Estate Planning 19 - Personal Family Lawyer

How to Incorporate Family Values in Your Estate Planning

January 6, 2017

Baby boomers know money isn’t the only important aspect of estate planning. A 2012 study released by the Allianz Life Insurance, Co. showed baby boomers wanted to leave their family more than just financial assets. Researchers found baby boomers identified family values as some of the most important things to pass down to heirs. In…

December 30, 2016

Power of attorney (POA) is a document that grants a specific person, called an agent, the authority to make important decisions on behalf of another person, called the principal. There are many different kinds of power of attorney. The scope of the authority the principal grants to the agent can be very broad or quite…

December 16, 2016

Young families face different estate planning needs and challenges than those who have had a long life behind them. While established families may be concerned about what will happen to their family when they pass on, young, growing families can be more focused on what is happening to their family in the present. And you…

December 9, 2016

If you created an estate plan that includes a living trust, you must review it to determine if it contains language that could create unnecessary cost, effort and stress for your surviving spouse. Back in the day, when the estate tax exemption was $675,000 to $1,000,000, most living trusts were drafted to provide for a…

December 2, 2016

In Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University, he said: “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.” When Jobs was 17, he read a quote that made an impression on him, and every day after he looked in…

November 25, 2016

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, same-sex couples nationwide finally enjoy marriage equality. And, whether you are legally married in the eyes of the law, or not, there are important additional legal planning steps you need to take to ensure your wishes are honored in the event of…

November 18, 2016

Too many estate plans are created and then quickly forgotten, put on a shelf, and never looked at again. While we do recommend that you review and update your plan at least every three years, no matter what happens in your life, your plan must be updated immediately in the event of any of these…

November 11, 2016

In our last newsletter, we shared the first part of our article on how to discuss estate planning with aging (or sick) loved ones. If you didn’t read it yet, you can do so here. The holidays can be the best time for you to be ready to discuss these issues with family, and the…

November 4, 2016

Someone you love is aging. Or maybe, facing a potentially terminal illness. And you know it’s time for them to think about end of life planning because the end of their life will impact you. So how do you broach this delicate topic when it feels so uncomfortable to acknowledge? The first step is to…

October 28, 2016

Bhutan is an independent state in Southeast Asia, bordered by China to the north and India to the south. Nestled in the Himalayas, Bhutan is the last remaining Buddhist state in the world. But one of the most unique aspects of Bhutanese government is the country’s use of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Index to…

Include Your Intellectual Property in Your Estate Plan

You don’t have to be a famous producer or household name to own intellectual property. If you create music, own a business, write stories, or build gadgets in your garage, you almost certainly have intellectual property. However, because intellectual property…

Help Your Parents Avoid These New Financial Scams – Part 2

In part one of this series, we explored two popular scams that are targeting older adults this year: the grandparent scam, and cryptocurrency pickpocketing. In this week’s blog, I’m sharing two more scams that you and your parents need to…

Help Your Parents Avoid These New Financial Scams – Part 1

Fraudsters and scam artists are nothing new, but changing tools and technology are making it easier than ever for scammers to target their victims, especially seniors. To protect your aging parents (or yourself) from these con artists, it’s crucial to…