Estate Planning Is Only Useful When You Have A Plan!

Most people tend to think that estate planning is for the wealthy or for the elderly. This is a serious falsehood. No matter your stage in life or the amount of your accumulated wealth, estate planning is an essential tool. Because state law does not mandate estate plans like they do insurance in some instances, people forget to utilize this helpful set of documents. When something is not forefront in our minds, we delay acting. Estate planning is only useful when you have it in place and no one knows when the time will come that it is needed. What if you had a horrible accident and became incapacitated tomorrow? Have you appointed a health care and financial power of attorney who you trust and who knows your wishes? Would you be comfortable with the state deciding who will have this privilege? If the answer is no to both of those questions then you should consider getting a plan in place now before something happens. Below are some additional guidelines concerning basic estate planning. A Proper Estate Plan Is Crucial Regardless of Net Worth: This is true for everyone but especially for those folks who are responsible for a lot of other people in their lives. Think of it this way, the less you have, the more important every penny is. Mistakes are more tolerable for those with money. You don’t want to leave your loved ones with massive amounts of debt and no plan to be able to deal with them. Even if debt is all you have, you still need a plan and there are ways to secure a plan for debt. Get ahead of it so you are in control of the debt instead of the debt controlling you. Talk With Your Family And Friends About Your Wishes: When a person dies and they have not discussed their plans with their beneficiaries or family, almost always this creates serious conflict. When people are fighting over the terms of your estate, it can delay beneficiaries from receiving inheritances for months or even years. Instead, include your family in the decision process by having candid conversations. This allows them to feel secure about the future and also allows for family members to accept decisions that may not be what they wanted or had in mind. Discussing your plan prevents conflict and allows the family to heal and properly...
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Divorcing? Ask Yourself, Is the Marital Home Really A Prize?

Home is where the heart is . . . at least until it isn’t! In the U.S., divorcing couples fight hard over the marital home. As if being awarded the home in the divorce means you have won. This is certainly not the case in most instances and depending on several factors, you may not want the home. For many couples, the marital home is their largest single asset. But honestly, the home can be a huge burden and you have to make a financial decision when looking at the home and try your hardest not to think emotionally. When you get a divorce, everything changes. If you can put your mind in a place where you can accept that things are about to change drastically, the process will not only be easier to stomach, but you will make decisions that will benefit you in the long run. In short, you must train yourself to look at this house as a piece of property and nothing more. Do not see that wall you took an entire weekend to paint yourself as part of your being, but see it as a wall that you painted once. Rest assured there will be a new wall for you to paint in a different color in your future. Now that you are mentally prepared to look at this house through a financial purview not an emotional one, here are the items you need to consider when deciding if the house is financially in your best interest to fight for: 1.    Can you afford the real cost of owning that house now and in the future? You must consider the dollar amount it will cost to run a household alone. Do not calculate in child support or spousal maintenance – after all, many times even if one party is awarded this type of support, collecting it is not certain. So plan for yourself. Look at the mortgage; can you take this over on your own? Now add property taxes, insurance, repairs/maintenance, furnishings, and of course the never ending living expenses (gas, water, electric, food). If your answer is “I don’t know” or “that might be really tight” then you  need  to consider downsizing. Start small and build. I know it isn’t something you want but many times during a legal process what you want is the opposite of what you must do. The good...
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Why Estate Planning is Important for Women

