In this video blog, Associate Director of Education, Steve Hartnett, discusses same-sex marriage update and planning opportunities. This blog gives a brief update of the status of same-sex marriage as it expands to more states. It also examines two planning opportunities which still exist for same-sex couples, which would disappear if the Defense of Marriage […]

The new film The Great Gatsby, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s enduring 1925 novel, provides an opportunity to ponder estate planning lessons through the author’s own life story. In his 1926 short story The Rich Boy, Fitzgerald wrote: “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess […]

  The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, a premier Membership organization providing legal education and business support for attorneys nationwide, celebrates 20 years of revolutionizing the practice of law. The Academy’s focus is to provide its Members with the support they need to offer cutting-edge legal solutions while making the estate planning process a […]

If a client dies without leaving a Will or Trust or other instructions regarding their assets, the assets pass via intestacy. Intestacy, essentially, is the default Will for each person dying a resident of that particular state. Every state has such a default Will for its residents. The default Will that is provided by intestacy […]

I recently attended the Academy’s 20th Anniversary Summit in our home base of Philadelphia. First-off, it was wonderful to finally have the Academy in our own backyard. This is the first time in 20 years that a Summit has been held here, and I’ve been waiting for this for almost that long! And judging from […]

We are pulling together THE ACADEMY’S GREATEST HITS—1993 through 2013. There are eight courses that we’ll be offering to non-Members at no charge during our 20th year, (Members feel free to sign up and review!). Each week we’ll give you the summary of ONE course. You can begin the course any time you want. Once […]

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of communication. We all know it is essential for lawyers to communicate with their clients. It is only through such communication that the client knows what is going on with their case. The lack of such communication is a leading cause of bar complaints and malpractice suits. But, […]

Now that we can access data anywhere via the use of mobile devices attorneys must be very conscious of the potential for security breaches. An interesting article that was published on the Law Technology News website recently looked at a number of different threat categories. The first one was that of human error. Loss of […]

American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys BlogMay 3, 2013Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam Team, recently revealed five of the biggest basic SEO mistakes webmasters make and suggested a few ways to improve your site. Mistake #1 – Your website isn’t easily navigated Next to not having a domain at all, Cutts thinks the biggest […]

A recent case caught my eye. First, the facts had an interesting twist. But, second, divorce is sometimes considered by couples who wish to protect assets from Medicaid or for other financial reasons. In Burnett v. Burnett, the court looked at a divorce case. But, this was no ordinary divorce case. The traditional couple was […]