Answer:  If you are a professional who helps families plan for or deal with ANY of their elder care matters, then you owe it to yourself to be listed on America's #1 online source for "Elder Care Experts"….

ElderCareMatters.com

ElderCareMatters.com is where you will find more than 2,000 competent, caring elder care experts located across America, including:

• Elder Law Attorneys
• Estate Planning Advisors
• Financial Planners
• Investment Advisors
• Geriatric Care Managers
• Insurance Professionals
• Life Care Planners
• Professional Organizers
• Reverse Mortgage Lenders
• Senior Move Managers
• Senior Real Estate Professionals
•  Tax Advisors
• Aging in Place Professionals
• Daily Money Managers
• And other elder care experts with long and successful careers working with seniors and their families

This is also where you will find some of America's best:

• Assisted Living Communities
• Alzheimer's / Memory Care Communities
• Continuing Care Retirement Communities
• Home Care Agencies

Together, we provide families across America with:

• Unparalleled professional expertise
• Up-to-date elder care information & answers to your elder care questions
• Competent, caring assistance with a wide range of elder care services

So if you are a competent, caring elder care professional who helps families with ANY of their elder care matters, then request today an Application for Membership in the national ElderCare Matters Alliance and get listed on ElderCareMatters.com - America's #1 source for "Elder Care Experts" plus information and answers about a wide range of elder care matters.

Phillip G. Sanders, MBA, MSHA, CPA
Founder & CEO
ElderCare Matters, LLC
ElderCareMatters.com

 

 

 

Heather R. Chubb, Attorney at Law
The Chubb Law Firm
Gold River, CA  95670
916-635-6800
www.ChubbLawFirm.com
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, California chapter

Answer:  If you have an account that is set up with a beneficiary, that is payable on death to a particular person, it is not necessary for this account to be included in your revocable living trust.  The premise behind the payable on death account is that when the account holder dies the account will legally belong to the beneficiary.  This is one way to avoid the probate process for an individually owned account.  Presumably, one of the reasons you would create a trust is also to avoid probate of your assets upon your death. 

If the account is owned by your revocable living trust, because the trust does not “die,” the pay on death feature will never be triggered.  In any event, I’m not certain that bank would allow an account owned by a trust to also carry a payable on death designation. 

Although not absolutely necessary, including this account in your trust is a good idea and will help centralize the management of all your assets in the event of your incapacity or death and make life easier for your family.  If the account is in your trust you can use your trust distribution instructions to indicate that this account go to a specific person.  This is called a specific distribution.

Answer:  It is my pleasure to provide you with the following list of the 87 different elder care services that are currently provided by the members of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance on ElderCareMatters.com:

1. Accounting Services
2. Adult Day Care
3. Advance Medical Directives
4. Aging in Place Services
5. Alzheimer's / Memory Care Communities
6. Annuities
7. Arbitration
8. Asset Protection Planning
9. Assisted Living Communities
10. Assisted Living Referral Services
11. Bankruptcy
12. Bill Paying
13. Budgeting
14. Caregiving Education
15. Companion Care
16. Conservatorship
17. Consumer Law
18. Continuing Care Retirement Communities
19. Cremation Services
20. Crisis Intervention
21. Daily Money Management
22. Dementia Care
23. Disability Income Insurance
24. Disability Planning
25. Elder Abuse Litigation Services
26. Elder Law
27. ElderCare Planning
28. Estate Administration
29. Estate Liquidation
30. Estate Planning
31. Family Law
32. Financial Planning
33. Funeral Services
34. Geriatric Care Management
35. Guardianship
36. Health Insurance
37. Hoarding Clean Up and Coaching Services
38. Home Care
39. Home Downsizing Services
40. Home Health Care
41. Home Modifications
42. Hospice Care
43. Independent Living Communities
44. Investment Services
45. Life Care Planning
46. Life Insurance
47. Litigation
48. Long Term Care Insurance
49. Long Term Care Planning
50. Medicaid Planning
51. Medical Services
52. Medical Alert Systems
53. Medical Claims Processing
54. Medical Equipment & Supplies
55. Medical Malpractice Litigation
56. Medicare Consulting
57. Medicare Supplemental Insurance
58. Medication Management Services
59. Moving Services
60. Nursing Homes
61. Personal Finance
62. Powers of Attorney
63. Probate
64. Professional Organizing
65. Public / Non-Profit Resources
66. Real Estate Services
67. Rehabilitation Services
68. Residential Psychiatric Care
69. Respite Care
70. Retirement Planning
71. Reverse Mortgages
72. Securities Arbitration & Litigation Services
73. Senior Housing
74. Senior Move Management
75. Senior Move Planning
76. Senior Relocation Services
77. Social Security Disability Services
78. Special Needs Planning
79. Tax Law
80. Tax Planning
81. Tax Preparation
82. Transportation Services
83. Trustee / Fiduciary Services
84. Trusts
85. VA Benefits
86. Wills
87. Wound Care

