You’ve remarried, and now not only have a new spouse, you also have a new, blended, extended family, including stepchildren. While there can be much joy involved in a second marriage and having a blended family, along with some normal…
A revocable living trust in Virginia, also called a living trust or inter vivos, has become a popular estate planning option because of the many benefits it offers. A revocable living trust is flexible. The terms of the trust can be changed…
An advance medical directive, also called an advance health care directive, or living will is a legal document that allows an individual, known legally as the declarant, to specify what his or her health care wishes are and how they should…
The state of Virginia was the first state to approve legislation related to the ABLE Act (Achieving a Better Life Experience) of 2014. The ABLE Act allows a person with a disability, or his or her family, to set up…
Thanks to technology and medical research, more and more children with special needs are living productive lives well into adulthood, making it more and more likely now that they will outlive their parents. As a result, parents must plan for…
We’ve all heard the term probate - that a will “has to go through probate.” But, what exactly does the term mean, what is involved once probate begins, and how does it affect beneficiaries of a will? Probate is the…
Over 55 percent of American adults have neither a will nor any other type of estate plan in place. This number has remained fairly steady for the past fifteen years. Without a will or some other estate plan in place,…
We strongly encourage our clients who have minors or dependents to include guardianship as part of their estate plan. While we don’t handle cases specifically related to guardianship and conservatorship for incapacitated adults, we do frequently get questions on the…
We have discussed revocable living trusts and their benefits in previous blogs. In this blog, we’ve created a case study to illustrate the value of both estate planning and a revocable living trust, and how it is used once the grantors…
According to a Forbes article, at least 51 percent of Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 don’t have a will. That number is even higher among those younger than 55, at 62 percent. Perhaps one big reason that…