(1) Do not add your child as owner on your bank accounts, home, or other assets. Your spouse is okay. But usually not the children.
(2) Do not take legal advice from someone who is not an attorney. Especially advice about trusts or other estate-planning matters from non-attorneys selling indexed deferred annuities.
(3) Do not buy an indexed deferred annuity, without guidance from an attorney as to the estate-planning, nursing-facility, and tax implications. Especially if you suffer from age-related disabilities.
(4) Do not jointly own your child’s vehicle. Car dealerships, without advising on the significant legal ramifications, assume that mom or dad should own the vehicle. But they only signed the promissory note so their son could obtain financing; not to be liable if their son caused a car accident.
(5) Do not loan money to your child without evidencing the debt through a promissory note.
(6) Obtain a well-drafted Health Care Power of Attorney and Financial Durable Power of Attorney.
(7) Understand what a Last Will & Testament does and does not do. And understand why beneficiary designations or joint-ownership usually trumps your dispositional intent in that document.
(8) Understand that failing to plan properly is detrimental to your family. Especially if you have a minor child, a spendthrift child, a step-child, a child with disabilities, anyone with disabilities, or anyone that loves you.
(9) Consult an elder-law attorney at least once in your life. And especially if you’ve entered a nursing facility for long-term care, or are a United States veteran suffering from age-related disabilities.
Copyright © 2017 BOND Estate Planning & Elder Law PC - All Rights Reserved (586) 447-3717
400 Maple Park Blvd, Ste 402, St. Clair Shores, MI