The goal of ElderCareMatters.com is to provide families across America with the help they need to plan for and deal with their elder care matters.  Let us know if there are other elder care services that you would like to have us list on ElderCareMatters.com – America's #1 source for Elder Care Experts plus information & answers about a wide range of elder care matters.

Phillip G. Sanders, MBA, MSHA, CPA
Founder & CEO, ElderCare Matters, LLC
ElderCareMatters.com
1-877-379-4500

Answer:  ElderCareMatters.com is an elder care resource to help families across America plan for and deal with their elder care matters.  With this goal in mind, we will continue to add more elder care-related services to ElderCareMatters.com in order to make this online elder care resource invaluable for families looking for help in planning for and/or dealing with their elder care matters.

Below are the 72 different elder care services currently listed on ElderCareMatters.com (with more services soon to be added): 

1. Adult Day Care
2. Advance Medical Directives
3. Aging in Place Services
4. Alzheimer's / Memory Care Communities
5. Annuities
6. Arbitration
7. Asset Protection Planning
8. Assisted Living Communities
9. Assisted Living Referral Services
10. Bankruptcy
11. Caregiving Education
12. Consumer Law
13. Continuing Care Retirement Communities
14. Crisis Intervention
15. Daily Money Management / Bill Paying
16. Dementia Care
17. Disability Income Insurance
18. Elder Abuse Litigation Services
19. Elder Law
20. ElderCare Planning / Long-Term Care Planning
21. Estate Administration
22. Estate Liquidation
23. Estate Planning
24. Financial Planning
25. Funeral Services
26. Geriatric Care Management
27. Guardianship / Conservatorship
28. Health Insurance
29. Hoarding Clean Up and Coaching Services
30. Home Care
31. Home Downsizing Services
32. Home Health Care
33. Home Modifications
34. Hospice Care
35. Independent Living Communities
36. Investment Services
37. Life Care Planning
38. Life Insurance
39. Litigation
40. Long-Term Care Insurance
41. Medicaid / Disability Planning
42. Medical / Healthcare
43. Medical Alert Systems
44. Medical Claims Processing
45. Medical Equipment & Supplies
46. Medicare Consulting
47. Medicare Supplemental Insurance
48. Medication Management Services
49. Moving / Relocation Services
50. Personal Finance / Accounting / Tax Preparation
51. Powers of Attorney
52. Probate
53. Professional Organizing
54. Public / Non-Profit Resources
55. Real Estate Services
56. Rehabilitation Services
57. Residential Psychiatric Care
58. Respite Care
59. Retirement Planning
60. Reverse Mortgages
61. Securities Arbitration & Litigation Services
62. Senior Move Management
63. Senior Move Planning
64. Social Security Disability Services
65. Special Needs Planning
66. Tax Law
67. Tax Planning
68. Transportation Services
69. Trustee / Fiduciary Services
70. Trusts
71. VA Benefits
72. Wills

If you need help with your family's elder care matters, you can count on ElderCareMatters.com to provide you with the experts, information & answers you need to plan for and deal with your elder care matters.

