Legacy Lawyers

A power of attorney is a legal document you sign that gives another person the ability to act for you. The principal on a power of attorney is you, the individual creating the document. The agent is the person you assign to make decisions and act on your behalf.

After a divorce is finalized, it’s essential to look at key asset ownership documents and update them to reflect your new circumstances. Doing this can prevent your former spouse from laying claim to your assets after your death.

Administering a trust means overseeing assets for someone else when they are unable to do so themselves. Trust administration often occurs after a person dies, but it may take place while the person is still alive if they need an impartial third party to distribute assets. To administer a trust properly, it's important to understand what a trust does in the first place.

An elder law attorney personalizes services to fit individual needs. Your attorney can help you: - Choose people to make important decisions on your behalf. - Stay financially independent. - Plan for nursing home care. - Create an estate plan.

Medicaid refers to this practice as estate recovery. When applying for Medicaid, the state has you sign a document that allows it to make a claim against your estate to recover payments made by Medicaid during your lifetime. For most people, this amount will only be covered by the value of their homes. Estate recovery will cause the home to be sold to pay the state of North Carolina back for what Medicaid has paid for the nursing home and medical expenses, unless a spouse, child under age 21, or another qualified individual still resides in the home. However, our elder law attorneys offer clients multiple solutions to this problematic outcome that will allow your legacy to pass to your loved ones as you intended.

A revocable living trust is a legal document that must be signed by the trust maker and a notary public. It lists the property contained in the trust, names a trustee, and states who has a claim to the property when the trust maker dies. Most property can be added to a trust by simply naming it in the document, but real estate and other titled property will need to be retitled in the name of the trust.

In some cases, contacting an elder law attorney before you hit 60 may be a wise move. Working with an elder law attorney as soon as possible is recommended if: - You are in a second marriage and wish to protect the assets you brought to the marriage. - You have stepchildren you want to receive the same inheritance as your biological or adopted children. - You want to leave some of your estate to charity. - You own your own business. - There’s a sizable age gap between you and your spouse. - You’re nearing retirement age, but still have minor children at home.