If you have suffered the loss of your life partner, my heart goes out to you: few things in this world are quite as devastating. As a Marietta probate lawyer, I know grief can debilitate, and the ‘to-do' list in the immediate aftermath can seem impossible to manage. Please understand: you need t...

Real estate encompasses not only one's primary residence but also other real estate such as a vacation home or a rental property. The ideal form of ownership varies depending on the type of real estate you own. Below, we take a look at the different types of real estate and offer advice about...

Due to advances in medical technology, more Americans are living longer. In many ways, this is great news. However, this situation has brought about some significant challenges that all aging people now have to face. One of the most pressing concerns is the rising cost of long-term care. Unde...

Georgia Estate Plan - What's an estate plan? from James on Vimeo. The legal documents that govern-- distribution of your property after you die. management of your property and your care if you are incapacitated. It usually includes -- Will Revocable living trust Durable power of...

Benjamin Franklin famously quipped, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” From the very beginning, you had a plan for your business to succeed. You set goals and developed methods to achieve those goals. Your business has stood the test of time because you anticipated problems and sol...

A good estate plan is a tremendous gift to your loved ones and to yourself. It will ensure your assets pass to the people you want to benefit and to the causes and organizations that matter to you. It can minimize probate costs, reduce taxes, and insulate inheritances from creditors. It can provi...

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that almost 70% of folks aged 65 and over will need some type of long-term care in their remaining lifetime. What will this care look like? How will this care be paid for? How will the senior's family be affected? Answering these questio...

CMS (f/k/a HCFA)The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, formerly known as the HealthCare Financing Administration. This agency oversees the federal Medicaid program.Best-known guidance issued by HCFA is known as Transmittal 64. Community Spouse (CS)The spouse who remains at home and wh...

If there is an organization or charity that you support financially, as an trusts lawyer, I would urge you to consider setting up a charitable trust.  A charitable trust allows you to give money to an organization whose work you admire and support, but there is also an additiona...

Your friend Rose has created a trust and she would like you to be her trustee. You want to help, but you're concerned about all that responsibility. You would be managing Rose's property for her and for others whom she names as beneficiaries. You might be paying her bills and taxes, overseein...

As local kids prepare to head back to school, parents will soon be inundated with paperwork, including the task of filling out routine school emergency cards that request the full names and contact information of other adults who can be reached if the parent is unavailable. Yet this year, ou...

You finally bought that vacation home you've always wanted. How can you add it to your estate plan? When it comes to planning your estate, a vacation home is very different from your primary home. Here are some things you should consider. Who Is on the Title? When you purchase the property, y...

Throughout their lives, parents go to great lengths to ensure that their children are protected. The desire to keep one's children safe and well-positioned in life is so strong that it often leads to worries about how children will stay protected when their parents are no longer alive. Taking ...

Losing someone you love is one of the most emotionally challenging experiences a person can have. Even if the person was older, such as an elderly parent or grandparent, the event can still come as a shock. Even so, there are always necessary steps to take to ensure that your loved one's fin...

The typical definition of financial freedom means no debt, six months of savings in the bank, a paid-off house, and saving toward retirement so you can stop working. The pop culture “teachers” of personal finance tell us that this is when you'll experience financial freedom ….and so we spend ...

Losing a loved one is an emotional and life-changing experience. You might be tasked with the responsibility of settling the estate while also grieving your loss. It can be a challenging time in anyone's life. However, it becomes complicated when you must go through probate for out-of-state p...

Going through a divorce can be painful, overwhelming, and stressful. It's the end of one chapter and the start of another in your life. Although it might be the right decision, you're forced to confront various issues. For example, you and your ex must agree to the terms of the divorce, such ...

We are seeing a growing number of online websites offering Do-It-Yourself legal documents and estate-planning software. Surprisingly, most attorneys will tell you that there are some everyday forms where this approach makes good sense. In fact, many law firms offer a selection of standard le...

I'm Steve Worrall from Georgia Estate Plan. We're an estate planning and probate law firm serving Marietta and Woodstock, Georgia, and the surrounding areas. I often hear the question about whether and how often you need to review your estate planning documents, so that's what I'm going to discus...

Meat Loaf, whose real name was Michael Lee Aday, passed away earlier this year at the age of seventy-four. The singer behind 1977's Bat Out of Hell—one of the best-selling albums of all time—experienced ups and downs befitting his larger-than-life persona. He hit bottom with his 1983 bankruptcy...

We all plan for “just-in-case” scenarios. When packing for our week-long vacation, we throw in a rain jacket even though the weather forecast is sunny—just in case. When planning for the future, it is also important to consider what will happen just in case one of your loved ones becomes disabl...

Estate planning lawyers in Marietta sometimes feel like they're fighting an uphill battle.  We have seen first-hand just how important a good estate plan is, and we certainly want others to understand why it's imperative.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of myths that estate planning lawyers enc...

What is a QTIP trust? A qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust is an estate planning tool that married couples can use to minimize uncertainty about the future and maximize certain tax advantages. Since no one can predict how much they will own at the time of their death, which ...

With couples of similar ages, planning for the future is naturally a joint effort. However, if you are married to someone who is significantly older or younger than you, the future can look different and mean different things to each of you. To protect yourself, your spouse, and other loved o...

A nonfungible token (NFT) is a unique digital code that represents a digital item such as art or music, as well as a growing number of physical items, that runs on the blockchain (a secure, decentralized, and cryptography-backed online ledger) and provides proof of ownership of virtual collecti...