Phillip G. Sanders, MBA, MSHA, CPA
Founder & CEO of ElderCareMatters.com
1-877-379-4500

William "Bill" Brown, Attorney at Law
2999 E. Dublin-Granville Road
Suite 217
Columbus, Ohio  43231
614-890-9099
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, Ohio chapter

This week's Featured Elder Care Expert is William "Bill" Brown, Attorney at Law, Member of the Ohio chapter of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance (a network of  almost 1,500 elder care experts).  Attorney Brown has practiced in the areas of probate, elder law, trusts and estate planning for over 50 years, and is the author of "Trusts" and "Estate Planning a Practical Guide".

Every day this week (M-F), Mr. Brown will answer one of your questions about his areas of expertise , and this selected question along with Mr. Brown's answer will be posted on the Featured Elder Care Question of the Day section of ElderCareMatters.com.

So if you would like to ask Attorney Brown a question about one of your elder care matters, just send a short email (a few sentences only please) to: questions@ElderCareMatters. com.  

And remember to bookmark ElderCareMatters.com and check back often to see if your question is our Featured Elder Care Question of the Day.

John E. Settle, Jr., Attorney at Law

John E. Settle, Jr., Esq.
1915 Citizens Bank Drive    
Bossier City, LA 71111
Telephone: 318-742-5513
e-mail:   Send E-Mail
website: http://www.SettleLawFirm.com

This week's Featured Elder Care Expert is John E. Settle, Jr., Attorney at Law, Member of the Louisiana chapter of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance (a network of 1,450+ elder care experts) and Founder of the Law Office of John E. Settle, Jr., a law firm in Bossier City, Louisiana, a firm that specializes in Elder Law, Estate Planning, Elder Abuse Litigation and closely related practice areas. 

Every day this week (M-F), Mr. Settle will answer one of your questions about his areas of expertise (Elder Law, Estate Planning, Elder Abuse, Probate, etc), and this selected question along with Mr. Settle 's answer will be posted on the Featured Elder Care Question of the Day section of ElderCareMatters.com.

So if you would like to ask Mr. Settle a question about one of your elder care matters, just send a short email (a few sentences only please) to: questions@ElderCareMatters. com.  And remember to bookmark ElderCareMatters.com and check back often to see if your question is our Featured Elder Care Question of the Day.

This week's Featured Elder Care Expert is Angela N. Manz, Attorney at Law, Member of the ElderCare Matters Alliance (a network of 1,450+ elder care experts) and Founder of the Law Office of Angela N. Manz, a law firm in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that specializes in Elder Law, Estate Planning, and closely related practice areas. 

Every day this week (M-F), Ms. Manz will answer one of your questions about her areas of expertise (Elder Law & Estate Planning), and this selected question along with Ms. Manz 's answer will be posted on the Featured Elder Care Question of the Day section of ElderCareMatters.com.

So if you would like to ask Ms. Manz a question about your elder care matter, just send a short email (a few sentences only please) to: questions@ElderCareMatters. com.

And remember to bookmark ElderCareMatters.com and check back often to see if your question is our Featured Elder Care Question of the Day.

Get FREE advice every day about elder care matters from one of our 1,375+ elder care experts (and our team of experts is growing daily).

Families now have FREE access every day to the advice of one of our 1,375+ ElderCare Matters Alliance experts, offering YOU not only answers to your elder care questions but also providing you with up-to-date, useful articles about a wide range of elder care matters. This is information that will help YOU plan for and deal with your family's issues of aging.

This week's Featured Elder Care Expert is Dennis Duncan, Attorney at Law, from Macon, Georgia.  Mr. Duncan provides legal assistance in the areas of Elder Law, Elder Care Planning, Asset Protection Planning, Social Security, Medicaid/Disability Planning, Wills and Trusts, Advance Directives, Probate Law, Guardianship/Conservatorship, and Annuities.  Mr. Duncan will answer a different question each day about his areas of expertise, and a selected question along with Mr. Duncan's answer will be posted on the Featured Elder Care Question of the Day section of www.ElderCareMatters.com.

So if you would like to ask Mr. Duncan a question about an elder care matter, just send a short email (a few sentences only please along with your first name and City & State) to: questions@ElderCareMatters.com. 

And remember to bookmark www.ElderCareMatters.com and check back every day to see if your question is our Featured Elder Care Question of the Day. 

