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February 20, 2021 by Cava Faulkner

As a parent, you are most likely quite accustomed to managing the legal and medical affairs of your children, as circumstances require. If your child requires urgent medical attention while away from you, a simple phone call authorizing care usually can do the trick. But what happens when those “children” turn 18, and are now adults in the eyes of the law, and need of urgent medical attention far from home? Below, you’ll learn what documents should be signed before children go to college.

The simple fact is that the day your child turns 18, he or she becomes an adult, and have the legal rights of an adult. What this means for you is that you lose your prior held rights to make medical and financial decisions for your child, unless your child executes legal documents giving you those rights back. Without the proper legal documents in place, accessing medical information, and even being informed about your adult child’s medical condition can be difficult and in some cases, impossible.

When sending kids off to college, it is important to consider the legal implications an accident or medical emergency might have on your ability to stay informed and participate in important decision making for your young adult child. Medical professionals have a responsibility to follow the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which ensures medical privacy protection for all adults. Once your child turns 18, they are (from a legal perspective) no more attached to you than a stranger, making communication about medical issues tricky if your child is incapacitated and not able to grant permission on their own.

In most states, there are three legal documents which can make all the difference when a medical crisis strikes and your young adult child is far from home. When utilized together, they can ensure a parent or trusted adult be kept in the loop about care and treatment when a child over the age of 18 experiences a medical event while they are away at college, traveling, or living far from home. As with most legal documents, the law varies from state to state, so be sure to seek out the counsel of your Personal Family Lawyer® to determine which forms suit your situation best.

Sign These When Child Turns 18

HIPAA

Essentially like a permission slip, this authorization allows your adult child to specify who is allowed access to their personal medical information. Specific information can be specifically withheld, such as drug use, sexual activity, and mental health issues can so that additional privacy can be protected if desired.

Medical power of attorney

Designates an agent to make medical decisions for the young adult. This could be you, as the parent or another trusted adult. Each state has different laws governing medical power of attorney, thereby requiring different forms. Be sure to check with me to be sure you are following the laws of your state, as well as the state in which your child resides.

Durable financial power of attorney

– Allows the parent or another trusted adult to take care of personal business in the event the adult child is unable to do so. This form would allow the parent to take care of such important tasks such as signing tax returns, paying bills, and accessing bank accounts for the incapacitated adult child. A durable power of attorney is indeed powerful and gives broad access to sensitive financial and legal decision making and should only be given to a trusted relative or friend.

The milestones come quickly once children graduate from high school and enter into the big, wide world away from home. As your family navigates these significant rites of passage, be sure to consult us to determine the steps necessary to ensure excellent communication and peace of mind when a medical emergency arises. Consider including your young adult children in the process. We’re here to help your family establish the legal and medical protections you all need to live the lives you desire. In fact, this month, when you schedule and come in for a Family Wealth Planning Session, we will create no-charge legal documents for your young adult child, as our gift to you. Call our office and mention the “June graduation special” to get scheduled. Or, schedule online.

February 20, 2021 by Cava Faulkner

Divorce can be one of the most unpleasant—and often traumatic—experiences of your life, especially if you have children. It can be even more distressing for the kids themselves. In many cases, a divorce can severely affect a child’s emotional well-being, and in extreme cases, even tear apart a parent’s personal relationship with their offspring. So, what is platonic parenting?

In light of these hardships, a new movement is sweeping the country, known as “platonic parenting.” The arrangement typically involves spouses who refrain from divorce—or get divorced but stay closely connected (even cohabitating)—in order to more effectively raise their children and reduce trauma. The couple remains highly amicable and cooperative, but ceases any romantic connection or commitment.

This isn’t about “staying together for the kids,” where couples remain unhappily married solely for the children’s sake—and which is often just as traumatic as divorce.

Platonic parenting was pioneered within the LGBTQ community, since until recently same-sex couples couldn’t legally marry, and thus were forced to create outside-the-box parenting arrangements following a romantic split. Today, many people of all genders and sexual orientation are entering into these relationships, and some believe this style of co-parenting can be just as healthy as those raised in happily married households.

Obviously, Platonic Parenting is no panacea, and the arrangement requires intense levels of trust, communication, and planning. The first step of the new partnership is for both parties to come up with a firm agreement around their financial commitments and living situation.

