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Monthly Archives: February 2012

How to Prevent Family Fighting Over Mom’s Will or Trust

Most people believe that creating an estate plan is a private and personal business; something you do alone or with your spouse, between you and your attorney, with your children, grandchildren, or other beneficiaries kept on a strictly need-to-know basis. … Continue reading

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How Long Has It Been Since You’ve Updated Your Estate Plan?

Many people think that there’s no need to update your estate plan documents if none of your beneficiaries or fiduciaries have changed, but that’s exactly the kind of thinking that can lead to disaster. Estate planning documents are based not … Continue reading

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How To Have Fun Planning Your Estate!

Creating a will or trust, healthcare documents, powers of attorney, etc., can sometimes seem overwhelmingly sad and serious. Well, the act of protecting your loved ones is very serious, but it doesn’t have to be sad. In fact, planning your … Continue reading

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Benefit Your Loved Ones by Bringing Life to Your Estate Plan

We often tell our clients that there is far more to a legacy than money. A will and a trust are essential documents to have—but there’s more to protecting your loved ones than just those documents. With these important documents … Continue reading

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Dementia and Alzheimer’s: Is It Too Late For Mom Or Dad To Execute Legal Documents?

The question of competence has become a very big issue in the estate planning/elder law world over the past few years. As the population ages, and awareness of Alzheimer’s and dementia diagnoses grow, more and more adult children are questioning … Continue reading

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Divorced Couples Can Still Benefit from Joint Estate Planning

Creating an estate plan to protect your minor children is one of the most difficult—and most important—things you will ever do; this is especially true if you and your child’s other parent are separated or divorced. Relationships don’t always end … Continue reading

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Is It Always In Your Best Interest To Accept An Inheritance?

Most estate plans are created at least in part to protect heirs (generally spouses and children) from the sometimes devastating blow of estate taxes; but with all the recent changes to estate tax law, some plans that were drafted years … Continue reading

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5 Basic Tips for Trustees

Naming someone as trustee of your living trust is quite possibly one of the most difficult decisions you’ll ever make. The trustee is involved in just about every aspect of the administration of a trust; and although it is considered … Continue reading

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Providing for Pets in Your Will or Trust

According to a recent article on BusinessInsider.com, there are some surprising new figures about American households and their pets. “In 2011, Americans spent a record $50.8 billion on pets, according to the American Pet Products Association. We share our homes … Continue reading

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Will Medicare Provide for You in Your Golden Years?

Many retirees (or soon-to-be-retirees) have been living and saving under the assumption that Medicare would pay for a bulk of their medical costs during retirement, but a recent article in the Wall Street Journal reveals that counting on Medicare may … Continue reading

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