I think that if this is just for you, someone who does trusts and estates would be appropriate, not necessarily someone who also deals with other elder legal issues.

It does no harm to go to the seminar, just be aware that some firms use these as a vehicle to sell annuities or other products. OTOH it might just be a cleanly done seminar that gets business for their firm. But "asset preservation" can mean hard-sell annuity salesmen.

I guess I'd talk to everyone I know and ask for recommendations.

My DH and I consulted an elder law attorney recommended by the American Bar association. He came to our home the same day we called him, loosely discussed our needs, then sent us a letter saying his usual fee was $7000 per "case" or $350 per hour if we wanted to pay a la carte. Sent him an email saying thanks, no thanks.

We hired an elder care attorney for my Mother as there were a lot of financial things to see about before she was in the nursing home. $6,000 was the charge if I recall.

Sue

It makes me angry that lawyers have rigged the system so that it's necessary to pay exorbitant fees for what should be simple.

I prepared wills, powers of attorney, and advance medical directive documents for my parents. When my mother was ill, my brother felt that we should ask an estate attorney to review the documents. The attorney reviewed the documents and made a few, insignificant changes (which was easy since I provided the documents on disk). He charged us $1,200.

Jannie, your guy sounds like the one I spoke to on the phone. :-)

Wanda, what a rip-off! My family lawyer drew up those documents for me (from scratch) for about one-quarter of that. OTOH, another lawyer did an earlier will for me and charged $950.

I have no interest in annuities--or any other product a lawyer might try to sell.

I'm trying to decide if I want to get up early in the morning--not to mention driving 30 miles or so one way--to attend one of these free seminars.

I don't know if your husband has passed or not, it's two different situations and has to be done differently. I am a widow and after my husband died I set up my last wishes. I put POD (pay on death) on my savings account naming an heir. I put TOD (transfer on death) on my car and home and named an heir. A small college is my heir and they could not believe that my relatives would let the assets go so easily. I consulted an estate attorney, to set up my own papers, POA, Comfort Care Order, etc.. I asked him about the way I set up the assets. He said it was perfect and at my age with the ability to set it up on my own,to know how to do it, relatives would be laughed out of court if they contested it. The college wanted me to make a will to protect them and the lawyer wrote up a will to be used if someone does contest it and the papers I needed and only charged me $400. for all of it. All the heirs will need is a copy of the death certificate.

If you are married make sure every thing you have goes to the surviving spouse by right of survivor ship. In case you both die together as in a car accident, you need a living trust but you need someone you can trust to handle it.

All of this bypasses courts and lawyers that charge outrages prices. My BIL lost 60% of his in inheritance to lawyers.

You might contact any Senior group in your area such as Council on Aging, your local Senior center, your medical social services, an assist. living center, and even the phone book. Check with your State bar association for complaints, and other notices. Even AARP might have some guide lines, though I do not know if I would go with their recomendations. Look for a well established group of attorneys with a variety of interests, and ask about getting a new/young attorney just starting out specializing in Senior care. Or some have legal aids that will do the service and then have an attorney check the forms out. Remember nothing is free. Somewhere on this form there use to be a excellent check list for this service. Or it might be on care giving forum
Good luck and I am sure you will find the right person.

I forgot to mention the seminar, I would not go to it. They prey on people who are helpless and seeking help. If they were responsible business people, they would not do business that way.

If you are seeking advice to invest your assets, just put it in the bank in CD's and don't go over the amount the government insures. the most important thing for a senior is to protect the principle, don't worry about interest. My Sis lost $50,000 in "the market". If you are looking for ways to protect your assets in case you have to go to a care home, forget it. The only way you can do that is give your money and property away 5 years before you go to a care home. No one in their right mind would do that.

Good suggestions, Marie. As a matter of fact, I know the head of our Agency on Aging. I should have thought of her as a resource.

