The Golden Years May Have a New Name: The Bankrupt Years In the past month or so, a number of articles in the news have come out showing that seniors are declaring bankruptcy at an increasing and alarming rate. The debt burden on seniors is going up due to student loans, credit cards, and lack of retirement savings. Often, the…
This is another installment in our very occasional series on estate planning lessons learned from celebrities. The actress Nichelle Nichols, 85, who is most famous for portraying Lieutenant Uhura on the original “Star Trek,” is currently the subject of a conservatorship battle pending in Los Angeles Superior Court. Ms. Nichols’ son, Kyle Johnson, filed the petition for conservatorship in May…
Laura was worried about her 80-year-old mother. “She gets around well enough, but sometimes she needs help with household tasks, such as cleaning, grocery shopping, and laundry,” she told her friend, Debra. “And she claims she can’t afford to hire someone to help. But neither can I. And if she doesn’t get the help she needs, she may have to…
I recently attended the Special Needs Planning Symposium. The sessions were all very informative, but it was the opening session that really stands out for me, ‘Proactive and Next Generation Planning for Families That Include a Loved One with Disabilities.’ The panel of presenters in the session really brought to light how important it is to consider the needs of…
When we last heard from Jenna and Mark, they were clinging to one another, attempting to wait out Hurricane Astrid in a community center in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The trip was Mark’s attempt to reignite the romance in their lives, after the birth of their third child, Mikey, five months prior. At age 30, they had thriving careers—Jenna…
When we last met Jenna and Mark Livingston, they were hunkered down in St. Thomas, U.S Virgin Islands, waiting for Hurricane Astrid to pass. As they huddled in the town assembly hall, Jenna, an attorney, and Mark, a pediatrician, bemoaned their failure to adequately plan for the care of their children in the event of their death. Both age 30,…
Perhaps the most important decision you will ever make is who will serve as guardian(s) for your children. In California, a child under the age of 18 is not legally qualified to care for her or himself if both parents die. Any child under the age of 18 must have a legally appointed guardian. Typically, guardians of minor children are…