Estate Plan Check-Ups
Ashley Day Law
For more information about the author, click to view their website: Ashley Day Law
May 02, 2024
Alabama - Gulf Coast
Email US
Click to Email Us
Estate Plan Check-Ups
Effective estate planning is personal, and it’s more than
just deciding who to leave your assets to once you die. Effective estate planning is a comprehensive process that encompasses pre-need
planning: health care decisions, financial management, and maintaining a
delicate balance between independence and security. Like your preventive doctor visits, you should
regularly check in on your estate plan to ensure it fits your current needs, considers
and plans for potential future care needs, and will give effect to your wishes
now and in the future.
Generally, estate planning involves creating a last will and
testament, possibly a revocable trust, possibly an asset protection trust or a
supplemental needs trust for a loved one who is unable to manage finances or
may be vulnerable to abuse or exploitation.
Estate planning also involves important advanced directives, such as a
durable financial power of attorney, a health care power of attorney, and a
living will. Creating an estate plan,
or “getting my affairs in order,” tends to be an item on our to-do lists, for
us to get done and move on to the next thing. However, while it may not be
something you have to look at every month, or even every year, once your
initial estate plan is completed, it is something that needs to be reviewed
with some regularity.
Most people get an annual physical when they are healthy,
not when they are sick. They do this because they want to proactively spot any
issues that could cause them to become ill in the future. The same concept can
and should be applied when it comes to reviewing and updating your estate plan.
Your estate plan may be “healthy” now, but you want to make sure that it stays
that way by checking it regularly, to ensure it fits your needs and family
circumstances, protects and provides for you now, and accomplishes your goals and wishes in the
future.
Editor’s Note: This article is for informational purposes
only and is not intended to be legal advice.
This article was submitted by Ashley Day, Esq. Ashley Day Law, LLC. Reach her at 251-277-3377.
Other Articles You May Like
The Benefits and Services of Non-Medical In-Home Care
The Benefits and Services of Non-Medical In-Home CareAs our loved ones age or face health challenges, ensuring their well-being and independence becomes a priority. Non-medical in-home care offers a compassionate solution, providing personalized support in the comfort of home. Homecare Companions specializes in delivering this care, catering to a diverse range of needs with services designed to enhance quality of life and peace of mind.Who Benefits from Non-Medical In-Home Care?Non-medical in-home care is ideal for individuals facing health-related challenges, including: Aging parents who need assistance with daily activities. Those living with chronic or progressive conditions such as ALS, Parkinsons disease, or dementia. Individuals recovering from surgery or rehabilitation after a stroke. Patients with visual impairments, mobility issues, or an increased risk of falls. People navigating the complexities of end-of-life care due to diseases like cancer, heart disease, or COPD. Amputees and others adjusting to significant physical changes. Whether the goal is regaining independence or enhancing comfort during challenging times, in-home care provides tailored support for every unique situation. Core Services Provided by Homecare CompanionsHomecare Companions focus on non-medical services that improve clients daily lives. Key offerings include: Help with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs): Assistance with bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, and incontinence care. Meal Preparation and Nutrition Support: Cooking, feeding assistance, and ensuring dietary needs are met. Light Housekeeping: Tasks such as laundry, cleaning, and maintaining a tidy home environment. Medication Reminders: Helping clients stay on track with their medication schedules. Transportation Services: Driving clients to medical appointments, grocery stores, or social outings. Companionship: Providing emotional support and reducing feelings of isolation through meaningful interactions. Mobility Support: Helping clients with mobility and transferring. End-of-Life Support: Offering compassionate care and emotional support for patients and families in hospice care. Enhanced Services and CustomizationHomecare Companions also offer additional services to suit individual needs, such as: Personalized Care Plans: Based on a complimentary in-home assessment, tailored care plans address the specific needs of each client. Collaboration with Other Care Providers: Coordinating with home health or hospice care teams to provide seamless, 24/7 support. Insurance Assistance: We are a fully insured, certified and bonded long-term care company. With an RN on staff we can accommodate almost all long term care insurance requirements. FAQs About Non-Medical In-Home Care1. How Much Does It Cost? The cost depends on the level of care, location, and frequency of visits. Contact Homecare Companions for a customized quote.2. Is It Covered by Insurance? Medicare typically doesnt cover non-medical in-home care, but many long-term care insurance policies do. Homecare Companions is certified to meet insurance requirements and can assist with claims.3. How Do I Find a Qualified Caregiver? Homecare Companions carefully vets each caregiver with background checks, reference verification, and training to ensure professionalism and trustworthiness.4. How Can I Arrange Services? Contact Homecare Companions at (251) 699-3441 to schedule a complimentary assessment and create a care plan tailored to your loved ones needs. The Benefits of Homecare CompanionsHaving a homecare companion brings numerous advantages, including: Promoting independence by assisting with daily tasks. Providing genuine companionship to combat loneliness. Reducing stress for families by offering peace of mind. Enhancing overall well-being in the familiarity of home. Whether supporting recovery, navigating chronic conditions, or ensuring comfort during end-of-life care, Homecare Companions are committed to delivering compassionate and comprehensive support. Serving Baldwin and Mobile counties. Contact Homecare Companions today at 251-699-3441 to learn more about how we can assist you and your family!
