As a follow-up to Steve Hartnett’s recent post on advance care planning, “The Importance of Directives,” here are some points from an ABA webinar on this topic earlier this year that are worth keeping in mind. (These are selected bits — email me if you’d like the full presentation from the ABA Commission on Law […]

An Advance Health Care Directive is a frequently-overlooked part of the estate planning process. In some states, an Advance Health Care Directive (also sometimes called a “Living Will”) is combined with a Health Care Power of Attorney document. The directive expresses the client’s wishes regarding end-of-life decisions. Unfortunately, it is a reality that all of […]

When you create a revocable living trust, you as the grantor will generally serve as both the trustee and the beneficiary while you are alive and well. If you become unable to make sound financial decisions late in your life, the successor trustee that you name in the trust agreement will be empowered to administer […]

Almost all businesses now incorporate Facebook and other social media sites in their complete marketing plan. Some may blend those efforts with their tried-and-true efforts that have worked for years, while other business owners are still young enough that they can’t possibly remember a time when the words “social media” weren’t part of a strategic […]

The IRS recently issued Revenue Ruling 2013-17. The Ruling provides that a married same-sex couple, married in a jurisdiction which respects the marriage, will be treated as married for all purposes by the IRS. This is regardless of whether the couple was domiciled in a state that respected their marriage when they got married or […]

Surveys consistently reveal that the majority of American adults do not have all the necessary estate planning documents in place. One of the reasons for this is the simple fact that dying is generally going to be the last thing on your to-do list. A lot of people feel as though they will always have […]

You may think about estate planning for the first time when you embark on a career path. When you go through a benefits orientation session you may be told that your company provides you with a minimal amount of life insurance. The company pays for this base amount of coverage, and you have the option […]

As estate planning attorneys, we all know the many tax reasons to do estate planning. For example, doing annual exclusion gifts may reduce or eliminate state and federal estate taxes.But, there are substantive reasons to plan, besides keeping the taxman at bay. It’s good to remember these reasons in order to remind clients and prospects […]

We all know how important it is to have all of your best stuff “above the fold,” a traditional newspaper term that means everything you can see without unfolding your paper. For websites, it refers to what your visitors can see without scrolling down the page. But what does it mean for an email or […]

Ever wonder why some posts that appear in your search results include an image of the author? The authors of those posts wisely linked their Google+ profile to their online content, establishing Authorship. Google Authorship was created several years ago to allow writers to claim their content. In establishing a direct link between authors and their […]