Podcast
Simmons & Schiavo
Hosted by Simmons & Schiavo · EN
No description available
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Is There A Way To Protect My Home From the Nursing Home Cost?
Feb 11, 2025Tap to summarizeIs There A Way To Protect My Home From the Nursing Home Cost? document.createElement('audio'); https://www.sslawoffices.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Nursing_home_podcast.m4a We can understand why you’re worried about how you’ll pay for nursing home care. After all, the cost of nursing home care is over $12,000 per month and it continues to rise. Yes, you read that number correctly. Here are some key statistics you need to know:1. According to the Genworth Cost of Care Survey, the monthly fee for nursing home care in the Boston area is currently $13,383 (semi private) and $14,509 (private room). These costs will continue to rise. In 2030, it is expected to be $17,986 (semi-private room) and $19,499 (private room) per month.2. The average length of stay in a nursing home is 2.6 years for women and 2.3 years for men (12% of people are in nursing homes for five years or more!). Without proper planning now, it could easily cost your family $500,000 or more for your future care. (American Association for Long Term Care Insurance LTCI sourcebook) What Can I Do? The Bad News:Nursing Home care is not covered by health insurance or Medicare. People end up paying for their care themselves. It’s not uncommon for a person’s hard-earned assets to be depleted in just a matter of a few months. What they planned to leave to their children is now gone. We’ve seen it too many times. The Good News:These disastrous financial consequences can be avoided with some planning. There are a few options, but regardless of what planning route you use, acting early is the key to being able to protect. Planning ahead can save your assets but failure to plan ahead can cost you money. Why do I have to worry about this now?Currently, there is a five-year lookback period (sometimes called a “disqualification period”) that Medicaid uses, which means that any transfers of assets made within five years of applying for Medicaid are scrutinized and may disqualifying you for benefits you would have otherwise been entitled to receive. Because of this, long-term care planning is something that anyone over the age of 65 must consider. “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” -Benjamin Franklin Failing to plan for the rising cost of a nursing home is one way to quickly lose your assets, but it can be prevented. How? Download our free report.The post Is There A Way To Protect My Home From the Nursing Home Cost? appeared first on Simmons & Schiavo.
Transcribe →Can My Estate Plan Solve My Capital Gain Tax Issue?
Dec 14, 2020Tap to summarizeOur focus at Simmons & Schiavo, LLP is to assist our clients in passing on the maximum amount of wealth to their loved ones. The best way to do this is to utilize tax savings techniques to minimize both capital gains and estate taxes. Click on the play button below and listen as Attorney Marco Schiavo answers the question: Can my estate plan solve my capital gain tax issue? Then click on the button below it to learn more. https://www.sslawoffices.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Capital_Gains-1-1.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download The post Can My Estate Plan Solve My Capital Gain Tax Issue? appeared first on Simmons & Schiavo.
Transcribe →How To Avoid The Probate Court Problem
Dec 13, 2020Tap to summarizeWhat Does Probate Mean and How Can It Be Avoided? https://www.sslawoffices.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1_What_is_probate-1.m4a Many people believe that if they have a Will their estate will avoid probate. This is false. Some people believe that if their estate value is less than the federal and/or state estate tax exemption then there won’t be a probate. That’s false too. Almost any asset subject to disposition by your loved one’s will is distributed by the probate process. Understanding what probate means is crucial to understanding these issues. What Is Probate Probate is a legal process under which the deceased’s assets are transferred to their beneficiaries. The Last Will has to be filed with the probate court in the state and county in which the decedent lived at the time of his or her passing. The Personal Representative (formerly called “Executor”) in the will must petition the court for “Letters of Authority” which gives the personal representative the power to transact business on the decedent’s accounts. Why Is Probate Necessary The probate process “protects” the beneficiaries of the estate, any potential creditors, and of course, the taxing authorities. A person may have done many wills and amended their wills over their lifetime. This court process insures that one document is formally approved as the final expression of a person’s intent with regard to the distribution of the assets. This is when any party may object to the will. The Personal Representative then organizes all the assets of the deceased and files an inventory with the court so all interested parties can determine in full light what the estate is worth. They can also question if the inventory is complete or is missing assets. Massachusetts law provides that creditors have one year from date of death to file a valid claim against the estate. There are laws that deal with creditors, how they are to make claims, and how the Personal Representative may object to a claim. Once all the creditor claims are dispensed with and taxes are paid, the Personal Representative then has to submit an accounting statement of the estate to the court, listing all of the income and expenses. The Personal Representative then presents a schedule of proposed distributions pursuant to the terms of the will. All the beneficiaries have the chance to object to any item listed in these petitions, and can appear before the court. A judge decides if any objection has merit.That person must then petition the court to close the estate and be discharged from further obligations as a fiduciary for the estate. So as you can see, probate is a strictly supervised court (public) process. Probate Is A Public Process Almost everything that goes through the court system becomes a matter of public record and many courts have put this information online through court websites. All associated family and financial information becomes accessible to anyone who wants to see it. The value of your assets, your creditor claims, the identities of your beneficiaries and even any family disagreements that affect the distribution of your estate will all be available, often by only a click. Be aware that there are creditors and predators (including identity thieves) who are scouring court records to find out who is inheriting money. They will have the addresses of your beneficiaries and will contact them. How To Avoid The Probate Court Problem Probate Can Be Expensive An estate that avoids probate should also be less expensive. With court fees, attorney fees, executor fees, and other related expenses, the price tag for probate can easily reach into the thousands of dollars, even for small or “simple” estates. These costs can easily skyrocket into the tens of thousands or more if family disputes or creditor claims arise during the process.This diverts the money away from where you want it to go the most – to your beneficiaries. Probate Takes Time It’s not unusual for estates, even seemingly simple or small ones, to be held up in probate for twelve to eighteen months, during which time your beneficiaries may not have any access to funds or assets. This delay can be especially difficult on family members going through a hardship who might benefit from a faster, simpler process. It also can create problems if there is real estate that needs to be sold to create liquidity in the estate to deal with taxes, debts and expenses. The good news is that with properly funded trust-centered estate planning, you can avoid probate for your estate, simplify the transfer of your financial legacy, and provide lifelong asset and tax protection to your family. How can you avoid this probate court problem? Read pages 12-16 of our Estate Planning Guide.The post How To Avoid The Probate Court Problem appeared first on Simmons & Schiavo.
