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 Residential Real Estate Investment Real Estate Business Law Personal Injury & Litigation Wills and Estate Planning Probate and Estate Administration Foreclosure, Bankruptcy, & Short Sales Landlord-Tenant Law Other Areas of Law  |
A Season For Planning... By: Andrew W. Ewalt, Esq., Of Counsel, Lavigne, Mark & Rogers, LLC, Attorneys at Law Summer is not just for fun, you always need to be thinking about your legal and financial needs. In fact, have you ever noticed how life seems to be lived in stages that mirror all the seasons of nature? Whether you are in the spring, summer, autumn or winter of life, your Life & Estate Planning objectives will inevitably change as you move between seasons. I encourage you to keep your planning current. Here is an overview of common planning issues for the various seasons of your life. Spring In the legal world, as in nature, spring is a time of new beginnings. For example, upon reaching age 18, the law requires that you to make your own personal, health care and financial decisions. Should a young adult become incapacitated, due to an injury or an illness, the law still requires that such decisions continue to be made...either by someone they have appointed through proper legal plans, or by default, by someone appointed for them through a court process. As you might imagine, the court may not select the same party as you would and the legal process getting there can be expensive. Just thumb through any daily newspaper and you will soon discover that incapacity does not discriminate. This springtime planning is critical, applying to anyone over age 18. Be sure that all of you (or your adult children) have covered this fundamental level of legal planning. Summer Summer may find you in a changing marital status. If so, your legal plans should be revised to reflect this change. For example, most of your legal documents may still appoint your parents as primary agents and fiduciaries, instead of your new spouse. Should incapacity strike, it could come as a shock to discover that in-laws are in charge of your key personal, health care and financial decisions. The addition of children is another major life change affecting the legal plans. Only through proper Life & Estate Planning can you appoint back-up parents for minor children and protect any inheritance for and from them. Otherwise, squandering, divorces, lawsuits and bankruptcies can lay waste to it in short order. Autumn Many autumn individuals revise their legal plans to appoint their adult children as secondary agents and fiduciaries. When the family business is a major estate asset, you should be concerned that it survives intact to the next generation. Believe or not, because of estate taxes and/or intra-family fights, barely one-third of all family businesses survive the death of their founders. Careful planning is required to avoid disaster! Winter Winter is a time to enjoy the fruits of prior seasons. Many grandparents (great-grandparents) look to share their financial legacy beyond their own children. Through advanced planning legal strategies, these individuals can leave such a legacy for future generations in perpetuity and even disinherit the IRS along the way. Having satisfied your objectives to leave a financial legacy for your loved ones, winter individuals may wish to leave a charitable legacy to their favorite causes and institutions. Many charitable planning strategies may even increase their current income and offer valuable tax deductions. Enjoy your summer! |
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2008 Lavigne, Mark & Rogers "This website is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship. In keeping with various state regulations, this website is designated as lawyer advertising." COMPLETE DISCLAIMER and PRIVACY INFORMATION |
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