Audiologist Versus Hearing Aid Dispenser: What is the difference?
Audiologist Versus Hearing Aid Dispenser: What is the difference?There are vast differences in the professional roles in diagnosing and treatment of hearing loss. It is still common today for someone to get screened, tested, or fitted with a hearing aid by someone and still not know what qualifications that person had. How do you know who you can trust? An important distinction to understand when treating your hearing loss is the difference between an Audiologist and a hearing aid dispenser. An Audiologist is a Doctor of Audiology who is extensively trained in the science of hearing; while a hearing aid dispenser applies for a license after meeting some basic requirements (see below).Audiologist: An Audiologist is trained to diagnose, treat and monitor disorders of the hearing and balance system. They are trained in anatomy and physiology, amplification devices, cochlear Implants, electrophysiology, acoustics, psychophysics and auditory rehabilitation. Doctors of Audiology complete, at a minimum, an undergraduate and doctoral level degree in audiology, as well as a supervised externship prior to state licensure and national certification. This usually requires 8 years of post-secondary education (4 years of college and 4 years of graduate school). The graduate school years focus on the medical, diagnostic and rehabilitative aspects of hearing loss, hearing aids and the vestibular system. Upon completion of training, Audiologists must also pass a national standardized examination in order to be eligible for state licensure. Continuing education requirements must be met in order for an Audiologist to maintain state licensure.Hearing Aid Dispenser: A hearing aid dispenser is licensed to perform audiometric testing for the sole purpose of selling and fitting hearing aids. In order to obtain a license, hearing aid dispensers are required to pass an exam. Prior to taking the exam, certain requirements must be met, which vary from state to state. In many states, hearing aid dispensers are only required to have a high school diploma. In other states, hearing aid dispensers must complete two years of college or post-secondary education in any field prior to applying for licensure. Some states require completion of distance learning coursework prior to taking the exam.In summary, the requirement for state licensure to dispense hearing aids is based on the minimum education necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the patient. The differences in education required for Audiologists versus hearing aid dispensers reflect the significantly larger range of professional practices that Audiologists are permitted to engage in.Audiologists are highly trained degree professionals. Audiologists receive extensive training in assessment of hearing, diagnosis, fitting and adjustment of hearing aids that helps to ensure: An accurate diagnosis; An appropriate treatment plan of intervention; A positive outcome from the hearing aid. At Naro Audiology & Hearing Solutions, our mission is to provide professional audiological services and hearing health care while developing excellent rapport with our patients by giving individualized attention and personal, compassionate care. We do our best to accurately test and diagnose every patient. For the hearing impaired, we seek to improve quality of life and maximize communication by listening to the patients' needs, accurately diagnosing their hearing loss and providing a vast array of communication solutions and cutting edge technologies to meet the needs of the patient. Naro Audiology serves Bay Minette, Brewton, Fairhope, and Foley. Contact Naro Audiology at 251-758-4326. We are hear for you!
