Blog - Michael Bailey Law, LLC

The Coronavirus and Estate Planning – Has Anything Changed?

The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has led to unprecedented actions, quaratines, closing of restaurants, limited gathering of people, and given us new phrases. Who knew what “social distancing” might mean just a few weeks ago? I certainly would not have used that term to describe staying 6 feet or more away from most people, and probably … [Read more...]

How to Effectively Talk To Your Kids About Your Estate Plan

I know that talking to your kids about your estate plan is probably not high on your priority list. In my experience kids frequently don’t want to discuss the possibility of their parents dying, and certainly don’t want to dwell on the subject. I had a client just the other day who brought her daughter with her, and the daughter broke down crying … [Read more...]

Simplifying Your Estate Plan Doesn’t Mean Estate Planning is Simple

I recently had a client apologize to me for laughing at and questioning my legal fee for a certain document. This struck me as quite odd. I had simply explained how a certain document could accomplish her goal, and let her know how much it would cost to create the document to accomplish what she wanted. Perhaps because I had explained a somewhat … [Read more...]

What Does it Take to be The Leading Estate Planning Attorney in Broomfield?

Decades ago, as a junior high student, I recall having lessons on advertising and advertisements. My teacher talked about how in advertising a company is allowed to say something like, “We are the best” at any time, but not “We are better,” without proof. My teacher explained that “best” meant that the advertiser could be the best, along with … [Read more...]

What You Need to Know About the SECURE Act

On December 20, 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act) changed the rules concerning retirement accounts. The SECURE Act became effective January 1, 2020. The Act is the most impactful legislation affecting retirement accounts in decades. The SECURE Act has several positive changes: It increases the required … [Read more...]

Get Your Estate Plan Done Before Your Taxes This Year

We just came out of the holiday season, which was quite busy. Whether you got invited to a lot of Christmas parties, were busy with holiday shopping, just had a million different events to go to with your children, or had big plans to celebrate the new year, the last two weeks of December are extremely busy for everyone. Now that we are in a new … [Read more...]

Why Simple Wills & Trusts Aren’t So Simple

Almost every client I meet says to me, “well we’re very simple. We just want something simple and want something that should be easy.” I think that what most people mean when they say “we’re simple” is they don’t have much. They’re referring to the things they own - their assets. Something like, “We just have a house and a retirement account … [Read more...]

“But I Don’t Want To!” Why You Need to Talk to Your Kids About Your Estate Plan

In my last blog post, I wrote about why kids, usually adult children, need to talk to their parents about the parents’ estate plan. In this post, I want to talk about how parents need to talk to their children about their estate plan. Mostly, both sides need to have the discussion about an estate plan and it needs to start somewhere. I advised … [Read more...]

“But I Don’t Want To!” Why You Need to Talk to Your Parents About Their Estate Plan

We have all heard that you should never discuss politics or religion in polite company. Those topics are divisive enough that people avoid them at all costs. This is, unfortunately, also true in most families concerning money or an estate plan. Discussing money is simply taboo and not discussed. As people age, at least having a discussion … [Read more...]

Don’t Be Afraid of Your Estate Plan – Overcome Your Fears

Halloween has a fun component - children dressed in costumes, going door to door asking for candy. Halloween can also be considered a scary holiday, one which provides frightening experiences. Halloween decorations sometimes reflect these fears. Halloween decorations can be happy, like pumpkin lights, and happy ghost lights, but can also be … [Read more...]