Essex County Bar Assn

• Life After Caregiving
• How to Keep Caregiving From Ruining Family Relationships
  
• Caregiver Burnout
• Caregiver Stories

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• 6 Steps to Creating a Will
• Avoiding Probate with a POD Account
• Being a Power of Attorney is Not Easy
• Benefits of Pre-Planned Funeral
• Can You Inherit Credit Card Debt?
• Checklist: What To Do When Someone Dies
• Common Types Of Trusts
• Depression Rates For Caregivers
• Difference between Medicare and Medicaid
• Does An Executor Get Paid
• Don't Die without a Will
• Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
• Estate Planning for Beginners
• Financial Toll of Being a Caregiver
• General Power of Attorney Form
• How Many People Die Without a Will?
• How Often Should You Update Your Will
• How to Prepare for the Death of a Loved One
• If You Not Going to Help - Keep Quite!
• Last Will and Testament Form
• Make Your First Will
• Must Read for Siblings of Caregivers
• Sample Last Will and Testament Form
• The Probate Process
• Things Your Executor Will Need to Know
• What Are Video Wills
• What Does an Executor Do?
• What is a Holographic Will?
• When is Probate Necessary?
• Worst Excuses For Not Having A Will

The Benefits of Pre-Paying Funeral Expenses
Some of the benefits to a Pre-Planned funeral are that decisions can be made prior to time of need, leaving families time and energy to focus on their emotional needs. You can also make the decisions that eliminate the family wondering if the arrangements your family makes for yor funeral are ones that you would have really wanted. Not only does it prevents stress and confusion but prevents overspending, thereby protecting your family and your assets. If you choose a pre-planned funeral with an Irrevocable Trust it is exempted from SSI and Medicaid qualification. ">Continued

Avoiding Probate with a Payable on Death Account
Among the ways to avoid the costs and inconveniences associated with probate include setting up a “payable on death” (POD) bank account. These are also known as “Totten Trusts” A Totten trust (also referred to as a "Payable on Death" account) is a form of trust in the United States in which one party (the settlor of the trust) places money in a bank account or security with instructions that upon the settlor's death, whatever is in that account will pass to a named beneficiary. For example, a Totten trust arises when a bank account is titled in the form "[depositor], in trust for [beneficiary]".can be opened at most banks, brokerage houses, credit unions, and other financial institutions.

Sample Last Will and Testament Form
This Sample Last Will and Testament Form is fairly cut and dry and will give you a good idea of what a Legal Will consists of. ">Continued

How to Complete a Living Will
What is an Advance Directive? As you approach those final weeks or days or hours of your life, what are your wishes about aspects such as keeping you alive on machines or jump-starting your heart so it won't stop? Do you wish to have a respirator breath for you? Or do you want to be fed through a tube threaded down your throat to your stomach? Continued

When is Probate Necessary?
Probate is the court process to determine who receives assets owned by someone who has died. The court appoints a personal representative (or executor) to take charge of the estate, pay all debts and taxes and, ultimately, distribute the remaining assets to the heirs. There are occasions when the probate process can be avoided. This typically happens when assets have been transferred prior to death or proper beneficiary designations have been made such as a POD (Payable on Death). ">Continued

Financial Toll of Being a Caregiver
Caregivers, on average, spend more than $5,500 per year in out-of-pocket expenses. Out-of-pocket expenses for Long-distance caregivers can exceed more than $8,700 per year for incidentals such as transportation, food and supplies. ">Continued

Last Will and Testament Form

The Probate Process
The process begins when the person named in a Will as personal representative (sometimes called an "executor") files papers in the local probate court. This person must prove that the Will is valid. In some states a valid Will requires two witnesses to testify that the person who created the Will was of sound mind and knew what he or she was doing. These witnesses must sign the Will in the presence of each other at the time the Will is created. The personal representative usually provides the court with proof of these requirements in an affidavit signed by at least one of the witnesses. ">Continued