Category: The Wealth Advisor

Nothing in your home will stay yours forever. Every item—each wall hanging, piece of furniture, book, device, or collected trinket—will one day belong to someone else. Who that someone is depends largely on the decisions you make today. 

You do not need to adopt a minimalist mindset or purge everything of little value. Nor is it about extreme downsizing. Instead, the focus is on “right-sizing”—finding a balance between holding on and letting go so that belongings are thoughtfully managed. The process begins with a simple but important question: How much is too much?

Assessing How Manageable Your Belongings Are

Not all homes are equally easy to maintain, and the volume and organization of your belongings can significantly affect how much effort it will take to manage them—now or later. 

The following scale provides a simple way to gauge potential challenges and plan accordingly:

• Level 1 – Low (Stable): Your home is organized, and important items and documents are easy to locate. Clearing or reorganizing would be straightforward, likely achievable in a day or two. Minimal action is needed.
• Level 2 – Moderate (Manageable): You have accumulated items, and some areas may take time to effectively organize. The situation is manageable but requires planning. Expect several days to a week of effort.

• Level 3 – Considerable (Becoming a Burden): Belongings are spread across rooms, storage spaces, or multiple locations. Key items and documents may be difficult to find. Organizing or clearing the home could take several weeks. Action is recommended before the situation becomes more challenging.
• Level 4 – High (Strained): Clutter is affecting how the home is used. Sorting through everything may take a coordinated effort over multiple weeks or months. Outside help or a structured plan is probably needed.
• Level 5 – Critical (Extreme): The volume of belongings creates safety concerns or would make a cleanout extremely difficult. Addressing the situation could take months and may require professional assistance. At this stage, proactive planning and support are highly recommended. 

One (Small) Step at a Time: Practical Decluttering Strategies 

Your assessment of your home’s organization can help guide the next steps. These steps do not have to be large or happen all at once. Accumulating a lifetime of belongings took years, so it is unrealistic to expect a perfectly organized home overnight, and that may not even be the goal. 

The difference is that, while accumulation often happens organically, decluttering can follow a plan. Taking a thoughtful approach allows you to regain a sense of control one step at a time. The following strategies can serve as a starting point: 

• Make a simple household inventory. Do you really know what you own? While estimates may vary, most homes contain far more than we realize. You do not need a detailed spreadsheet or professional-grade catalog—just a basic list with notes and photos of key belongings can provide a clear baseline, making it easier for you, your family, and anyone who may need to manage your estate to know what is there and plan accordingly. 
• Use photos and labeling to remove guesswork. How well your belongings are organized can matter as much as how many you have. A photo of a drawer, closet, or collection can be attached to a spreadsheet or uploaded to a corresponding online folder to provide context. Labeling boxes or grouping related items together can save hours of sorting and help ensure that important things are not lost or overlooked.
• Let your family “shop” while you are still here. Sorting what to keep, donate, or discard is easier when family members can express their preferences. Consider inviting them to choose items in an informal “family estate sale.” You can thoughtfully gift belongings this way while still deciding what to do with the items that remain.
• Identify items that may need an appraisal. Some belongings, such as a grandmother’s antique rocking chair, may have hidden financial value. Not everything is valuable, but if you suspect an item could be worth something, a professional appraisal can help ensure that it is not undervalued or mistakenly discarded.
• Choose the right person to handle your estate. As you organize your belongings, remember that one of the most important decisions is selecting your executor or trustee. This person will be responsible for managing everything you leave behind, including your belongings, so it is vital to consider whether they have the time, temperament, and support needed for the role.
• Do not hesitate to bring in help. Professional organizers, estate sale companies, and cleanout services exist to make the process more manageable. Bringing in help does not mean that you have lost control or are unable to handle the task yourself; it is simply a way to reduce stress, save time, and ensure that things are done efficiently. 

An attorney can coordinate with other professionals to help ensure that both your physical belongings and your estate documents are thoughtfully organized and “right-sized.” Letting go can be challenging, but getting guidance and support does not have to be. Reach out to us today.

At some point, each of us may face the difficult task of walking through a deceased parent’s home. Empty in one sense—but not in another. The person is gone, but a lifetime of belongings remain. 

Going from room to room, drawer to drawer, and box to box can be part of the healing process. Handling familiar objects can spark long-forgotten memories and bring a sense of closure by forcing us to confront difficult emotions. 

But it can also be frustrating and overwhelming. What is left behind is often more than anyone expected: a house full of possessions that now must be sorted, evaluated, and divided. Nor is it always clear whose responsibility it is to clean it all up and separate the trash from the trinkets, the clutter from the keepsakes. 

After we are gone, our belongings must be handled, and the responsibility often falls to those we leave behind. 

Conversations about who gets what are best had while your possessions are still yours—not after they have been left in a kind of personal property limbo where uncertainty can give rise to stress, conflict, and resentment. 

The “Great Wealth Transfer” Is Also a “Great Stuff Transfer”

Over the next couple of decades, an estimated $84 trillion in assets will change hands from the Silent Generation and baby boomers to Gen X and millennial heirs.¹ The “Great Wealth Transfer” is poised to reshape the global economy through how that wealth is spent and invested. 

But a more immediate and open-ended question is what happens to all the physical possessions, the decades of accumulated stuff, that are transferred with that wealth.

As the “Great Stuff Transfer”—or “Baby Boom Stuff Avalanche”—gets underway, media outlets are describing the burden it can place on family members.²

Baby boomers have very high homeownership rates³ and have spent decades filling their homes with stuff: silverware, furniture, fine china, platters, baseball cards, model trains, figurines, firearms, and trinkets from their travels. 

As our homes have gotten bigger,⁴ so have the mounds of stuff inside—and outside of—them: Americans now rent more than 2 billion square feet of self-storage space.⁵ 

When someone downsizes or dies, their belongings must go somewhere. While their kids and grandkids may not want them, they still may be tasked with going through those belongings. Some items may be worth something, but deciding what to keep, toss, or donate is not easy. 

There are also hidden risks and costs buried beneath the piles: the financial and estate planning fallout a “stuff avalanche” can trigger. 

Living in the Avalanche’s Path

Reading about the “Great Stuff Transfer” may feel anecdotal until it affects you and your loved ones. When it does, the impact often shows up in two ways: financial and practical burdens, and emotional strain within families. 

Financial and Practical Burdens

• Ongoing costs add up. Storage units, junk removal, cleanout services, and extended timelines may result in thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses.
• Value gets lost in the shuffle. When time is limited, items that may have financial or sentimental value may be thrown away, donated, or overlooked.
• Hidden problems surface late. Excess clutter can conceal maintenance issues or damage in the home that may not be discovered until heirs are preparing it for sale.
• Higher professional costs. Appraisers, estate sale professionals, and cleanout crews often need more time (and charge more) when a home is heavily cluttered.
• Digital clutter creates new risks. Old devices, forgotten accounts, and missing passwords can make it difficult to cancel subscriptions and access records.

Emotional Strain and Family Conflict

• Someone must take the lead. One family member often ends up doing most of the work, which can create tension and resentment.
• Time and effort are not always equal. Disagreements may arise over how much time is spent and whether that effort should be compensated.
• Sentimental items may spark conflict. Family members may attach deep meaning to the same belongings and disagree about who should receive what, even if there is little financial value.
• Letting go is harder than expected. Deciding what to keep and what to discard can create guilt, hesitation, and second-guessing.
• Incapacity can accelerate the problem. When a health event occurs, family members are often forced to quickly step in. A cluttered home can make it harder to provide care, move safely, or locate essential documents when they are most needed.

When Belongings Become a Burden

It may seem like “just stuff,” but it can create real stress and family conflict. The challenge is managing your belongings thoughtfully so they do not derail your estate plan or overwhelm your loved ones.

