6 Ways a Lawyer Can Help with Finance
Working with your attorney to create a Durable Financial Power of Attorney (POA) ensures that, in the event you become incapacitated due to illness or injury, your financial affairs continue to be handled properly. With this document, you assign an individual whom you trust to act as your financial agent. These decisions may include […]
Attorneys Get Paid per Word! And Other Untruths…
Why is my trust so long? As an estate planning attorney who provides comprehensive, solution-oriented planning documents to clients, I get this question almost every week. I have to chuckle, knowing that in the olden days attorneys did get paid per word of each document they created. But not anymore. Most estate planning attorneys work […]
Is your Estate Plan a Trojan Horse?
On January 31st of 2014, the Chinese celebrated the Year of the Horse. Which got me thinking about famous horses: Black Beauty, Secretariat, Trigger, Sea Biscuit, Silver, the Budweiser Clydesdales, Man O’ War, Pokey, and even the Trojan Horse. That famous tale, expertly depicted in the Brad Pitt film Troy, recounts how the Greeks hid […]
Prevention is the Best Medicine – Why You Should Consider a Corporate Trustee
Revocable living trusts are a powerful and commonly used estate planning tool. Whenever a trust is created, there is also an accompanying position created called the trustee. The trustee is a person or entity appointed within the trust document that is responsible for the administration and management of the trust. The trustmaker usually names himself […]
Springing Powers (Not Spring Flowers)
Powers of Attorney (POA) are state specific documents. That means each state has its own rules on what each document must say and how it must be executed. Because of this, a POA from Arizona may not work in Ohio and vice versa. In Arizona, there are three separate POAs: Financial, Healthcare, and Mental Healthcare. […]
Congratulations! You graduated. Welcome to Adulthood
When I graduated from college my sister gave me the Dr. Seuss book “Oh the Places You’ll Go.” It is my 4-year-old son’s favorite book. There are some real gems in that book. A realization that life is not as easy as it may seem, and is not always fair, so it is usually best […]
Another Lesson From My Mom About Documents
My family (me, my husband, son, and mom) went to Colorado to visit my sister this summer. Several days into our vacation, my mom was not feeling well and asked to go the emergency room. She was in cardiogenic shock and was life-flighted to another hospital within hours. Now my mom volunteers at my law […]
What Happens When You Die?
One myth is your power of attorney can manage or transfer ownership of your assets once you die. That is not true, however! Your power of attorney becomes invalid once you die, and your agent loses all rights to manage your assets. In this instance, your individual assets may have to go through the probate […]
Revocable Living Trust
If you have assets properly funded into a revocable living trust, you and your successor trustees takes care of the management and investment of the trust assets. This means you, as the current trustee; your successor trustee if you are deemed mentally incapacitated; or your administrative trustee after you die; have legal authority to work […]
Power of Attorney Types
In the state of Arizona, there is a “springing” power of attorney and a “durable” power of attorney. Springing: This power of attorney form only takes effect if you are determined to be mentally incapacitated. At this stage, you are no longer able to manage your finances or make healthcare decisions for yourself. A springing […]