Become a Volunteer with St. Joseph Hospice
Become a Volunteer with St. Joseph Hospice: Make a Difference Today!Volunteering with St. Joseph Hospice is an opportunity to profoundly impact the lives of individuals and families during some of their most challenging moments. As a hospice volunteer, you will help create an environment of hope, courage, and compassion for patients facing terminal illnesses and their loved ones. By dedicating your time and skills, you can provide invaluable emotional support and companionship that makes a lasting difference.Why Join the St. Joseph Hospice Volunteer Team?Volunteers play a vital role in the mission of St. Joseph Hospice. They enrich the lives of patients by offering comfort, assisting with practical needs, and simply being present. Whether you have a knack for planning activities, offering companionship, or providing administrative assistance, there is a place for you on our team.To ensure our volunteers are well-prepared, we offer a comprehensive Hospice Volunteer Training Program. This training equips you to understand the unique needs of hospice patients and their families, preparing you to bring comfort and a sense of normalcy to their lives.What Can You Do as a Volunteer?St. Joseph Hospice volunteers bring diverse skills to a variety of roles. Depending on your interests and experience, you could engage in: Companionship Visits: Spend time with patients, providing a comforting presence. Activity Planning: Organize recreational activities to brighten patients' days. Office Support: Assist with administrative tasks to ensure smooth operations. Health Fairs and Special Events: Help manage outreach events to promote awareness. Special Projects: Contribute your unique talents to meet the needs of patients and staff. Who Should Apply?We welcome individuals with various backgrounds and experiences. Ideal candidates might have experience in nursing home volunteering, direct-care support, or activity coordination. More importantly, we seek compassionate individuals with a genuine desire to help others.Volunteers must meet a few essential qualifications to ensure theyre ready for this meaningful role: Confidentiality: Respecting patients privacy is critical. Volunteers must commit to maintaining confidentiality and sign an agreement to this effect. Good Health: Assignments are tailored to your physical capabilities to ensure your safety and the well-being of those you support. Transportation: Volunteers must have reliable transportation to and from their assignments. Training Completion: Direct-care volunteers are required to complete the St. Joseph Hospice Volunteer Training Program. Flexibility: Volunteers should be able to accommodate a variety of scheduling needs, including short-notice requests. Ideal candidates have the following experience: Nursing home volunteer Direct-care volunteer Health fair management Entertainment and activity planning Office/administrative assistance Special projectsHow to Get InvolvedBecoming a hospice volunteer is simple. Visit the St. Joseph Hospice website and fill out a Contact Us form to express your interest. You can also explore our locations page to find a branch nearest to you.Volunteering with St. Joseph Hospice is more than just an act of serviceits a chance to bring light and comfort to those who need it most. Join our dedicated team of volunteers and help make a difference, one moment at a time.Contact St. Joseph Hospice at 251-675-7555 or email humanresources@carpenterhealth.net or more information about the volunteer program.
