Do you have an estate plan? You know… a Will, a Trust, Patient Advocate and Durable Power of Attorney? The biggest question is, “Is your house in order?” By that, I mean two things – if you die, have your taken the steps to protect your family? Secondly, if [...]
This is a simple question and the answer is a stark reality. Your future – like it or not – includes illness and, ultimately, death. You need an estate plan to address both of these contingencies. If you’re a young married couple with children – you also need an [...]
I like this title --- it prompts you to fill in rest of the clause. There are innumerable “fill ins” and I will leave you to think about them. Instead, I will share the one that prompted this Blast. Over the last six weeks, I contracted one of those [...]
Over the years, we've heard of numerous famous people who died without having an estate plan. Aretha Franklin of most recent – as well as Prince. Let’s add a few more – Abraham Lincoln, Kurt Cobain, Martin Luther King, Jr, Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Heath Ledger, Bob Marley, Howard [...]
We all hear it from time to time: someone complaining that whatever project they were working on faltered and certain aspects came up short. True... things don’t always go right and sometimes it is the fault of others that causes failure. On the other hand, while we often would like [...]
Let me share some hard facts about life. One out of three of us will need nursing home care. The average stay in a nursing home is 31 months. The average monthly cost of nursing home care is $8,000 - $12,000 per month. These are the metrics and they [...]
Don't you just hate these words? I do. The scenario is typically the same. You're requesting assistance from someone at an organization, and no matter what you say to them - there is some reason existing that precludes them from rendering any assistance. If you are calling the State [...]
I was fortunate. My father lived a long, healthy life to age 91. His last year was difficult with dementia, a fall leading to rehab, and then another leading to the nursing home. But that’s how it goes. Whether we are the one who ages, the spouse, or the [...]
Remember your early twenties? I do. My focus was on 40. That seemed like a long way off, and my thoughts focused on how easy it would be to achieve all of my career goals by then. At 25, I could not conceptualize 50 or 60, and didn’t give [...]
My good friend, Pat Simasko, is an elder law attorney. I always cringe at the term "elder law" - thinking to myself, - isn't there a more descriptive term to cover this area of law? Elder law, for the most part, refers to the legal and financial steps that [...]
