Blog - Michael Bailey Law, LLC

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...]

How To Legally Protect Your House & Cover Long Term Medical Costs

A few years ago, I heard a commercial on the radio exhorting people to use a Realtor to buy or sell their house. The commercial’s reasoning was that Realtors have a higher level of training and education. The commercial talked about how your house is often your most valuable asset, and that a Realtor could help you in protecting your house. … [Read more...]

Don’t Forget Someone! What Happens if All Children are Not Named in an Estate Plan?

In January, I heard the news that NBA legend Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash. I was shocked at the news, as was most everyone else that I knew. My cousin’s husband, who played in the NBA for a while, spoke about playing against Kobe Bryant with reverence, as Kobe Bryant was certainly an excellent basketball player. Something like … [Read more...]

Strange Musings in Estate Planning: Why Do I Have So Many Filing Cabinets, and Why are there More Now Than Ever Before?

When I first started my law practice, I just had my computer, my cell phone, and the idea that I wanted to work on my own. After I started to find clients, I realized a good business practice would be to hold onto paper copies of documents I prepared once they were signed and completed. I needed a filing cabinet. Not exactly the “latest … [Read more...]

Preparing Your Estate Plan Will Not Cause Your Death

Whenever I sign an estate plan, I generally tell clients that I don’t want them to use it for the next 30 or 40 years, and we laugh. I use humor to defuse tension related to discussing your own demise - that is just my style. Nobody likes to talk about their own death. The topic is uncomfortable, and many children don’t want to talk about losing … [Read more...]

Enjoy the Benefits of Personally Working With an Estate Planning Attorney

Last weekend I went up into the mountains and looked at a couple of mountain homes / cabins to potentially purchase. I have always been a bit jealous of friends whose families had cabins, and they got to go up to the cabin for a weekend, or longer during the summer. Thus, the trip into the mountains to see what was available. I had looked up … [Read more...]

What’s the Big Deal with Transfer on Death and Pay On Death Designations?

Years ago, I was in a professional networking group with an individual who wanted to know how to avoid probate. I discussed how they might use a trust, or joint ownership or joint tenancy for real estate, or a beneficiary’s deed, or other methods that do not need to go through probate. This person listened and said, “Yeah, sure, that is how … [Read more...]

Why Would You Want a Trust? Three Big Reasons You Want One

I am often asked what is the difference between a will and a trust. I suppose I get this question a lot because a will and a trust both seem to do the same thing - distribute assets at a person’s death. While that is a similarity between the two documents, each document accomplishes the distribution in a different way. A will goes through the … [Read more...]

Back to Basics: How to Achieve the Basic Requirement for Your Will

There are several basic elements to a will. These are the elements required to make a will valid and have the will distribute your property at your death. I have not included an exact number for the basic requirements, because doing so would seem like just a checklist, and I want this blog to be more than that. This blog will focus on the … [Read more...]