Local Services By This Author
Ashley Day Law
Elder Law 8335 Gayfer Road Extension, Fairhope, Alabama, 36532Elder Law - Plan to provide for future needs and preserve your legacy.Planning for the future and ensuring that your wishes will be carried out doesnt have to keep you up at night. If you or your loved one is 60+, now is a good time to plan your legal strategies to receive care in your home as you desire and if you may need expensive long-term care. If you have plans in place, we will review them with you and suggest modifications or additions, if any, for you to accomplish your goals.Elder law and estate planning serve two different, but equally vital, functions. The main difference is that elder law is focused on ensuring your care and preserving your assets during your lifetime, while estate planning concentrates on what happens to your assets after you die.Elder law planning is concerned with ensuring that seniors live long, healthy, and financially secure lives. It usually involves anticipating future medical needs, including long-term care. Elder law services include planning for the expected and the unexpected: pre-need planning and crisis planning. Planning is tailored to each clients concerns, goals, family dynamics, and immediate or potential future care needs and may include planning tools such as:Advance Directive for Health Care (Living Will)Healthcare Power of Attorney with Healthcare PreferencesDurable Power of Attorney for Property with Expanded PowersLong-Term Care Sensitive WillsCertification as to Validity of Power of Attorney and Agents AuthoritySpecial Needs Trusts or Other Asset Protection TrustsMedicaid and SSI PlanningLong Term Care PlanningGuardianships and ConservatorshipsUnderstanding/Protecting Against Elder Abuse and NeglectElder law planning also includes your instructions about living arrangements and priorities when it comes to care, which benefits your entire family. Whats more, it can ensure that you are protected from elder abuse or exploitation when you get older or become incapacitated. For seniors, this means resting assured that you will not be a burden to your children, siblings, or other family members if/when you are not able to care for yourselves. For other family members, your planning manifests your love for them, providing peace of mind and the tools needed to ensure care is provided as planned.Finally, elder law covers assistance with guardianship and conservatorship, if needed. Guardianship and/or conservatorship may be necessary to protect and provide for individuals who are unable to care for themselves or live independently, who are unable to understand or manage money and assets, and who may be at risk of abuse and exploitation. Supported Decision Making may be an alternative to guardianship/conservatorship for individuals with limited abilities to retain their decision-making capacity by choosing supporters to help them make choices.When planning proactively, Ashley Day Law works with you to determine your priorities and what future needs must be met and put together the best course of action based on your income and assets to protect your quality of life and reduce unnecessary stress within the family.When crisis planning, our caring and comprehensive approach can help guide you through a difficult process and relieve you of some of your worries.Having to place a loved one in a skilled nursing facility can be an emotionally wrenching experience. To make matters worse, confusion often reigns supreme when determining how to best use income and assets and when navigating the Medicaid application process. Well-meaning family, friends, and even professional advisers may give conflicting or incomplete advice causing families needlessly to lose their property and assets. At Ashley Day Law, we will help you plan for future care needs and how to pay for them, prepare documents for you to enact your plan, and assist with the administration to ensure plans are implemented and assets distributed as instructed.You want to do what is best for the people you love throughout your lifetime and ensure they are taken care of after you are gone. Give us a call.
Ashley Day Law
Special Needs Trusts 8335 Gayfer Road Extension, Fairhope, Alabama, 36532SPECIAL NEEDS PLANNINGParents of children with special needs often worry about how their children would survive and be cared for when their parents are no longer alive to support them. If one of your loved ones is living with a disability, you make sure that all their needs are met daily. But what would happen if you were gone?Also, over the years, parents are required to make many decisions in their childrens best interests, and those decisions are only amplified for parents with special needs children. Often, parents of special needs children dont know what questions to ask and are unaware of the many questions that inevitably will come their way. For the greatest success in securing your childrens futures, its important for parents and other family members to be prepared before its too late. Thats the role of special needs planning.Special Needs Planning involves preparing for the current and future care needs of children and adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, neurocognitive disorders, and/or psychiatric illnesses. It is the best way for a parent, grandparent, and/or guardian to proactively protect and provide for children and grandchildren with disabilities both in the near and not-so-near future for care, housing, and quality of life should something unexpectedly happen to you; for 18th birthdays (automatic transfer of parental rights); for eligibility for government benefits; for change in life circumstances; planning for your childs quality of life, and for your peace of mind.Our special needs planning services include:Special (Supplemental) Needs TrustsRevocable Living Trusts with Special (Supplemental) Needs Trust ProvisionsWills with Special Needs & Spousal Trust ProvisionsGuardianships