Would Giving Your House to our Children be a Good Decision? You may be afraid of losing your home if you have to enter a nursing home and apply for Medicaid. While this fear is well-founded, transferring the home to your children is usually not the best way to protect it. Although you generally do […]
The 2018 data is in. The cost of Skilled Nursing Home Care in Missouri according to Genworth is $5,543 per month for a private room and $5,019 per month for a semi-private room. That’s a cost of $66,516 per year for a private room and $60,228 for a semi-private room. How does this cost compare? Nursing home […]
senior matters expo 2018 On Saturday, October 6, 2018 we were at the Senior Matters Expo at the Drury Plaza Conference Center in Cape Girardeau. The Senior Matters Expo is for seniors by age (65+) and seniors in high school (age 18). The result is that you have vendors ranging from nursing homes to clothing […]
Full probate is time consuming and expensive. As an alternative, many states have created special rules for “small estates” that make the process go faster and cheaper. In Missouri, to qualify as a Small Estate, the value of the estate must be less than $40,000. Missouri Statute 473.097 sets out when a Small Estate can […]
When people say probate, what they are really referring to is Probate Court. People typically want to avoid Probate Court because it wastes time & money and takes what most people consider private and puts it in the public record. 3 ways to avoid probate in missouri So how can you avoid probate? There are […]
How much does a trust cost? One of the most frequently asked questions that I receive is “How much will it cost to get my affairs in order?” or “How much does a Trust cost?” What our clients like is that we have clear, up front pricing. During our initial consultation we’ll discuss what it […]
Typically our clients want to avoid Probate Court. Yet, if probate cannot be avoided, here are the steps that you have to go through during a normal Probate case in the state of Missouri. Note, this is for a “normal” case, yet please keep in mind that each case is different. For example, if the […]
We often get clients who say, “I’d like to set up a Trust.” Yet, what type of trust you want to set up will depend on your situation. One big advantage of most Trusts is they can help your heirs avoid probate court and, in many instances, can help keep your affairs private. Many trusts […]
The Department of Veteran’s Administration (VA) recently announced big changes to eligibility requirements for the VA pension and other needs-based benefit programs. The changes will be effective October 18, 2018. Some of the very good planning options that are currently available will no longer be available beginning on October 18th. One change is that the […]
Looking for a beneficiary? Consider a charity. Recently a client of mine said, “Mark, we know that we should have done a Will or Trust a long time ago but we haven’t because we just don’t know who I want our property to go to. We don’t have any children, we’re not especially close to […]
