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My oldest daughter is currently enrolled in an AP United States history class. She took an AP World history class and enjoyed it quite a lot. This year, her AP United States history class has been a little more difficult for her. She has struggled with reading the textbook and taking notes, which seemed to be one of her favorite parts about her class last year. My wife and I asked her what the difference was, and she talked about how the textbook this year included so many things that it was hard to determine what was important to take away from the reading. I asked to take a look at the … [Read more...]
How the Estate Planning Process Benefits You – And What Does This Have To Do With Cookies?
How the Estate Planning Process Benefits You - And What Does This Have To Do With Cookies? I am not a huge baker. I cook fairly well, but I don’t really bake as much. My daughter loves to bake, and she makes cookies often. I get to benefit from her making cookies, as I get to eat the cookies at the end. Eating the cookies is an obvious benefit to me, and I see this as similar to estate planning. Setting up an estate plan has many benefits, like letting your family and loved ones know exactly who will receive assets after you pass away, and also who will be in charge. These benefits are … [Read more...]
Why “Mobile” Estate Planning Is Good for You
As a maxim of life, it is harder to hit a moving target than a stationary one. So, why would it then be true that “mobile” estate planning is good for you, possibly even better than “stationary” estate planning? The answer has more to do with what it means that I provide “mobile” estate planning services, than we are moving while planning your estate. “Mobile” estate planning is not estate planning done while in motion, but rather has to do with me coming to see you where you are, making life more convenient. Over the years, I have met clients in many different places. I have met … [Read more...]
Avoiding The “Danger Zone” in Estate Planning
In my last blog post, I discussed what I learned about estate planning from the movie “Top Gun: Maverick” and I mentioned the song by Kenny Loggins, “Danger Zone.” The mere phrase “Danger Zone” got me thinking about what zones exist in estate planning that are danger zones. Of course, in the “Top Gun” movies, the air combat scenes needed to take place in the “danger zone” of an active combat zone. If not, the combat scenes would have been quite anti-climactic. The jet fighting scenes were quite cool and fun, but that is great for a movie, not for your estate plan. You want to be in a … [Read more...]
Lessons From Top Gun: Maverick: A Change In Your Relationships Means An Update In Your Estate Plan
I, along with a lot of other people, saw the movie “Top Gun: Maverick” this summer. The movie came out 36 years after the original “Top Gun” movie. Without giving away too many spoilers for the movie, the main character and hero, Maverick, was the same, but many of the other characters around him had changed. I am one who enjoyed both movies, but because I am who I am - I compare things to estate planning, I saw parallels between the two movies and estate planning. Both movies start with a sequence on the deck of an aircraft carrier, with combat aircraft being prepared and launched. The … [Read more...]
“We The People” Are A Lot Alike: Why I Am The People’s Estate Planning Attorney
I cannot count the number of times college age students tell me they want to be an attorney. When I ask them why they want to go to law school I sometimes get confused looks. Many tell me that they want to make a difference in the world by saving the environment, protecting the innocent, or they are motivated to protect someone from the government. These are all good and noble pursuits, and I can endorse their decision to become an attorney. However, that is not always the answer I get. I have had students tell me they are not sure what they want to do, but they heard that having a … [Read more...]
Can I Leave Money to My Church When I Die?
The simple answer to this question is: Yes, you can. However, not all gifts to a church, or any charity for that matter, are the same. You can choose to give money to a charity as an outright gift, or as a gift inside of of your estate planning documents like a trust. You can choose to leave money to a charity, or leave property in kind to a charity. You can also use a gift to charity to reduce estate taxes at your death, or there are even ways to reduce your current income tax burden, if you are so inclined. Giving money to your church or to any other charity can be done in many ways, a … [Read more...]
Estate Planning vs. Medicaid Planning Compared Side by Side
Let’s start with what seems the most obvious to me, but may not to everyone else who doesn’t work as an estate planning attorney like I do: Estate Planning and Medicaid Planning are not completely different things. Instead, Estate Planning is a general, overall, term for setting up a plan for your assets when you die, and what happens between now and when you die. Medicaid Planning is a subset of the “what happens between now and when you die” part of estate planning. Medicaid planning can be a tricky thing, as there are a lot of Medicaid rules to navigate. There are many aspects of … [Read more...]
How Can I Split Assets Among My Children In My Estate Plan So They Don’t Fight?
Like most people who have more than one child, we have to be careful about what we give to one child and not the others. When my children were younger, they were keenly aware if one child had a birthday, that child was going to get a present. The other children, particularly the younger children, found this to be quite unfair, as they were not able to open a present at the same time, so they felt slighted and ignored. We usually solved this problem by purchasing a small gift for the child whose birthday it wasn’t, and allowing the non-birthday child to open the present at the same time as … [Read more...]
How Do I Leave My Cabin to My Family After I Die?
My father worked for Hewlett Packard and Agilent Technologies when I was a child. One of the perks of working for those companies was that the companies owned a significant amount of land called Hermit Park in the mountains near Estes Park,CO. Sadly, the companies no longer own the land, but it has been converted to open space owned by the county. The land was set up to handle company picnics, tent camping, and even a few cabins with beds and indoor dining and cooking space were available. The cabins became more modernized as I grew up, moving from being heated by wood stoves to propane … [Read more...]
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