Despite your age, gender, or wealth, estate planning is vital for everyone. That being said, estate planning may be more important for women than it is for men. 1. Women tend to live longer than men Recent statistics show that, on average, a woman will outlive her husband by seven years. Additionally, the average groom is 2.3 years older than his bride. That means women need their assets to last longer than men do. It also means that wives are probably going to outlive their husbands, so they will likely inherit their husbands’ estates, and they will probably have the last word about the final disposition of assets going to the couple’s heirs. 2. Women tend to earn less during their lives than men Full-time working women earned only 81.2 cents for each dollar a man earns, according to the latest statistics. Also, women work fewer years than men in order to care for home and family, further reducing their ability to save. Simply put, women earn less money over their lifetimes than men. Because women must plan to make fewer dollars last longer, it’s important for them to get sound retirement planning advice. 3. Most custodial parents are women Approximately 84% of custodial parents are women. Women who are parents of young children need to plan for the continued care of those children if something unforeseen should happen. They also need to determine who will handle the children’s property until they are older. 4. Women are business owners Women own more than 8.6 million businesses in the US, generating revenue of $1.3 trillion each year. Women who are business owners need to protect their assets and plan for the succession of their businesses. 5. Women are professionals Women make up 57.5% of professional occupations. Women in professions with high litigation risks like medicine, law, and real estate, can benefit from asset protection planning. 6. Women are wealthy Women control $14 trillion in assets  and three-fourths of the financial wealth in the United States. It’s important for women to get sound investment, charitable giving, and tax planning advice. Estate planning is the only way through which a woman can ensure that this wealth is distributed according to her wishes upon her death. They say men are from Mars and women are from Venus, but is this true when it comes to estate planning? Absolutely. Women should make special considerations...
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Critical Steps Women Must Take When Preparing For Divorce

I talk with women about divorce on a daily basis. While there is a broad spectrum of how women deal with the emotional side when facing divorce, I have found there is one commonality … the feeling of being overwhelmed. Whether she was the one who initiated or she was blindsided by the news, that one decision brings about tremendous change that shakes the core of women’s lives. It is most damaging when women are so enthralled in emotion (grief, sadness, anger) they make hasty decisions that can have an extreme affect on their lives. One must gain control in order to get through the legal and the emotional process. There simply is no avoiding either one. So where do you begin?  In order to gain control, I have found there are a few steps to take that will put you in the best possible position.  None of these are very exciting, but I promise if you do these steps you will save yourself a ton of time, money, and heartache on the back end. 1.    Collect your financial information. This is so important it must be step one. Gather all of your bank account information, tax records for the last three to five years, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, deeds, titles, securities, bonds, notes, stocks, in short – anything that looks like it could mean money get the information related to that item. Do NOT keep these records in your home or your vehicle. Take copies to someone you trust (parent, relative, friend) or place them in a safety deposit box. Bottom line, you do not want your spouse to know you have this information or have access to your collected records. 2.    Open a mailbox at the post office and separate email. This item brings such a relief of mind for my clients. Knowing that your mail is safe. Knowing that you can receive confidential mail during this process, in addition to your new bank and credit card statements.  You know you won’t miss something from the courts, your attorney, your doctor or even a card from a friend.  A small additional bonus of getting a post office box is that the mail gets there faster. I also encourage my clients to get a new email address, because often times these accounts are either shared or the spouse knows the password. Start fresh and that way everything...
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In Loco Parentis

There are many ways to establish authority and gain custody over a child that is not yours. One option is “Non-Parent Custody” also known as in loco parentis In loco parentis is Latin for “in place of a parent.” Such is a person essentially treated as a parent by the child, and who has formed a meaningful relationship with the child for a substantial period of time. In Arizona, a non-parent can request custody by alleging, among other things, that it would be significantly detrimental (harmful) for either of the child’s legal parents to have custody. This is a difficult burden to prove and sustain since it is typically viewed that parents have a fundamental right to the care, custody and management of their child(ren). Grandparents, step-parents, relatives and non-relatives should be prepared to prove that awarding custody to the legal parent(s) is not in the child’s best interest and would be substantially detrimental to the child. In order to request visitation (as opposed to custody or primary placement) the non-parent must establish that the visitation is in the child’s best interest, as well as other criteria. In 2013, the Grandparent’s Visitation statute was merged with the Arizona In Loco Parentis statute. The court has recognized that many families are often non-traditional. The idea is to allow a third party (Aunt, Sister, Grandparent, Cousin, etc.) to petition the court for what were traditionally reserved for parents. The burden is high in order to be successful, and of course ultimately the court is concerned with the best interests of the child. However, in many instances this right is used to protect children and keep them in the family or with someone the child considers family and out of foster care. To learn more information about your case that involves obtaining a child that is not yours, please contact Westby Law at...
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