The Plain English Attorney Blog
Far too many attorneys overcomplicate things, making topics convoluted and difficult to understand to the average person. This blog is committed to explaining legal planning topics in an easy to understand format, in plain English. Enjoy the blogs, and please let us know if there is a topic you would like covered.
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One of the biggest frustrations I see in my line of work is when people who are already going through a crisis because of the death or a long-term illness of a family member end up in probate. This time-consuming, frustrating, and paperwork intensive process only compounds the grief and agony...
I’m an estate and Medicaid planning attorney, so why talk about prenups? It’s because it has all of the same hallmarks about planning ahead for the worst while hoping for the best that I do in my law practice, and because I have seen what divorce has done to the adult children of some...
When it comes to estate planning, what you do with your estate is wide open. However, there are only two heavyweights when it comes to how you pass along your estate. You are either using a Last Will and Testament, or a revocable living trust as the base of your plan. But which one is best?...
I don't usually use a blog just to highlight another person's video, but in this case the information is too important not to. For my clients, their children, and even grandchildren, there are some big potential changes resulting from a legal settlement that can impact the way buying a house...
When it comes to planning for estate planning for a beneficiary with special needs, there are a lot of myths, half-truths, and misinformation out there. And unfortunately, some of these things just get out there because it worked in one particular circumstance and suddenly everybody's thinking...
When it comes to long term care planning with Medicaid, the federal government makes the rules confusing, convoluted, and so complex that families tend to throw up their hands in frustration and just spend everything until broke. That’s the way the government wants it. But if you know the...
Who's on the team? Or more specifically who's on your team? When it comes to your legal and financial picture in the long run, and who is working with you and your family, it takes more than one professional to know, understand, and monitor everything. This is why a new business model is emerging...
Today we're going to talk about a hot topic, and I keep getting questions about this: “Hey, can't we just remotely sign our estate planning documents?”
The simple answer is “no.” In addition to it not being even legal at this time (at least in the State of North Carolina),...
When it comes to estate planning, there’s always more information coming our way. It’s also not just about tax updates or changes to law, but it can often be just better ways to serve our clients through technological advancements and new platforms. While state bar sponsored...
It's unfortunate, but there are numerous estate planning practices that have become standard operating procedure at law firms that are not necessarily the best thing for the clients or their families. In fact, they seem designed specifically to make more money for the law firm than they are to...
A general question I hear from new clients is whether or not they have to worry about "death taxes." The term "death tax" is actually political, and candidates use it as a campaign football. In actuality, there are several different taxes related to estates and inheritances that may or may not...
Medicaid Planning can be much more complex than Estate Planning, and that's because the government is paying out money rather than simply regulating a process. The hopeful truth in a horrible process is that our country is not going to simply let our seniors go without the care they need, but the...
