1980: Bridging Traditional Estate Planning With Real World Needs

Estate Planning is like life.  It is continually evolving.

Let’s take a trip to 1980:

1.         Life expectancy in 1980 was 74. (Now 78 (80 for women)).

2.         Estate Taxes were paid on estate of over $161,000.
            It was $600,000 for ten years  from 1987-1997. 
            It is now $5 million!

3.         Probate was a real concern since, unlike today, many assets
            (especially stocks and bonds) could not be tilted with a
            beneficiary or “payable on death” and probate fees and
            costs could run into the thousands.

4.         Durable Powers of Attorney were not routinely used until the
            first major legislation enacted in 1995.

5.         Health Care Surrogates came into being in1998. Before that
            we had just a Living Will. The modern living will was enacted
            in 1992. Health Care Surrogates were enacted in 1998 with
            major changes in 2001 and 2005.

6.         1 out of 2 Americans over 85 has Alzheimer’s disease.  The
             rate has tripled since 1980. 

Elder Law grew out of the need to bridge traditional estate planning with real world needs. And in the real world the biggest financial crisis facing Middle Americans are the cost of long term care needs.  Planning on how you will leave your estate is worthless if there is not estate to leave because it was eaten up in the last years of our life.

Since traditional estate planning attorneys often do not concentrate on preparing for long term care needs, we are confronted with “stale” estate plans that are not only ill suited for the needs of the client but can actually be extremely problematic.  (We have had to go to court many times to “reform” documents of deceased spouses.)

The average “long goodbye” for an Alzheimer’s patient is 10 years.  The human toll and the financial costs are staggering.  Preparing for both of these inevitabilities can save on both the human and financial tolls.

Our all-new Alzheimer's Support Online Resource Center has prepared an information series for FREE.  Please feel free to sign up as well as to pass this information to your friends, clients and colleagues.

To learn more about the Elder Care services that we provide under the
Elder Law Umbrella, call The Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld and Associates
at 954.726.6602 or visit www.florida-elderlaw.com

And additional links that offer other useful information FREE, brought to you by

The Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld and Associates:

www.medicaidcrisislawyers.com/reiterfeld

www.learnvabenefits.com/reiterfeld

www.estateandlonglifeplan.com/reiterfeld