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As part of my work as an estate planning attorney, I meet a lot of people who have recently had a spouse pass away. I find that most of these people are not at their best when that has happened. Oftentimes, they had been married for several decades, so the loss of a spouse is quite devastating. I understand that is the case, so the first thing I do is offer sympathy and condolences, and then I listen to what the surviving spouse has to say. Often, the surviving spouse is concerned about how to get the house, and everything else, into their name only…and then they will tell me that they … [Read more...]
Avoiding Common Estate Planning Mistakes for People of Moderate Wealth
Most people I know are not rich, but they are not poor, either. Instead, they are somewhere in the middle - not rich, not poor, but decently comfortable - which is probably a result of having such a large middle class in America. I count myself as part of the middle class, and chances are that you are, too. As such, we don’t have the same worries as the three billionaires I have met. They have a whole different set of problems, like how to preserve their money and pass it on to their kids without the government taking a huge cut of their fortunes. Those of us of modest - let’s call it … [Read more...]
Why Every Homeowner Needs and Estate Plan: Tips for Protecting Your Property
Most people that I know are fairly normal, regular people. They aren’t rich, and they aren’t poor, but they are somewhere in the middle. They own a house, have a few kids, and generally just go to work, pay their bills, and take a vacation every now and then. I am one of these people, and so I understand how this type of life works on a regular basis. Sometimes we are called “middle class” or “middle Americans.” I like to think we are able to live a comfortable life, not need to get too involved and have everyone else criticize us for how we live our lives, but also with enough to pay for … [Read more...]
Planning for Life’s Milestones: A Look at Changing Estate Planning Through Pictures
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “Change is the only constant in life.” Although this saying is often attributed to better known philosophers like Plato or Aristotle, Heraclitus gets credit for giving us this slightly oxymoronic truth. I think we all see how this plays out in our own life's. We are children, grow up, become adults, and have children of our own. Nobody really expects life to stay the same, although we sometimes try very hard to keep it that way! I have found that as life changes, so do our priorities and what is important to us, so that we focus our time and energy … [Read more...]
Setting the Stage: Understanding the Difference Between Estate Planning And Estate Administration
I received a call last week from a client who I had represented almost a decade ago in setting up a will. The client, lets call her “Jill,” informed me that her husband had passed away, and she needed to know everything that she needed to do now. I let her know that she would need to take her husband’s will to the probate court and apply for probate. I told her how to access the Colorado Judicial Branch website to find all the Colorado probate forms and gave her general instructions that she needed to find the instructions for probate with a will form - called the JDF 906 form in Colorado - … [Read more...]
The Estate Plan MVP 🏆
I was invited to referee a basketball game on Championship Saturday for the Colorado High School basketball playoffs this year. It was my first year working the final day / weekend of the season. I have been assigned plenty of playoff games in previous years, but I have never been given the opportunity to referee a championship game until this season. I was assigned to the 3A Girls Consolation game, so the teams were playing for third place in the State of Colorado. As referees, we have pre-game meetings where we plan for refereeing the games and discuss how we will work together to … [Read more...]
Basketball and Estate Planning – Why Perspective Matters
I keep writing about basketball lately. Perhaps I do so because it is high school basketball playoff time, and I am refereeing the playoffs at this time. Or, perhaps it is because the Denver Nuggets are playing at a high level and I enjoy watching the Denver Nuggets play. I can appreciate how the Denver Nuggets are playing basketball as a fan, but also as an official and a coach. Not everyone watches, or approaches basketball the same way, and the perspectives of a fan, an official, a coach, or even a player are different. Fans tend to watch the ball, as do coaches, while officials may … [Read more...]
You Need a Good Coach to Succeed in Basketball – and Estate Planning
As I have previously mentioned, I referee high school basketball. As a referee, I see many different types of coaches. Some coaches are constantly yelling at their players, or at the officials. Others call out plays and let the players play the game. Some are quiet the whole time and make me wonder why they are even there. And some like to tell me how to officiate the game, as if I play for them! Some coaches even seem to want to enter the game and take part as a player, since the coach is fully confident they could do better than the players. I recently saw a news article where a coach … [Read more...]
What Do Basketball and Estate Planning Have To Do With Each Other?
I have liked basketball for as long as I can remember. I always liked to play the game, and looked forward to the winter, because that is when basketball was played. I was probably not the best player when I started playing in elementary school, but I did develop my basketball playing skills and abilities, and improved enough that I captained my team while in high school. I even have articles from the newspaper that profile me as a player and leader of my high school basketball team. I don’t mean to dwell on high school accomplishments, and I was not a good enough player to continue my … [Read more...]
Lessons From a Coffee Mug: You Can’t Fix Stupid in Estate Planning
My website designer / web marketing guru / all things concerning my internet presence person has a coffee mug that says “I’m a Lawyer. I can’t fix stupid, but I can fix what stupid does.” I do think the coffee mug may be a bit overzealous and overly optimistic in that saying. I understand that there are many areas of law where this saying might apply, but I don’t think it applies to estate planning quite as much. In areas of law like business law, or contract law, I can see how a good attorney can correct mistakes businesses have made, or mistakes or misunderstandings arising from … [Read more...]
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