Estate Planning Attorney Raleigh NC: Protect Your Assets from Elder Abuse
Would you believe that in less than 50 years, one in ten Americans will be 65 years of age, or older? With that being said, it’s important to focus on protecting your assets in the future. Sadly, financial elder abuse rates are growing consistently with the aging population. It has been estimated that in 2014 alone the financial elder abuse loss will be close to 3 million dollars.
Estate Planning | Attorney Raleigh NC | Protection from Financial Elder Abuse
There are several ways you can protect your assets, as well as the assets of elderly family members from the unfortunate event of financial elder abuse. Contacting your attorney in Raleigh NC is the first step. Then:
Revocable Living Trusts. Using a trust to protect assets is important for many reasons. You can hold possessions in a revocable living trust to avoid probate. Probate is costly and can cause a delay in distribution of assets in the event of your death. A revocable living trust also allows easy management of property in the event you become incapacitated.
Irrevocable Trusts. Starting and funding an irrevocable trust with assets may help preserve entitlement for Medicaid. In addition, an irrevocable trust guards against fraud such as being forced into signing over ownership rights or other important documents that might result in a fraudulent surrender of assets. Since a trustee actually controls the assets you are better protected
Power of attorney. A durable power of attorney is a great way to avoid financial elder fraud. A durable power of attorney offers an individual a way to assign another the power to make all the important monetary decisions on their behalf. This includes account administration and bill paying.
Considering financial elder abuse and the seriousness of its effects, it’s important to do what you can to ensure that it doesn’t happen to you. Contact Eldreth Law Firm, PLLC to set up a consultation with our attorney in Raleigh NC. We can work with you to make sure you have a sound estate plan, complete with necessary trusts and powers of attorney, so that you won’t have to worry about financial abuse during your elder years.
