Thursday, February 25, 2010

Jeremy Attends Estate & Elder Law Symposium

Yesterday, your estate planning attorney Jeremy A. Wechsler attended the Pennsylvania Bar Institute's annual Estate & Elder Law Symposium. Jeremy believes that continuing to learn the latest estate planning techniques and case law is crucial to maintaining top standards in practice.

For instance, several key cases came through the Pennsylvania courts this year regarding estate planning. A big case, Slomski, has huge ramifications for powers of attorney, and whether certain language in your power of attorney gives the agent the ability to change beneficiaries on your retirement accounts. Was your power of attorney drafted a while ago? Better have it reviewed by us to make sure the language is proper. In fact, there have been dozens of cases throughout Pennsylvania this year that could have estate and elder law ramifications. Bottom line is, your documents from 10 or 20 years ago may not work today.

Other topics discussed yesterday were new and current asset protection strategies that actually work in Pennsylvania. Asset protection simply means planning ahead of time to keep your assets as safe as possible, using legal strategies. There are many strategies to protect your assets -- it's really about knowing the law. What assets can creditors get to? What is restricted? What strategies can you use to get money out of your estate and into your son or daughter's hands? What about strategies to protect your son or daughter with that estate? These are all questions we can help you with.

Also of interest was the latest elder law issues, such as Medicaid planning and the Medicaid application process, social security issues, and family caregiver agreements.

If you need a review of your estate plan, or need an estate plan crafted, make sure you visit with an attorney who keeps up with the latest law and most innovative techniques that actually work.