Vala, you bring up some interesting points. I hadn't even thought about my cars, for instance. I assume they fall under "other assets" in my will. My husband died in 2005. I have most things set up the way I want, but I want to learn more about trusts.

Vala, I just read your second message. Yeah, the idea of the seminar doesn't appeal to me somehow. The only thing that tempts me in the ad is this: Find out what type of trust will protect you.

I don't think it would hurt to go to a seminar just to hear what they have to say. My husband and I went to one once as did our neighbors who ended up getting a trust set up through them and they are happy the way it was done. It may be worth the trip and you can use it to your advantage by asking them specific questions you may have.

I honestly believe that the majority of those seminars are just a way to drum up business. My Dad attended one organized by an attorney and an accountant and paid thousands of dollars to set up what he thought was a safe trust. When he moved in with us we took him to see our attorney who reviewed his paper work and then told us that it was so poorly prepared that it was nearly worthless. But it looked great - it was in a huge leather binder with my Dad's name embossed on the front. My poor Dad thought he had done the right thing.

He was very helpful in explaining all the complicated regulations about nursing home care and Medicaid eligibility and how to protect the few dollars my Dad still had. His advice was so perfect that when my Dad died we didn't even have to probate his will. It made a difficult time so much easier.

We've used the same attorney for over 20 years for our will and trusts. We're probably due to update them again soon. It's amazing how complicated the inheritance and estate laws are.

I am not sure what you mean by protecting your assets. Protect them from what?

Maire, that's sad. It worked out well in the end, but I hate that your dad was basically taken advantage of. The lawyer I signed on with nine years ago was recommended by a friend, and I later learned that he gave those seminars. He didn't overcharge me, though, and no embossed leather binders were involved.

I think Sushipup is on the right track; I'll start by talking to my family lawyer, whom I like and trust. Coincidentally, a friend just posted on Facebook that Ameriprise is giving a seminar on estate planning in our town. I found this blog entry about Ameriprise. If you read it, be sure to click on the update at the bottom of the entry.

Vala - are you asking me?

I did mention protecting the few dollars my Dad had...but I was referring to protecting whatever he had left from probate and attorney fees. He avoided probate by making sure he didn't own anything in his name alone. He rearranged his accounts so that he wasn't the only person on them. For instance he added my name to his checking account because he couldn't handle that any longer and I had to pay his bills for him. He sold his house years ago and rented before moving in with me and when he had to quit driving he sold his car.

You need to do a lot of research before you let anyone talk you into anything.

First, be aware, that unless the estate is really sizable, there's no problem, usually, if it's going to pass to a spouse or child. There was no tax on my mom's estate, the fees for what I had to do with the probate office were in the $150 range (nothing to worry about, certainly), and it was really simple to wrap things up. HOWEVER, if you're leaving your estate to a 'sideways' relative or to a non-relative, there will be a really hefty tax. I'm executrix of my aunt's estate right now. The ENTIRE estate (including POD accounts and savings accounts in joint name with her nieces/nephew) is subject to 15% inheritance tax. We even have to include the value of her personal possessions (like clothes and costume jewelry--even though most of that stuff has been donated to charity). The really outrageous thing? She left me an annuity--it's very small, and I'm already receiving it (it really didn't go 'through' the estate at all). BUT I have to BOTH--claim it as part of the estate (even though I won't live long enough to collect the entire thing myself) AND I have to pay annual INCOME tax on it. So it's getting taxed twice--which burns me up to no end.

You really do need expert advice--because a lot of the stuff people do, thinking it's saving their heirs income tax and fuss (like those POD accounts, etc) really doesn't always do the trick. If inherited by a niece, nephew or non-relative, those POD accounts will be frozen until you get the waiver that says the estate tax has been paid. Be very careful. Also, keep in mind that whatever the rules and practices are now, that can change over time (and probably will), so that it's always possible that the money you spend trying to protect your assests will be wasted, and won't do the job you think it will.