1.  Cerulli Anticipates $84 Trillion in Wealth Transfers Through 2045, Cerulli Assoc. (Jan. 20, 2022), https://www.cerulli.com/press-releases/cerulli-anticipates-84-trillion-in-wealth-transfers-through-2045. ↩︎
2.  Richard Eisenberg, Sorry, Your Kids Don’t Want Your Stuff or Your Parents’ Stuff, Next Avenue (Jan. 6, 2026), https://www.nextavenue.org/sorry-your-kids-dont-want-your-stuff-of-your-parents-stuff. ↩︎
3.  Baby Boomers Regain Top Spot as Largest Share of Home Buyers, Nat’l Ass’n of Realtors (Apr. 1, 2025), https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/baby-boomers-regain-top-spot-as-largest-share-of-home-buyers. ↩︎
4.  Taylor Covington, Supersized: Americans Are Living in Bigger Houses With Fewer People, The Zebra (May 15, 2024), https://www.thezebra.com/resources/home/median-home-size-in-us/. ↩︎
5.  Al Harris, U.S. Self-Storage Industry Statistics in 2026, SpareFoot (Mar. 9, 2026), https://www.sparefoot.com/blog/self-storage-industry-statistics. ↩︎

Comedian George Carlin once joked that a house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more. “Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house,” he said. “Why? No room for your stuff anymore.”¹

For many Americans, that joke hits close to home. We have a complicated relationship with our possessions, recognizing on some level that we may own too much even as we continue to accumulate more. The United States is one of the world’s leaders in consumer spending,² and while trends such as minimalism come and go, our belongings tend to keep piling up. 

There is nothing inherently wrong with owning things. We work hard, and buying something new can feel like a reward. But over time, those rewards can start to weigh on us, creating stress, taking up space, and even leaving behind a burden for the people we care about.

The question is not just what we own. It is what happens to it later—who is left to sort through it, manage it, and ultimately decide what comes next. 

America Has a Clutter Problem

An oft-cited statistic claims the average American home has 300,000 items in it.³ While that number has been disputed, there is no debate that Americans own a great deal of stuff. And it is stressing us out. 

• 25 percent of Americans admit to having a “clutter problem”⁴
• 84 percent worry that their homes are not organized enough⁵
• 55 percent say clutter is a major cause of stress⁶

Why do we accumulate so much?

Part of the answer has nothing to do with being American and everything to do with being human. We are predisposed to accumulate, in part because we evolved under conditions of scarcity.⁷ It is the same reason we have trouble denying ourselves fats and sweets; our brains crave unnecessary items the way they crave unhealthy foods. Research also suggests that objects appeal to us on an emotional level, giving us a sense of security and connection to the past and to the people we love.⁸ 

Meaning, however, is subjective. Physical items may be tied to memory and identity in ways that are not easily unpacked.⁹ What feels indispensable to one person may be meaningless to someone else. And when the time comes to administer an estate—to go over everything and decide what to do with it—those differences can trigger issues that far exceed any given item’s size, weight, or monetary value.

Why Being “Stuff-Blind” Can Complicate Estate Administration

There is a concept known as “nose blindness”—when your brain becomes so accustomed to a constant scent that it stops noticing it.¹⁰ A similar phenomenon can happen with possessions. Over time, people can develop “clutter blindness,”¹¹ gradually losing awareness of how much they have accumulated. 

Accumulating items and struggling to let go of them is normal. One person’s collection may be another’s clutter. But when belongings build up over a lifetime, the result can complicate estate administration far more than many people expect.

One way to assess the situation is to ask a few simple questions: 

• Can you comfortably and safely move through every room in your home?
• Are important documents organized and easy for someone else to locate?
• If your home needed to be cleared out for sale, would it take days, weeks, or months?

Your answers will signal whether the amount of stuff you own—or the way it is organized—might cause problems down the line. If those issues are not addressed now, they will almost certainly fall to someone else later. 

Potential complications that may arise during estate administration include the following: 

• Missed or undiscovered assets. When family members or executors are organizing and inventorying a home under time pressure, something important may be overlooked or mistaken for junk.
• Delays in the probate process. Estate administration typically takes six to 12 months or longer. If a home contains decades of accumulated belongings, sorting, cataloging, and distributing personal property can add weeks or months to the process.
• Difficulty determining the value of property. After someone dies, their personal property often needs to be appraised. If belongings are disorganized, it can be harder to figure out what is there, which may lead to overlooking valuable items or incorrect valuations.
• Higher administrative costs. In a heavily cluttered home, professional estate cleanout services and the work of identifying and cataloging personal property can cost thousands of dollars,¹² and that is before expenses such as junk removal, estate sale commissions, or auctioneer fees.
• Delays in preparing or selling real estate. Sometimes, homes cannot be listed for sale until the contents have been removed. Excess clutter can push back the typical estate sale timeline and increase costs for utilities, insurance, and property taxes.
• Safety concerns that may limit the ability to age in place. Most older adults want to age at home,¹³ but their house must be able to accommodate them as they grow older. Severe clutter can create fall hazards, block exits, and interfere with routine home maintenance.
• Trouble locating essential documents. Important records such as wills, trusts, insurance policies, account statements, passwords, and other key documents may be misplaced or buried among household belongings, complicating estate administration and financial decisions after death.

You cannot take it with you—but what you leave behind does not simply disappear. It becomes someone else’s responsibility to sort through, manage, and resolve, and it can turn into a complex, time-consuming problem for the people you care about most.

1.  George Carlin – Stuff, The Frug (July 13), https://thefrug.com/george-carlin-stuff. ↩︎
2.  Understanding the US Consumer Market: Key Trends and Insights, Rsch. FDI (Mar. 15, 2023), https://researchfdi.com/understanding-the-us-consumer-market. ↩︎
3.  Jean Chatzky, One in Four Americans Has a Clutter Problem — And Could Be Sitting on Some Serious Cash, NBC News (May 31, 2017), https://www.nbcnews.com/business/personal-finance/one-four-americans-has-clutter-problem-could-be-sitting-some-n766681. ↩︎
4.  Id. ↩︎
5.  Id. ↩︎
6.  Id. ↩︎
7.  Archana Ram, Why Do We Keep Buying New Stuff?, Patagonia (Nov. 15, 2023), https://www.patagonia.com/stories/culture/design/feeling-like-new/story-144207.html. ↩︎
8.  Christian Jarrett, The psychology of stuff and things, The British Psych. Soc’y (Aug. 13, 2013), https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/psychology-stuff-and-things. ↩︎
9.  Christopher R. Madan, Memory Can Define Individual Beliefs and Identity—and Shape Society, Sage J. (Dec. 13, 2023), https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23727322231220258. ↩︎
10.  The Science Behind Olfactory Fatigue, Malibu Apothecary (Sept. 17, 2025), https://malibuapothecary.com/blogs/clean-candles/the-science-behind-olfactory-fatigue-why-you-stop-smelling-a-scent. ↩︎
11.  Gretchen Rubin, Are You Clutter-Blind? Or Do You Know Someone Who Is?, Psych. Today (May 16, 2016), https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-happiness-project/201605/are-you-clutter-blind-or-do-you-know-someone-who-is. ↩︎
12.  Deirdre Sullivan, How Much Do Estate Cleanout Services Cost? [2026 Data], Angi (Apr. 4, 2026), https://www.angi.com/articles/estate-cleanout-services-cost.htm. ↩︎
13.  Kim Parker and Luona Lin, Most older adults who live at home want to age in place, but they aren’t entirely confident they’ll get to, Pew Rsch. (Feb. 26, 2026), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/02/26/most-older-adults-who-live-at-home-want-to-age-in-place-but-they-arent-entirely-confident-theyll-get-to. ↩︎

Policy experts and families alike have long noted that the United States lacks a comprehensive public system for long-term care.

Medicare generally does not cover these services, and while Medicaid can help, it is available only to people with very limited assets, often requiring a spend-down that can leave little or nothing for loved ones.

Private long-term care insurance (LTCI) offers a potential solution, but the market is more exclusive than it once was. The policies still available today are typically designed for relatively healthy people who can afford higher premiums.

In recent years, interest in the LTCI market has grown again, thanks in part to hybrid life insurance/LTC products. While LTCI is not right for everyone, both traditional and hybrid policies can play a useful role in protecting assets and supporting long-term care strategies.

What LTCI Is—and Is Not

KFF Health News and the New York Times recently published a series explaining why “few can afford to grow old” and many Americans are “dying broke” due to high long-term care costs and no universal public care system.¹

Given this reality, a private LTCI policy may seem like a no-brainer. Yet the contraction of the LTCI market over the past few decades shows that this is a limited tool with a small target audience.

