Blog - Michael Bailey Law, LLC

Second Marriages and Blended Families: How to Protect What Needs Protecting

In the early 1990’s I used to watch TV on Friday nights, when ABC had it’s TGIF lineup. One of the shows that aired was called “Step by Step” and the show was about a blended family – a family where the spouses have remarried and kids are not all from just the married couple. The show followed the adventures, and misadventures, of combining two … [Read more...]

Fair Estate Planning For Second Marriage: What Couples You Need To Know

If you are about to get remarried, you obviously want to celebrate, but you need to consider the advice my sister gave me when I go married. She told me, “It is great to get married, but then life just kind of goes on, but you are married. You are married, and that is GREAT, but you still need to live your normal life.” My sister was not trying … [Read more...]

An Estate Planning Carol: How Your Estate Plan is the Perfect Final Gift For Your Children

In Charles Dickens’ classic Christmas tale “A Christmas Carol” the miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge is taught the true meaning of Christmas. The lesson is taught by three ghosts, the ghost of Christmas Past, ghost of Christmas Present, and ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. In the end, Ebeneezer Scrooge learns his lesson and becomes a generous, happy … [Read more...]

Creating Certainty in a Time of Uncertainty

A couple of weeks ago I was participating in a seminar with a financial planner friend. Our presentation discussed how to best approach financial concerns in retirement, and how to make money last through retirement. My part was to talk a bit about the legal planning necessary for retirement, including the basics of estate planning, like a will, … [Read more...]

What You Need to Do Before Meeting With Your Estate Planning Attorney

It is no secret that I offer a free initial consultation to everyone who is looking to set up an estate plan. The offer is on my website, and I tell everyone who calls me that I offer a free initial consultation. What may not be so clear is what happens during that initial consultation. Sometimes I have someone who thinks the initial … [Read more...]

Don’t Make Your Kids Handle the Scary Decisions, Make Your Own Plan

I met with a mother and her daughter not long ago. We were discussing updating the mother’s estate plan, which was long overdue since her husband had passed away over a decade ago. As we discussed potential updates to the estate plan, the mother started to ask me what I thought of the Neptune Society. For those of you who do not know, the … [Read more...]

Do You Like Scary Movies? Is Your Estate Plan Scary, Too?

October means Halloween will be here soon. I always loved going trick-or-treating as a kid, probably because of the candy...I still like candy as an adult, but for some reason people are not keen on giving candy to me now if I go out trick-or-treating on Halloween, as an adult. I suppose I am not as cute as a kid, even if I have a cool costume! … [Read more...]

Not All Estate Plans Are the Same – Make Sure You Have the Right Tool for the Job

I recently was having a conversation with my friend who told me about a time right after he moved to Colorado. It went something like this: “I was so blown away at the scene I witnessed while walking out of my church in Lafayette after a snowstorm. I had just moved to Colorado and was new to the area and checking out new churches. This church … [Read more...]

Don’t Lose Your Messaging: How To Be As Clear As You Can With Your Estate Plan

2020 has been a crazy year. A pandemic, an election year, social unrest, fires, ash raining down from the sky, and a snowstorm on September 8th, protests concerning racial inequaliites, protests of government action, or inaction, and protests that have devovled into vandalism, rioting, looting, assault, and murder. There has been a lot to take … [Read more...]

What Do You Have to Lose? Protecting What Is Most Important In Your Estate Plan

I was talking to my friend the other day, and related the following quote from Steve Jobs: "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose." I am fairly sure that had I not been an estate planning attorney, the quote would not have been all that intriguing to me, but I … [Read more...]