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I get asked this question all the time. I can tell people have either been talking to other attorneys, or read about yearly maintenance fees charged for estate plans on the internet, so I understand where the question comes from. Let me be clear: I do not charge yearly fees or yearly maintenance fees. I know that other attorneys charge … [Read more...]
Can My Attorney Write An Estate Plan For Someone Living In Another State?
I don’t get asked this exact question all the time, but I do get different versions like: “Can you write a will for my parents? They live in Wyoming.” or “Can you write a trust for my mother who lives in California?” Often those asking the questions are clients of mine, who have relatives that live out of state. The clients are happy with what I … [Read more...]
Why AI Has Not Replaced Estate Planning Attorneys
I hear a lot in the news about AI (Artificial Intelligence) and how AI is going to replace most jobs. I am not entirely sure if that is the case, but I am sure AI will change many things about the current jobs we work, including mine. I suppose that AI will change things for the better and for the worse, but I am not sure that AI is quite ready … [Read more...]
Making Your Estate Plan and Life Insurance Work Together
Almost every time I meet with someone to discuss their estate plan, I get questions about what happens with different types of assets, and almost always people want to know what controls who gets an asset. This leads to a discussion of how things can be transferred: via joint ownership, beneficiary designation, the dictates of a will, or the … [Read more...]
Why Don’t I Practice Other Areas of Law?
I answer a lot of phone calls. Many of the calls are for people who want my help with their will, trust, or estate planning, but other calls are not about that. Because I have the word “estate” in the description of what area of law I practice, I also get a lot of calls for real estate law. The word “estate” in common between these two areas of … [Read more...]
Will I Go To Jail If I Don’t Handle My Mom or Dad’s Estate Plan The Right Way?
The short answer is probably not. I know people get really concerned about doing everything the right way, and I fully understand how people want to do things the right way, especially when it comes to legal matters, but jail usually isn’t the punishment if you happen to make some missteps in handling your Mom or Dad’s estate plan. There are a … [Read more...]
How Do You Execute a Living Trust In Colorado After A Death?
A trust is a very useful and helpful estate planning document. The trust itself contains the instructions for what to do with assets owned by the trust, usually in the form of a written trust agreement. The written trust agreement should have the names of beneficiaries who are to receive the assets of the trust, whether the named beneficiaries … [Read more...]
Does a Trust Avoid Probate in Colorado?
The short answer to this question is: YES. If I could just leave the answer at that, this would be the shortest blog post ever, but unfortunately, things aren’t quite that simple. I do wish it were that simple, but alas, it is not. One of the main reasons people establish trusts is to avoid probate. Trusts are private documents and if … [Read more...]
Estate Planning in a Second Marriage: What You Need to Know
I recently had a client call me and request that I set up a trust for their brother. The brother is getting married in about 6 weeks, and the brother wanted to set up a trust to protect his assets from being claimed by his new wife. This was going to be a second marriage for the brother, and the brother wanted to keep the assets he earned during … [Read more...]
Just Get Started! Overcoming Procrastination and Fear In Setting Up Your Estate Plan
As I was growing up, my parents subscribed to the daily newspaper, the Fort Collins Coloradoan. I still have some articles clipped from the newspaper that reported on high school basketball games in which I participated. I always read the sports section of the newspaper first, but the comics were the second thing I read. I always liked the “Far … [Read more...]