Around 70 percent of people aged 65 and older will need long-term care services during their lifetime, but fewer than 5 percent of Americans aged 50 and older own a long-term care policy.²

LTCI emerged in the 1970s and 1980s as a mass-market product, similar to life insurance but specifically designed to cover services that standard health insurance and Medicare typically do not pay for. It typically covers the following services:

• In-home care. Assistance with daily activities while staying at home
• Assisted living facilities. Supportive housing with care services
• Memory care. Specialized care for people with Alzheimer’s or other memory-related conditions
• Skilled nursing or nursing homes. Long-term skilled care in a facility with professional medical support

LTCI generally does not cover the following services:

• Short-term medical care that Medicare already pays for
• Care that does not meet policy requirements (Most policies only pay when you have significant cognitive impairment or cannot perform at least two activities of daily living, such as bathing or getting dressed.)
• Informal care by family or friends unless it meets the policy’s rules for coverage

What Else to Know About LTCI: Pricing, Options, and Fit

Why are more Americans not purchasing long-term care insurance? Let’s start with the benefits. Here is what LTCI can do:

• Provide dedicated funds for care
• Preserve assets for heirs
• Offer flexibility in choosing where and how care is provided
• Reduce reliance on family caregivers and Medicaid planning, including having to spend down savings
• Support spousal planning

But LTCI is far from a perfect solution and is not one-size-fits-all. These are some important factors to consider:

• Hybrid life/LTC products are growing in popularity,³ combining long-term care coverage with a death benefit. They may be especially appealing to younger buyers or sandwich-generation families.⁴
• Some policies (especially older or narrowly designed ones) may not pay for all the care you assume is covered,⁵ leading to substantial out-of-pocket costs.
• Modern policies often have stricter health requirements and more conservative pricing.
• A policy for a 55-year-old single man averages roughly $950 per year and about $1,500 for a single woman. A married couple of the same age purchasing coverage together may pay around $2,080 annually, with higher premiums for inflation protection, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.⁶
• Plan features that affect pricing include age at the time of purchase, medical history and current health, daily or monthly benefit amounts, benefit duration, inflation protection, and waiting periods.⁷

With these factors in mind, LTCI may be worth considering in the following circumstances:

• You have meaningful assets at risk and want to reduce the possibility of care costs wiping out your savings.
• You want to preserve a legacy rather than using those assets for self-funded care.
• You want to protect a spouse’s financial stability if your partner requires care.
• You want to reduce the risk that care expenses will disrupt investments or other financial goals.
• You are healthy enough to qualify and can afford to pay premiums over the long term.

LTCI may not be a good fit in the following circumstances:

• You have limited cash or income flexibility, and premiums would stretch your budget or make other financial goals harder to achieve.
• You expect to rely primarily on public benefits; if you are planning for Medicaid to cover your care, LTCI may not be necessary.
• You have already arranged savings or trusts to cover care.
• You face health issues that may make it difficult or expensive to qualify for coverage.
• You are unwilling to commit to long-term premium obligations, preferring financial flexibility.

Whether LTCI is right for you comes down to a personalized analysis. The need for long-term care is becoming more common among aging Americans. However, a dedicated care policy is just one tool within LTC planning and the larger planning picture. You should evaluate its fit alongside your legal documents, insurance coverage, and financial goals so that long-term care—if it becomes necessary—does not dictate the choices available to you and your family.

Know that we are at your side throughout your aging and retirement journey, wherever it leads and whatever solutions it demands.

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1. Dying Broke: A KFF Health News–New York Times Project, KFF Health News (Nov. 14–Dec. 15, 2023), https://kffhealthnews.org/dying-broke. ↩︎
2. Janet Weiner, Reforming Long-Term Care Policy: Lessons from the Past, Imperatives for the Future, Penn LDI (Dec. 4, 2025), https://ldi.upenn.edu/our-work/research-updates/reforming-long-term-care-policy. ↩︎
3. Is Life Insurance the Answer to the Growing Long-Term Care Need in the U.S.?, LIMRA (Aug. 28, 2025), https://www.limra.com/en/newsroom/industry-trends/2025/is-life-insurance-the-answer-to-the-growing-long-term-care-need-in-the-u.s. ↩︎
4. The Sandwich Generation: Balancing Care for Parents & Children, Caregiver Action Network, https://www.caregiveraction.org/sandwich-generation (last visited Mar. 31, 2026). ↩︎
5. Reed Abelson & Jordan Rau, Dying Broke: A KFF Health News–New York Times Project: Facing Financial Ruin as Costs Soar for Elder Care, KFF Health News (Nov. 14, 2023), https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/dying-broke-facing-financial-ruin-as-costs-soar-for-elder-care. ↩︎
6. 2025 Long-Term Care Insurance Facts – Prices – Data – Statistics – 2025 Report, Am. Ass’n for Long-Term Care Ins., https://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance/learning-center/ltcfacts-2025.php (last visited Mar. 31, 2026). ↩︎
7. What Features of Long-Term Care Policies Should I Focus On?, Ins. Info. Inst., https://www.iii.org/article/what-features-long-term-care-policies-should-i-focus (last visited Mar. 31, 2026). ↩︎

Once you understand what long-term care (LTC) is and the real risks it can pose to your finances, goals, and family, you can begin to plan accordingly. Addressing the possibility of long-term care early puts you in a stronger position to manage its potential financial and personal impact.

What Are the Goals of LTC Planning?

An estate plan that properly integrates long-term care planning should focus on a few key priorities:

• Protect a spouse’s standard of living. Long-term care for one partner should not put the other’s financial stability at risk. Planning can help ensure that the healthy spouse still has enough income, housing stability, and access to savings, even if the other needs extended care.
• Preserve legacy intentions for heirs. Long-term care can quickly drain a family’s savings, affecting not only the financial security of a healthy spouse but also the wealth you intend to pass down. Proactive planning helps ensure that your assets are protected and your legacy goals are met, regardless of future care expenses.
• Maintain care choices and independence. While most older adults prefer to stay in their own homes as they age, many worry that they will not have the means to do so. Proactive planning provides the financial flexibility you need to choose both the type of care you receive and where you receive it, empowering you to maintain your lifestyle and independence.
• Align LTC planning with retirement and investments. The high cost of long-term care can significantly impact your retirement savings and overall investment strategy. Planning ahead ensures that your financial, investment, and estate plans work in harmony to cover future care expenses without sacrificing your primary retirement goals.
• Minimize reliance on family. Soaring care costs and the lack of a coherent, nationwide long-term care support system mean that family members must often pick up the caregiving slack.¹ LTC planning can lessen the physical, emotional, and financial burden on family caregivers.

What Strategies Can Protect Your Estate?

Long-term care planning strategies are designed to address the financial impact of in-home care, assisted living, and nursing home costs on families and their hard-earned savings. While these strategies may overlap your will or trust to some degree, these goals are often established through separate tools.

No single approach can fully protect against all risks, but implementing a combination of several tools can often better safeguard your assets and reduce the financial burden on your loved ones.

Using Insurance Policies to Lower Financial Risk

Traditional long-term care insurance (LTCI) and hybrid life/LTC products are designed to help cover the costs of long-term care in exchange for premiums paid in advance. These policies transfer some or all of the financial risk from your personal savings to an insurance policy, helping to protect both you and your family. LTCI can help achieve the following goals:

• Protect retirement savings and investment accounts from being spent on care
• Provide coverage that may exceed the total premiums you have paid
• Offer more predictable funding for extended care needs

Insurance is not a universal solution. Each policy has its own requirements, costs, and structure, and long-term affordability must be carefully evaluated. For those who qualify and are able to afford it, LTCI can be an effective way to protect and preserve assets.

Structure Assets for Flexibility and Liquidity

Even if you have LTCI or anticipate qualifying for needs-based public programs such as Medicaid, you may still face initial out-of-pocket expenses. LTCI policies frequently have elimination or waiting periods, and Medicaid typically requires spending down specific assets and waiting for administrative approval before coverage begins.

Preparing for private-pay expenses means ensuring that your assets are accessible and flexible. Implementing the following strategies can help:

• Keep funds easily accessible. Cash savings and brokerage accounts can be quickly deployed for care expenses, whereas assets such as real estate or a family business take time to access.
• Structure your account ownership. Whether accounts are held individually or jointly with a spouse dictates who has the legal authority to access funds when care is needed.
• Review beneficiary designations. Retirement accounts and life insurance policies typically pass directly to heirs. Without careful planning, these funds may not be available to pay for your care.
• Consider ownership structures. Assets held in trusts or co-owned with family members often require coordination and legal review before they can be used for care expenses.

