Welcome to the website for William J. Dennis, Attorney at Law.
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You are invited to explore the various resources provided here. If you have any questions, or comments, please feel free to contact us.
Mr. Dennis concentrates his practice in the following areas:
Estate Planning
Wills, Living Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, Testamentary Trusts and Irrevocable Trusts. Counselling is key. I listen to you about what you know better than anyone else, you and your family and your goals and expectations for your future, I tell you about the law and how to achieve your goals and meet your expectations and together, along with your other advisors, we will assemble a plan that will work for you and your loved ones.
Some of the issues we will touch on along the way might include, Disability, Charitable Giving, Medicaid, Elder Law, Nursing Homes, Long Term Care Insurance, Asset Protection, Special Needs, Life Insurance, both Estate and Income Taxes, Business Succession and retirement, Retirement Plans, Funeral Home and Cemetery Pre-planning, and Probate and Trust Administration.
When an Estate Plan has been designed and signed, we offer Funding services to ensure that your assets are correctly titled and that your goals and expectations are met. After your Estate Plan has been implemented, we offer an Updating and Maintenance program so that your estate plan will continue to reach your goals and meet your expectations throughout your lifetime, and beyond, for both you and your loved ones. Once you have passed-on we offer Probate and Trust Administration and Settlement services.
The goal of any good estate plan is three-fold. First is for you to retain control over your assets while you are alive and well. Second is to provide for you and your loved ones should you become disabled, as you would have provided had you still been able. Third is when you do pass away that you be able to give your Wealth, to whom you want, when you want, in the way that you want.
Wealth can be described in many ways. To some, Wealth is nothing more than dollars and cents. To others it is that plus personal instructions and to yet others it is a legacy for future family and/or communities. To help develop your Legacy we provide counselling, resources and tools that can help develop a Legacy Plan to pass-on your wisdom and passion along with your Dollars and Cents.
If any of our services meet your needs, please contact us to schedule an appointment, or, sign-up for our newsletter, or sign-up for one of our up-coming Estate Planning Workshops. If you know anyone who you think might benefit from our services, referrals are always encouraged and gratefully accepted.
Real Estate:
Our Real Estate practice centers around Residential Real Estate Closings, the funding of Real Estate into Living Trusts, or re-titling real estate to complete an Estate Plan, the transfer of real property through Probate, or, Trust Administration and collaborating with a client’s other professional advisors to protect and optimize Real Estate as a part of their retirement and estate plans.
Elderlaw and Medicaid Planning
People are living longer these days and one of the most vital issues facing graying Americans is how to provide for themselves and their loved-ones through a long retirement period and beyond. 30 years ago, men would retire from their jobs at age 65 and live an average of 5 years and 1-3 of those years might be spent in a nursing home facility. Women lived an average of 7 years longer than men with an average nursing home stay of 3-5 years. Health care costs were lower as were nursing home costs, so the total cost was manageable for most families.
Today, the landscape of aging has changed dramatically. Men are living to an average age of 81 and women almost 90, but many continue to retire at age 65, though some realize they can not afford retirement that early and choose to retire at 70-75. Even then, people are having to realistically consider that their nest-eggs will have to last 25 – 30 years. The average nursing home stay is now 3-5 years for men and 4-6 years for women. Costs for healthcare and nursing home care spiral ever upward and long-term healthcare plans only cover 2-4 years of nursing home care.
I believe that people work too hard for too little to allow their assets to be squandered away unnecessarily, due to misinterpretations and ignorance of the laws relating to the aged. I follow the same model as for any other planning. First, I listen to you. You are the expert on you and your family. What are your goals and dreams? How do you want to be treated when you grow old? Where do you want to be when you are deemed disabled? How will you pay for extended healthcare and nursing home care expenses without becoming impoverished? How can you protect your assets so that you can leave something to your loved-ones after you are gone? How can you utilize all the various laws and programs available to you, and still remain within the law? What is Medicaid and how can I qualify for benefits?
Once we have established your goals and dreams, wants and preferences, I will counsel you as to the options available to you and the law as it relates to your estate plan. Together, with your other professional advisors, we will work to build a plan that will work for you and your family, whether your retirement lasts 5 or 35 years.
