes you by surprise.

When people pass away unexpectedly at a relatively young age their heirs may find themselves in possession of significant financial resources all of a sudden.  If you had no expectation of being on the receiving end of a windfall with no particular experience handling large sums of money, you may make mistakes that could have serious long-term consequences.

One thing that many people may overlook would be the potential tax consequences.  Though a new law was recently passed that will phase out the inheritance tax, at the present time Indiana does have such a levy and the possibility of being exposed is something to be aware of if you receive an inheritance.

It is also important to see the big picture and evaluate your long-term financial future.  Receiving an inheritance can be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to set yourself on a path toward a comfortable future.  Impulsive spending and living above your means for a relatively short period of time can leave you in a regrettable situation later on.

The intelligent course of action is to draw from professional experience if you find yourself in possession of a sizable inheritance.  If you discuss your future with a licensed and experienced Indianapolis financial planning lawyer, your attorney will evaluate your unique situation and make the appropriate recommendations.

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Late last summer reports were circulating in the news about the estate of the late singer Amy Winehouse.  It is no secret that Winehouse lived in the moment and it would be logical to assume that she might be an individual who did not have an estate plan in place.

However, we were told that she did in fact have a last will and that she was quite proactive about revising her financial plan after her divorce from her husband Blake Fielder-Civil.

Now Forbes is telling us that these early reports were incorrect.  Probate records have become available, and it turns out that Amy Winehouse died intestate or without a will.

If you die without a will intestacy laws of succession will hold sway.  In the case of Amy Winehouse, who was childless, her parents were legally in line to inherit her resources since there were no estate planning documents left behind.

We will never know if she would have wanted to leave anything to her former husband Fielder-Civil or her older brother Alex.

In case you’re curious, the Winehouse estate was actually worth less than many people were projecting.  After final expenses were taken care of her state was reportedly valued at $4.66 million.

This case illustrates the importance of planning ahead for the future even if you are a young adult because you never know when your time will come, and this is especially important for people with children.  If you are ready to state your wishes in a legally binding manner, pick up the phone right now to arrange for a consultation with a licensed and experienced Indianapolis estate planning lawyer.

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Most people are going to be relying on Social Security to one extent or another when they achieve senior citizen status so you need to know what to expect.  It should be noted that although 60% of people who receive Social Security say that it is their primary source of income you should do everything possible to avoid being overly dependent on the program because the income that it provides is relatively modest.

You become eligible to receive your full Social Security benefit when you are 66 years of age if you were born in 1954 or earlier.  After this the full eligibility age rises by two months every year until 1960; 67 is the full retirement age for people born in 1960 and after.

If you want to maximize your Social Security benefit you could work beyond your full retirement age and accrue delayed retirement credits as a result.  You can delay applying for Social Security until you are as old as 70.

On the other hand, you could retire when you are as young as 62 and your benefit would be reduced.

Questions often arise about the benefits of married couples.  If your benefit amount is more than half of your spouse’s benefit amount you each get your own benefit.  If it is less than half, that difference will be compensated for and your benefit will be exactly half of your spouse’s benefit.

To craft a comprehensive long-term financial plan that leads to a comfortable retirement expert advice is essential.  If you are interested in creating a road map toward success, take action right now to arrange for a consultation with a good Indianapolis retirement planning lawyer.

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Comprehensive estate planning is going to involve attending to multiple details.  Obviously you have to direct future transfers of financial assets, and you may also want to take care of funeral arrangements in advance.

However, you should consider the before as well as the after.  In many cases people do not pass away suddenly without experiencing any type of significant decline beforehand.

This is true of elders of course, but even younger people can sometimes become incapacitated and unable to communicate.

Medical science is capable of some advanced techniques that can keep people alive for significant periods of time even after they are in a vegetative state and have no hope of recovery.

Different people have different ideas about how to proceed should this type of situation arise.  As we saw with the Terri Schiavo case a number of years ago family members can disagree about the correct course of action.

The way that you can legally assert your wishes to squash any possible acrimony among loved ones while making sure that your own preferences hold sway would be to execute a living will.  With this document you state your wishes regarding medical procedures that you would be willing to accept or deny.

It is also advisable to include a durable medical power of attorney.  Once this directive is in place your attorney-in-the fact would be empowered to make health care decisions in your behalf should you be unable to make them on your own.

Advance health care directives should be included in any comprehensive estate plan and these important legal instruments can be easily executed with the assistance of a licensed Indianapolis estate planning lawyer.

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

At the present time it appears as though economic indicators are looking up, but it is no secret that unemployment has been high over the last several years.  If you were to lose your job after contributing into a 401(k) while you are employed you may be wondering what becomes of your account, and we would like to take a brief look at this type of scenario here.

One course of action that you could take would be to do a direct rollover into an individual retirement account.  Or, if you found employment quickly and your new employer offered a 401(k) program you could do a direct rollover into this plan.  With a direct rollover you are not penalized in any way.

It could also be possible for you to simply leave your money in the same 401(k).  There are some disadvantages to this however because costs that were previously picked up by your employer could be shifted to you, and it can sometimes be difficult to get help with your account once you’re no longer employed by the company offering the plan.