Public Benefits Planning

Medicaid is the primary public benefits program that helps cover long-term care costs, but qualifying requires meeting strict asset limits. Individuals must typically spend down specific assets before becoming eligible. It is highly recommended that clients consult a qualified attorney for strategic advice on navigating these rules and preserving as much wealth as legally possible.

Planning ahead, which can help preserve as much of your private savings as possible while still qualifying for publicly funded care, typically involves the following steps:

• Understanding eligibility rules. Familiarizing yourself with Medicaid’s strict asset limits and the look-back rules regarding prior transfers of property or money
• Organizing your assets. Structuring your savings and property to comply with Medicaid regulations while legally protecting as much wealth as possible
• Protecting your spouse. Ensuring that the healthy spouse retains sufficient resources to maintain their standard of living while their partner receives care

Public benefits planning works best when done well before care is needed rather than waiting until a health event makes it urgent.

Align Long-Term Care Planning with Your Estate Plan

Certain strategies involve transferring assets into specially structured trusts years before care is actually needed. When designed correctly, these trusts can help prevent your savings from being depleted to qualify for Medicaid while still ensuring that funds are available for your care if necessary.

Implementing this strategy typically requires the following considerations:

• Utilizing protective trusts. Placing specific savings or property into a trust to shield them from future care-related expenses
• Planning for Medicaid eligibility. Carefully designing the trust to comply with Medicaid’s strict timing rules and eligibility requirements
• Coordinating family access. Ensuring that trusted family members or designated agents can legally access trust funds to pay for your care when the time comes

Timing is critical. Putting asset protection strategies in place well before care is needed provides the greatest flexibility and protection. If the need for care arises before a plan is in place, there may still be certain strategies available to assist with public benefits eligibility, but your options become more limited.

Coordinate Family and Informal Care Planning

Long-term care often becomes a family affair, whether due to managing care at home, coordinating with professionals, or navigating public benefits such as Medicaid.² Even if care is fully private, long-term care affects more than just the person receiving it; it can impact finances, time, and family dynamics. Your family can prepare in the following ways:

• Confirm decision-making authority. Ensure that all family members know exactly who is designated to make medical and financial decisions if you become incapacitated. This step must be supported by executing updated medical and financial powers of attorney.
• Define caregiving roles. Clearly establish who will provide hands-on, day-to-day support versus who will handle administrative tasks such as coordinating services.
• Communicate expectations. Openly discuss your care preferences and funding strategies so everyone understands the overarching plan and their potential responsibilities.

Even the best financial and care strategies can falter if families are not on the same page. Proactive planning and coordination reduces uncertainty, minimizes conflict, and helps ensure that long-term plans work smoothly if and when care becomes necessary.

Long-term care planning is not about expecting the worst. It is about preserving your choices and protecting the people you care about if life takes an unexpected turn.

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1. Kim Parker, Family Caregiving in an Aging America, Pew Rsch. Ctr. (Feb. 26, 2026), https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2026/02/26/family-caregiving-in-an-aging-america. ↩︎
2. Common Caregiving Problems, Am. Psych. Ass’n (June 2020), https://www.apa.org/pi/about/publications/caregivers/practice-settings/common-problems. ↩︎

For many people, estate planning sounds like a final act—a set of instructions for what happens to your accounts and other assets only after you are gone.

In reality, a truly comprehensive estate plan also helps protect you during your lifetime. While a standard plan covers medical and financial decisions if you become incapacitated (unable to manage your affairs), there is frequently a missing piece that can dismantle even the most careful arrangements: the need for long-term care.

Long-Term Care: The Blind Spot in Many Plans

The costs associated with long-term care can be significant and often arise when individuals are least prepared to adjust their financial plans. Without proper planning, these expenses can quickly erode savings, alter inheritance goals, and place unexpected responsibilities on family members.

Understanding how long-term care fits into an estate plan is an important step in protecting both your financial security and your family’s future.

What Is Long-Term Care?

Long-term care planning focuses on a different risk than the sudden medical crises people often associate with estate planning.

While estate plans typically address what happens if someone suddenly loses the capacity to make financial or medical decisions, long-term care planning addresses a more gradual possibility: the eventual need for assistance with everyday activities.

The National Institute on Aging defines long-term care (LTC) as services designed to meet a person’s health or personal care needs when they can no longer independently perform everyday tasks.¹

In practical terms, long-term care generally means assistance with what are known as activities of daily living (ADLs), including bathing, dressing, eating, and toileting. That care can take several forms:

• In-home care. Professional aides or nurses who come directly to your home to provide assistance
• Assisted living communities. Welcoming residential communities that provide housing along with a helping hand for your daily activities
• Memory care. Specialized, secure support for individuals navigating cognitive challenges such as dementia
• Skilled nursing facilities. Centers that provide a higher, more comprehensive level of medical supervision and care when you need it most

Unlike short-term rehabilitation, long-term care is about sustained assistance, sometimes for years. For that reason, Medicare generally does not pay for long-term custodial care.² While Medicare may cover limited, short-term skilled nursing or rehabilitation following a hospitalization, it does not pay for ongoing assistance with ADLs or skilled nursing.

Who May Need Long-Term Care?

The need for LTC can arise suddenly, such as after a heart attack or stroke, but more often develops gradually as a person ages.

Although it can be difficult to predict how much or what type of care someone may need, the following underlying causes of long-term care needs tend to be common and more foreseeable:

• Age-related frailty and declining mobility
• Cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia
• Stroke and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease
• Chronic illnesses such as diabetes or heart disease
• Injuries that result in long-term functional limitations

As life expectancy increases, so does the likelihood of experiencing these conditions and requiring care.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that nearly 70 percent of individuals turning age 65 today will need some form of long-term care during their remaining years.³

Women, because they tend to live longer than men, are more likely to require care for longer durations. But as both men and women live longer—and the population over age 65 continues to grow—the likelihood of needing long-term care is increasing.⁴

How Long Does Long-Term Care Typically Last?

Long-term care is not always permanent. But in many cases, it can last for years.

• The average duration among those needing care is approximately three years.⁵
• Roughly one in five individuals who require care will need it for five years or longer.⁶

A short rehab stay (say, a few months) is one thing—you may be able to pay for it out of pocket. But paying for long-term care for a year or more could significantly impact your savings.

Averages do not always reflect real-life cases. Any prolonged period of dependency can quickly cause costs to spiral into unsustainable territory.

What Does Long-Term Care Cost?

Costs vary by region and level of care, but national median estimates provide useful perspective⁷:

• The annual national median cost of a semiprivate nursing home room is about $114,975; a private room is about $129,575.
• Assisted living community care averages roughly $74,400 per year.
• Home-based care such as a home health aide runs around $35 per hour nationally.

These numbers represent median costs at typical facilities and do not account for inflation, specialized memory care, or additional medical expenses. Care costs also continue to rise rapidly as labor costs and demand grow.

Assisted living costs increased about 10 percent compared with the last year surveyed.⁸ Even modest annual increases can compound significantly over multiyear stays.

How $120,000 Becomes $600,000: The Erosion of Your Savings

At current median rates:

• A three-year stay in a nursing home at approximately $120,000 per year totals roughly $360,000 in private-pay expenses.
• If care extends to five years, costs can approach or exceed $600,000.
• Assisted living at roughly $70,000 per year totals more than $200,000 over three years.

For many people, savings are intended to provide retirement income, supplement Social Security, and eventually pass to heirs. Extended long-term care expenses can quickly redirect those assets toward care costs instead of lifestyle or legacy goals. In just a few short years, savings could be entirely depleted.

Why Traditional Estate Plans Do Not Address LTC Risk

Most estate plans are designed to avoid probate, facilitate orderly asset transfers at death, minimize taxes, and provide decision-making authority if you become unable to manage your own affairs. But limitations come into play when LTC becomes necessary:

• A will directs how your assets should be distributed after you die. Because it takes effect only at death, it does not protect assets from expenses you may incur during your lifetime, including long-term care.
• A revocable living trust can help manage assets and avoid probate after death. Because you retain full control of the assets in this type of trust, however, those assets remain fully available to pay for long-term care if needed.
• A durable power of attorney allows someone you trust to make medical or financial decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so. While it provides decision-making authority, it does not shield assets from the cost of care.

