2017 Social Security, Medicare, Military Benefits & Medicaid COLA

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Recipients of Social Security retirement income, Social Security disability income, veterans’ pensions, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, and other social insurance and public assistance benefits will experience cost-of-living adjustments in January 2017. The benefits and applicable deductions, such as Medicare premiums, will rise together with […]

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Have You Withdrawn Enough from Your IRA This Year?

Posted on by Hawkins Elder Law.

The retirement plan concept leads us to believe that we should contribute as much as possible to IRAs and other tax-deferred retirement plans, and avoid withdrawing more than the required minimum distributions. While this strategy will maximize retirement plan growth and the likelihood that it will provide income late in life, it also sets up […]

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Spiritual Issues in Final Illness, Death, and Human Remains Disposition

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] In our most recent blog, “Plans for Final Illness, Death, and Human Remains Disposition,” we mentioned issues that affect people’s choices about health care in final illness, death, and disposition of their bodies, including a few brief references to spiritual issues. We are expanding that […]

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Plans for Final Illness, Death, and Human Remains Disposition

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] A person’s landmark life events might include birth, spiritual dedication, marriage, children’s births, and death. People normally think about most of those events, but few people want to think about final illness and death, much less talk or plan about it. In fact, people probably […]

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Crisis Management for a Nursing Home Resident without an Estate Plan

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Most of our blog articles encourage people to make estate plans while they are healthy to avoid a legal and financial crisis when they get sick. Unfortunately, many people are too deep in denial to admit that they to plan, or they procrastinate until it […]

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5 Organizational Tips to Simplify Your Life, Disability, and Death

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Electronic devices, computer software, and the Internet are expanding what we can do and the ways we can do it at a mind-boggling pace. Technology can simplify or complicate life, depending on how well we use it. In this article, we offer 5 tips to […]

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Don’t Short-Circuit Your Estate Plan

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] If a person has made a will, a power of attorney, an advance health care directive, or a trust, the person may think that those documents create a dependable estate plan. Unfortunately, many people do not realize that an estate plan includes every kind of […]

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Can Two Estate Planning Lawyers Be Better Than One for Married Couples?

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] An estate planning lawyer usually serves clients alone, without involving any other lawyers in the estate planning process. In some cases involving married couples, however, one lawyer cannot do the whole job alone because the lawyer’s ethical obligations prohibit the lawyer from serving both the […]

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Family Property – When Blessings Become Curses

Posted on by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] God told the Israelites in the 25th chapter of the biblical book of Leviticus that in every 50th year, a family would regain ownership of land that the family’s ancestors had sold during the past 50 years. The Mosaic Law ensured the blessings of property […]

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Does the law really change enough to make estate plan updates important?

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] We have written more than once in our blog about the need for people to update their estate plans regularly. We get questions from people sometimes about whether the law really changes enough to justify estate plan updates. This week, we answer that question with […]

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