Recent Blog Posts
Retirement Age Scientists At A Crossroads
It used to be fun to go out to dinner with your departmental colleagues at the end of the semester, acknowledge that you were well past middle age, and then reaffirm your intention never to leave academia. The acknowledgement of old age ritual would take the form of passing around your cell phones to… Read More »
Understanding The Four Parts Of Medicare Without Quadrupling Your Stress
When you are what our work-obsessed society calls a working aged adult, you feel like you can never catch a break. You spend all your waking hours on your job and your gigs, only to find yourself another day older, with ageless content creators mocking you for being ugly and obsolete, even as they… Read More »
Neglect Of Vulnerable Seniors By Family Caregivers
The horrifying stories of vulnerable seniors abused and neglected by family caregivers are enough to make even the most committed procrastinator get started on his or her estate plan. Last year, Alton Cardwell was arrested after the death of his father Jimmy Cardwell, for whom the younger Cardwell was a primary caregiver, and now… Read More »
What Can Go Wrong With Designating Beneficiaries For Non-Probate Assets?
It can be difficult to get started on big projects; just ask any parent who has struggled to muster the energy to pick up the first piece of clutter in the living room after the kids had a three-day weekend off from school. By contrast, you get a big emotional boost when you accomplish… Read More »
Does It Really Matter If You Choose A Revocable Or Irrevocable Trust?
The most attainable New Year’s resolutions are the ones that require “one and done” actions, as opposed to actions that you must repeat every day. “One day at a time” is your only option if you are trying to achieve sobriety or follow a healthy diet; the things in life that are most worth… Read More »
So, You Inherited Your Parents’ House Jointly With Your Siblings
How many times have you seen a bedraggled mother in the supermarket trying to find all the items on her shopping list while her children antagonize each other in and around the shopping cart? If she is lucky, a friendly senior, who might even be you, reassures her that sibling rivalry will evaporate once… Read More »
What Happens To Your Estate Plan If You File For Divorce?
For people still in love with a spouse whose feelings have changed, divorce is the worst-case scenario. For couples who are at their wits’ end with each other, staying together until the bitter end is worse. Little do they know that it is much worse than either of those scenarios is when one spouse… Read More »
Does Transferring Property To A Revocable Trust Make Things Worse?
Given the modest amount of effort it takes to establish a revocable trust and the vast amount of time and effort you can save your heirs by establishing one, it is a wonder that not everyone does it. A revocable trust lets you be in control of the assets you transfer to it as… Read More »
The Worst Choices Of Beneficiaries Of Non-Probate Assets
Non-probate assets are the key to saving money on transferring your property to your heirs after you die. Any property that you own solely, and which you have not preserved in the form of a non-probate asset, will become part of your estate and go through probate. This means that the beneficiaries of your… Read More »
Protecting Recently Deceased Family Members From Financial Crime
You might think that money is the last thing you would want to think about immediately after a family member dies, but the stress of planning a funeral is enough to make you look forward to probate. Unfortunately, there are other administrative matters you must take care of before bringing the decedent’s will to… Read More »