Traditional estate planning often assumes that most assets will remain intact until they are eventually transferred to heirs. Long-term care introduces a different risk—one that can arise during your lifetime and potentially erode or erase the assets your estate plan was designed to protect and preserve.

The financial stress of requiring LTC can disrupt not only your financial plans but also family dynamics. Loved ones may find themselves taking on caregiving responsibilities and out-of-pocket costs that can amount to thousands of dollars and countless hours each year.⁹

Planning for long-term care should not be put off. It is completely natural to hope you will never need it or to avoid the topic until a health event forces the issue. But treating long-term care simply as a distant health risk rather than a realistic financial challenge can be an incredibly expensive mistake. While your health may fully recover, your life savings may not.

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1. What Is Long-Term Care?, NIH Nat’l Inst. on Aging (Oct. 12, 2023), https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/long-term-care/what-long-term-care. ↩︎
2. Long-Term Care, Medicare.gov, https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/long-term-care (last visited Mar. 30, 2026). ↩︎
3. How Much Care Will You Need?, LongTermCare.gov (Feb. 18, 2020), https://acl.gov/ltc/basic-needs/how-much-care-will-you-need. ↩︎
4. Alicia H. Munnell, Most Adults Greatly Underestimate the Realities of Aging and Long-Term Care, Ctr. for Ret. Rsch. at Bos. Coll. (Mar. 10, 2025), https://crr.bc.edu/do-older-adults-understand-healthcare-risks. ↩︎
5. How Much Care Will You Need?, supra note 3. ↩︎
6. Stephanie Stearns, How Long Does the Average Person Need Long-Term Care?, Nw. Mut. (Aug. 28, 2024), https://www.northwesternmutual.com/life-and-money/how-long-does-the-average-person-need-long-term-care. ↩︎
7. Calculate the Cost of Long-Term Care Near You, CareScout, https://www.carescout.com/cost-of-care (last visited Mar. 30, 2026). ↩︎
8. Genworth and CareScout Release Cost of Care Survey Results for 2024, BusinessWire (Mar. 4, 2025), https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250301584443/en/Genworth-and-CareScout-Release-Cost-of-Care-Survey-Results-for-2024. ↩︎
9. New Report Reveals Crisis Point for America’s 63 Million Family Caregivers, AARP (Aug. 1, 2025), https://www.aarp.org/states/maryland/caregiving-report. ↩︎

Most of us have been on a plane and heard the preflight safety instructions that include some version of the oxygen mask principle: Secure your own mask before assisting others.

Why do they emphasize this point? Because you cannot effectively help someone else if you are struggling to breathe.

Millions of Americans may not realize that this situation is analogous to their role as a caregiver. When you prioritize caring for somebody else, your own health, finances, and planning may suffer. Over time, these stressors can lead to burnout. Emotionally and financially, you run out of air; it feels like you are suffocating under the caregiving burden.

Applied to caregiving, the oxygen mask principle is a reminder that getting your own affairs in order is not selfish but essential. Caring for yourself and planning for your future helps ensure that you can continue to care for a loved one over the long term.

The Caregiver Crisis in America

With baby boomers entering retirement in record numbers and most wanting to age in place in their homes, demand for long-term care at home is rapidly rising. Yet the supply of professional caregivers has not kept pace, leaving many families without reliable support and placing growing pressure on informal, unpaid family caregivers. This gap has contributed to America’s caregiver crisis.¹

Approximately one in four US adults, or 60 million Americans, serve as unpaid family caregivers for loved ones in the home, an increase of almost 50 percent since 2015.²

These caregivers provide hundreds of billions of dollars worth of essential services every year, often with little or no training, institutional support, or financial assistance. Many are simultaneously working full time and raising children while managing the daily needs of aging parents or disabled loved ones.

Caregiving responsibilities can quietly push personal goals aside, including retirement planning, career advancement, and future financial security. It also takes place, often unheard and unseen, behind closed doors and largely outside the formal healthcare system. But the value of unpaid caregiving—estimated at roughly $1.1 trillion annually³—exceeds all out-of-pocket healthcare spending in the United States.

Here are some additional figures that put the family caregiver crisis in perspective:

• The average amount of time spent in an informal caregiver role is 24 hours per week,⁴ but nearly one-quarter of caregivers provide more than 40 hours of care per week.⁵
• Caregivers spend an average of 26 percent of their income on caregiving activities.⁶
• Nearly half of caregivers report having out-of-pocket financial impacts due to caregiving responsibilities: 28 percent stopped saving; 23 percent took on more debt; 22 percent used up short-term savings; and 19 percent left bills unpaid or paid them late.⁷
• Caregivers’ average lost wages and benefits over a lifetime are $324,000 for women and $284,000 for men.⁸
• One in five caregivers reports poor health; one in four struggles to care for their own health because of caregiving duties;⁹ and the same number report feeling socially isolated.¹⁰
• Most caregivers (nearly 70 percent) report difficulty balancing professional obligations and caregiving responsibilities; many are forced to make career sacrifices, including reduced hours, missed promotions, leaves of absence, early retirement, or exiting the workforce altogether.¹¹ Those who leave the workforce and come back after caregiving are often paid less with fewer benefits.

How Caregivers Can Care for Themselves

Caregiving tends to begin modestly, with occasional voluntary tasks that may gradually increase in frequency, complexity, and emotional weight. Caregiver burnout and financial strain can likewise progress incrementally and quietly.

But even when caregiver stress is evident, it often goes unacknowledged. Only 13 percent of caregivers say that anyone has ever asked what support they need.¹²

Caregivers frequently feel isolated. They say they need more support. The question is: Where does it come from?

The obvious but overlooked answer may be themselves, with assistance from their trusted advisors or other professionals.

Caregiver burnout may escalate to a situation where a mental health clinician is needed.¹³ But before caregiving reaches a personal crisis level, additional resources and structured planning can help ease a caregiver’s burden and give an oxygen boost that lets them think more clearly.

Balancing Your Role as a Caregiver and a Planner

• Navigating day-to-day caregiving demands. Simplifying and organizing financial and administrative tasks can reduce decision fatigue and free up time and energy for caregiving.
• Designating successor caregivers. Identifying who would step in if you were temporarily or permanently unable to provide care helps protect your loved one and reduces uncertainty during emergencies.
• Establishing powers of attorney for your own finances and healthcare. Naming trusted decision-makers ensures that your wishes are honored and prevents disruptions if you are unable to act on your own behalf.

Planning Ahead to Reduce Emotional and Financial Burnout

• Automating finances and simplifying administration. Automating bill payments, savings, and recurring tasks keeps financial continuity intact when caregiving limits your time and attention.
• Building an emergency fund for personal needs. Caregivers may be forced to put others’ needs first. An accessible reserve can cover unexpected personal expenses without adding stress or debt.
• Protecting your own retirement savings and investments. Supporting a loved one today should not permanently undermine your security tomorrow. Planning can help balance present caregiving costs with long-term financial stability.

Other resources that caregivers may find useful can be found through the Family Caregiver Alliance,¹⁴ the Caregiver Action Network,¹⁵ the Zen Caregiving Project,¹⁶ and the Administration for Community Living.¹⁷

You may also want to explore Medicaid and Veterans Affairs programs that pay family caregivers.¹⁸ In addition, caregiving technology and apps can assist caregivers with tasks such as medication reminders, activity logging, managing appointments, and coordinating a team of caregivers.¹⁹ 

Do Not Let Caregiving Crowd Out Your Own Planning

Managing someone else’s care can lead to you neglecting your own legal and financial planning. But planning for yourself is part of planning for others. Only after you catch your breath will you have the energy to help someone else.

As a planning principle, we have our masks at the ready so that we can care for the caregivers and ensure that everyone involved makes it through the turbulence.

