New Laws on Electronic Wills & E-Notarization: The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown
In some of the biggest estate planning news Florida has seen in years, electronic Wills and remote notarization (“online notarization or e-notarization”) came to life on January 1st, 2020. What does this mean for you? The new laws allow you to sign your estate planning documents, such as your Last Will and Testament “(“Will”), without […]
Top 10 Celebrity Estate Planning Fails to Avoid in the New Year
The celebrity deaths of 2019 were both tragic and shocking. What was also alarming from all of this was their estate planning. Though there’s an undeniable element of schadenfreude (guilty pleasure) that makes these disaster stories ghoulishly enjoyable, there are also important lessons to be learned…and avoided. The problems experienced by celebrity estates are often […]
Star Studded Goodbyes: Celebrities that Left a Mess Behind
Celebrities are notorious for accumulating wealth during their lives only to let it slip away after their deaths with improper, or no estate planning, in place. Simple blunders can trigger years of court battles or cost their heirs millions of dollars in adverse tax consequences. Here are 4 star personalities we lost in 2019 – […]
‘Tis the Season: Updating your Estate Plan after Divorce
With winter holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah, many people experience feelings of excessive stress. Especially when relating to spouses and life partners. Studies show that divorce rates tend to spike following the holidays. Holidays are fraught with expectations and these expectations may be part of what causes the final rift in marital […]
Best Gifts for the Kiddos: Legos, Baby Shark, and Estate Planning
Since this is the season of giving and charity, here’s a little gift to you, coming straight from the legal tree of knowledge. There are some legal documents that will make the perfect holiday gift for your family. Although you can’t wrap it up and put it under the Christmas tree or Hanukkah bush, it […]
Cyber Monday: More Risk than Reward
Cyber Monday is a marketing brainchild started in 2005 by online retailer shop.org, and a holiday that always falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Some may argue that it has become as much of an American tradition as Thanksgiving itself. We are certainly not nay-sayers of bargain hunting, but we are here to advise you […]
Gifting Assets in Medicaid Planning: Good Intentions, Bad Consequences
The conference rooms at our law firm locations are a petri dish of data. It is here that we learn the most common misconceptions people have about Medicaid, their finances, estate planning, and gifting assets. Here is the most common misconception: many people do not plan for retirement or long-term care because they think that […]
Tips for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregivers
November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, started by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. At the time, fewer than 2 million Americans had Alzheimer’s. Today the number of people with the disease has soared to over 5 million and it is estimated that more than 10 million individuals are caring for a loved one with […]
The Turkey Technique
Some of us look forward to Thanksgiving all year long – the beautiful bird, the stuffing, the pumpkin pie, the rare reunion with family members from afar. For others, ‘tis the season of awkward encounters with distant relatives, forced small talk, and the occasional inappropriate question that borders on the offensive. (Just remember: each family […]
No Bones About It: Prepaid Funeral Arrangements are Alive and Well
With Halloween upon us, many people avoid the ghosts, goblins and graveyards that scare the dickens out of us. But embracing the graveyard may not be such a bad idea. Planning your memorial service ahead of time brings personalized comfort to you, as well as your family and close friends. Other than the sheer sense […]