Other things to work out include how to handle new romantic relationships, if/how to incorporate the platonic partner into family gatherings, along with all manner of other basic ground rules. Then you must plan how you’ll discuss this with your kids and other family members, so everyone clearly understands exactly what this new life will entail.

Platonic parenting isn’t just limited to married or otherwise romantically involved couples: Numerous people of all genders and orientations are entering into such relationships.

For example, a heterosexual woman may partner with a gay man to provide a father (literally and/or figuratively) for her kids. Or maybe it’s two longtime friends of any gender combination, who are interested in starting a family but haven’t found a suitable romantic partner. There are even cases where the arrangement involves three or more platonic parents, who tag team, if you will, the immense responsibility of raising children.

With so many important agreements to be made, all parties involved are advised to seek legal counsel before creating such an arrangement. We specialize in helping you navigate these types of non-traditional partnerships. Whether you’re seeking advice on planning such an arrangement, or you need us to draft legally binding contracts, contact us today to make sure your new family is as happy and healthy as possible. Or, schedule online.

February 18, 2021 by Cava Faulkner

Being asked by a loved one to serve as trustee for their trust upon their death can be quite an honor, but it’s also a major responsibility—and the role is definitely not for everyone. Indeed, serving as a trustee entails a broad array of duties, and you are both ethically and legally required to properly execute those duties or face potential liability.

In the end, your responsibility as a trustee will vary greatly depending on the size of the estate, the type of assets covered by the trust, the type of trust, how many beneficiaries there are, and the document’s terms. In light of this, you should carefully review the specifics of the trust you would be managing before making your decision to serve.

And remember, you don’t have to take the job.

Yet, depending on who nominated you, declining to serve may not be an easy or practical option. On the other hand, you might actually enjoy the opportunity to serve, so long as you understand what’s expected of you.

To that end, this article offers a brief overview of what serving as a trustee typically entails. If you are asked to serve as trustee, feel free to contact us to support you in evaluating whether you can effectively carry out all the duties or if you should politely decline.

A trustee’s primary responsibilities

Although every trust is different, serving as trustee comes with a few core requirements. These duties primarily involve accounting for, managing, and distributing the trust’s assets to its named beneficiaries as a fiduciary.

As a fiduciary, you have the power to act on behalf of the trust’s creator and beneficiaries, always putting their interests above your own. Indeed, you have a legal obligation to act in a trustworthy and honest manner, while providing the highest standard of care in executing your duties.

This means that you are legally required to properly manage the trust and its assets in the best interest of all the named beneficiaries. And if you fail to abide by your duties as a fiduciary, you can face legal liability. For this reason, you should consult with us for a more in-depth explanation of the duties and responsibilities a specific trust will require of you before agreeing to serve.

Regardless of the type of trust or the assets it holds, some of your key responsibilities as trustee include:

Identifying and protecting the trust assets
Determining what the trust’s terms require in terms of management and distribution of the assets
Hiring and overseeing an accounting firm to file income and estate taxes for the trust
Communicating regularly with beneficiaries
Being scrupulously honest, highly organized, and keeping detailed records of all transactions
Closing the trust when the trust terms specify

No experience necessary

It’s important to point out that being a trustee does NOT require you to be an expert in law, finance, taxes, or any other field related to trust administration. In fact, trustees are not only allowed to seek outside support from professionals in these areas, they’re highly encouragedto do so, and the trust estate will pay for you to hire these professionals.

So even though serving as a trustee may seem like a daunting proposition, you won’t have to handle the job alone. And you are also able to be paid to serve as trustee of a trust.

That said, many trustees, particularly close family members, often choose to forgo any payment beyond what’s required to cover the trust expenses, if that’s possible. But how you are compensated will depend on your personal circumstances, your relationship with the trust’s creator and beneficiaries, as well as the nature of the assets in the trust.

We can help

Because serving as a trustee involves such serious responsibility, you should meet with us, as your Personal Family Lawyer®, for help deciding whether or not to accept the role. We can offer you a clear, unbiased assessment of what’s required of you based on the trust’s terms, assets, and beneficiaries.

