The Legal Exchange

How Trusts Can Protect Your Home and Reduce Estate Taxes

Trusts can play a major role in protecting assets, avoiding probate, and reducing estate taxes, but the details of how they are drafted and funded can determine whether the plan works. Todd Lutsky and Susan Powers discuss how homestead protection applies when a home is owned by a trust, why avoiding probate can also help protect assets from creditor claims, and how irrevocable Medicaid trusts may help families protect assets from long-term care costs while maintaining important flexibility. They also explain how family limited partnerships and LLCs can be used to reduce estate taxes through valuation discounts, why those strategies must have a legitimate non-tax purpose, how Medicaid liens on a home can be handled after death, and why personal care contracts are important when a family member is being paid to provide care.

Real Estate Can Complicate Even the Best Estate Plan

Estate plans can get complicated when real estate, trust language, and family expectations do not line up, especially when property is sold before beneficiaries receive what they were promised. In this episode of The Legal Exchange, Todd Lutsky and Susan Powers discuss how real estate should be handled inside an estate plan, why the wording of a trust can determine whether beneficiaries receive a specific property or the proceeds from its sale, and how no-contest clauses may help reduce family conflict. They also explain the difference between general and limited powers of appointment, why those powers matter for estate tax planning, how arbitration clauses can affect trust disputes, and why irrevocable Medicaid trusts may help families protect certain assets from long-term care costs while maintaining important planning flexibility.

Estate Planning Procrastination Can Cost Your Family

Waiting too long to create an estate plan can leave your loved ones with years of legal battles, unnecessary expenses, and outcomes you never intended. In this episode of The Legal Exchange with Todd Lutsky, Todd and Susan examine two high-profile estate disputes that highlight the dangers of procrastination and explain why having the right legal documents in place before a crisis occurs can make all the difference. They also answer listener questions on inherited IRAs, pooled trusts, Medicaid planning, and the rights of unmarried partners after the death of a loved one.

The Trust Decisions That Can Make or Break an Estate Plan

Choosing the right trust is one of the most important parts of estate planning, especially when families are trying to avoid probate, reduce estate taxes, protect assets from long-term care costs, and make sure money passes the way they intend. In this episode of The Legal Exchange, Todd Lutsky and Susan Powers discuss how powers of attorney can create problems when self-dealing is allowed, why trusts may offer stronger protection and control, and how married couples with larger estates may need to coordinate estate tax planning with nursing home planning. Todd also explains how life insurance and retirement accounts can be handled through different trust strategies, what happens when beneficiaries need to be changed in an irrevocable trust, and why nominee realty trusts often create confusion for families who think they have more protection than they actually do.

When Estate Planning Goes Wrong, Families Pay the Price

In this episode of The Legal Exchange, Todd Lutsky and Susan Powers discuss two court cases that show how poor planning and poor recordkeeping can lead to expensive family disputes. Todd explains why an uncashed check became part of an estate, how a second marriage can complicate inheritance without the right plan in place, why powers of attorney require careful documentation, how personal care contracts can help when family members are paid for caregiving, and when irrevocable life insurance trusts may help reduce estate taxes.