Most people think of meeting with a lawyer and making legal documents when I say the words "estate planning." Usually, these papers include a will, a power of attorney that lasts, a health care proxy, and maybe even a trust. After you write these...
At least one of the financial providers in a family should be covered by life insurance. A policy should always be in place in case one of the main breadwinners dies. This way, if the breadwinner dies and the family has no other source of income,...
Many people want to know what legal documents they need to make sure that, if they become sick or injured and can't speak for themselves, their end-of-life wishes are known and carried out. Advance directives are a set of documents that lay out a...
People remember how sad it made them feel to watch Terri Schiavo die while her family argued about what they thought she wanted.
You should write a will.
Living Wills have been around for a long time, but everyone knows about them...
Those who are in a vegetative state and do not have a Living Will are, of course, better off. People need to know, though, that many of the Living Wills that are used today have big problems.
Wills must be easy to understand.
A...
If you are a young couple with young children, a good job, and a good life, you are not ready to think about the end of your lives. But you should give it some thought.
Terry Schiavo is a good example. She was only 26 years old when a...
Terri Schiavo was the face of an emotional fight about the right to live and the right to die for a lot of people. It started a heated debate around the world and even got people who didn't care about politics to take a stand.
Last Will...
If you and your partner are getting a divorce, you have to do a lot of planning. You will need to choose your own beneficiaries, set up your own estate, and organise how your assets are split up.
You should talk to a good lawyer about the...
In a culture like ours, which is heavily influenced by British common law, wills and trusts have an interesting history. Wills' bequests have been the main focus of a lot of mystery fiction, where secretive and worried relatives wait around a...
If you are smart enough to try to put some of your assets into a trust (inter vivos) while you are still alive, you have been paying attention to the important differences between wills and trusts. A trust that you set up during your life is much...