and ConservatorshipsPlanning for Age 18Planning for Eligibility for Government Benefits (SSI, Medicaid, etc.)Government Benefits AdvisementSchool Law/AdvocacyGuardianship/Conservatorship AdministrationSpecial (Supplemental) Needs Trust AdministrationSpecial needs planning is critical because individuals with special needs often are unable to make appropriate financial decisions for themselves and/or are at risk of financial exploitation by others. Equally important is to maintain eligibility for public benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid and enable children with special needs to have fulfilling lives.SSI is used to pay for food and housing (primary needs), but it is not nearly enough to live on. Medicaid waiver programs enable access to beneficial services and programs not accessible absent Medicaid eligibility. Generally, beneficiaries of SSI or Medicaid can have little income and, at most, $2,000 in assets. Leaving money to loved ones directly to provide for their care would jeopardize their ability to receive any help from these means-tested government programs. On top of that, the money left to them would have to be spent down to pay for primary needs previously covered by SSI instead of being used to improve the care provided and quality of life. A Special (Supplemental) Needs Trust (SNT) manages resources while also maintaining the beneficiarys eligibility for public assistance benefits.For most families, a third-party irrevocable Special SNT is the most effective way to set aside assets and funds to help the person with special needs. Cash, investment accounts, real estate, or proceeds from a life insurance policy are common ways to fund the trust. The trust can provide for the beneficiary during the parents lifetimes and will provide for the beneficiary when parents are no longer around to care for the beneficiary. Because the SNT owns the assets instead of the beneficiary, the assets are excluded from asset limit tests for SSI or Medicaid. Meanwhile, trust funds can be used to pay for quality-of-life improvements for the beneficiary, such as a phone, an iPad, computer games, trips, travel to visit family, entertainment events, and other activities. The SNT also ensures that funds are used for the benefit of your vulnerable family member and that other relatives, such as siblings, are not left with the responsibility and costs of care.Special needs planning can be a complex and confusing area of the law. Ashley Day Law, LLC will work with you to construct a comprehensive plan customized to your situation and provide you with the tools and information necessary to make sure your loved one is protected, so you have peace of mind knowing your loved one will be taken care of just as you wish.How well you do or dont plan for a special needs family member can have tremendous consequences. Give us a call. Let us help you get it right.
Ashley Day Law
Estate Planning 8335 Gayfer Road Extension, Fairhope, Alabama, 36532Estate Planning - Ashley Day Law provides comprehensive planning ot individuals and families.We help our clients prepare for unexpected incapacity or death, to ensure both that their family and loved ones have the ability to care for them and that their assets are transferred at their passing in accordance with their goals and wishes. We design and create proper estate plans for our clients, review beneficiary designations, and advise our clients to ensure trusts are funded.Establishing your estate plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones during your lifetime, in case of disability, and at your death. A well-thought-out and comprehensive estate plan can prevent the need for someone to obtain guardianship in the future, lessen administrative costs associated with the transfer of assets at death, and help smooth familial relations.Our estate planning services include:Forming Living, Irrevocable Protection TrustsAssisting with Beneficiary Designations and Other Non-Probate TransfersDrafting Wills, Living Trusts, Healthcare Directives, Powers of Attorney, and Other Planning DocumentsAdvising Executors, Administrators, Trustees, and GuardiansDeveloping Caregiver Agreements and Other Family AgreementsPost-Mortem PlanningWhile estate planning often includes a variety of items among those listed above, foundational estate planning includes, at least, wills, durable powers of attorney, advance healthcare directives, HIPAA authorizations, and a stand-alone or testamentary supplemental needs trust if you have a loved one with special needs. These instruments are critical to ensure your wishes are followed. A properly designed and implemented estate plan also can help you accomplish additional goals, such as:Providing financial security for your familyEnsuring your property is preserved and passed on to your beneficiariesAvoiding disputes among family members, business owners, or with third parties (such as the IRS)Providing for your childrens or grandchildrens educationProviding for your favorite charityMaintaining control over or ensuring the competent management of your property in case of incapacityMinimizing tax consequences and other costsAvoiding probateProviding adequate liquidity for the settlement of your estateTransferring ownership of your business to your beneficiariesPassing on your values, sense of responsibility, and work ethic to heirsEvery family situation is unique. We work with you and your other professional advisors, including financial planners, accountants, and/or other attorneys who are familiar with your goals and concerns to determine what options work best for you and your family and ensure their implementation.By protecting your estate and yourself, you are protecting your family and sparing them the expense, delay, and frustration that occurs when family members fail to plan. No estate plan is one size fits all. As priorities change, plans can be modified. Its never too early or too late to plan. Give us a call. Were here to help.