Smarter Will
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Personal Guardian Rules and Avoidance The assignment of a personal guardian usually happens because of disability or incapacitation. In Illinois, you must be appointed by the circuit court.
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Should I Update My Will? Check out our new blog post! Smarter Will answers your questions on when should I update my will? We cover life changes such as having another child, getting divorced, or remarried.
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Family Trust: Does Your Family Need One? Not everyone needs a family trust, but that doesn’t mean the estate planning tool is only for wealthy families. See dissection of revocable living trust.
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What happens to your online profiles once you've passed away... -
New End-of-Life Planning Regulations Affect Medicare Recipients Doctors will now be compensated when advising Medicare patients about end-of-life planning, including using advance directives (living will and HCPOA).
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Planning For A Disappearing Estate Tax Break -
A great new years resolution -- Protecting your assets in 2011 About 60 percent of adults don’t have a will and our NYE resolution is to improve that percentage and protect families in 2011! What’s your new years resolution?
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The media's input on whether or not you need a will. Do you think you need a will? Having a will is better than nothing at all and even for “average people” a will is necessary. What’s your opinion?
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Legal Lessons From Celebrities
We’re not all celebrities, but we do all have families and our own wellbeing to protect. Lets look at some latest lessons to serve as a wake-up call:
- Dennis Hopper didn’t live long enough to divorce his wife, so a nasty divorce battle has resulted in a nasty battle over his estate.
- Gary Coleman was no longer married to the woman who gave the go-ahead to pull the plug on his life support. However, he did have the foresight to complete his medical directives when he got married, but not the foresight to update the documents after his divorce. Some speculate on whether or not that mistake cost him his life.
- Details of the Michael Jackson Family Trust were leaked to the public, just in time for the anniversary of his death. Despite the misinformed efforts of some reporters to prove otherwise, the trust appears solid and still doesn’t reveal the true amount of assets included in the family’s inheritance. This can reflect that Mr. Jackson was well informed.
Hopefully we can learn from the deceased celebrities’ mistakes. Listen, we all know bad things happen to good people. Plan early, update often.