---

Special Offer for ALL Elder Care Professionals:  The next 125 elder care professionals who apply for Lifetime Membership in the national ElderCare Matters Alliance will receive a 25% discount off the regular price of $450 for lifetime membership.  (Just $337.50 for a "lifetime membership")  This is a very cost effective way to "get the word out" to literally hundreds of thousands of families across America about how you and your company can help families with their elder care matters. 

So if you are a competent, caring elder care professional – take advantage of this special 25% discount offer for a "lifetime membership" (and there are no annual membership dues, ever!) in the national ElderCare Matters Alliance.

At last, families across America have one resource they can tap into daily to relieve the stress of aging… ElderCareMatters.com

ElderCareMatters.com, along with the 1,350+ members of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, provides families with the elder care resources they need to plan for and deal with their issues of aging.  In fact, here is where you will locate, by state, some of America's top elder care professionals who provide a total of 68 different elder care services that will help you plan for and deal with your family's issues of aging, including: Advance Medical Directives Aging In Place Services Alzheimer's / Memory Care Communities Annuities  Arbitration  Asset Protection Planning Assisted Living Communities  Assisted Living Referral Services Bankruptcy Caregiving Education  Consumer Law Continuing Care Retirement Communiities Crisis Intervention Daily Money Management / Bill Paying Disability Income Insurance Elder Abuse Litigation Services Elder Law ElderCare Planning / Long-Term Care Planning Estate Administration Estate Liquidation Estate Planning Financial Planning Geriatric Care Management Guardianship / Conservatorship Health Insurance Hoarding Clean Up and Coaching Services Home Care Home Downsizing Services Home Health Care Home Modifications Hospice Care Independent Living Communities Investment Services Life Care Planning Life Insurance Litigation Long-Term Care Insurance Medicaid / Disability Planning Medical / Healthcare Medical Alert Systems Medical Claims Processing Medical Equipment & Supplies Medicare Consulting Medicare Supplemental Insurance Medication Therapy Management Moving / Relocation Services Personal Finance / Accounting / Tax Preparation Powers of Attorney Probate Public / Non-Profit Resources Real Estate Services Rehabilitation Services Residential Psychiatric Care Respite Care Retirement Planning Reverse Mortgages Securities Arbitration & Litigation Services Senior Move Management Senior Move Planning Social Security Disability Services Special Needs Planning Tax Law Tax Planning Transportation Services Trustee / Fiduciary Services Trusts VA Benefits Wills

If you and your family need help with your elder care matters, this is where you will find competent, caring elder care experts located near you who provide a total of 68 different services that will help you plan for and deal with your family's issues of aging.  Whether you are looking for: an elder law attorney in Philadelphia a geriatric care manager in South Florida a long-term care insurance professional in Fort Worth, a home care provider in Southern California, or an assisted living community in Phoenix (as shown in the photo above)… you can count on www.ElderCareMatters.com to help you find the Elder Care Experts and services that you will need in ALL 50 states (plus the District of Columbia).

Special Offer for ALL Elder Care Professionals:  The next 125 elder care professionals who apply for Lifetime Membership in the national ElderCare Matters Alliance will receive a 25% discount off the regular price of lifetime membership. So if you are a competent, caring elder care professional – take advantage of this special 25% discount offer and pay only $337.50 for a "lifetime membership" (and there are no annual membership dues, ever!) in the national ElderCare Matters Alliance.    To request a Membership Application, send an email to: info@ElderCareMatters.com.

Answer:  No!  All wills are probated and testamentary trusts are created within wills; thus assets devised in a will to a testamentary trust would have to be probated.  The fact that a testamentary trust has been created has not accomplished any avoidance of probate.

Testamentary trusts serve a useful purpose in that they can be used as a tax-saving tool to divide large estates, and they can be a useful tool to keep persons from receiving an estate in one lump sum.  Testamentary trusts are also useful when beneficiaries are to receive “income only” monies.

If one has an interest in setting up a trust that has all of the advantages of a testamentary trust plus avoid probate, then an exploration of the “living trust” should take place.  Living trusts are also known as revocable trusts, family trusts, and a grantor’s trust.

