Category Archives for Family Law
How Grandchildren (and StepGrandchildren) Can Affect Your Estate Plan
There once was a time when planning for traditional families seemed to be simpler. Parents planned to leave everything first to each other, a process made easier by joint titling of their assets, and then, on the death of both, the estate would be divided, by Will, equally among their children. The term “per stirpes” […]
Continue readingIs Inheriting a House a Blessing or a Possible Curse?
A funny weekly comedy on CBS, depending on your taste, “Ghosts” tells the story of a young woman who inherited a house with no prior notice from her now deceased relative. She and her husband traveled to her new found but old, dilapidated acquisition and, following a near fatal confrontation with the worn electrical system, […]
Continue readingConsiderations Before Disinheriting a Child
Frequently Wills drafted for husband and wife with surviving children designate assets to flow from husband to wife if husband dies first and from wife to husband if wife dies first. Then, when the parents have both passed, assets would be distributed equally to their children. This testamentary plan works in most cases especially with stable […]
Continue readingWill Your Bank Honor Your Power of Attorney
If you find it more difficult in recent years to have your Power of Attorney recognized by banks and financial institutions than previously, it might help to know some of the history behind both changes in the law and in attitude. As one example, where documents designate your children as agents, the difference of one […]
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