While the attention of the nation was focused on the battle over the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 because of the impact on personal income tax, the law also made significant changes to estate tax law. People spend a lifetime building financial security and working diligently to build an estate to pass to their [...]
If you are the parent or other caregiver for a person with a serious medical or physical disability, you may find yourself wanting to directly financially assist and support your loved one with special needs. But this can create problems if your loved one receives government benefits, such as Medicaid or Social Security Income (SSI). [...]
The possibility that we may suffer a catastrophic injury in a car accident or suffer from a sudden serious illness that leaves us physically or mentally incapacitated is not something many of us give much thought to. While many consider it morbid to plan for such events, the reality is that it does happen regardless [...]
So often I hear from clients that they struggled with deciding how to chose an estate planning attorney. Many did not know how to bring up the subject with a friend or what qualifications an estate planning attorney should have. If you are encountering the same obstacles, a great place to start is to [...]
I posted this a few weeks back and thought that today it deserved to be re-posted for a very special dog. A wonderful friend of mine lost her dog yesterday. Lamont was a part of the family for 13 years. I have been in her shoes more times than I care to remember and I [...]
As a local attorney, I can’t stress enough how timely (and critical!) this information is. Many young adults in our area will soon be heading off to college or traveling abroad without the 3 key documents(Advance Health Care Directive, HIPAA Form and Financial Power of Attorney) they need for mom or dad to oversee their [...]
Ernest Becker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning psychologist and author of The Denial of Death wrote, “…what man really fears is not so much extinction, but extinction with insignificance.” Estate Planning is so much more than the distribution of “things” and “money”. Estate Planning, if you truly look to the underlying motivation of why we even create [...]
It is quite often the personal property that causes the most heartache and disruption in families after a death. Although, money doesn’t usually have any sentimental attachment, it can cause issues of its own on an entirely different level. But personal property can have a perceived value far beyond its actual monetary worth. For example, [...]
If you already have Advanced Directives (Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care Power of Attorney) in place and you are going through a divorce or are recently divorced, you have some very important steps to take NOW! Without a doubt, your divorce will have a major impact on your estate plan. I know…this is [...]
This past week, Google announced a new set up feature it refers to as “Inactive AccountManager”. It is a tool that Google account owners can put in place now so that family members can have access to the account presumably after the death of the account holder. Below is directly taken from the Google information [...]
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