Lebanon Pennsylvania Family & Estate Law Blog

If you are close to or past the age of retirement, you have probably spent a significant portion of your working life accumulating assets that could support you during your retirement years. From a financial nest egg to the equity in your home, you will likely rely on your savings to care for yourself as you age.

Unfortunately, longer life expectancies carry with them an often unanticipated negative consequence. Specifically, more adults may need intensive services as they age than in previous generations. From skilled nursing support that allows you to stay at home in your later years to residential care in a nursing home facility, your medical needs could quickly exceed the financial savings you have in place to protect yourself.

Everybody has a complicated family. For some that means drama or estrangement. For many, it means divorce, remarriage, and blended families. TV shows like Modern Family highlight that detail today, but it’s a long-running American concept – just think back to old episodes of The Brady Bunch.

Blended families are common. More than half of US families are blended, Forbes reports. When it comes to our autumn years and estate planning, it’s important to consider each family’s dynamics, and to make sure that the will or trust doesn’t have any loopholes or open ends. With an estate plan, you should plan for the worst – not because that it likely to happen, but to make sure that you have a process defined just in case. Given the complexity of blended families, that’s even more important.

When you reach retirement age, you may begin thinking substantially about the many assets you have acquired throughout your lifetime. You know that you want to gift specific assets to certain loved ones, but you are unsure whether a permanent or changeable trust will prove best for your situation.

Two types of trust exist in Pennsylvania for allocating assets to your family members and close friends. Both revocable and irrevocable trusts have benefits, but they both provide peace of mind to those that enact a trust. Creating a document that protects and allocates your assets constitutes a responsible decision, so you and your beneficiaries can find comfort in knowing your property lies securely in a legal documentation. When developing a trust, it may prove beneficial to utilize the expertise of an estate planning attorney, so that he or she can help you in determining the best trust for your unique situation.