Many participants of the Great Resignation decided to not only leave their jobs, but to also start their own businesses. Business startups surged 53 percent last year to 5.4 million, the highest number on record of any year. These new business owners need help with legal documents and business planning, providing attorneys with a new source of clients. Even if estate planning is your focus, understanding how to help new and aspiring business owners can grow your practice. Keep reading to learn more about how to reach and serve these potential clients.

Memorial Day reminds us of the sacrifices that members of the armed forces and their families make every day in service to our country. Military families are a unique demographic; however, they have estate planning needs like everyone else. Due to the nature of their work, military families often experience frequent moves, and while they have access to several forms of government benefits, they can also be subject to some unusual tax rules. Additionally, their risk of deployment into active combat presents a heightened level of urgency and necessity for wills, trusts, and other pertinent planning documents. For these reasons, estate planning for military families can be more complicated than for other types of families. 

A trigger trust, in the Medicaid-trust world, is one in which access to trust funds is removed once a triggering event occurs, such as the grantor entering a nursing home. Since the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, trigger trusts are not allowed for Medicaid planning, as such trust would violate the any circumstances rule of 42 U.S. Code § 1396p(d)(3)(B). However, in a new case out of Connecticut, a court analyzes whether a trigger trust keeps trust assets from being counted for Medicaid eligibility purposes. Let’s take a look at the facts and see how the court analyzes the case.

Antonio and Antoinetta, husband and wife, established a Declaration of Trust in 2001. Per the terms of the trust, each grantor had the right to withdraw his or her portion of trust property only if the pertinent grantor was “alive and competent”. In the event a grantor was not competent, the trust could not be revoked and trust assets could not be accessed, not even by the grantor’s legal representative.