When you buy an insurance policy, open a bank account or set up a retirement account, you are required to designate a beneficiary. In some cases, you may be asked to choose a secondary beneficiary, but that is often not mandatory. As your life changes, you preference...
Many Rochester, New York residents may have heard horror stories about families who go through long waits and a lot of hassle during the probate process and be told that they need a trust in order to "avoid probate." While it is true that having a trust cuts out much...
The point of estate planning is not to dwell on your own demise. Estate planning involves many items that serve to improve your life, now and into the future. Of course, there are elements of estate plans that only come to fruition when you die, but there are worse...
Many residents of Rochester, New York, both those who are independently wealthy and those who have been working and saving all of their lives, will likely need to stay in a nursing home or other assisted living facility near the end of their lives. However, these...
A previous post on this blog discussed how an executor of a will or a trustee of a trust can put a correct value on some common types of property a person may hold when he or she dies. This process is important for a variety reasons and may rightly be called one of...
A previous post on this blog talked about how when it comes to estate administration, one of our law office's most important services is providing help with asset valuation on the estate's property. How much each piece of property is worth answers a lot of critical...
The two sons of Alan Thicke, a well-known actor whose claim to fame was the sitcom Growing Pains, have taken their feud with the actor's widow in to the courtroom. The boys' lawsuit claims the widow is making threats to demand more of the late actor's estate than what...
A previous post on this blog discussed how careful estate planning can prevent an aging resident of Rochester, New York from falling victim to financial exploitation. Although many New Yorkers would realize that a pattern of financial exploitation, once it has run its...
People tend to put off estate planning and elder planning far longer than they should. Some choose a piecemeal approach, making plans for one thing or another over a period of months or years. Delay and the lack of a cohesive plan can cause many problems when it comes...
As we age, it is a sad truth that we draw the attention of people looking to take advantage. Older Americans are heavily targeted by individuals and groups looking to defraud them of the assets they've accumulated over a lifetime. An elderly person who is not in full...
