Mary read the trust document again. “This can’t be right,” she said, shaking her head. “Why would Grandpa change the terms of his trust and leave such a large amount of money to this religious group? I’ve never even heard of this organization. Our kids were supposed to benefit from his trust. He always made that clear. This makes no…
Here is an increasingly common scenario we see in our practice. One family member usually a child, begins assisting, then taking care of and possibly even living with, an elderly parent as the parent’s abilities decline with age. The other children in the family eye the arrangement with suspicion: Is our sister just sponging off of mom or, worse yet,…
We know lots of people don’t like to think or talk about dying. We can see how our own clients often put off doing their estate planning until something happens that they see as a wake-up call: a friend dies suddenly without a will, leaving a mess for the family; or our client has to serve as their parents’ estate…
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…
Maria opened the envelope from the insurance company, peeked inside, and squealed. “Carlos, come quick. Someone sent me a check for $50,000!” Carlos walked into the room, chuckling. “Better read the letter that came with it. You’ll probably have to provide a credit card number and pay a couple of hundred bucks to claim it.” He smirked. “It’s probably a…