Legal Rights of Grandparents: In Honor of National Grandparents Day

When all is ideal in a family, the bond between grandparent and child is a special one. Maybe you’ve even heard that grandparenting is the grand reward for parenting. But what happens when the grandparent becomes the parent? Or when parents’ divorce or one parent dies and a grandparents’ visitation rights are taken away? This…
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Kelly Clarkson Starts Blended Family: What She Needs to Consider

Starting a new family is always exciting and even a tad scary. This natural apprehension can be enhanced when a couple creates a blended family. Bringing children from different parents together presents challenges – and those challenges are multiplied when the couple have new children of their own. Former American Idol star Kelly Clarkson recently…
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Holiday Bonus + Tax Refund Spending: Where to Put it For Max Return

Did you get a holiday bonus from your employer? Or maybe you have a tax refund coming.  If so, do you have any of it left, have you already got it spent in your mind, or are you thoughtfully considering how you can best utilize this surprise resource?  Annual bonus payments and tax refunds are…
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Could an AMBER alert save your child?

As a parent, your number one job is to keep your children safe, and that’s not always easy. In our imperfect world there is no shortage of potential dangers to innocent children. One of a parent’s worst nightmares is the thought of the abduction of a child. We hear stories of abductions by one side…
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Protecting Your Child with a Special Needs Trust

When you have a family member with special needs, it is important to understand that your estate planning strategy is unique and requires the assistance of an attorney experienced in creating Special Needs Trusts. If an inheritancet is left directly to your family member with special needs, it could result in the loss of essential…
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What Every Single Parent Needs to Know About Estate Planning

If you are a single parent, life for you right now probably couldn’t get any busier. You are likely being pulled between work, school activities, sports teams and the inevitable emergencies that fill the lives of single parents everywhere. Being a single parent is a huge responsibility. You may have taken it on willingly or…
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How to Tell If It’s Time to Change Your Will

Current research shows that only about half of Americans have a will, and probably less than that have changed their wills when certain life circumstances dictate that a change is in order. There are several common occurrences that can trigger a change to your will: Marriage. A will dictates how you want your assets distributed…
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10 Items That Should be Evaluated During an Estate Plan Review

Estate planning is an ongoing process, and plans should be reviewed with a qualified estate planning attorney every few years to ensure that the goals you set in making your plan are still valid. When reviewing your estate plan, keep these things in mind: Your estate plan only works if your assets are owned properly…
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No More Reasons for Delay in Implementing These 5 Estate Planning Essentials

Last year’s uncertainty about the future of the estate and gift tax caused many people to put their estate planning on hold, even though estate and gift tax planning is only a teeny tiny piece of estate planning.  Now that the clouds have lifted and Congress has given us clarity, there is simply no reason…
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10 Tips to Ensure Family Harmony Over Your Estate Plan

When your children were small, you no doubt suffered the challenge of keeping peace in the family.  We see this same scenario play out time after time among adult siblings when a messy estate causes family rifts. Here are 10 tips to help prevent your children from fighting over your estate: Talk to children about…
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Kids Protection Planning

Don’t Send Your Kids Back to School Without These Documents

As summer comes to a close, and back-to-school excitement fills the air, there is one crucial task that is often overlooked: designating legal guardians for your minor children. Legal guardians are the individuals you entrust with the care of your…

3 Reasons Why Transferring Ownership Of Your Home To Your Child Is A Bad Idea

Whether it’s to qualify for Medicaid, avoid probate, or reduce your tax burden, transferring ownership of your home to your adult child during your lifetime may seem like a smart move. But in nearly all cases, it’s actually a huge…

How Naming Guardians For Your Kids In Your Will Can Leave Them At Risk

If you are a mom or dad with children under the age of 18 at home, your number-one estate planning priority should be selecting and legally documenting both long and short-term guardians for your kids. Guardians are the people legally…

Protect Your Children’s Inheritance With A Lifetime Asset Protection Trust

As a parent, you’re likely hoping to leave your children an inheritance. In fact, doing so may be one of the primary factors motivating your life’s work. But without taking the proper precautions, the wealth you pass on is at…

What To Expect From Your Initial Meeting With A Personal Family Lawyer®

Whether you’ve met with an estate planning lawyer before or it’s your first time, it’s important to understand how working with a Personal Family Lawyer® is different from meeting with a traditional lawyer.  Here we will explain what’s involved with…

Don’t Leave Your Children With The Babysitter Until You Read This

As we head into the third year of the pandemic, we are coming to terms with just how fragile our lives and health really are. If you haven’t gotten sick yourself, it’s almost certain you know someone who has, and…

How to Pass Down Your Family Wealth Legacy During The Holidays

As you likely already know, but may not have given much thought about, the most important inheritance you provide is so much more than the money you’ll leave behind, but also includes your values, insights, stories, and experience. And, while…

Young plus size twins wearing casual clothes smiling making frame with hands and fingers with happy face. creativity and photography concept.

Think You Are Too Young to Need An Estate Plan? Think Again.

The pandemic has caused Americans to change their behavior in a number of different ways, and one of the most positive of these changes is related to estate planning. For the first time since the study’s inception, Caring.com’s 2021 Wills…

Lawyer talking to her clients at her desk

2021 Estate Planning Checkup: Is Your Estate Plan Up to Date?

Even if you put a totally solid estate plan in place, it can turn out to be worthless for the people you love if it’s not regularly updated. Estate planning is not a one-and-done type of deal—your plan should continuously…

little girl baking with her mom

Estate Planning Must-Haves For Single Parents

If you are a single parent, life for you right now probably couldn’t get any busier. You are likely being pulled between work, school activities, and home – and the inevitable emergencies that fill the lives of single parents everywhere.…

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