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…
Why do people avoid estate planning? A recent study found that some estate holders believe they don’t need an estate plan. They think a spouse or their children will automatically receive any assets they have. Others claim estate matters are too complicated to deal with or estate planning is too expensive and others say it simply takes too much time.…
Pre-planning protects both parties in a second marriage. Love can be a many-splendored thing, but when it results in a second marriage, careful estate-planning becomes a necessity. Second marriages are a blending process, often of children and assets. Prior to marriage, it is important to discuss your intentions concerning those assets and your heirs. While it is hoped that newlyweds…
Documents to Review After Divorce or in Anticipation of Divorce Going through a divorce can be emotional and overwhelming. However, if you are recently divorced or are considering a divorce, do not forget to review your estate plan to determine if you need to make changes to ensure your estate is protected from an ex-spouse and the plan reflects your…
When we think of estate planning, most of the time we think in the context of spouses and children. In fact, most people do wind up bequeathing everything to their spouse and their kids. At the same time, power of attorney and advance health care directives are usually delegated to spouses and children. Yet, there are many successful persons who…
Many people think estate planning is only necessary for the elderly and the wealthy. This is a very common misconception. Here are six reasons why estate planning should be on the radar for everyone in their 20’s or 30’s: 1) You Never Know What May Happen Think you are young and have plenty of time left to worry about estate…