Now that we’ve settled into somewhat of a new normal for the time being, people are thinking about getting things in order. There is still a sense of urgency, but many are taking the time to review their estate plans to make sure everything is in place, or are taking steps to put a new plan in place. In California,…
If you are a health care worker or have a loved one who is, this episode is meant for you. Health care workers are very special and we all owe them our gratitude for the work they do. But it’s important that they not allow their instinct to help others to get in the way of helping themselves. Statistics are…
Do You Have a Plan That Would Enable a Trusted Family Member to Step in to Protect You from Predators? It’s hard to believe we are living in such scary and uncertain times. Unfortunately, there are still those out there who are taking advantage of that for their financial benefit. The coronavirus has resulted in new twists on common scams…
Divorce, remarriage, and blending families are treacherous enough waters to navigate, let alone wondering if all sides of your family will get along when you die. Those are all critical junctures to update your estate plan, whether it be a trust, a will, power of attorney, health care directive, or just beneficiary designations. If all aspects of your estate plan…
One of the most important aspects of your estate plan may be the decisions you make about your health care. There may come a time when you are no longer able to make such decisions and by planning for that possibility, you can ensure that your desires will be carried out to the very end-of-life. There are three tools at…
In this continuing series of posts we will focus on Medi-Cal for our over-65 clients who need assistance with long-term care. Here, we continue our discussion of the issues we discuss in our first appointment with our clients. What About Veteran’s Benefits? One preliminary question we ask our clients has to do with their prior military service. In some cases,…
Ellen glared at her former daughter-in-law, Lola, and sputtered, “You want to do what?” “I want to use the sperm Robert stored before he died to conceive a child. I mean, he froze it after he was diagnosed with cancer so we could have children. We never anticipated that he would die. But it’s still sitting there, and I want…
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…