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The Financial Power of Attorney When I talk with clients about estate planning, I often need to start with the basics, giving them a good solid foundation. I am not sure I have done that yet on my blogs, so I am excited to do a four part series where I talk about the basic, foundational documents of every estate plan. Hopefully this will set a good foundation for you. In my humble opinion, any estate plan should have these four basic, fundamental, foundational documents: A Will A Financial Power of Attorney A Medical Power of Attorney A Living Will (also called an … [Read more...]
Four Fundamental Estate Planning Documents: Part 1 – The Will
When I talk with clients about estate planning, I often need to start with the basics, giving them a good solid foundation. I am not sure I have done that yet on my blogs, so I am excited to do a four part series where I talk about the basic, foundational documents of every estate plan. Hopefully this will set a good foundation for you. In my opinion, any estate plan should have these four basic, fundamental, foundational documents: A Will A Financial Power of Attorney A Medical Power of Attorney A Living Will (also called an Advanced Directive) This blog will talk about … [Read more...]
Asset Protection: The Difference Between Irrevocable Trusts and Revocable Trusts
A couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with a financial planner who has referred business to me for several years. This financial planner told me we need to provide asset protections in a trust for a potential client he planned to refer to me, and referenced using a revocable trust. We have these types of conversations all the time, as we have a basic understanding and how to work together. This type of conversation went beyond the basics of estate planning, sort of like this blog post is a bit higher level than a basic discussion of estate planning - this is a more specialized … [Read more...]
The 3 Roles in a Trust, and Why They’re Important to Understand Before Sitting Down With Your Estate Planning Attorney
A couple of weeks ago I was discussing a trust with a client, and thought I had explained what a trustmaker, trustee, and trust beneficiary were. While I was talking about how only one of their kids would act as the Trustee, the client reacted with haste, exclaiming, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN ALL OF MY CHILDREN WILL NOT BE ON THE TRUST? THAT’S NOT WHAT I WANT AT ALL!” With a smile, I calmly re-explained the difference between a child being a beneficiary of a trust, and what the role of the trustee was. If you have ever experienced the same, or a similar, misunderstanding when working with any … [Read more...]
Estate Planning is Not for You (It’s for Your Family): The Story of My Whiteboard
I have a whiteboard in my office. It was provided by the company from whom I rent my office - Office Evolution. I have offices all over the Denver Area and the Front Range, because I can use all of their locations. I love the professionalism of this workspace, and it really is what allows me to be a completely mobile estate planning attorney. And although this whiteboard came with my office, I never really had a good use for it until about 5 years ago when I brought my oldest daughter along with me to work on “Bring Your Child to Work” day. My last appointment of the day was with a couple … [Read more...]
Estate Planning for Life’s Two Certainties: Death and Taxes
Nobody likes taxes...well, nobody likes to pay taxes. Many people might like the benefits that taxes provide, but nobody likes to pay the taxes. I remember reading a fake news article (which I cannot find on the internet now!) where a man was surprised to learn his taxes were going up. He said that he voted for all of the new parks, recreation centers, and school tax increases, but he was surprised to learn that his taxes were going up. He was quoted as saying the tax increases were only supposed to affect the rich, not him. He wanted to reap the benefits of higher taxes, without paying … [Read more...]
Saying Goodbye
I said goodbye to my best doggie friend this week. On Tuesday, January 22, 2019, I had to let my best doggie friend, my Scylla doggie, leave this earth. I held her in my arms at around 10 pm that night as she passed on. I was not prepared - it happened so quickly. I was not OK - I am still not OK. My children tell me that they had never seen me cry, but that night I could not stop the tears as I held my precious little dog, felt her stop breathing, and then felt her heart stop. I am crying even now as I write this and recount what happened. It Happened So Quickly, I Had Little Time to … [Read more...]
Estate Planning and Collaboration, A Great Combination
I have a confession. A dark secret that I hide behind a facade of confidence and competence. I know this may come as a surprise to some people who know me well, but I am here to admit, “I don’t know everything.” (I can hear a collective gasp of disbelief from my friends, and a faint scoff from my family…) Because I don’t know everything, I also do not handle all legal matters myself. Many of my classmates from law school seemed to act like they knew everything, or at least that they knew better than everyone else. I have never found being all-knowing to be particularly effective in my … [Read more...]
Veterans Administration Aid and Attendance Update: Eligibility in Colorado in 2019
On October 18, 2018, the Veterans Administration (VA) changed eligibility requirements for the benefit commonly known as Aid and Attendance, which is a VA pension for veterans who served in time of war, or their surviving spouses. You can read more about the changes that were implemented here. In short, the Veterans Administration changed the asset limit for wartime veterans to qualify for this benefit and also implemented a previously non-existent penalty period on asset transfers. By implementing these changes, the VA created a whole new set of rules, regulations, procedures, forms, … [Read more...]
Adventures in Estate Planning: Christmas Lights
I have always loved outdoor Christmas lights. I love seeing them up, and I enjoy the differences in outdoor Christmas light displays. My family and I used to drive around and look at outdoor Christmas lights around the neighborhood during December. My family continues this tradition, only my wife and children go with me now. Growing up, we visited a company in town that had a drive through display of lights for the community once every year. I am not sure if outdoor Christmas lights were so happy for me because of just the lights, or because I was so excited for Christmas to be here and … [Read more...]
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