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1. What Is the Caregiver Crisis? Johns Hopkins (July 28, 2025), https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/what-is-the-caregiver-crisis. ↩︎
2. AARP, Caregiving in the US: Research Report 7 (July 2025), https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/topics/ltss/family-caregiving/caregiving-in-us-2025.doi.10.26419-2fppi.00373.001.pdf. ↩︎
3. Katherine Gallagher Robbins & Jessica Mason, If Americans Were Paid for Their Caregiving, They Would Make More Than $1.1 Trillion, nationalpartnership, (June 26, 2025), https://nationalpartnership.org/if-americans-were-paid-for-their-caregiving-they-would-make-more-than-1-1-trillion. ↩︎
4. Shawn Britt, Home Health Care and the Caregiver Crisis in America, Nationwide, https://www.nationwide.com/financial-professionals/topics/health-care-cost-longevity/pages/caregiver-crisis-in-america  (last visited Feb. 25, 2026). ↩︎
5. New Report Reveals Crisis Point for America’s 63 Million Family Caregivers, AARP (Aug. 1, 2025), https://states.aarp.org/maryland/caregiving-report. ↩︎
6. Laura Skufca & Gerard Rainville, Caregiving Can Be Costly—Even Financially, AARP (June 29, 2021), https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/ltss/family-caregiving/family-caregivers-cost-survey. ↩︎
7. AARP, Caregiving in the US, supra note 17, at 43. ↩︎
8. MetLife, The MetLife Study of Caregiving Costs to Working Caregivers: Double Jeopardy for Baby Boomers Caring for Their Parents 4 (June 2011), https://www.homecaregenerations.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/study.pdf. ↩︎
9. AARP, Caregiving in the US, supra note 17, at 55. ↩︎
10. Id. at 9. ↩︎
11. New U.S. Workforce Report: Nearly 70% of Family Caregivers Report Difficulty Balancing Career and Caregiving Responsibilities, Spurring Long-Term Impacts to U.S. Economy, AARP (May 16, 2024), https://www.aarp.org/press/releases/2024-5-16-us-workforce-report-70-caregivers-difficulty-balancing-career-caregiving-responsibilities.html. ↩︎
12. AARP, Caregiving in the US, supra note 17, at 15. ↩︎
13. Id. ↩︎
14. Family Caregiver Services by State, Fam. Caregiver All., http://caregiver.org/connecting-caregivers/services-by-state (last visited Feb. 26, 2026). ↩︎
15. The Family Caregiver Toolbox, Caregiver Action Network, https://www.caregiveraction.org/toolbox (last visited Feb. 26, 2026). ↩︎
16. Better Caregiving Through Mindfulness, Zen Caregiving Project, https://zencaregiving.org/for-caregivers (last visited Feb. 26, 2026). ↩︎
17. Caregiving and Direct Care Workforce, ACL (Feb. 4, 2026), https://acl.gov/programs/support-caregivers. ↩︎
18. Julie B. Kennedy, Five Ways Family Caregivers Can Get Paid, NCOA (Jan. 8, 2025), https://www.ncoa.org/article/five-ways-family-caregivers-can-get-paid. ↩︎
19. Rachel Lustbader, The Best Caregiving Apps of 2024: 6 Apps to Help You Through Common Caregiving Challenges, Caring (Feb. 11, 2026), https://www.caring.com/resources/best-caregiving-apps. ↩︎

Disability is often treated as a remote possibility, something that happens to other people. Yet one of the most persistent blind spots in planning conversations is disability risk. Disability is not limited to conditions that we are born with. It can arise for anyone, at any age, across income levels, and in virtually any circumstance. Comprehensive estate planning is not solely focused around death; it is also about preserving autonomy during life, including through any period of disability.

That is why an estate plan that overlooks disability altogether ignores one of life’s most consequential what-ifs and risks falling short if a health crisis strikes.

The Ever-Present Risk of Disability

For many people, death may feel like something that reliably arrives at the end of old age, not as an imminent or unpredictable risk. The COVID-19 pandemic brought heightened awareness of illness and mortality to people of all ages and triggered a surge in estate planning as millions took steps to protect their loved ones and their futures.

Most Americans dramatically underestimate both the very real risk and significant financial consequences of disability.

• Approximately 1 in 4 20-year-oldswill experience a disability lasting 90 days or more before reaching age 67.¹
• About 13 percent of Americans are classified as disabled,² yet two-thirds of workers believe their own risk of long-term disability is just 1 or 2 percent.³
• More than half of Americans turning 65 will develop a disability serious enough to require long-term services and supports.⁴
• Illness, not accidents, is the leading cause of disability, and mental health conditions account for roughly 1 in 10 long-term disability cases.⁵
• Households with a working-age disabled adult need 28 percent more income on average, or an extra $17,000–$18,000 annually, to maintain the same standard of living due to higher expenses for healthcare, equipment, personal care, housing, and lost earnings.⁶

Although many disabilities are temporary, a significant share are not. About 1 in 5 adults (22 percent) will have a disability for more than five years.⁷ The longer somebody is disabled, the more it impacts their finances. Estimates suggest that a 35-year-old earning $75,000 who suffers a permanent disability could lose up to $2.25 million in potential earnings by age 65, and a disability beginning at age 45 could result in more than $1 million in lost lifetime income.⁸

Making Planning Decisions Before Disability Strikes

Because incapacity can strike without warning, you need to have incapacity planning in place beforeit becomes necessary, not after. Many planning decisions require legal capacity (the cognitive ability to make decisions) to create them, and if documents are executed after capacity is lost, they are likely to be challenged or invalidated.

Delaying planning can also have severe financial consequences because it may necessitate additional costly legal procedures at a time when care expenses may be rapidly mounting while income and savings decline. For many households, even a short disruption can be destabilizing.

• Roughly three-quarters of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck, leaving little margin to absorb the financial shock of disability, particularly a prolonged one.⁹
• Nearly 4 in 10 cannot cover an unexpected $500 expense, let alone sustained increases in healthcare, housing, or caregiving costs.¹⁰
• Approximately 50 million adults lack disability insurance beyond Social Security,¹¹ and the average monthly Social Security benefit for a disabled worker is under $2,000 per month.¹²
• Since most Americans have no estate plan, they lack powers of attorney and other critical disability and incapacity planning documents, forcing loved ones to pursue costly legal proceedings to get authority to access finances or make care decisions. 

If any of these concerns hit uncomfortably close to home, you may benefit from adding disability protections to your estate plan to increase your financial resilience.

Here are some options to discuss with an attorney:

• Financial power of attorney. Allows someone you trust to manage bills, accounts, and financial decisions if you are unable to do so yourself, helping prevent missed payments, account freezes, or court involvement
• Healthcare planning (such as advance directives and living wills). Allows you to document your medical preferences in advance and name someone to make healthcare decisions on your behalf if you cannot communicate them yourself
• Advance planning for special needs trusts. Can be planned for in advance either to support a loved one who is already disabled or to serve as a safeguard if disability arises later, helping preserve government benefits while providing additional financial support
• Letters of intent. While not legally binding, such letters explain your wishes, routines, preferences, and priorities in plain language, providing critical guidance to caregivers, trustees, and family members during unexpected transitions
• Coordinated estate planning for income disruption and care costs. Works best when paired with broader financial planning that anticipates the potentially destabilizing combination of lower income and higher healthcare costs

Because disability risks and their consequences can shift with age and change over time, disability-specific planning measures should be revisited regularly, along with the rest of your plan.

Disability planning is not alarmist, worst-case thinking. It is realistic, personal preparation for a possibility that may be difficult to face but, sadly, is far more common than most people expect.

