Probate Attorney Blog

Happy Sunday! Wow. What a week! The bombcyclone hit us pretty hard – the office lost power Wednesday through Friday and my house lost power Tuesday through Saturday. It’s pretty humbling to see how much we all rely on electricity for everything – and how powerless it can feel when you lose it even for a couple of days. I wanted to say thank you to everyone for your patience as we had to reschedule a BUNCH of stuff to…

Happy Sunday! Shorty but a goody today. Gifting. Reminder, you have until the end of the year to give up to $18k to as many people as you want without having to file a gift tax return (or do anything). You can gift to an individual, to a trust, and if you’re married, you can both make an $18k gift to someone. Also, in addition to the $18k limit for individuals, you can also pay for education and medical expenses…

Happy Tuesday!I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the day off yesterday (here at the firm if the court is closed we’re closed, so the team had the day off). And, I hope everyone took at least a moment to thank all of the people that help keep us safe. The military doesn’t always get a ton of love, but the people serving deserve all of our support for putting their lives on the line and even sacrificing their…

Happy Sunday!Today I want to talk about bank accounts. They seem pretty straightforward, but there can be some HUGE consequences if you don’t understand how they operate. Here’s an example from a conversation I had with a potential client this week… Wife was calling because husband had passed, and at husband’s passing, his half of the bank account was supposed to go into an irrevocable trust. They wanted to make sure there was an inheritance for the kids and allow…

Happy Sunday!Today I wanted to talk about a common issue I see in estate planning, something that holds a lot of people back from taking action, to their detriment… not being able to decide who your people should be. For many people this issue surrounds guardians for minor children, so that’s what I’m going to talk about today. But the message applies no matter the position you are trying to fill – Trustee, Power of Attorney, Medical Power of Attorney,…

Happy Monday! This week’s newsletter is coming to you on a Monday because we’re closed for the holiday (Columbus Day/Indigenous People’s Day) and I can’t stop working. :) And, I thought today would be a good day to get some helpful information out there to all of you responsible people that have already completed your plans and are now in maintenance mode. Note: if you’re not one of those people, it’s okay – that’s why we’re here – to help….

Happy Sunday! Every month all of the attorneys on the team get together for a happy hour. It’s a great time to bond outside of work. And, although we are outside of the office, we invariably talk about estate planning and probate subjects (we’re law nerds in the office and out of the office – you never lose that). This week at our happy hour we somehow got to talking about testamentary trusts, and why I hate them. :) So…