These days, our lives are surrounded by a lot of uncertainty and more people are thinking about their own mortality. Many people are choosing to review and update their estate plans during this challenging time. One thing that can easily trip up an estate plan is not paying attention to…
There are a lot of options in online services to draft estate planning documents, such as wills, trust, durable powers of attorney, and healthcare proxies. These online services can appear to be a very good option for most people. With these options available, is it necessary to use an estate…
As the digital world becomes a bigger part of our lives, many people have accumulated a lot of “digital assets,” which are non-physical assets that exist online in electronic format. Most estate planning clients preserve these assets either for their sentimental value or financial value. Those held for their sentimental…
Bank of America reached a settlement with the federal government over allegations of discriminatory policies against individuals with disabilities under guardianships. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bank of America maintained written policies that barred adults with disabilities under legal guardianships or conservatorships from obtaining mortgages or home equity…
The Social Security program, in addition to providing retirement benefits, also provides disability payments to those who are unable work because of a physical or mental condition. Unfortunately, the process that applicants (who are often older and poorer than most Americans) have to go through in order to start receiving…
Q:How long are wills good for? Can you renew them or do you have to make a new one? How about powers of attorney? A: Wills don’t expire or become invalid over time, so once you have created one, you won’t need to renew or replace it after a certain…
One important part of estate planning is helping your children and grandchildren with the ever-escalating costs of their education. If they are already in school, you can do this by writing a check for their tuition directly to their educational institution. For younger children or grandchildren who are not yet…
Remote witnessing and notarization is becoming increasingly more common for executing estate planning documents. To do this, a witness or notary can use two-way audio-video communication technology to witness or notarize an act instead of doing so in person. As of June 2020, at least 44 US states now allow…
A woman named Mary Daniel had been unable to see her husband, Steve, for 114 days because of the coronavirus restrictions at the Jacksonville, Florida senior care facility where he has lived since last July. Steve was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s seven years ago. “I put him in a memory care center and…
Many people are under the impression that families that accrue an above-average amount of wealth or assets will pass down these fortunes generation after generation. However, a Wealth-X report shows that 68% of the those whose net worth exceeds $30 million are self-made, 24% of those individuals have a combination…