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1. Soc. Sec. Admin., Disability Benefits, Pub. No. 05-10029, at  5 (Feb. 2025) https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10029.pdf. ↩︎
2. Rebecca Leppert & Katherine Schaeffer, 8 Facts About Americans with Disabilities, Pew Rsch. Ctr. (July 24, 2023), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/07/24/8-facts-about-americans-with-disabilities. ↩︎
3. Allan Checkoway, Chance of Becoming Disabled, in A Lawyer’s Guide to Filing Long-Term Disability Claims and Appeals 1, 2 (2020), https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba-cms-dotorg/products/inv/book/346779304/Sample.pdf. ↩︎
4. HHS Off. of the Assistant Sec’y for Plan. and Evaluation, Research Brief: Long-Term Services and Supports for Older Americans: Risks and Financing, 2022, at 1 (Aug. 2022), https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/08b8b7825f7bc12d2c79261fd7641c88/ltss-risks-financing-2022.pdf [hereinafter ASPE Research Brief]. ↩︎
5. Uncomfortable Truths About Disability That May Surprise You, MassMutual 175 (Sept. 15, 2023), https://blog.massmutual.com/insurance/disability-surprising-facts. ↩︎
6. The Extra Costs of Living with a Disability in the U.S. — Resetting the Policy Table, ndi, https://www.nationaldisabilityinstitute.org/reports/extra-costs-living-with-disability, (last visited Feb. 25, 2026). ↩︎
7. ASPE Research Brief, supra note 7, at 1. ↩︎
8. Uncomfortable Truths About Disability That May Surprise You, supra note 8. ↩︎
9. Number of Americans Living Paycheck to Paycheck Has Increased, PR Newswire (Sept. 14, 2022), https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/number-of-americans-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-has-increased-301624801.html. ↩︎
10. Fed. Rsrv. Bd., Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2023, at 37 (May 2024), https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2023-report-economic-well-being-us-households-202405.pdf. ↩︎
11. Illness or Injury—and the Accompanying Financial Challenges—Can Happen to Anyone, CDIA, https://thecdia.org/the-risk-is-very-real (last visited Feb. 25, 2026). ↩︎
12. Social Security Disability Benefits Calculator, Disability Advice, https://disabilityadvice.org/ssdi-calculator (last visited Feb. 25, 2026). ↩︎

Many famous figures have argued that how a society treats its most vulnerable members is a measure of its humanity and moral character. As Mahatma Gandhi famously observed, a society is ultimately judged not by its wealth or power but by how it uplifts those who need help the most.

Government programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid support the needs of millions of disabled Americans. However, many of the day-to-day responsibilities and costs of caring for an individual with special needs fall on families, who are often left to navigate complex rules while trying to do the right thing for someone they love.

For families with disabled loved ones, estate planning must address proactive, coordinated decisions that protect benefits, support quality of life, and consider long-term financial planning alongside long-term care needs.

The Public Benefits Versus Private Wealth Conundrum in Special Needs Planning

The term disability paradox refers to a well-documented pattern in which many people living with serious disabilities report a high quality of life and strong life satisfaction even when they face substantial limitations shaped by healthcare gaps, social stigma, daily restrictions, and inadequate support systems.¹ Outside observers often interpret these same circumstances as inherently undesirable and assume that disability and the struggles these individuals face must correspond to reduced well-being and overall satisfaction with life.

A related paradox shows up in how our system supports people with disabilities. Public programs that are designed to provide critical assistance such as income support, housing assistance, medical care, and long-term support are typically available only if an individual has very limited financial resources of their own. Qualifying for these benefits therefore requires severe financial constraints, even when family members want to provide financial assistance. Access to essential support, in other words, often depends on maintaining what can feel like voluntary poverty layered on top of an existing disability.

Programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid generally require individuals to have limited income and assets—often no more than $2,000 in countable resources.

At the same time, families caring for a child with a disability face nearly double the risk of financial hardship compared with families with nondisabled children.² Research shows that these families are more likely to rely on a single income, work lower-paying or less flexible jobs, live in poorer-quality housing, and experience long-term financial strain.³ And yet, the help that family members try to provide is still closely scrutinized. Giving money directly to a disabled loved one—or leaving assets to them outright through an estate plan—can unintentionally cause them to lose the very benefits they depend on.

This is the challenge at the heart of special needs planning: how to provide necessary support without putting essential benefits at risk.

Special Needs Trusts and Other Disability Benefit Work-arounds

Because leaving money directly to a disabled loved one can jeopardize their public benefits, families need a way to provide financial support that promotes stability and protects eligibility.

One common approach is a special (or supplemental) needs trust (SNT). SNTs hold funds for a disabled beneficiary and allow money to be used for approved expenses that improve quality of life but do not affect eligibility for programs such as SSI or Medicaid. These trusts are designed to supplement public benefits, not replace them.

SNTs are central to disability planning but are not the only option families may consider. The following planning tools can play a supporting role:

• ABLE accounts. Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts allow eligible individuals with disabilities to save a limited amount of money each year for qualified expenses such as housing, education, transportation, and healthcare while keeping public benefits intact. These accounts can offer flexibility for smaller day-to-day needs.
• Pooled trusts. Pooled trusts are sometimes used when creating a standalone SNT is impractical. Funds are pooled for investment purposes but tracked separately for each beneficiary and are professionally managed, reducing any administrative burden on the individual and their loved ones.
• Life insurance. A life insurance policy can be used to fund future care needs, particularly for parents or caregivers who want to ensure that resources will be available for their disabled loved one after they are gone. In many cases, insurance proceeds are directed into a trust rather than paid outright to avoid jeopardizing any needs-based benefits the disabled individual currently relies on.

The right approach often involves a combination of tools, carefully coordinated to reflect a family’s resources, goals, and the specific needs of the disabled individual.

The size of the support matters, but so does how it is structured. Each approach should be judged not only individually but collectively, based on how it fits into the bigger planning picture.

Matching People with Plans

The right planning strategies can empower disabled individuals to live more independently and securely, often with a higher quality of life. But a plan is only as strong as the people designated to carry it out. Guardians, caregivers, and trustees play a pivotal role in maintaining continuity of care within a special needs estate plan.

Naming Guardians, Caregivers, and Trustees

A strong plan does not rely on a single person to do everything. It clearly defines roles so that responsibilities are shared, understood, and sustainable over time. In most plans benefiting people with special needs, that means thoughtfully naming and coordinating the following individuals:

• Guardians or primary caregivers. These are the people responsible for day-to-day care and major personal decisions. They ensure that the individual’s living situation, healthcare, routines, and personal needs are met consistently and compassionately.
• Trustees or financial decision-makers. Trustees manage funds set aside for the disabled individual. They make decisions about when and how money is used to support quality of life while also preserving eligibility for public benefits. Their role is financial oversight, not daily caregiving.
• Advocates or backup decision-makers. In some families, a trusted person serves as an extra set of eyes. This person understands the plan, the benefits rules, and the individual’s preferences and can step in if needed.

In addition to these key individuals, the plan may require support from outside professionals such as life care planners, social workers, financial advisors, and a corporate or professional trustee to serve as either the primary or backup fiduciary.

Clearly separating these roles helps avoid confusion, reduces conflict, and prevents any one person from becoming overwhelmed. Everyone involved should understand the disabled person’s needs and preferences and the role public benefits play in their care. When caregivers and decision-makers are on the same page, care is more consistent, benefits are better protected, and transitions—expected and unexpected—are easier to manage.

An estate planning attorney can serve as the hub in the special needs planning structure, helping to identify areas of concern, suggest options, and connect families with disability professionals, resources, and solutions.

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1. Gary L. Albrect & Patrick J. Devlieger, The Disability Paradox: High Quality of Life Against All Odds, ScienceDirect (Apr. 8, 1999), https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953698004110. ↩︎
2. Amy J. Houtrow et al., Health Care Cost Concerns and Hardships for Families of Children With Disabilities, Nat’l Libr. Med., Apr. 24, 2025, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12022804. ↩︎
3. Donna Anderson et al., The Personal Costs of Caring for a Child with a Disability: A Review of the Literature, Nat’l Libr. Med., Jan.–Feb. 2007, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1802121. ↩︎

Well, that doesn’t seem right. 

It usually starts with something small. A strange email from a bank you do not recognize. A new credit card account you do not remember opening. A password reset link you never requested. A notice from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that someone has already filed a tax return in your name. 

At first there is confusion. No, there’s no way that’s right. 

Then anxiety sets in. Am I being scammed? 

After that, you may spend hours or days on the phone with banks, credit bureaus, and government agencies to reach an unsettling conclusion: Someone has my information and is pretending to be me. 

Next comes anger, frustration, and a sense of violation. How could this happen?

Acceptance eventually sets in, along with a determination to never let scammers get the upper hand again. But sometimes it is too late. The damage has been done—to finances, reputation, peace of mind, and, sometimes, legacy. 

Preventing cybercrimes such as identity theft starts with awareness, including the recognition that cybersecurity is not just an IT problem or something that affects businesses. It is a personal wealth preservation issue that can affect you not only now but also after you are gone, making it crucial to strengthen your digital defenses long before your estate reaches administration. 

Scammers routinely target estates, executors, and grieving families, often by mining obituaries and public probate records to launch phishing, impersonation, and identity-theft schemes.

Growing Cyberthreats and Their Impact on Estate Planning

You may have started to take the first steps toward creating a digital estate plan, but that planning should also account for the growing risks that cybercriminals pose to both your assets and your legacy.