Another possibility would be to cash out the account.  The problem with doing this is that you must pay a 10% penalty in addition to the 20% tax that will be levied.

If you were to become separated from your job you must act wisely to keep your retirement plans on track.  Should you find yourself in this situation the wise course of action would be to seek advice from a licensed, savvy Indianapolis financial planning lawyer.

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Our pets provide us with many intangible joys, and they certainly deserve some rewards in return. A lot of people take this to heart and pamper their pets, but when it comes to certain celebrities they take things to another level.

Estate planning attorneys will always remind their clients that you have to remember your pets when you are planning your estate.  While it is true that you may live longer than your dog or cat, there are no guarantees and it is better to be safe than sorry and of course if you are a senior citizen it becomes all the more likely that you will predecease the animal and pet planning becomes even more essential.

Oprah Winfrey and Betty White have certainly taken the matter of pet planning seriously.  Winfrey reportedly has set aside $30 million for her dogs, while the popular actress White has placed $5 million into a trust fund to be administered for the benefit of her beloved golden retriever Pontiac.

Clearly, a lot of us would feel as though a dog could be well provided for without making the animal a canine millionaire.  However, setting up a pet trust and funding it in a reasonable manner is a good way to make sure that your four-legged best friend has what it needs for the rest of its life in the event of your passing.  If you would like to learn more about pet trusts, simply take a moment to arrange for a consultation with a licensed, experienced Indianapolis estate planning lawyer.

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When you look at the statistics on the subject you find that most people who are under the age of 50 do not have an estate plan in place.  And beyond that, the fact is that a significant percentage of people who are over the age of 50 have not comprehensively planned for the future either.

While there may be a few who have never given the subject any consideration at all, most people know that they should execute the appropriate estate planning documents.  These individuals procrastinate for one reason or another, and they can find plenty of excuses.

One of them would be that they decide that they won’t be dying any time soon so they will have plenty of time to address the matter later.  This is rather risky and perhaps a bit arrogant because you never know what fate has in store for you.

Another reason why people procrastinate is because they feel as though things are changing in their lives and throughout society as a whole and they decide to wait until everything becomes clear.  This is something that is very common right now because of the fact that the tax laws are in flux.

The extension of the Bush era tax cuts that was passed in 2010 is going to expire at the end of this year.  Unless some new tax relief package is passed we will indeed be looking at a very different playing field in 2013.

But at the same time it is very possible that the current tax parameters could be extended near the end of the year as they were in 2010.  Or, an entirely new tax measure could be passed.

In spite of these uncertainties doing nothing is not a solution.  The wise course of action is to sit down and put an initial estate plan in place with the assistance of a licensed Indianapolis estate planning lawyer.  He or she will gain an understanding of your situation and contact you when and if an adjustment to your existing estate plan becomes appropriate in light of any changes to the tax code that may be implemented.

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

There are those who say “tax the rich” and this is a populist battle cry that make sense to some people.  But when it comes to the Federal estate tax and the gift tax with which it is unified you have to be careful that you are informed and that you are not advocating against your own interests.

There are individuals who float the notion that these federal levies are something that ordinary people do not have to worry about because they are only imposed on the wealthiest Americans.

But in fact, any assets that you transfer to your family members either when you are alive or after you pass away that exceed the unified estate/gift tax exclusion amount are subject to taxation. And this dividing line may not be as high as you think it is.

The rate of the gift/estate tax right now is 35%, and this number is scheduled to rise to 55% when the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 sunsets at the end of this year.  At that time the exclusion is going down to just $1 million from the $5.12 million that is in place right now (assuming no changes to applicable laws take place in the meantime).

Let’s say that you have traversed a successful career path for 30 or 40 years, made intelligent investments, and perhaps inherited some money from your parents and grandparents along the way.  You could well be in possession of assets that exceed $1 million in total value while considering yourself to be in quite ordinary economic company.

So the suggestion here is to work alongside a good Indianapolis estate planning lawyer to make sure that your assets are situated in a tax efficient manner rather than assuming that you are safe from these taxes because you do not consider yourself to be wealthy.

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Indianapolis elder law attorneys are charged with the responsibility of helping to guide their clients through the different stages of life that they will be facing as the years pass.  This has a lot to do with financial preparation, but there are health care considerations as well.

In fact, the two are intimately intertwined because the financial position that you will be in as an elder has everything to do with the amount of money that you will have to part with to pay for medical and long-term care expenses.

And of course, regardless of how much money you have you are not going to be able to enjoy your free time if you are suffering from physical problems.  With this in mind fall prevention is something to take very seriously as your senior years start to come into focus.

People who start to reach an advanced age can sometimes find it to be a little bit more difficult to get around than they did previously.  You have to be aware of this and stay focused and mindful as you engage in everyday activities like getting in and out of the tub or shower, going up and down stairs, etc.

You may be surprised to hear that one out of every three people who has attained senior citizen status will wind up being involved in a fall, and the consequences can be devastating.  Believe it or not, an elder American dies after falling down every 29 minutes.

Awareness and education are the keys to minimizing risks.  If you would like to explore the matter in detail, a very good first step to take would be to visit the Falls Prevention page that is housed within the National Council On Aging website.

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.