Running a small business can keep you busy, but it should not keep you from creating an estate plan. Not having a plan in place can cause problems and uncertainty for your business and your family after you are gone.   While an estate plan is important for everyone, it is especially important for small business owners. Planning allows you to dictate what will happen with your business after you die or are no Read More

If a loved one is experiencing memory loss or suddenly making poor decisions, you may want the court to appoint a guardian, which requires a declaration of incompetence. Determining whether someone is incompetent to make their own decisions is a complicated process.  If a loved one is unable to make decisions for him or herself, the court may appoint a substitute decision maker, often called a "guardian," but Read More

As the glory (or agony) of spring sports is in full swing, have you considered that those coveted season tickets may be part of your estate plan? Sports fans with season tickets may want their families to enjoy the tickets after they are gone but passing on these tickets may not be simple.   Getting season tickets to your favorite sport is not always an easy task. Season tickets for some teams can cost a Read More

Being the executor of an estate can be a time-consuming job, depending on the size and complexity of the estate. While a simple estate can take a few months and not require a huge time commitment, if there are problems, the job can drag on for years.  Not to mention, COVID closures and staff shortages created a backlog of matters in the probate division of many courts, and as a result the process has taken Read More

Medicaid applicants must prove that they have limited income and assets in order to be eligible for long-term care services. Before beginning the application process, it is helpful to understand what information you will be required to provide to prove your eligibility.  Medicaid is a state-run program, so the rules can vary from state to state, but in general applicants are not eligible for Medicaid benefits Read More

Long-term care costs climbed again in 2021, with rates for home health aides and homemakers seeing the sharpest rises, according to Genworth’s annual Cost of Care Survey. The coronavirus pandemic continues to contribute to cost increases.  In the past year, Genworth reports that the national median annual cost of home health aides shot up 12.50%  to $61,776, and the median annual rate for the Read More

Estate planning is not a one-and-done event.  Once you've created an estate plan, it is important to keep it up to date. You will need to revisit your plan after certain key life events, including marriage, the birth of children, divorce or the death of a spouse, and a significant increase or decrease in assets.  Here's why. Marriage Whether it is your first or a later marriage, you Read More

While legally you may not need all-new estate planning documents if you move to a different state, you should have your documents reviewed by a local attorney in your new home.  The Constitution of the United States requires that states give “full faith and credit” to the laws of other states. This means that your will, trust, durable power of attorney, and health care proxy executed in one state Read More

Pets are members of the family, so it is important to consider how to provide for them in your estate plan just as you would the human family members.  While we may think of pets as part of our family, the law considers them to be property. This means that you cannot leave anything in your will directly to a pet. The following are some steps to take to make sure your pet is protected:  Caretaker. Pick Read More

A new survey has found that motivated in part by the coronavirus pandemic, younger adults are now more likely to have a will than middle-aged adults. Nevertheless, the overall percentage of Americans with a will has dropped over the past several years.   Caring.com’s 2021 estate planning survey found that for the first time since the survey began in 2015, 18- to 34-year-olds are more likely to have a will Read More