Love is undoubtedly the most profound and cherished thread that weaves us all together, and there are many different ways to express our love to the people who mean the most to us. Often when we think of showing our love, we think of bouquets of flowers, surprise gifts, and meaningful notes. But an often overlooked – and incredibly meaningful – way of showing your love is to put that love into a plan for the future. 

As dementia progresses, estate planning must become more proactive and strategic than ever to avoid court and conflict over your loved one’s wishes in the future. If dementia becomes too advanced before planning is complete, the question of who will manage your loved one’s assets and care will be left to a judge who doesn’t know your loved one or their wishes.

Caring for a loved one with dementia is a challenge that millions of families undertake each year. As a caregiver, understanding how a dementia diagnosis affects your loved one’s legal decision-making

As we welcome the New Year, filled with hope and resolutions for a brighter future, one commitment should be at the top of your list– creating a Kids Protection Plan™. It can be hard to think about a future where you couldn’t be there for your children, but having a plan in place will ensure that your kids stay in the care of the people they know and love in the event you become incapacitated or die (instead of their care decisions being left up to chance or whichever judge is overseeing the family court at the time).

You want to find an attorney you like who will understand your family’s needs. But, there are other considerations at stake. You also have to consider the cost of the attorney you’re hiring. You want to know whether they can meet your immediate needs. And, whether the attorney will be there for you in the long term. 

As we approach the holiday season, it's essential to consider the true richness of the inheritance we leave behind for our loved ones. Beyond monetary assets, our values, stories, and experiences form a legacy that lasts for generations. To intentionally capture and pass down this Family Wealth Legacy, Personal Family Lawyers® advocate for a unique planning process that involves a recorded interview – a Family Wealth Legacy Interview.

Making important decisions for aging parents can be a challenging task, but power of attorney (POA) can provide peace of mind and clarity in times of need. POA enables individuals to make crucial decisions on behalf of their parents, such as managing their finances or making medical decisions, when they are unable to do so themselves due to age or illness.

The holidays are right around the corner, which means more time to gather with family and relatives than any other time of the year. If you’ve been meaning to talk to your family about money, inheritance, end-of-life decisions, estate planning, and creating a plan for your whole family’s wealth - now and in the future - having everyone in the same room is ideal.

Are you in the “sandwich generation” (someone who is caring for both your children as well as your parents simultaneously)? If this is you, then you need to know whether or not your parents have an estate plan. So, ask yourself, “do your parents have an estate plan?”

If you are like most people, you probably do not know. And, the thought of speaking with your parents about their finances and estate planning probably makes you want to run as fast as you can in the opposite direction. Nonetheless, having this conversation is the key to helping make sure your parents are able to live their golden years without financial worries and that their wishes are carried out after their death.

After a loved one has passed away and the funeral has been held, the task of sorting through their personal belongings begins. The question of what to do with a loved one’s remaining possessions is one that every family faces. Some items, like trinkets and personal effects, may be given away to family or friends. Others, including medical equipment, can be sold or donated to charity. From eyeglasses and hearing aids to wheelchairs and at-home hospital beds, there are options for giving used medical equipment a second life.

Creating a special needs trust (SNT), also sometimes referred to as a supplemental needs trust, can help you provide for a loved one who is disabled or has special needs while maintaining your loved one’s current benefits or leaving open the option for need-based governmental aid in the future, even if your loved one receives an inheritance. As long as the SNT meets certain legal criteria, the existence of the SNT and the amount of money and property inside it will not affect your loved one’s means test.

November is National Caregiver month.  This month is a time to honor those who are caring for their aging parents. You may already be acting as a caregiver for one or more of your parents who are no longer able to look after themselves.  Or, due to their age, you may have be more involved in caring for your aging parents. As part of your caregiving, you need to know the essential estate planning documents for caregivers. 

Our parents age and their physical and mental capacities diminish.  We, as their adult children recognize our parents’ decreasing ability to care for themselves.  We see that we need to step in and help them. Often, one of us children will take over the bulk of the responsibilities such as taking the parent to doctor’s appointments or the attorney’s office. We see our parent begin to depend on thatchild more and more.  So, our parent decides to appoint that child as a trusted decision maker.  Our parent may even give them a larger inheritance to compensate them for their time. At the same time, the other childre must take extreme care to ensure that our elderly parent is not being exploited by a manipulative caretaker.   We need to ask ourselves, is our sibling caretake being a dutiful child or a financial manipulator?

If you're anything like us, your furry friends mean the world to you. They bring endless joy, cuddles, and an abundance of love to our lives. But have you ever wondered what will happen to them if, heaven forbid, something were to happen to you? Well, fear not! That's where creating a trust fund for your furry friends comes in. In this ultimate guide, we're going to show you the ropes and help you navigate the sometimes overwhelming world of pet estate planning. So grab a cup of tea, snuggle up with your four-legged buddies, and let's embark on this pawsome journey together!

Life doesn't always follow a set script, and neither do pet owners when it comes to providing for their beloved companions. In fact, some pet parents have been known to get quite imaginative when planning for their furry friends' future. Even celebrities, with all their resources, can encounter unexpected bumps in the road when it comes to creating pet trusts.  Let’s take a look now at 3 more famous pet trusts cases.

Pet trusts have undergone a drastic transformation in recent times. Once dismissed as peculiar actions of the wealthy, they have now gained widespread acceptance. But not every pet trust is enacted exactly according to the owner’s wishes. Let’s take a look at three famous celebrity pet trusts and consider the lessons we can take away from them so your furry family member can be protected through your plan.

A pet trust is an excellent way to make sure your beloved pet will receive proper care after you pass on. The problem, of course, is that you won’t actually be there to see that your wishes are carried out. It’s critical to set up a pet trust correctly to ensure there are no loopholes or unforeseen situations that could make your plans go awry. Here are the top five pet trust mistakes people often make when leaving their assets to their pets.

Frankly, it can be chaos for your pets if you are incapacitated or deceased without a plan. With the shuffle of so many other tasks, a pet can sometimes be overlooked, abandoned, or even euthanized. A pet trust provides a legal tool to ensure that your beloved dog, cat, or other pet is not left somewhere or euthanized merely because you are not here any longer. Proactively including a pet trust is especially important when you have family members that may be unable or unwilling to care for your beloved pets.

There are numerous tools of the trade that a qualified attorney can use to keep your money and property out of probate, for example, establishing joint ownership on bank accounts and real estate titles, designating beneficiaries for life insurance policies and certain accounts, and so on. However, setting up a revocable living trust is quite often the best, most comprehensive option for avoiding probate. Let’s discuss why this is true.