Category Archives for 2018

How the Government Shutdown Affects Us

Now that the government’s partial shutdown is entering its fourth week, Americans are asking not just how long it will last but also how it affects them and those close to them. For some estimated hundreds of thousands of government workers the answer is obvious. They have gone without at least one paycheck and are […]

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Ten Mistakes in Drafting Your Will

Ten Mistakes in Drafting Your Will

So it is the New Year and you have resolved to rewrite your Will, or at least take it out, review it and decide whether it still fits your current circumstances. While you do this you might want to consider some pitfalls that Wills might have, many not of your making. You would not want […]

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Find Your Home For the Holidays

Since this year my column falls on Christmas it seems fitting to consider what Christmas and the related holidays, Hannukah, New Years, Kwanzaa mean to us. There is an old song “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays.” What does that mean? What is home when a family member needs to move – maybe […]

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Dealing With Death Over the Holidays

Loss does not take a vacation over the holidays and sometimes it seems this might be the time when some of the greatest losses occur. Whenever you have to face the death of a loved one it is difficult. Here is some information to pull matters together at that difficult time. Keep it available in […]

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Knowing Trusts – What You Can and Cannot Do

Knowing Trusts

From time to time our office receives requests to establish a trust. This might be discussed during an appointment or a caller might simply call the office and say he needs a trust without further information. The caller might have read somewhere about the difficulty of probate or his/her financial advisor might have recommended a […]

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How Joint Accounts and TOD Can Torpedo An Estate Plan

ruin estate plan

You just met a nice person at a bank, you did not remember her position, who told you there might be a way to avoid the horrors of probate by titling all of your accounts jointly with one of your children. On the other hand maybe you received information from a friend or neighbor who […]

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Get Rid of Your Mortgage Before Retiring

Get Rid of Your Mortgage

If you want to retire in peace without the worry of long term bills weighing on you there are few better ways than by getting rid of old mortgage debt with the help of mortgage litigation attorney and not taking out a new one. There are exceptions, of course, as always. If your assets are […]

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Holidays Are Times For Heart to Heart Examination

Moving into the season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Hannukah and New Years provides an opportunity for most people for heart to heart conversations and self-conversation unlike any other during the year. You can reconnect, change old habits, adopt new resolutions and decide who you really are, where you will live, and who you will spend […]

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What To Look For With Medicare Open Enrollment

Medicare Open Enrollment

Medicare Open Enrollment, the time when decisions are made regarding certain Medicare plans, began this year for 2019 on October 15 and will continue until December 7, 2018. The time is always surrounded by questions and concerns and the many glossy flyers consumers receive do not usually help in their decision making for what kind […]

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Health Care Dialogue Continues

Health Care Dialogue Continues

This is a column I wrote almost exactly a year ago on November 28, 2017. As almost everyone knows the health care dialogue continues without final answers. The only change from November 28, 2017 is the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed and the personal mandate was eliminated. Work continues. “Earlier this year, February 21, […]

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Do You Need To Retire?

Do You Need To Retire

When you reach a certain age – it could be 65 or somewhat older or younger – someone will likely confront you and ask what are your retirement plans or even assume you must be or should be retiring. Retirement for many who either have generous defined benefit pension plans or have saved over the […]

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Second Marriages Might Complicate Long Term Care

Second Marriages Long Term Care

When illness strikes you do not usually think of legal relationships but when a spouse needs serious care and is married to a second wife or husband, family relationships can bring with them unexpected problems and conflicts both for the second spouse and for children by a prior marriage. This is what sometimes happens. Suppose […]

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Creative Real Estate and Care Solutions

When seniors need to pay for care, they may be cash poor but living in a home with substantial equity. One immediate reaction might be to transfer the house to the children and then figure Medicaid would pay. That is usually wrong. Unless there is a clear exception such as a disabled child or Caretaker […]

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New VA Regulation Threatens VA Benefit

VA Regulation Threatens Veteran Benefits

On April 7, 2015 I submitted a column for publication in the Daily Local News alerting readers to a proposed change in qualifications for a Veterans’ benefit known as Aid & Attendance that would make it significantly more difficult for wartime veterans and their widows or widowers to obtain the benefit. That column and many […]

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Understanding Probate

When a family member dies in the midst of all the confusion and grief the person named as Executor or Executrix of the Will could be plagued with some additional questions. “Do I need to probate the Will?” Sometimes even “Is there a Will?” Then “If there is a Will, where is it?” “If I […]

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