Living trusts differ from testamentary trusts in that living trusts are established now while you are living, and you go through a personal (probate) proving process of your estate yourself without using the court process.  This process is accomplished by keeping a Schedule “A” or inventory list of the items you have registered to the trust.  You never lose any power or control over any assets that you own in the trust and you, yourself, serve as “trustee” of the trust.

 A common myth about living trusts is that you lose control of your own property or that the trust needs a tax number.  Neither is true, as no tax number is required and you don’t lose any control of the assets.

The decision concerning whether one would want a living trust versus a testamentary trust will probably center around whether one would want his estate to be probated through the court system or whether one would rather bypass the probate system.

This discussion often centers around who the beneficiaries and successor trustees are.  For example, if the successor trustees and beneficiaries are children, then many people desire to avoid probate and leave their entire estate probate-free.

For those persons who had testamentary trusts drawn into their wills before December of 2009, a thorough review of their documents should be analyzed by an attorney, as the many tax changes that have taken place may have necessitated revisions to their documents.

For a thorough discussion of your estate planning needs, you should ask your attorney about trusts for your estate.

To locate experts in your state who can help you with this elder care matter, go to: www.ElderCareMatters.com/statechapters.htm

Joseph F. Pippen, Jr., Attorney at Law
Law Office of Joseph F. Pippen, Jr. & Associates
Largo, Florida  33771
727-586-3306

Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, Florida chapter

Answer:  The short answer is "no" if the estate is small enough.  As the amount of assets increases, it becomes more important to pass assets outside of probate.  The methods used to bypass probate go from the simple (inexpensive) to the complex (more expensive).  For example, a married person can hold property as tenants by the entirety's and upon death the title goes to the spouse.  Insurance usually goes to a beneficiary outside of probate.  Pension and profit-sharing plans can likewise have designated beneficiaries that pass outside of probate.

 Another factor is estate taxes as the estate size increases.  For last year, there was no estate tax.  For this year, tax is imposed on estates in excess of $3.5 million.

David F. Anderson, Esq.
David F. Anderson, P.A.
Miami Lakes, Florida  33016
305-825-4052
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, Florida chapter

Answer: You are a natural heir of your mother; therefore, you have a right to see the will.  The will had to have been probated in Arizona.  In 2005-2006 you should have hired an attorney and at least filed a Caveat (that is what we call it in Florida; Arizona may have a different term).  This would have forced them to disclose to you the terms of the will and provide an accounting of the estate.  You should still be able to hire an attorney in the county where the will was probated and order a copy of the will and other documents.  If your mother specifically disinherited you, the will would state that.  If not, you may have been due something from the estate.

To locate an attorney in Arizona who may be able to assist you with this elder care matter, go to www.ElderCareMatters.com/Arizona/.

David F. Anderson, Esq.
David F. Anderson, P.A.
Miami Lakes, Florida  33016
305-825-4052
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, Florida chapter

Answer:  Legal problems that affect the elderly are growing in number.  Our laws and regulations are becoming more complex.  Actions taken by older people with regard to a single matter may have unintended legal effects.  It is important for attorneys dealing with the elderly to have a broad understanding of the laws that may have an impact on a given situation, to avoid future problems. 

Unfortunately, this job is not made easy by the fact that Elder Law encompasses many different fields of law.  Some of these include:

• Preservation/transfer of assets seeking to avoid spousal impoverishment when a spouse enters a nursing home
• Medicaid
• Medicare claims and appeals
• Social security and disability claims and appeals
• Supplemental and long term health insurance issues.
• Disability planning, including use of durable powers of attorney, living trusts, “living wills,” for financial management and health care decisions, and other means of delegating management and decision-making to another in case of incompetence or incapacity.
• Conservatorships and guardianships
• Estate planning, including planning for the management of one's estate during life and its disposition on death through the use of trusts, wills and other planning documents
• Probate
• Administration and management of trusts and estates
• Long-term care placements in nursing home and life care communities
• Nursing home issues including questions of patients’ rights and nursing home quality
• Elder abuse and fraud recovery cases
• Housing issues, including discrimination and home equity conversions
• Age discrimination in employment
• Retirement, including public and private retirement benefits, survivor benefits and pension benefits
• Health law
• Mental health law