Good luck.

And I have to add here--there is a part of me that doesn't believe in 'preserving' estates, anyway. Hiding money for medicaid purposes is just plain wrong, IMO--we're responsible for ourselves, and SHOULD pay our own way if at all possible. And we should each pay what's fair when it comes to taxes--I just balk at things when those taxes are unfair. It does seem a shame that my aunt and her heirs are discriminated against simply because she never married and had no children of her own. She was a second mother to us in a lot of ways. Oh, well, there will probably be enough left over for us each to take our spouses for a nice weekend someplace.

DH & I went to an attorney earlier this year to make sure we had our "affairs in order" in case of death of either or both of us. Our situation is not complicated @ present since we have only one child (DS). We already had the Living Will & Durable POA for Healthcare (FREE from the local hospital) and I had written our WILLS a few years ago from a Suze Orman CD package that cost like $40. The attorney reviewed both these documents & found no problems or changes. The only other document we needed was Financial POA, which she drew up for us. She also had our home deed retitled to TOD (Transfer on Death). The cost for all this was just under $200.00.

We asked about Trusts. In our State (Ohio) there is currently an Estate Tax (so called "Death Tax") that kicks in when the estate reaches $338,333 (or so). A Trust would not avoid this tax. The Federal Estate Tax kicks in for estates > $5 million & is subject to change. So the upshot of this is that we don't need a Trust. Whether you do or not depends on your State's Estate Tax & the total value of your Estate. I think you can do some online research to get a handle on how your situation applies.

One of the recommendations that our attorney gave us was that when we get older start giving our $ to our heir(s) which will avoid that Ohio Estate Tax. Of course the problem is we don't know how long we'll live & @ what age we should actually start this. Ohio legislature very well might do away with the Estate Tax this year. She also recommend having all our bank accounts, CD's, checking, etc POD (Payable on Death) to our son. All these things will work to avoid Probate & make things hopefully easier for DS to manage after we've died.

I haven't read your Ameriprise link, but will. I've had experience with them... not good. I would NOT recommend going to these "FREE" seminars for asset protection or advice. They are most often a hard sell for annuities. Variable annuities have very high HIDDEN costs associated with them. Do a LOT of research before you ever consider purchasing one.. (then don't do it, imo).

If your estate is worth millions then you can afford & should get high priced legal advice. If it is not a huge estate & is rather uncomplicated I would think your general attorney could advise you or at least recommend who you might see for more complex advice.

Personally I think picking an attorney is much like picking a physician... a shot in the dark. And you don't know how "bad" they are until something goes wrong.

My husband and I, when we discovered his cancer had returned, went to our personal/family attorney and had everything arranged to preserve the hard earned monies he was leaving behind - the fee was around $2,000.

After he passed away, and on the advice of our financial advisor and our C.P.A., I went in and had some more papers prepared, to preserve the assets for my stepson's future, as well as a document that prevents my stepson from getting a lump sum upon my death, since he has proven to be irresponsible - the fee for those documents was about $4,000. I would say $6,000 is fairly close to 'market rate'.

Maire, sorry I realized my mistake after I hit the button, my question was for Alisandi, the orig poster, I was confused about what she was trying to protect and from what.

I also believe we should not hide assets. If you are married you do a division of assets with the SRS, that protects the spouse. In my case I expect all of my savings to go to pay for my care.

I lost a friend a few months ago. She knew she was dying so she made plans to put her son's name on the assets. Another friend advised her to consult with a lawyer. She did and he strongly advised her against putting her son's name on it. My mother's money was divided into 4 accounts with a daughter's name on each account. It was the advice for that time. It was a mistake. She did not lose any due to this, but if there had been a divorce and a greedy son in law, he could have claimed part of it in a divorce. If any of us had been sued and lost we could lost some of mom's money. POD is the best way to handle that. She did legally give us the money so much a year and we bought her house.