Blog Posts: Estate Planning

Taking the time to complete your health care power of attorney and living will is a great step toward ensuring that your health care wishes will be followed if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. A health care power of attorney names an agent to make health care decisions if you are unable to do so yourself. A living will which is also called an advance ...

If you’re like many people, you have not put much thought into who will make your health care decisions if you are unable or what kinds of decisions might need to be made. However, you may find yourself thinking about health care issues more and more. If you or a loved one enters a hospital, one of the first questions you will be asked is if you have a Health...

Selecting a Guardian for Your Children You put so much thought into caring for your children - finding the best doctors, the healthiest foods, and the schools that best suit their personalities. But if you are like many parents with young children, you have not thought about what would happen if you were unable to care for your children. Who would step in and make ...

When You Hear the Term “Estate Planning”, Do You Think:“I don’t need an estate plan because I don’t have very much,” “My wishes are simple, I can just jot down what I need,” “I know someone who said they used a Will template off the Internet and said it was great,” “Why should I care about estate p...

As a new parent, you naturally want to ensure your new baby’s future in every way. For many new parents, infancy is a time for celebrating new life, and making a will is the last thing on their minds. For others, the process of bringing new life into the world sparks intense feelings of wanting control and needing organization. Regardless of where you fall on...

In a youth-focused society, it is difficult to contemplate aging, let alone dying. Many young people assume, incorrectly, that estate planning is just for the elderly or the very wealthy. There are four reasons why everyone - regardless of their age - should consider having at least some estate planning documents prepared. Powers of Attorney Estate planning is no...

Probate and trust litigation can turn families into enemies and convert inheritances into attorneys' fees.  These disputes can be fueled by sibling rivalry, blended families, family grudges, financial need, entitlement, revenge, greed, or spite.  Litigators have a bird's eye view of the issues which fuel such disputes and are often able to anticipate potential is...

Why do estate planning documents need to be updated when a couple is getting divorced? This simple story illustrates one of the key reasons. An Arizona couple had been married for several years and during their marriage had built a very successful, multi-million-dollar business together. Perhaps they had focused on building the business rather than their marriage ...

Has it ever crossed your mind — even if only for a moment — that if you are extra super nice to rich old Aunt Harriet (or whomever the “Aunt Harriet” in your life may be), who is getting up there in years, never had any children, and managed to accumulate a sizable estate, that maybe, just maybe, she will leave a nice portion of her est...

A large component of asset protection planning is designed to help protect your business and investment assets from claims by your personal creditors.  If you have a corporation and a creditor gets a personal judgment against you, the creditor can seize the stock of your corporation.  If you are the sole owner and your business is held in a corporation, i...