When Your Children Write Your Will Wills are very important documents. So important, in fact, that I think everyone who owns property should have a...
Eldercare Lawyer Blog
Consultation
YOU'RE NOT MY LAWYER? "You're my attorney. Remember, I came to see you for a consultation about a year ago." Many lawyers advertise free...
Codicil to Will
"CAN'T YOU JUST MODIFY MY EXISTING WILL?" From time to time, a person comes to my office and asks me to "modify their current Will." "Can't you just...
Can I Write My Own Will
I present between fifty to eighty seminars every year on various topics of elder law. When I present on a topic such as estate planning or Medicaid...
Buy-Sell Agreements
YOUR BUSINESS IS DOING WELL BUT WHAT'S IT WORTH? Owning a small business is tough. I know. I own a small business - my law practice. But once you...
Benefits of Trusts
In a previous article I discussed how Trusts work. As I mentioned in that article, while most of us have heard of a "trust agreement," few people...
Avoiding Tax in Uncertain Times
In June of 2000, President Bush repealed the federal estate tax. Well, not really. What President Bush did was sign into law a bill that gradually...
As Is Real Estate Sale
BUT I'M SELLING MY HOUSE "AS IS" I am an elder care lawyer. Elder law encompasses the entirety of my practice. (Sometimes, I think it encompasses...
Are Living Trusts Worth the Effort?
In last week's article, I began a discussion of Living Trusts. Most people who have thought about estate planning have heard about Living Trusts;...
AHD and HIPPA
INFORMED DECISIONS: A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH We've all heard of a "living will." It's that document that says you don't want to be on a...
Decisions That Speak for You When You Can’t
MORE THAN A LIVING WILL One day, someone you love may need to make an important health care decision for you. Whether that person will be able to...
Estate Plans Fall Apart When Circumstances Change
A WILL FOR ALL SEASONS "Okay, how do you want to leave your property?" I say to the woman who has come to see me about drafting a Will. "I want to...
Accelerating Death Benefits
GETTING MONEY FROM LIFE INSURANCE DURING LIFE Viatication is a process through which an individual can sell their life insurance policy in order to...
A Proposal That Could Change Where Wills Are Found
BILL PROPOSES CREATION OF A WILL REGISTRY "Where do I keep my Will?" That's often a question on my clients' minds. "I don't want my children to have...
Will Challenges
MAKING YOUR WILL A FORTRESS A Will is really an amazing document. A Will is often no more than five pages in length, much of which is boilerplate...
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Recent Posts
A Living Will Is not a Death Warrant
If you read my column regularly, you know that I recommend anyone over the age of eighteen having three, basic estate planning documents—a last will and testament, a financial power of attorney, and an advanced health care directive (or living will). And if you read...
Fear and Estate Planning Decisions
By concentrating my practice in one area—elder law—I see the same issue arise time-and-time again, so I understand the public’s reaction to certain issues and know that people will have that reaction before the reaction happens. For instance, whenever I mention the...
What’s in a Name
What’s in a name? You would be surprised with the number of people who use a name other than their legal name and who aren’t even sure what their legal name is. Knowing your legal name can be quite important, particularly when it comes to drafting legal documents,...
The General Durable Power of Attorney
Of all the estate planning documents, I think the most important document is a financial power of attorney. A financial power of attorney is often called a general durable power of attorney. When a person signs a power of attorney document granting another person the...
Drafting Your Own Will
I recently saw a question on a social media service. The person was asking if anyone knew a good estate planning attorney and what the cost of a Will should be. One of the people responding said that she had used an on-line, do-it-yourself Will service. She did not...
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Sea Girt (732) 974-8898 Middletown (732) 706-8008