If you were being kept alive artificially after becoming mentally and physically incapacitated permanently, would you like your loved ones to be able to make decisions for you? Would you like the artificial life support to be withheld or withdrawn …
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Why Should You Update Your Estate Plan?
When was the last time that you took a look at or updated your estate planning documents? I read about a survey not too long ago which found that the average time between estate plan updates was almost 20 years. …
Reasons to Choose a Professional Trustee
When you do your estate plan, you have to choose someone to handle your property and financial affairs during your mental disability as well as after your death. You may be tempted to name your spouse or the kids in …
Will or Trust – Which is Best?
Last week, one of the questions we discussed that I and my partner Buzz Suuppi get all the time is: How much assets do I need for a trust? What we are really being asked is: Should my estate plan …
Top Five Estate Planning Questions
Because of all the estate planning that we do, we get a lot of estate planning questions on a daily basis. In today’s column we are going to discuss the top five estate planning questions that we regularly get in …
Protecting Inheritances
Many people use joint ownership and beneficiary designations as their own do-it-yourself estate plan. Sometimes it works, if all the stars line up. Unfortunately for many families, the stars do not line up. We see time and time again situations …
Are You Able to Sign Your Estate Planning Documents?
There is a firmly embedded principle in our legal system that in order for you to sign legal documents, you must possess the mental competence to reasonably understand the nature and effect of your action. This competency is tested at …
Keeping the Family Cottage in the Family
You own the family cottage, farm or waterfront property that you and your loved ones have enjoyed for years. You want your loved ones to continue to enjoy the property after you are gone. Is there something that you can …
Medical and Mental Health Care Decision Making for Your Young Adult Child
Another year has gone by and it is the graduation season again. It is now time for my annual column for young adults. If you have any adult high school or college-aged children, do you know who can make their …
Who Does What, When?
When you are doing your estate plan, you have to choose people for certain things. For what jobs do you have to make a selection and what are their duties? Who do you want to benefit, or to not benefit …