Most Elder Law Attorneys do not specialize in every one of these areas.  So when an attorney says he/she practices Elder Law, find out which of these matters he/she handles.  You will want to hire the attorney who regularly handles matters in the area of concern in your particular case and who will know enough about the other fields to question whether the action being taken might be affected by laws in any of the other areas of law on the list.  For example, if you are going to prepare a new will and your spouse is ill, the estate planner needs to know enough about Medicaid to know whether it is an issue with regard to your spouse’s medical care planning.

David F. Anderson, Esq.
David F. Anderson, P.A.
Miami Lakes, Florida  33016
305-825-4052
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, Florida chapter

Steven H. Peck, Attorney at Law
Law Offices of Steven H. Peck, Ltd.
300 Saunders Road
Suite 100
Riverwoods, Illinois  60015

Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, Illinois chapter

Steven H. Peck is a native of Boston, Massachusetts and is married with three daughters. Mr. Peck graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Harvard College. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Boston College Law School.

Mr. Peck is licensed to practice law in Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Florida and six federal jurisdictions, including the United States Supreme Court and the United States Tax Court.

Mr. Peck has been involved in the estate and tax planning field for over 19 years and is devoted full time to the practice of estate planning. He is a member of the Illinois Forum of Estate Planning Attorneys as well as Wealth Counsel, a nationwide group of attorneys committed to bringing their clients the finest estate planning advice and documentation possible. Additionally, he is a member of Elder Counsel, which is devoted to the practice of elder law and special needs planning. Mr. Peck is also listed in Nationwide Register’s, Who’s Who in Executives and Businesses.

Mr. Peck has presented several hundred seminars on the topic of estate planning for the public and various private organizations across the country. He was also a faculty member for National Business Institute’s professional education seminar “Handling the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax”.

Prior to estate planning law Mr. Peck practiced real estate development law and spent four years active duty as a captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Additionally, he has a substantial knowledge of the insurance field having spent several years as an insurance broker prior to practicing law.

Answer:  If you are an elder care professional and you would like to "get the word out to thousands of families across America in a cost effective way about how you can help them plan for and deal with their issues of aging", then you should join our 1,250 elder care experts as a lifetime member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance.  And, now, if you are one of the next 250 members, you will receive a 25% discount off the regular lifetime membership price.

This 25% discount is available only to the next 250 elder care professionals who join the national ElderCare Matters Alliance.

So if you are a competent, caring elder care professional – take advantage of this special 25% discount offer and pay only $337.50 for a "lifetime membership" (and there are no annual membership dues, ever!) to the national ElderCare Matters Alliance.

To request an Application for Lifetime Membership, send an email directly to: psanders@eldercarematters.com

Phillip G. Sanders, MBA, MSHA, CPA
Founder & CEO
ElderCare Matters, LLC
1-877-379-4500
www.ElderCareMatters.com

If you are an elder care professional and you would like to "get the word out to thousands of families across America in a cost effective way about how you can help them plan for and deal with their issues of aging", then you should join our 1,250 elder care experts as a lifetime member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance.  And, now, if you are one of the next 250 members, you will receive a 25% discount off the regular lifetime membership price.

This 25% discount is available only to the next 250 elder care professionals who join the national ElderCare Matters Alliance.

So if you are a competent, caring elder care professional – take advantage of this special 25% discount offer and pay only $337.50 for a "lifetime membership" (and there are no annual membership dues, ever!) to the national ElderCare Matters Alliance.

To request an Application for Lifetime Membership, send an email directly to: psanders@eldercarematters.com

Phillip G. Sanders, MBA, MSHA, CPA
Founder & CEO
ElderCare Matters, LLC
1-877-379-4500
www.ElderCareMatters.com

Answer:  The experts of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance.

ElderCareMatters.com is now offering a NEW Ask an Elder Care Expert service.

Each week one of our 1,200 experts will answer your family's important questions about elder care matters – from legal, financial, housing, health care, etc.