• Seventy-three percent of US adults have experienced some form of online scam or cyberattack. Most report weekly scam calls, text, and emails.¹ 
• Americans reported 2.6 million fraud cases and 1.1 million identity-theft incidents to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2024. Losses exceeded $12.5 billion, a 25 percent increase over the prior year.²
• Identity theft is now one of the most common types of consumer fraud, with nearly 750,000 cases in the first half of 2025 alone.³ 
• Seventy-six percent of consumers say they feel more anxious about cybersecurity today than they did two years ago, driven by impersonation enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) and increasingly sophisticated scams.⁴

Cybercriminals now use AI-generated voice clones to impersonate loved ones, breached financial and medical data to answer security questions, and automated scraping of public records to target people with unnerving precision. You will very likely be targeted at some point and may have already been a victim of cybercrime. Even if you avoid direct harm during your lifetime, your estate and heirs may be more vulnerable after your death.

Why Estates Can Be Vulnerable to Cybercriminals

The FBI reports that in 2024, Americans over age 60 were the most frequently targeted demographic for online scams and fraud and lost the most money to cybercrimes.⁵

Fraud schemes targeting the estates of people who have passed away are another area of growing cybercrime concern.⁶ As with older adults, estates, particularly those of seniors, are often perceived as holding substantial assets. The individuals and property involved with estate administration can also create unique vulnerabilities that attract cybercriminals. 

• The loved ones left behind are often overwhelmed and distracted after a loved one’s death, making them more susceptible to scams. Cybercriminals use times of chaos, confusion, and heightened emotion to their advantage, preying on feelings such as fear, urgency, and trust during times when people may let their guard down. 
• Executors may be unfamiliar with digital security, making phishing attempts more successful.
• Multiple parties (attorneys, advisors, banks, beneficiaries) are exchanging sensitive documents during estate administration, sometimes through unsecured or informal methods.
• The deceased person’s dormant accounts are often easy entry points for identity theft because they often go unmonitored, rely on outdated passwords, and may be tied to personal information that criminals can exploit before anyone realizes that there is a problem.
• Scammers routinely impersonate banks, government agencies, attorneys, or even the executor.
• Probate is public, giving criminals a ready-made list of heirs, contact information, and sometimes asset details.

Social engineering attacks—scams that use deception rather than technical hacking—that rely on sophisticated cybertools such as AI to exploit basic human psychology and manipulate people are on the rise.⁷ And just as cybercriminals capitalize on natural disasters⁸ and tech outages,⁹ the estate administration process is a scenario that could provide the perfect opening for fraud and deception. 

A Digital Defense Plan for Your Estate

You would not leave your physical property unsecured, but without a digital defense plan, you are essentially leaving the front door unlocked to cyberthieves, compromising your traditional and digital assets. Understanding points of vulnerability and taking a few simple precautions can help reduce your exposure to cybercrimes. 

Issue: Email is the weakest link. Most cyberattacks begin with email.

• What you can do: Use strong passwords, multifactor authentication (MFA), and encrypted document-sharing platforms. Avoid sending unprotected sensitive materials, and encourage your executors to follow the same security practices when administering your estate.

Issue: Executors cannot secure what they cannot see. Unknown or dormant accounts often remain open and unmonitored, making them prime targets for takeover and identity theft.

• What you can do: Create a detailed inventory of important digital accounts and storage locations. Ensure that fiduciaries (such as your executors and advisors) know what accounts must be closed, monitored, or secured.

Issue: Sensitive legal and tax documents are insecurely stored or shared. Wills, statements, and tax documents often sit unprotected in inboxes or cloud folders.

• What you can do: Store documents securely using online encrypted folders or password-protected vaults, and ensure that fiduciaries know where to find documents and how to access them.

Issue: Executors may not be prepared for digital threats. Phishing attempts surge during estate administration, and many executors are unfamiliar with digital-security practices.

• What you can do: Name a tech-literate executor (or coexecutor) who is comfortable managing digital accounts and security protocols. Include with your estate planning documents a brief “executor security checklist” that outlines verification steps (such as confirming account ownership and access authority) and highlights common red flags, such as urgent payment requests, unexpected account changes, or requests for credentials.

Issue: Probate exposes personal information. Public probate court filings often disclose the names and contact information of executors and beneficiaries and may even include a list of assets with their values—information that scammers can easily weaponize.

• What you can do: Talk with your attorney about whether trust-based planning or other probate-avoidance tools can reduce public exposure of your estate and limit targeted fraud.

Issue: Heirs and beneficiaries are prime targets for impersonation scams. Criminals impersonate banks, attorneys, courts, or even executors to solicit money or sensitive data. For example, a scammer may send an email posing as the estate’s bank or attorney, claiming an urgent problem with an account and requesting immediate payment or login credentials from a beneficiary or executor.

• What you can do: Educate executors and beneficiaries about how to spot and avoid common scams¹⁰ and establish a simple verification process for unexpected requests.

Issue: Identity theft of the deceased is common. Dormant and unmonitored accounts create easy entry points and are frequently hijacked after death. Criminals use a decedent’s information found in public records and online obituaries to open credit accounts, redirect mail, submit false change-of-address forms, or file fraudulent tax returns.

• What you can do: Develop a postdeath digital and identity-protection checklist for your estate and executor. This should include promptly notifying the major credit bureaus of the death, placing a credit freeze or fraud alert on the decedent’s credit file, forwarding and monitoring mail, filing the final tax return and IRS death notification, and quickly closing, consolidating, or memorializing unused online accounts and financial profiles.

Do Not Become a Cybercrime Statistic

Cybercrime statistics are sobering. We all know the risks of falling prey to online fraudsters, but when knowledge is not paired with action, it is an invitation for disaster. A proactive approach to cybersecurity rooted in awareness, preparation, and avoiding high-risk situations is key to securing your estate—and your legacy—in a digital world.

1. Jeffrey Gottfried, Eugenie Park, & Monica Anderson, Online Scams and Attacks in America Today, Pew Rsch. Ctr. (July 31, 2025), https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/07/31/online-scams-and-attacks-in-america-today. ↩︎
2. New FTC Data Show a Big Jump in Reported Losses to Fraud to $12.5 Billion in 2024, Fed. Trade Comm’n (Mar. 10, 2025), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/03/new-ftc-data-show-big-jump-reported-losses-fraud-125-billion-2024. ↩︎
3. Jack Caporal, Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud Statistics for 2025, MotleyFoolMoney (Aug. 15, 2025), https://www.fool.com/money/research/identity-theft-credit-card-fraud-statistics. ↩︎
4. Vicky Hyman, When It Comes to Fraud, a Sense of Insecurity and Even Inevitability, Global Survey Shows, Mastercard Cybersecurity (Oct. 6, 2025), https://www.mastercard.com/us/en/news-and-trends/stories/2025/consumer-cybersecurity-survey.html. ↩︎
5. Press Release, FBI, FBI Releases Annual Internet Crime Report (Apr. 23, 2025), https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-releases-annual-internet-crime-report. ↩︎
6. Henry Rinder, Fraud Targeting the Elderly and Estates: A Growing Concern, NJCPA (Sept. 23, 2024), https://www.njcpa.org/stayinformed/news/blog/post/njcpa-focus/2024/09/23/fraud-targeting-the-elderly-and-estates–a-growing-concern.
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7. Michelle Maratto & Sana Hashmat, Unmasking Social Engineering: Protecting Your Wealth from Deceptive Cyber Tactics, J.P. Morgan Wealth Mgmt. (Oct. 1, 2025), https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/cybersecurity/phishing/unmasking-social-engineering-protecting-your-wealth-from-deceptive-cyber-tactics.
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8. Niamh Ancell, Cybercriminals Capitalize on LA Wildfire Chaos via Fake GoFundMe’s and Crypto Coins, Cybernews (Jan. 17, 2025), https://cybernews.com/cybercrime/cybercriminals-exploit-la-wildfires.
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9. Brian Fung & Sean Lyngaas, Hackers Are Already Taking Advantage of the CrowdStrike Outage Chaos, CNN Bus. (July 22, 2024), https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/22/tech/hackers-crowdstrike-outage-scams. ↩︎
10. How to Avoid Imposter Scams, Fed. Trade Comm’m Consumer Advice, https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/how-avoid-imposter-scams (last visited Dec. 22, 2025). ↩︎