Monday, January 09, 2012 Name Guardians for the kids NOW.
Here's great New Year's resolution for you and for your clients: Name Guardians for the kids NOW. So many of us put this off because we think it won't happen to us. But, it happens. It's reported in our newspapers all the time. Even young parents can get sick and die, or be the victim of a deadly crash. That's what happened to one of our firm's clients last fall at age 49. Some put it off because mom and dad can't agree on who to name. If you can't agree, a court will decide for you and who it pselects may not be who you would want.
A colleage in Virginia, Evan Farr, has a blog about this. Read that by cicking this link: http://blog.virginiaelderlaw.com/
Wednesday, October 05, 2011 Don't Bequeath a Digital Delay
Being tech savy, we use passwords that are clever and not easy for bad people to figure out. Right? Experts suggest we use a memorable sentence that has numbers and capitals in it. For example, "I got my pound puppy Jake at age 2" becomes "IgmppJaa2." Got it! But, what happens if you get very sick or die?
Digital delay comes when your executor or trustee cannot access your bank account, investment account and the like because she can't locate your passwords. Do you keep them written down where they will be found? We have suggested to our clients that they write them down and put them in a sealed envelope kept with their estate planning documents. We recently came upon a very good article on this published for the ABA. Click here to read it: http://apps.americanbar.org/lpm/lpt/articles/ftr03103.shtml Monday, September 19, 2011 Medicaid at Age 67?
Among the compromises being discussed in Congress is the raising of the age to qualify for Medicare to age 67. Turns out the nations hospitals would receive more reimbursement under private insurers than they recive from Medicare and, therefore, have turned to their lobbyists to argue for this as a way to help them and help the solvency of the program. For more on this, click on this link: http://www.elderlawanswers.com/resources/article.asp?id=9394§ion=4 Tuesday, September 06, 2011 Legal Zoom Settles the Case Last month, we wrote about a lawsuit of interest to attorneys and do-it-yourselfers. Legal Zoom was sued for practicing law without a license in the state of Missouri. The case has settled rather quickly and one might suppose Legal Zoom wanted no part of being required to produce a lot of written communications and give depositions. As lawsuits progress, lawyers get to ask a lot of questions that some may not want to answer. For more on the story, click on this link: http://www.elderlawanswers.com/resources/article.asp?id=8355&Section=4&state=%20Thursday, August 25, 2011 What to Keep (or not) in Your Safe Deposit BoxEver wonder if you're keeping the right stuff in your safe deposit box? I came upon an article written on the Penn State Develpment Office's website that has good suggestions. Some things need to be available quickly, like health care powers of attorney, and some things just need to be in a safe place, like stock certificates.
Let me add a suggestion to what the author wrote. Take your wallet to a copy machine and lay out every credit card, license, etc. on the face of the copier. Copy. Then, turn them over and copy the other side. Put this photocopy of your wallet in your safe deposit box and you will be able to more easily repalce the wallet's contents if it gets stolen or misplaced.
For more, click thi slink: http://www.plan.gs/Article.do?orgId=5701&articleId=17059 Monday, August 22, 2011 When the Help Become the AbusersA 93 year old former college professor must have enjoyed the attention and help his eye doctor's receptionist gave him after his wife died. She took him to breakfasts. She helped him. Eventually, she moved in with him. It took another turn when she took him to a lawyer to have his will re-written. For more on this, click on this link: http://www.elderlawanswers.com/resources/article.asp?id=9365§ion=4Monday, August 15, 2011 Ex-Spouse Gets Last Laugh: Beneficiary Designations MatterIn a case proving that attention to detail can really matter, it was held that the financial advisor was not responsible for keeping up with the customer's private life. Though the divorce divided assets, an IRA was apparently forgotten. The ex-wife was still named as the beneficiary when the husband died. She got the funds, and the estate made a claim against the financial advisor to try to get damages.
For more interesting reading, see http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=271363&type=newswires. Tuesday, August 02, 2011 Legal Forms On-Line
Ever wonder how Legal Zoom and similar companies can sell wills, trusts, and other documents on-line. Legal staionary stores have been available for generations and are perfectly legal. It gets dicey when the sellers of forms start giving guidance on how the forms are to be used: that becomes legal advice and only licensed lawyers can give that.
Now, a lawsuit againyt Legal Zoom is going to trial in a federal court. See more on this at:
- http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/07/27/class-action-claims-online-legal-forms-pose-threat-to-consumers.
Do-it-yourselfers are just trying to save money and who can blame them for that. But, when the matter is really important, one should get a real professional on their side so that they can sleep at night knowing their planning will actually work. |