When Should I Review and Amend My Documents?
Fall Greetings! I hope you all are faring well during these difficult times. There are a number of questions that people ask me often. This year, I am often asked if I am still open for business. Yes, I have worked full time throughout the year. Since March, I have been working mostly from home and meeting clients only by phone and on-line. Early into the pandemic, I converted all of my systems to be able to work remotely. So if you’ve been hesitating to contact me, please know that I am fully available. The other question that I often receive is this: when is it time to review and amend...
Read MoreA Will or a Trust?
Very often people do not know whether they need a Will or a Trust. The answer is usually: both. Most people are familiar with what a Will is. It’s a simple document, handwritten or printed on fancy paper, that says who will inherit what you own after you die. If you have children under the age of eighteen, a Will is where you may nominate the people you would like to take care of your children as Guardians appointed by a Judge, if you die before the children are adults. That’s it. A Will does nothing to address a myriad of issues and needs if you ever become incapacitated due to illness,...
Read MoreHe Already Had a Fine Estate Plan, but…
Greg was a new client of mine this year. He should not have needed to come in but he did. In 2002, he had made a perfectly fine trust-based estate plan with another local attorney. It had a pour-over will, a power of attorney, and his attorney had retitled his home in his name as trustee of his trust. There was just one problem. Greg had not followed his lawyer’s instructions about making copies of his documents for his successor trustees, agents and executors. And, he had lost his original documents. He called up his old lawyer and found that the phone number was no longer in service. He...
Read MoreDon’t procrastinate!
Here is a true story for you with some details changed to protect the innocent. Jackie was a single, middle-aged woman without any living relatives. She owned a house and needed to have it in a revocable living trust in order for her estate to not have to pass to friends by way of probate after her death. But Jackie was loathe to even make a Will, even though her friends kept telling her she needed to do so. Jackie contacted her old friend Marie and asked her advice. Marie is an attorney who works in personal injury law but doesn’t know the ins and outs of estate planning. Marie advised...
Read MoreCan the dead control the living?
Control. We have less of it than we think, and yet, we are creatures who want control. We want to control our own lives. Some of us want to control other people’s lives! Much about human relationships is a jockeying for who has control, how much, and over what. Parents often come in to do estate planning because they want to control when their children will inherit their wealth and who will take care of their children if they die before kids are grown up. Lots of parents are concerned about young adults inheriting a house and money before they’re equipped to handle it. They put property in...
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