Children and Inheritances: How to Preserve an Inheritance for Your Child
They weren’t happy. Of course they weren’t happy. But they [...]
Can’t I Just Use a Power of Attorney When Someone Passes On?
Legally, Power of Attorney dies when the person who executed [...]
Financial security and real peace of mind—You can’t download it
Barbara and Mary sat at the restaurant table going over [...]
Being an Executor: Dealing with a Friend or Family Member’s Probate
Charlie was extremely nervous as she walked into the attorney’s [...]
Your Basic Care Options
It’s times like this that I really understood why it’s important to have a support staff for Care Assistance Planning.
7 Must-Do Estate Planning Tasks When You Have a New Baby
If you've recently had a new baby, now is the time to sit down and review your estate plan to ensure that all of the provisions are in place to care for your precious new child and the rest of the family.
Between the Holidays Phenomenon Strikes Again
Now that we are “between” the Holidays, we notice a familiar phenomenon. Our office starts getting a lot more calls than usual in the first few weeks of December than any other time of year about Medicaid Planning. But there is a very good reason for this—it may have been one of the very few times of the year that all of the “out of town” kids are back at the family home; and together they start noticing a few changes in mom or dad.
Legal Duct Tape Item of the Month: Masking Tape is Not an Estate Plan
With all of the information out there about estate planning, it astounds me how far the misinformation goes. However, there are people who will believe what they want to believe, especially if it means they can be lazy about actually doing something. Recently, a member of my family was discussing their own estate plan and told me and some other family members that all of their furniture was marked with masking tape with people’s names on it, and when they died, that’s who the furniture was supposed to go to. I was speechless for a few moments. I asked if they actually talked to an attorney, and they said they talked to their friend who used to work at a bank, and that person assured them that the masking tape technique would work.
Online Tools for Moms and Families to Stay Organized
The buzzwords of tablets and social media have jumped over the age-barrier and now serve as an integral part of organization. Four such companies have taken to the forefront to bridge the gap between crucial information and a near-limitless, secure style of storing information. CareZone, AboutOne, Cozi, and MotherKnows have all offered their unique services to help ease the lives of caretakers, patients and families. In this article, we will compare and contrast these four companies to see which truly help alleviate the stress of families, caretakers and patients alike.
Trust Under Will Scam
OK, the word “scam” may be harsh sounding, but the way some attorneys use it does sum things up pretty accurately. I have been getting a lot of questions lately from clients and financial advisors about what a “trust under will” does and how some clients are being told by other attorneys that it is a way to avoid probate. Basically, a trust under will is a trust that becomes active after death, and the terms of the trust are spelled out in the Last Will and Testament, such as inheritance age limits. These testamentary trusts will even have a proper name, and now financial accounts and life insurance can list the proper name of the “trust under will” as the beneficiary. And because the account pays directly into this trust, we are told “there is no probate.”