It is no secret that I offer a free initial consultation to everyone who is looking to set up an estate plan. The offer is on my website, and I tell everyone who calls me that I offer a free initial consultation. What may not be so clear is what happens during that initial consultation. Sometimes I have someone who thinks the initial consultation is a time for them to ask any question they want about the law and have me answer it for them. Others think that they can present me with whatever situation they have, and want me to give them free legal advice on what course of action they … [Read more...]
Don’t Make Your Kids Handle the Scary Decisions, Make Your Own Plan
I met with a mother and her daughter not long ago. We were discussing updating the mother’s estate plan, which was long overdue since her husband had passed away over a decade ago. As we discussed potential updates to the estate plan, the mother started to ask me what I thought of the Neptune Society. For those of you who do not know, the Neptune Society is an organization that handles cremation services for the deceased. The Neptune Society cremates the body, and depending on what package someone chooses, the Neptune Society will pick up the body of the deceased and handle the cremation … [Read more...]
Do You Like Scary Movies? Is Your Estate Plan Scary, Too?
October means Halloween will be here soon. I always loved going trick-or-treating as a kid, probably because of the candy...I still like candy as an adult, but for some reason people are not keen on giving candy to me now if I go out trick-or-treating on Halloween, as an adult. I suppose I am not as cute as a kid, even if I have a cool costume! I do understand that I have aged, so trick-or-treating is now more about going with my kids than just for me, but I still miss the candy! Halloween also brings out the scary side of entertainment. I see the advertisements for 31 days of Halloween … [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. Mostly, I think the commercial was about how to maximize the amount you get from selling your house, or, if you are buying a house, how to pay as little as possible. The commercial also touched on the concept that a Realtor has experience in buying or … [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 properties on the internet and identified a couple that looked interesting. So, I contacted a realtor and set up showings. We set off to see the houses, and made a couple of interesting discoveries. When we got to the first house, we explored the … [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 people can pay you, but how can I do it without needing to pay for it?” The individual from the networking group had described how they had all of their assets in investment accounts, or bank accounts. The individual told me that they knew if they put … [Read more...]
What does it mean to be a Mobile Attorney and Why Do I Do It?
I have written before about what is mobile estate planning, but I still get questions on this topic. Questions like: Why would you want to do mobile estate planning? Where do you go and what do you do? How did you get started? Why don’t more people do mobile visits like you? I can answer some of these questions, but other answers elude me, like how can I know why more attorneys don’t make visits like me. Perhaps the other attorneys are just so busy they cannot get out of the office, or perhaps they don’t want to go visit someone at their home. Since I am not someone else, I cannot say … [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 during the discussion. I didn't mean to cause anyone to cry, but the daughter was distraught at just the thought of Mom not being around. I understand that the conversation may be unpleasant and unwanted, but it needs to happen. Here are some … [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 complex process in simple terms, but she scoffed at the quoted fee. She then began to look into the process involved, and wrote me an apology via email. She let me know that she had started internet research into the legal document we had discussed, … [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 year, and the major end of the year holidays are behind us, it would seem that we would have more time available. Yet, there are still many distractions that get in the way of getting an estate plan done. There are always distractions from … [Read more...]
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