Family Law

• Guardianship
  Netflix’s popular new movie, I Care a Lot, may be far-fetched in a lot of ways, but it does highlight some real weaknesses in the guardianship system that make it possible for an unscrupulous guardian to take control of an elderly person’s life and bleed their resources dry. Fortunately, steps c... Read More

Criminal Law

• Theft
• Identity Theft
  Identity theft seems to be the new crime of the century, and when someone passes away, they often become an easy and unidentifiable candidate for identity theft. Family members may become unguarded and feel that since their loved one has passed, their identity does not need to be protected. Howeve... Read More

Health Law

• Medicaid Planning
  The phrase “life estate” often comes up in discussions of estate and Medicaid planning, but what exactly does it mean? A life estate is a form of joint ownership that allows one person to remain in a house until his or her death, when it passes to the other owner. Life estates can be used to avoid probate and to give a house to children without giving up the ability to live in it. They also can play an important role in Medicaid planning.

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  We recently had a client, Sarah, a widow, who came to us for assistance in applying for Medicaid benefits. It had been a second marriage for both she and her late husband, John, and each of them had children from their previous marriages. Immediately after they were married, John sought the help of an estate planning attorney as he wanted to make sure Sarah was financially taken care of but also wanted to provide his children with an inheritance. To accomplish this his attorney set up a trust with several “interesting” provisions.
• Wills
  Something else property owners need to be aware of are Medicaid liens. Medicaid can put what is called a TEFRA lien on your assets to recoup their expenses after you are gone, and if you still own the farm when you die, it is open to estate recovery. Any assets going through probate, or through a last will and testament, are especially susceptible to Medicaid estate recovery.
• Trusts
  Depending on your situation, a Revocable or Irrevocable Trust may be more appropriate. A trust, like a will, is a legal document that includes instructions regarding what should be done with your assets when you die. The key difference between the two is that a trust prevents the assets from being probated (tied up in the court system) at your death - a will does not.
• Power of Attorney
  Requires a laundry list of things to check off. Something to keep in mind is that your “child” is 18 and an adult. When making your list of things to send, a laptop, dorm room supplies, etc., keep in mind that a good Power of Attorney for both finances and healthcare is equally important to send to college. As a parent of a child who went off to college to play football, it never occurred to me that I might need a Power of Attorney until he was injured and I wasn’t notified until after he had been taken to the hospital via ambulance, unconscious and had an MRI, because he was 18 and an adult. He was fine, just got his bell rung, but it was an eye-opening experience to get that phone call “Mom, I’m fine”. This is a good time to have that conversation with your now adult.
• Probate

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy