Understanding Per Stirpes Beneficiary Designations
“Per stirpes” is a common estate planning term that determines how assets pass to descendants if a beneficiary dies before you. Greenbush Financial Group explains how per stirpes works, compares it to non–per stirpes designations, and outlines why updating your beneficiary forms is critical for ensuring your wishes are honored.
Gifting Your House with a Life Estate vs. Medicaid Trust
I recently published an article called “Don’t Gift Your House To Your Children” which highlighted the pitfalls of gifting your house to your kids versus setting up a Medicaid Trust to own your house, as an asset protection strategy to manage the risk of a long-care care event taking place in the future. That article prompted a few estate attorneys to reach out to me to present a third option which involves gifting your house to your children with a life estate. While the life estate does solve some of the tax issues of gifting the house to your kids with no life estate, there are still issues that persist even with a life estate that can be solved by setting up a Medicaid trust to own your house.