If you would like to ask one of our Elder Care Experts a question about his/her areas of expertise, just send a short email (a few sentences only please) to:  Questions@ElderCareMatters.com

Every day we will post one of your questions along with an answer provided by our Featured Elder Care Expert of the Week to the homepage of www.ElderCareMatters.com (which is currently visited by thousands of families each week).  Yours may be one of the questions posted.

So bookmark www.ElderCareMatters.com and visit us daily as questions about a wide range of elder care matters are answered by some of America's top elder care professionals with years of experience helping families plan for and deal with their issues of aging.

Phillip G. Sanders, MBA, MSHA, CPA
Founder & CEO
ElderCare Matters
1-877-379-4500
www.ElderCareMatters.com

The ElderCare Matters Alliance is a national organization of 1,200 elder care experts who help families across America plan for and deal with their issues of aging, including providing families with a host of elder care resources that can be found on www.ElderCareMatters.com

If you are a competent, caring elder care professional – you need to belong to the national ElderCare Matters Alliance.

To request a Lifetime Membership Application to the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, send an email to psanders@ElderCareMatters.com

www.ElderCareMatters.com – America's online source for elder care experts who help families plan for and deal with their issues of aging.

Phillip G. Sanders, MBA, MSHA, CPA
Founder & CEO
ElderCare Matters
www.ElderCareMatters.com

Answer:  You should retain an attorney in your  state as this may vary, but generally, you would need to file objections to the will.  If  the court date has passed, write to  the clerk and inquire as to what  you need to do.

To locate attorneys in your state who can help you with this matter, I would recommend that you search the ElderCare Matters listing of experts at www.ElderCareMatters.com/statechapters.htm.

Sonya Mittelman, Attorney at Law
Bronx, NY  10461
718-863-4647
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, New York chapter

Answer:  The executor is the person responsible for admitting the will to probate and winding up the affairs of the estate. If an executor is not named in the will, the probate court will appoint one. The executor is responsible for:

• Initiating the probate process by submitting the will to the probate court
• Gathering all of the decedent's assets, appraising them and making an inventory
• Notifying creditors, debtors and beneficiaries of the decedent's death
• Notifying the Social Security Administration of the decedent's death
• Locating documents left by the decedent (will, trusts, life insurance policies)
• Collecting any money owed to the decedent, including final paychecks
• Paying any debts owed by the decedent
• Filing and paying all taxes owed by the decedent and the estate
• Distributing the remaining assets to the beneficiaries according to the terms of the will

The executor also is responsible for contacting administrators of life insurance policies, pensions, qualified retirement accounts, banks and other financial institutions to notify them of the decedent's death and collect the monies owed to the estate.

The executor is in a fiduciary relationship with the estate. This means that the executor must act in the best interests of anyone with an interest in the estate, such as the beneficiaries. It is the executor's duty to preserve as much of the estate's assets as possible. Moreover, if the executor breaches any of his or her duties, he or she can be held legally liable for any losses caused by the breach.

If the executor named in the decedent's will is not a lawyer, the executor may decide to hire an attorney to help administer the estate. The attorney can help the executor understand his or her duties as well as handle any will contests that may come up and help close the estate.

The executor is not released from his or her duties until the court has closed the estate. To close the estate, it generally must be shown that all of the debts owed by the estate have been paid and the remaining property has been distributed to the named beneficiaries in the will.

Given the extent and importance of the executor's duties, it is vital that the person selected is trustworthy and capable of handling the full extent of the responsibilities. It generally is not a good idea to name a person who is also a beneficiary under the will because of the conflict of interest the double-role may create. Likewise, it generally is not a good idea to name the attorney who drafted the will as the executor because of the same issues.

An alternate executor should be named as well, in case the first choice is unable or unwilling to fulfill the position. If the named executor is unable to serve and an alternate has not been named or the alternate also is unable to serve, the court will appoint someone to oversee the administration of the estate.

Rod K. Sutherland, Attorney at Law
Law Office of Rod Sutherland
Virginia Beach, Virginia  23452
757-468-7777
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, Virginia chapter