But while we can’t control global economics, there is one area where individuals can act decisively, and it’s through their estate plan.

Remember, a plan is a foundation, even when everything else feels fragile or like it’s out of your control. An estate plan does more than dictate who gets what after someone dies. It provides structure and certainty in the face of ever-changing financial markets and the economy. It answers questions like:

• Who will manage my affairs if I can’t?
• How will my assets be protected from long-term care costs?
• What will happen to my legacy if circumstances change?

In uncertain times, having answers to these questions reduces stress for both clients and their loved ones. Planning protects more than just assets. It also protects the people in your life.

Elder law planning is uniquely focused on the intersection of aging, health care, and finances. During economic downturns, retirement portfolios can shrink, long-term care costs may increase faster than expected, and Medicaid qualification thresholds and rules remain complicated.

An updated plan helps ensure that a client’s wishes are honored and that they are positioned to preserve resources, both for themselves during their remaining life, as well as for their beneficiaries, even when markets aren’t kind.

For example, strategies such as careful use of trusts, gifting, and protective ownership structures can help shield assets from unnecessary depletion due to medical or institutional care needs. Without planning, clients can unintentionally jeopardize eligibility for critical benefits like Medicaid.

Most importantly, your estate plan should reflect reality. Many people make estate plans when times are good and then tuck them away and never update them or look at them again. But economic shifts often reveal assumptions that are no longer true: A portfolio once thought diversified may now be concentrated in riskier assets; a retirement date that looked reasonable five years ago might not align with current financial projections; an aging spouse may now require more care than originally anticipated.

This makes now a perfect time to review and update plans so they reflect today’s realities and not the world as it was when the documents were first signed.

Finally, economic and political stress amplifies family tensions. Questions about money, health, and care can quickly become emotional. Estate planning fosters essential conversations about who will make healthcare decisions, how property will be managed, and what the expectations are for support or inheritance

Economic uncertainty doesn’t have to derail your goals. A thoughtful, well-crafted estate plan provides stability, clarity, and confidence — regardless of what markets may do tomorrow.

The post Safeguarding Your Legacy in a Changing Economy appeared first on Desert Law Group | Kimberly T. Lee.

Phonograph (Photo credit: Counselman Collection)

However, these kinds of appraisals, called “verbal approximations of value,” give only a general sense of what an antique or heirloom is worth, according to an article in Forbes.

While these declarations of approximate value may help you decide whether to keep an item or try to sell it, they are not sufficient to have such items insured, divvied up as part of an estate settlement, or to justify a large tax deduction for a charitable gift.

To support the value of an item for estate settlement and tax deduction purposes, according to the article, you will need a formal, written appraisal, and they certainly are not free.

Most times, when people bring items to legitimate auction houses for formal appraisals, they are disappointed, the article notes. It details a number of instances where people thought they had valuable antiques only to find out later that they were not valuable at all.

Unfortunately, the chances of finding a fortune in your attic are slim.

The post Have You Checked Your Attic Lately? appeared first on Desert Law Group | Kimberly T. Lee.