Transcribe →Common Concerns for Blended Families
Dec 13, 202000:05:08Tap to summarizeSecond Marriages and the importance of expressing clear intent in the trust https://www.sslawoffices.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/5_Second_Marriages_and_the_Importance_of_Expressing_Clear_Intent_in_the_Trust-1.m4a Second marriages present unique challenges when developing an estate plan. In a non-blended family, it’s common for a person to leave everything to a spouse and when the spouse dies, it goes to the children. With blended families, it may not be so simple as people are faced with a balancing act, they want to provide for their spouse, but also provide for their children from a prior relationship. What if the new spouse: Is younger? Uses all of the money? Remarries? Changes the beneficiaries? Those children may not receive their inheritance for many years or maybe not at all. When a surviving spouse is not the parent of the deceased’s children, tying them together through a traditional estate plan may be problematic. Through careful planning, you can provide for your spouse and your children at the same time, while avoiding conflict between them. Read more about planning for your blended family in Chapter 6 of our Estate Planning Guide. How To Plan For Your Blended Family Read This FREE Guide! [contact-form-7] The post Common Concerns for Blended Families appeared first on Simmons & Schiavo.
Transcribe →Pay Less in Estate Taxes
Dec 13, 2020Tap to summarizeIs There A Way To Save Money On Massachusetts Estate Taxes? https://www.sslawoffices.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/MA_estate_taxes_Podcast_Website.m4a OK, so estate taxes are a concern of yours. They should be. In Massachusetts, it’s not just the super wealthy that end up paying this tax. If you have a home, a life insurance policy and a retirement account, it’s likely that a good portion of your hard-earned money will go to the state when you die. Rest assured, there are ways that you can plan ahead so that you pay less in taxes and give more money to your loved ones. The question is, how? We can help you do that. There are a number of strategies that we use to help you pay less estate taxes. Depending on your assets, that could mean thousand, hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars of additional wealth being passed to your family. There are pros and cons to each strategy and it is important to know them well. Which strategy is right for you? We’ll help you decide. For people who already have an estate plan and have tried to address this in the past, it may be time to revisit your plan. The law has changed and your plan may be outdated. This means that your current planning may actually have the opposite effect and lead to more taxes being paid. Estate taxes are #1 on our list of “5 AVOIDABLE Surprises That DERAIL Even The Best Estate Plans”. Learn more about how to minimize estate taxes and what the other FOUR surprises are by downloading our free report: The post Pay Less in Estate Taxes appeared first on Simmons & Schiavo.
Transcribe →Tax Considerations When Selling a Home in Massachusetts
Sep 9, 2019Tap to summarizeCapital gains taxes are a major concern when selling a highly appreciated piece of real estate. The rules for capital gains are very different if you sell during your lifetime vs. if the property is sold after death. This is where your estate plan can help. “Can My Estate Plan Solve My Capital Gain Tax Issue?” Take a listen https://www.sslawoffices.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Capital_Gains-1.mp3 I’m Selling Now How Can My Estate Plan Help? The post Tax Considerations When Selling a Home in Massachusetts appeared first on Simmons & Schiavo.
Transcribe →PODCAST: The Ins & Outs of Social Security
Sep 9, 2018Tap to summarizehttps://www.sslawoffices.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/13_Social_Security_with_guest_Dave_Moses-1.m4a Podcast: Play in new window | Download The post PODCAST: The Ins & Outs of Social Security appeared first on Simmons & Schiavo.
Transcribe →PODCAST: Medicaid vs. Medicare
Jul 9, 2018Tap to summarizehttps://www.sslawoffices.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/12_Medicaid_vs_Medicare-What_s_the_Difference-1.m4a Podcast: Play in new window | Download The post PODCAST: Medicaid vs. Medicare appeared first on Simmons & Schiavo.
Transcribe →Capital Gains Tax When Selling a Home in Massachusetts
Apr 12, 2018Tap to summarizeCapital gains taxes are a major concern when selling a highly appreciated piece of real estate. The rules for capital gains are very different if you sell during your lifetime vs. if the property is sold after death. This is where your estate plan can help. “Can My Estate Plan Solve My Capital Gain Tax Issue?” Take a listen https://www.sslawoffices.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Capital_Gains.mp3 I’m Selling Now How Can My Estate Plan Help? The post Capital Gains Tax When Selling a Home in Massachusetts appeared first on Simmons & Schiavo.
Transcribe →PODCAST: How to Sell Your Home
Feb 16, 2018Tap to summarizehttps://www.sslawoffices.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/11_How_to_Sell_Your_Home-1.m4a Podcast: Play in new window | Download The post PODCAST: How to Sell Your Home appeared first on Simmons & Schiavo.
Transcribe →