Life & Estate Planning: Protecting Yourself
and Those You Love
I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT EDUCATING OTHERS
What Will Happen to Your Unpaid Student Loans If You Die Early?
What happens to the debt if the student is unable to repay the loan due to an early death? It all depends on the kind of student loan and the lender. Generally, unpaid federal student loans are discharged when the program receives notice of the student's death, and no...
What Does It Mean?
Help! What do you do when your parents begin to need help on a regular basis? What are the options, what does it all mean? When you start investigating resources, it helps to have a working knowledge of the basic levels of care and the services they provide. Home...
Elder Orphans
Elder Orphans Through a variety of scenarios more people today face aging alone. These “elder orphans” as they are often called have no immediate family on whom they can rely for assistance with their day-to-day affairs or even as an emergency contact for healthcare....
A Real ID for the Real You
Have you obtained a “Real ID” driver’s license yet? By October 2020 you will have to have a Real ID compliant driver’s license/ID card (or valid passport) to board even domestic flights or access federal buildings. The process to obtain the Real ID certification is...
Who’s Going to Care?
An incapacity plan puts you in the driver’s seat of your own care. You retain control even as your abilities decline and can lessen the need for a guardianship or conservatorship. Having the right documents in place and knowing how to use them to their best effect is one of the many benefits of working with a Life & Estate Planning attorney.
The Aging Parent Answer Team–Your Home for Resources for Your Elderhood
Aging Parents You may not have heard about the Aging Parent Answer Team so I would like a moment to introduce you to our concept. The four of us are passionate about helping families prepare and navigate the transition to and through elderhood. There is so much...
Just Say No!
Saying no to an appointment is better for everyone, than saying yes, and not meaning it.
Student Loans and Life and Estate Planning for the College-Bound
What happens to student loan debt if the student is unable to repay the loan due to an early death? It all depends on the kind of student loan and the lender.
Use a Letter of Intent to Breathe Life Into Your Life & Estate Plan
You have done the hard work and completed your Life & Estate Plan. You made the inventory of your assets and liabilities. You looked at your loved ones and made a plan to protect them to the best of your ability for when the worst things happen. But how do you...
Asked and Answered: Phases II and III Planning for Special Needs
Meeting the Challenge of Caring for a Dependent Child Long After You Are Gone Parents with a dependent adult child have special Life & Estate Planning considerations. The eventual distribution of the assets they leave behind is never going to be simple or...
Asked and Answered: Special Issues and Special Needs Children
Caring for a special needs child is a life-long, ever-changing challenge that does not end with the death of the parent. Parents should consider the impact of their Life & Estate Planning on the long-term financial needs of their special needs child and on any...
Unexpected Complications in Life & Estate Planning
Digital Assets in Your Estate
The Digital Assets in Your Life & Estate Plan
Here is a quick link to some valuable information about handling the digital assets in your Life & Estate plan.
What is the Best Way To Protect Your Estate From Disputes?
Three steps to help prevent disputes among your heirs.
Necessary Awkward Converations
Most of us dread discussing end-of-life issues with our parents or spouses. Many of us wait until too late or have only superficial conversations about this important topic. The result of not having this conversation is a lost opportunity to perform a last, great...
8 Quick Legal Checks
Eight Ways to Protect Yourself and Your Family from Legal Trouble Don’t roll the dice. Take these steps now to avoid costly legal problems. • Do you know when your driver's license will expire? Pull it out of your wallet right now and put a reminder on your...
Can’t I just sign papers at the doctor’s office
If you are lucky the first time you run into your “child’s” new privacy rights will be at a regular “pre-college” check up. The physician will glance at the chart, notice that your child is now 18 and inform you that you the parent will need to return to the waiting...
ESTATE PLANNING 101 – 18 year old conversation
The Eighteenth Birthday Conversation The other day a friend mentioned that she recently was at a doctor’s appointment with her 18-year-old daughter. The doctor started the appointment with a request that the daughter sign a HIPAA release permitting her mother to...
ESTATE PLANNING 101 Installment 2
Who Do You Love? One pleasure in life is the people we choose to love and care for. Our parents, our spouse, our partner, our children, our siblings, best friends and so on. The second step of careful estate planning is identifying the people we most want to provide...
ESTATE PLANNING 101
Life and Estate Planning is for everyone. Let me repeat, EVERYONE. There are three major components to effective life and estate planning; protecting yourself, protecting those you love, and tax planning. This is the first installment in an ongoing series to...