This gives you the chance to name someone to act on your behalf in managing assets and making decisions for you in the event you become incapacitated. You can do this using a number of tools including: In addition to protecting your assets and facilitating the transfer of wealth, preparing for your possible incapacity should be a key part of your estate planning checklist. You may also need to use specialized estate planning tools, such as a special needs trust that allows money to be put into trust and used for a disabled person’s benefit without jeopardizing their access to means-tested government support programs.Īn experienced attorney can help you to understand the kinds of special tools and legal arrangements you can use to best provide for loved ones and keep your wealth safe both now and in the future. These can be used to shield your assets as part of a Medicaid plan and to help you avoid estate taxes-but you’ll need to give up a lot more control over your assets during your lifetime. They do not protect against estate tax or most creditor claims due to your continued control of trust assets. These flexible trusts allow you to retain substantial control over assets during your lifetime while allowing money and property to transfer outside of probate after your death. Owning property with others as joint tenants with rights of survivorship or tenants by the entirety could allow property to pass automatically to loved ones. These can facilitate the automatic transfer of assets to designated beneficiaries. You can also create a testamentary trust in your will, which is commonly used when providing an inheritance to minor children who are unable to manage the assets on their own. This is a simple tool you can use to specify who inherits.

Leaving money to someone who you don’t trust to be responsible with managing it.īy thinking about who you hope to provide for, you can make informed choices about the kinds of tools to use to make your plans for what happens after your death.Īgain, an estate planning attorney can assist you with identifying circumstances that exist that could affect the legal tools you must use to implement your plan.Īrmed with knowledge of your heirs’ needs and the potential threats to your wealth, you can make an estate plan that facilitates the timely and efficient transfer of your property to the appropriate parties after death.

Leaving money or property to minor children who cannot yet manage the funds.

Other issues that could affect your planning process include: You would need to take this into account when making your estate plan. Providing an inheritance directly to these individuals could jeopardize their access to these benefits. You will also need to consider any unique circumstances that could affect the people who will inherit your wealth-or your ability to provide for them.įor instance, individuals with special needs may receive means-tested government benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid. An attorney can help you with this process if you aren’t sure where to start. The first step in your estate plan should be to identify all of these potential threats to your estate so you can choose the right tools to keep your money and property safe. You may also wish to protect your assets against creditor claims, make sure that an irresponsible heir doesn’t spend the money that you leave to them, take steps to reduce or avoid estate taxes if you have a larger estate, or avoid the probate process. Making a Medicaid plan to avoid spending down your wealth while ensuring you can get access to nursing home coverage can be very important. Medicaid does cover custodial care in a nursing home, which is the routine care most people need-but you must have limited assets to qualify. Nursing home care is very costly and it’s not covered by Medicare or other medical insurance except in very limited situations.

One of the most important ways you can do this is to create a Medicaid plan.

You’ll want to be sure that your money and property are safe both during your lifetime and after you pass. Protecting assets against potential loss is one of the key parts of estate planning.

Virginia estate planning checklist