Meet Your Clients Estate Planning Needs: Become A "Certified Medicaid Advisor" SM
You can offer complete estate planning services to your clients through your association with Heritage America. Read on to find out how we can offer these services legally to you and your clients. Heritage America has proudly offered these services to Attorneys, Accountants, Insurance Agents, Financial Planners, Estate Planners and other professionals throughout the country.
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Our Concept

What makes Heritage America different from estate planning or trust marketing companies? We are neither an estate planning nor trust marketing company. Recently, Living Trusts and organizations that prepare Living Trusts have come under intense scrutiny. Frankly, we are pleased that the issue of credibility has been raised. There are essentially three ways that living trusts are marketed today: By non-lawyers, working alone or with computer software to produce the documents. By non-lawyers who work with a lawyer. By non-lawyers who work with a document service company that has lawyers. Recently we have seen a barrage of accusations and charges against people, document service companies, and even lawyers who are involved in marketing living trusts to the general public. Various state agencies, lawyers and Bar Associations, and Attorney Generals are trying to stop non-lawyers who are involved in the door-to-door selling of "one size fits all" living trusts for estate planning. Non-lawyers who work with lawyers are being charged with acting as an unlicensed attorney referral service. Document companies are being charged with the sale of legal documents. And the lawyers who work with these people are being charged with splitting legal fees with non-attorneys and improper solicitation. Heritage has observed this and anticipated it. Is there a proper and legal way for those who are not lawyers to educate and assist people estate planning concepts without breaking the law? Yes: by operating the Heritage way, as a bona fide membership organization. Operating as a membership organization means that our representatives do not "sell trusts," but instead promote our membership services. Heritage is an association that operates fully within the law as a bona fide membership association. Our Member/Representatives educate people on the dangers their estates may face without proper planning as well as various estate planning options. The Heritage legal staff works only for members of Heritage America rather than the general public. There is a fee to become a member of Heritage, and as a result of their membership our attorneys can prepare estate planning documents for our members. Our Member/Representatives are paid a commission for recruiting members to Heritage America. A Substantial Difference: This may seem unimportant to some, but a membership relationship insures our members of proper legal support and continued service. As a member, each family receives a quarterly news letter, the opportunity to consult with association lawyers concerning their own estate plan, access to our office paralegals, and an annual review of their estate plan at no charge above the membership fee. Click here for Legal Reference and Information

Complete Training

Whether you are brand new to the field of estate planning, or even if you have been involved in this area for many years, Heritage America can put you head and shoulders above the crowd when it comes to professionalism, proficiency, and products. The Heritage America Training School Heritage offers the finest Estate Planning Training School in the country. We have representatives come from all over the United States to attend our school; we even have trained attorneys on the subjects of estate planning and Medicaid planning. You will be fully trained in the areas of a Medicaid and Medicaid planning strategies, living trusts, charitable trusts, and how to educate members on their estate planning options. The Heritage America "Certified Medicaid Advisor" SM Course Heritage is the only organization in the country where you have the opportunity to become a Certified Medicaid Advisor SM. Upon completion of the two day Heritage America Training School, you have to complete some independent study and pass a written test.  You will then receive your certification. The Heritage America CMA Course puts you far above your competition in professionalism and proficiency. On-line Resource Center and Support Services Heritage America will soon offer our professionals and representatives an online estate planning resource center. Here our representatives can find the latest information, documents, changes in law, forms, presentation material, guides, educational material and other useful resources, all available 24 hours a day. UPDATE 5/7/99: Some areas of our Online Resource Center are now available. If you have not requested a password, please request one here.

Our Products

When we say that our representatives have estate planning tools that are second to none, we mean it. We have estate planning products that are not available anywhere else. With the products available through Heritage, you can help members with any size estate--from just above the probate limits to multi-million dollar estates. Furthermore, you've never seen finer looking documents than what members receive from Heritage. We use quality materials to create our document packages. This may seem like a trivial matter to some, but we have received phone calls from banks, accountants, and lawyers across the country to compliment us on our documents. But far more important than the appearance of our products is the quality of our estate plans. The Revocable Trust Our basic estate plan is a revocable living trust. We provide a "Trust Package" that includes much more than many others. Our trust package has provisions that many others lack. Along with the trust, we provide the following provisions: A Layman's Explanation of the Trust; A Declaration of Intent and Memorandum of Trust; Pour-Over-Wills; Durable Powers of Attorney for Health Care and Property; Disposition of Personal Effects; Funding Forms and other useful forms. Our standard membership includes the opportunity to receive our basic estate plan. Furthermore, continued membership entitles you to free changes and/or corrections to the trust document. The Heritage Irrevocable Insurance and Asset Trust Most estate planners are familiar with an Irrevocable Insurance Trust, or ILIT. When a member has an estate that exceeds the current exemption amount from Federal Estate Taxes, they need the help of a professional estate planner. An insurance trust allows you to provide the dollars needed to pay the member's estate taxes, with life insurance dollars, and keep the death benefits from being counted as part of the member's estate. The Insurance/Asset Trust comes as an addition to our standard estate plan. The Heritage Investment Trust The Heritage Investment Trust is exclusive to our organization. It provides a way to resolve estate tax problems, provides lawsuit judgement protection, and aids in capital gains tax deferment. This type of trust doesn't have the typical problems of other irrevocable trusts: the only way to get assets into other irrevocable trusts is to "gift" them in, creating gift tax problems. The Heritage Investment Trust is able to accept any amount of assets without it being considered a gift, and it is possible to appoint the member as a Trustee. The Family Limited Partnership The Family Limited Partnership is perhaps the perfect estate plan for the small business owner. The Family Limited Partnership is an opportunity for the member to have both control of their assets as well as protection of those assets from lawsuits, creditor claims, even IRS liens. A Family Limited Partnership reduces or eliminates federal estate taxes, and may even reduce income taxes. When a member transfers their assets into a Family Limited Partnership, they exchange their assets for limited partnership "units." Multitudes of court cases have upheld that someone suing a person who is a "partner" in a Limited Partnership cannot touch the assets owned by the Limited Partnership, even though the assets are controlled by the partner they are suing. Neither can they take the person's limited partnership units. Even the IRS is regulated to the position of a creditor. Furthermore, when a member exchanges their assets for limited partnership units, only the value of the units are considered as part of their estate for federal estate tax purposes--not the value of the assets themselves. That fact is very important to keep in mind, because tax courts have recognized that the value of limited partnership units may be substantially discounted from the value of the assets themselves. means that you may reduce or eliminate a member's federal estate taxes with a Family Limited Partnership. The Asset Protection Limited Liability Company (APLLC) Certain types of assets are exempt from a Medicaid "spenddown." Among them are assets used in a business for self-support. The Asset Protection Limited Liability Company (APLLC) is a business strategy that provides solid protection for your assets from the Medicaid spenddown. It also provides a turn-key opportunity for you to convert assets that are subject to a spenddown into assets that are not.

More Information

If you would like to know more concerning Heritage America and our various products, please email us for more information.

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