Best Disability Attorneys in Pawtucket, RI

We will either rely on your doctor to determine whether you have a permanent injury or there are some instances where we will recommend a specialist that will document any permanent injury.

You should consider the transferring of assets to a Trust for several reasons. However, if assets are transferred to a Revocable Trust, since the Grantor still retains control over the assets, the benefits are limited. It is true that transferring assets to a Revocable Trust would avoid the Probate process as described above. However, if assets are transferred to an Irrevocable Trust, so that the assets are no longer available to the Grantor, the assets in the trust will be protected from the nursing home (after 5 years); the assets will avoid probate, the stepped-up basis of the property is available; income tax reporting by you is the same, and the capital gains exclusion may still be available to you as grantor. Although you may not have control over the assets in the trust in the sense that you are not able to access principal, you may receive any income generated by the trust assets, you may borrow against the trust assets, and the assets are protected from creditor claims, assets in an irrevocable trust may not be considered marital property for division in the event of a divorce and assets in an irrevocable trust may not affect qualifying for college financial aid.

In addition to a Will, you should have a Durable Power of Attorney and a Health Care Proxy. In each document you name an agent to act on your behalf, and an alternate, should the first person you name be unable to serve. Having a Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy avoids the need to have a Probate Court appoint a guardian or conservator on your behalf, which is expensive and imposes a duty to file cumbersome annual accountings with the Court.