As a parent, your top priority is the well-being and future of your children. You plan for their education, health, and happiness, and often this planning includes the tradition of choosing godparents to guide and mentor your children if something happens to you.
While selecting godparents is a meaningful tradition in many cultures, it's important to understand that naming a godparent is not the same thing as naming a legal guardian for your children.
Read MoreAs a parent, you have probably thought about the importance of naming permanent legal guardians for your child in case something happens to you, and maybe you have already done it. If you haven’t yet, take this as the sign that now’s the time to do it, in case the unthinkable happens to you. Here’s a free website where you can name legal guardians for your littles, right now: https://jaapurves.kidsprotectionplan.com/
But in some cases, naming permanent legal guardians for your child may not be enough to guarantee your kids will always be cared for in the way you want by the people you want. And, there may even be a risk of your kids being taken into the care of strangers or someone you would never want.
Read on to find out if that’s the case for your family, and if it is, contact us ASAP to get your Kids Protection Plan in place.
Read MoreThis is the third in an ongoing series of articles discussing the true costs and consequences of failed estate planning. The series highlights a few of the most common — and costly — planning mistakes we encounter with clients. If the series exposes any potential gaps or weak spots in your plan, meet with your Personal Family Lawyer to learn how to properly address them.
When it comes to putting off or refusing to create an estate plan, your mind can concoct all sorts of rationalizations: “I can wait. I’m healthy and I have plenty of time.” “I won’t care because I’ll be dead,” “I’m too young,” “That won’t happen to me,” or “My family will know what to do.”
But these thoughts all come from a mix of egoic pride, denial, and above all, we imagine, a lack of real education about estate planning and the consequences to your family. Once you understand exactly what planning is designed to prevent and support, you’ll realize there really is no acceptable excuse for not having a plan, provided you are able to plan and truly care about your family’s experience after you die OR if/when you become incapacitated.
Indeed, the first step in creating a proper plan is to thoroughly understand the potential consequences of going without one. In the event of your death or incapacity, not having a plan could be incredibly traumatic and costly for your family, who will be left to deal with the mess you’ve left behind. That’s why creating one’s own estate plan is just a part of being a responsible adult.
Read MoreVacations are a time to relax, unwind, and create beautiful memories with your loved ones. But before you set off on your adventure, it's essential to ensure that your legal affairs are in order so you can fully relax during your travels.
Can’t imagine doing one more thing before you take some much-needed time away?
Don’t worry! Our Personal Family Lawyer® is here to guide you through these important tasks, so you can enjoy your vacation worry-free. Plus, these steps only take a little time to complete and can provide you with peace of mind knowing that you have made proper arrangements if the unexpected happens to you or your family while you’re away.
Read MoreA comprehensive estate plan — which we prefer to see as a Life and Legacy Plan — can protect what matters most to you. For many, this means everything you own and everyone you love.
Obviously, this includes providing for the care of your children as an essential piece of your peace of mind. But many parents struggle with including such provisions as naming a legal guardian for their child in their plan. Even the fictional parents in the popular television sitcom Modern Family struggled with this issue in a specific episode. While Jay and his new and much younger wife Gloria agonized and argued about who they should name as a legal guardian for their children, their children were left at risk that if something happened to Jay and Gloria before they decided and properly named guardians in a legal document, a judge would make the decision for them. Not ideal, under any circumstances.
Read MoreIf you’re a parent, you may have many reasons for feeling guilt. Many of those reasons may be good ones. Being a parent means holding an obligation, and in the grand scheme of themes, it’s a sacred one. So, if you feel guilt for not measuring up to the standards that you ought to be measuring up to as a parent, you are definitely not alone.
Currently, the burden is on you to provide for your child’s full-time care, your child’s education, and your child’s formation as a healthy human being. These are multiple full-time jobs, and in our current culture, these are jobs that many parents do alone without the cultural, familial, and institutional supports that used to exist for families with children.
If you are like most parents, you were probably struggling with guilt even before the corona virus shutdowns began in early 2020. Even now, you simply cannot make it to every award ceremony or recital, and you likely do not have as much time to play with your kids or help them with their homework as you’d like.
Read MoreIf you are a mom or dad with children under the age of 18 at home, your number-one estate planning priority should be selecting and legally documenting both long and short-term guardians for your children. Guardians are the people legally named to care for your children in the event something happens to you.
And if you’ve named guardians for your children in your will — even with the help of another lawyer — your kids could still be at risk of being taken into the care of strangers!
One of the most disturbing aspects of this situation is that you probably have no idea just how vulnerable your kids are, since this is a blind spot inherent to the estate plan of countless parents around the world. Even many lawyers aren’t fully aware of this issue — and that’s because most lawyers simply don’t understand what’s necessary for planning and ensuring the well-being and care of minor children.
Read MoreIf you have already prepared your will, congratulations — too few Americans have taken this key first step in the estate planning process. In fact, only 33% of Americans have created their will, according to Caring.com’s 2022 Wills and Estate Planning Study.
Yet, while having a will is important — and all adults over age 18 should have this document in place — for all but a few people, creating a will is just one small part of an effective legal plan that works to keep your loved ones out of court and out of conflict. With this in mind, here we look at exactly what having a will in place will — and will not — do for you and your loved ones in terms of estate planning.
Read MoreConsider the following scenario:
You and your spouse are out to dinner, and your kids are at home with the babysitter. On your way home, you get into a car accident. When you fail to make it home on time, the babysitter calls you repeatedly, but when no one answers, she calls the police.
The police arrive and find your kids with the babysitter, who offers to stay with the children until a relative can be found to take them. But because the babysitter doesn’t have the legal authority to care for the children — even temporarily — the police have no choice but to call Child Protective Services. These authorities will take your children into custody until they can locate and/or appoint the proper guardian.
This is the case even if you have friends or family living nearby who are willing and even offer to care for the children. If you haven’t left proper legal documentation, the authorities have no option but to call Child Protective Services. You must give the authorities a legal basis for keeping your children with the friends or family you designate.
Read MoreVacations can be the perfect opportunity to relax, disconnect from work and responsibilities, and enjoy the company of your spouse, kids or friends. But before you head off on your next getaway, there’s something else you should consider doing that might not sound quite as fun — creating an estate plan. While it may not sound like the most thrilling way to spend a day, here are some reasons why you need to think about your estate plans before you travel.
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