Estate Planning

July 15, 2021

Business Owners: One Thing You Need to Protect Your Business

What would happen to your business if you were unexpectedly incapacitated? How long could your company survive if you weren’t there to make the decisions that keep the operation moving? What kinds of calamity might come about even in a short period of time if certain contracts weren’t signed, deals weren’t negotiated, or personnel weren’t hired?

As a business owner, a lot depends on you.

You are responsible not only for the health and profitability of your company, but also the health and wellbeing of the people—family, employees, etc.—who depend on your company for their livelihood, income, and security.

June 17, 2021

Out-of-State Property and Probate: What You Need To Know

by Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri LLC

During a time of grief and sadness, the thought of having to go through probate can understandably bring on additional anxiety and confusion.

And, if your loved one owned out-of-state property, you may now be tasked with dealing with an additional layer of cumbersome paperwork and probate proceedings.

So you may wondering…

June 10, 2021

Revocable Trusts vs. Irrevocable Trusts: What’s the difference?

by Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri LLC

By Lara Schneider-Bomzer

So you’ve been doing your estate planning homework. You’ve learned that perhaps you should have a trust in addition to a Will.

But then you hear that there are different types of trusts!

In this blog post I’ll help you understand the difference between the two main trusts that you may want to consider: the revocable trust and irrevocable trust. Continue reading

May 26, 2021

Annuities as Asset Protection for Couples: Smart Move if You Do it Right

by Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri LLC

By Lara Schneider-Bomzer

Purchasing annuities is a good way for married couples to protect assets, but doing it wrong could mean huge penalties. Here is what you need to know about annuities as it relates to Medicaid planning in Connecticut:

If your spouse is residing in a nursing home or is in need of home care, chances are you’ve read our blogs about the ways to protect your assets and qualify your spouse for Medicaid benefits. But not all strategies apply to all couples.

Just as a refresher, under the Medicaid rules, the Institutionalized Spouse (IS) may only have a maximum of $1,600 in assets in his name. The Community Spouse (CS) may have a house, a car and up to half of a maximum of $130,380, called the Community Spouse Protected Amount (CSPA). While there are income requirements for the IS, the CS may have as much income as she receives with no limit.

May 14, 2021

Does Power of Attorney Allow You to Manage Someone Else’s Social Security?

by Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri LLC

If a loved one has named you as their POA (Power of Attorney), you now have written permission to help manage that loved one’s financial decisions during his or her lifetime.

It’s a powerful document. It puts complete trust and authority in you to handle the financial matters of the person who has named you as their agent.

Depending on how the document is constructed, as POA, you may have the authority to oversee transactions such as changing beneficiary designations, accessing a safe deposit box, dealing with the IRS and the State on tax matters, or creating, funding, and requesting distributions from trusts.

April 27, 2021

Alert: Proposed Changes in Estate Tax Laws

by Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri LLC

By Brendan Daly

The Senate recently introduced two bills that include proposed changes to the federal estate tax laws. The reason? To raise revenue due to the pandemic relief and infrastructure packages. These bills will have a significant impact on future estate planning, and may also disrupt existing plans with the increased risk of estate tax exposure.

The two bills currently under consideration are:

April 15, 2021

Your Retirement Accounts & The SECURE Act: What You Should Know

by Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri LLC

(Note: this post has been updated due to potential IRS changes)

Do you know about the new changes that could affect your retirement accounts? Some are positive, others may require you to make some new planning decisions.

Either way, the goal of this new legislation is to improve retirement security for many Americans. And that’s a good thing.

March 24, 2021

How to Transfer a Car After a Death

by Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri LLC

When you die, someone is going to benefit from the use of your car. Wouldn’t it be nice to decide now exactly who that person should be?

You can do that today – it’s easy! When registering a vehicle, you can designate a transfer-on-death (TOD) beneficiary, not unlike what you can do with a bank account.

How to designate a beneficiary

Simply complete the area reserved for this purpose on the reverse side of your registration certificate. If you do not have a registration certificate, or if you are registering a new vehicle, complete the Official Registration, Form H-13, and designate the Owner in Box 1 as “John Doe, Transfer on Death to Jane Doe.”

When you die, the transfer-on-death beneficiary need only bring a certified copy of your death certificate to the nearest Department of Vehicles office to have the registration transferred. Continue reading

March 18, 2021

Trusts and the Probate Process: What You Should Know

by Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri LLC

If you’re confused, or unfamiliar with trusts as part of an estate plan, you’re not alone! Some people need to have a trust, others do not.

Then there’s the probate process. Does having a trust impact the probate process? Should you have a trust to avoid the probate process?

To answer your questions about trusts and probate, read on!

February 4, 2021

What is a Conservatorship?

by Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri LLC

When you are putting your estate plan together, one of the advance directives you will want to create is a Designation of Conservator. It is probably something you haven’t thought about, or maybe even knew it existed! But it is really important.

What is this Designation of Conservator? It’s where you decide ahead of time who will manage your affairs – and under what certain circumstances – if you become incapacitated.

So what is a conservator?

A conservator is a person appointed by the probate court to oversee the financial and/or personal affairs of an adult who is determined by the probate court to be incapable of Continue reading