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The 1970’s TV show “The Brady Bunch” depicts a blended family - a family where the spouses have remarried and kids are not all from just the married couple. The theme song goes like this: “Here's the story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, the youngest one in … [Read more...]
Pet Trusts in Estate Planning: Caring for Your Furry Friends When You Are Gone
Anyone who has a pet knows the love and joy they bring into your life. I have pet dogs, and I love them. Other people have cats, horses, birds, or any other number of animals that they love. My dogs are always happy to see me when I come home, and make sure to greet me at the door. My newest puppy, Harper, will bite at my pant legs to let know … [Read more...]
Everything You Need To Know About Setting Up An Educational Trust For Your Grandchildren
My children went back to school in August, and are still adjusting almost a month later. My kids are more tired, and so they need to go to bed earlier. They are also not sure they really love being in school. The freedom of summer is gone, replaced by homework assignments, new classrooms, and all that goes along with starting school. They still … [Read more...]
Why Emergency Estate Planning is a Bad Idea
Among the reasons that I chose estate planning as a practice area is that there are fewer emergencies, so I can have more predictable work hours, and have less intrusions on the time that I spend with my family away from work. I like to see my family from time to time, like on the weekends, or in the evenings, so I don’t schedule many appointments … [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 … [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 … [Read more...]
What Will You Be? Picking the Right Halloween Costume For Your Estate
It is October, and Halloween is coming up. A couple of years ago my four year old asked what a friend of ours would be for Halloween by asking, “What will Erazz be for Halloween? A witch!” He mispronounced our friend Mirazz’s name, and made us laugh, but picking a costume is always a fun part of Halloween. Picking an estate plan may not be as … [Read more...]
Making Beneficiary Designations Work for You
You spend hours setting up the perfect estate plan, and you are set up exactly the way you want. Everything seems perfect, and then it comes time to implement the plan. But wait, what is this? Your assets are transferring outside of the perfect plan? How can that be? What is going on? What happened? Is everything now ruined because of something … [Read more...]
Estate Planning 101: The Four Methods of Transfer & Who Gets What
I am amazed at how often people want a will written to make sure their assets go where they want when they die, but have never considered what other methods of transferring assets exist. And...what different types of asset transfer options are available to use. These people want me to write a will to make sure assets go where the individual … [Read more...]
How to Determine Mental Capacity for a Will or Estate Plan
Your mind matters! I often have people I meet who feel the need to apologize to me for not having created an estate plan before they met with me. Many times this comes from an older couple who realized that they should have planned sooner. I think I addressed that attitude in my last blog about putting things off until tomorrow, but I often … [Read more...]
