Protect Your Aging Loved One

When someone within your network of contacts ends up getting arrested and sent to jail, your phone might soon be ringing -- especially if the unlucky person suspects that you have enough money to pay his or her bond. While it might be second nature to put up the money for someone with whom you share a close relationship, doing so gets a little more uncertain if the person is an acquaintance but not someone with whom you have a close relationship.

Most people know how vital it is that they have an estate plan. It is obvious that it is the best thing for your estate and your family when you pass away to have everything properly organized. However, what many people do not understand is what is the best plan for them. For the majority of people a revocable living trust will be the best option. Here are a couple reasons why you should choose a trust.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act or ERISA governs employee benefits, such as long-term disability plans. Contrary to its original purpose, many purport that ERISA actually protects insurers more than it does claimants. To determine whether the law applies to your policy, you must establish where you purchase your policy. If you obtained it from a private insurer, state laws likely govern your policy; if it is an employer-provided policy, ERISA applies.

If you're like many people, you may have put off your estate planning needs. Most people think that there will always be time to plan in the future. While this may be the case, you want to make sure that you're prepared in case there's an accident or emergency. It's best to have an estate planning attorney, so that you have the perfect plan for your needs. Take a look at the following information to better understand the reasons as to why you should hire an estate planning attorney.

If you've been injured in a fall, you probably don't want to sue the person responsible for your injury. However, someone has to pay for the medical bills that are accumulating as you heal from your injury. What's more: you may not be earning as much as you did before you fell. It's only right to ask the parties responsible for your getting hurt to compensate you for these expenses. While many personal injury lawsuits are settled before they get to the courtroom, it's still important to know how to act should your case come to trial.

When is a deal not a deal? If buyer's remorse settles in within a few hours of a major purchase or a signed contract, do you have the right to cancel the deal? If so, for how long? When The 3-Day Rule Applies There's a federal law called the "3-Day Cooling Off Rule" which protects consumers from making rash purchases, especially when they might be susceptible to high-pressure sales. Under this rule by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), you can cancel a contract that involves:

Did you recently receive medical care that you believe was incompetent or even harmful? Do you plan on filing a malpractice suit against the doctor, hospital, or medical device manufacturer? If so, you'll need to follow your state's established processes for filing a suit. One document you may need is an affidavit of merit, which is required in many states for a medical malpractice case to move forward. An affidavit of merit is exactly what it sounds like, a document that verifies the merit of your claims.

Estate planning is a very important part of any family's emergency plan. People purchase home insurance all the time, even though they don't plan on the house catching fire. Unfortunately, those same people sometimes fail to plan their estate, which would care for their children and family in the future. Although you hope that you will live a long full happy life, at some point everyone will leave this life, which is why it is important that you take the time to make sure that your affairs are in order.