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...
read moreDivorcing? 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,...
read moreWhy 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. 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...
read moreCritical 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...
read more9 Life Changes That Require An Estate Plan Review
Updating your estate plan is probably something you don’t think about too often. It actually is probably the last thing you think about, but when it matters, it is the most important thing. As painful as it is to consider, estate plans are critical. If anything happens to you, it’s important to know your loved ones are taken care of and your wishes are honored. Throughout life, those last wishes change with the major events you go through. Here are nine of the biggest life changing events that signal when you need to update your...
read moreIn 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...
read moreWhat Happens to Your Assets if You Don’t Leave a Will?
Talking about the inevitable is a difficult subject. Many times people just get too busy with life or avoid the subject all together. 70% of American adults do not have a will! If your estate is unprotected upon death, then the state in which you die determines how your estate is to be administered. It has to go somewhere right? The process is called “intestate succession.” And let me assure you, while the laws are written to protect, often times things happen under the state laws that we would never in a million years want to happen. For...
read moreWhat is “Legal Decision Making” in Arizona?
“Legal Decision Making” is now the legal term used in Arizona for Child Custody. When filing with the courts to determine custody, the Judge is more likely to award close to, or an even 50/50 split, unless the other parent is unfit. Oftentimes when parents file for legal decision making, there can be a lot of animosity between the parents. However, remember that asking for sole (only you) legal decision making without an excellent case to show the other parent is unfit, will only reflect poorly on you as a parent. The bottom line...
read moreHow well do you trust your family?
Take the guess work out of that question by building an estate plan. When you have a trust in place, there are fiduciary duties that come along with the placement of that trust. This helps to ensure not only that your wishes are adhered to, but it has the ability to keep your assets private by avoiding probate. Probate is the legal process of administering the estate once a person has died. Because it is a legal judicial process, the records thereof are public. Family, friends or especially creditors deserve access to that information. The...
read moreSpeaking From the Grave
It is a truth of life that we are all born, we live, then we die. It is the circle of life. But what if I told you that you could have a voice beyond your life span? You could help the people you love even after you die. You could, in a sense, live indefinitely. This is not science fiction, this is reality and easily done by using a revocable trust. Revocable living trusts function like wills, you use them to leave your property, and if you change your mind at any time while you’re alive, you can change the terms of the trust or revoke...
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