And if you do choose to serve, it’s even more important that you have someone who can assist you with the trust’s administration. We can guide you step-by-step throughout the entire process, ensuring you properly fulfill all of the trust creator’s wishes without exposing the beneficiaries—or yourself—to any unnecessary risks. Contact us today to learn more.

Proper estate planning can keep your family out of conflict, out of court, and out of the public eye. If you’re ready to create a comprehensive estate plan, contact us to schedule your Family Wealth Planning Session. Even if you already have a plan in place, we will review it and help you bring it up to date to avoid heartache for your family. Schedule online today.

February 17, 2021 by Cava Faulkner

In today’s digital-everything world, nearly every business—no matter how small—has some degree of online presence. Some, like e-commerce shops, may operate completely online, while even brick and mortar businesses likely have a website and Facebook account. However, unless you’re an online-marketing guru, building your business’ online presence can be challenging. Here, we’ll offer valuable tips for maximizing your online operations, so your company can thrive and grow in the web marketplace.

Be Unique

When it comes to e-commerce, you’re competing with businesses around the world, so your web services should stand out by offering something unique. What will attract customers away from your competitors’ websites and toward yours? A website and/or app that speaks to your unique brand is a must, otherwise your business will get lost amidst the sea of other businesses.

One key thing to remember is many people shop online for convenience. So make sure you’re not only offering a unique product, but you’re also making the shopping experience quick and easy for customers. A few examples of this are an easy-to-navigate e-store, quick shipping options, and superior customer service.

Be Consistent

Whether you’re found only online or boast other retail outlets, your company’s brand and message need to be clearly communicated at every step. It’s vital you create a winning brand identity and stick with it, no matter where a customer encounters your company. To this end, your website, app, social media, and/or physical aesthetic should be consistent as much as possible.

Such consistency develops a more uniform experience that customers will become familiar with and remember. This builds brand recognition and repeat business, as people are more likely to seek out companies they recognize and are comfortable with. A uniform style is what allows even small-scale businesses to stand out and thrive on a global scale.

Keep Fulfillment Standards High

If you have a fulfillment partner that packs and ships your products or you outsource some other business service, it’s essential these vendors offer the same high-quality service as you. If a customer’s online shopping experience is awesome, but their shipment takes weeks to arrive and/or is damaged when it gets there, you’ve likely lost a customer.

Be Everywhere

There are myriad online marketing options to take advantage of to get your brand and message out there. Whether it’s e-newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, online ads, or traditional advertising, it’s critical to stay in the front of a customer’s mind, so whenever her or she wants to make a purchase, you’re just a click away.

These e-tools are also an ideal way to engage customers with marketing campaigns—sales, promotions, and VIP services—as well as keep them updated on company news, like the opening of a new location or launch of a new product.

If you’re serious about growing your digital footprint, you’re going to need to ensure your legal systems are in compliance, with up-to-date privacy policies, terms of service, and data management systems. To ensure you’ve got what you need, begin by sitting down with us. We can help you identify opportunities for growth and put valuable legal and financial protections in place to ensure the online part of your venture is both secure, in compliance, and competitive in the global marketplace.

We offer a complete spectrum of legal services for businesses and can help you make the wisest choices on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the event of your death. We also offer a LIFT Start-Up Session™ or a LIFT Audit for an ongoing business, which includes a review of all the legal, financial, and tax systems you need for your business. Call us today to schedule. Or, schedule online.

February 14, 2021 by Cava Faulkner

Maybe you’ve heard that before investing in a professional service you should “get three estimates.”

While often this is wise advice, it’s actually a bad idea when it comes to estate planning.

In this article, I explain why and how you can ensure you get the most efficient and affordable plan possible for your family without shopping estate planning lawyers the way you may think.

Why “Get Three Estimates” Doesn’t Protect Your Family

Let’s begin with why “getting three estimates” for an estate plan doesn’t work to actually get you what you want.

First and foremost, this recommendation assumes that you should be shopping for an estate plan based on cost alone and that you understand exactly what you are shopping for and how to evaluate those estimates.

Shopping for an estate plan with the idea of spending the lowest amount possible is the fastest path to leaving your family with an empty set of documents (maybe in a beautiful binder, but not worth the paper they are printed on) that won’t actually work for your family when your loved ones need it.

Unfortunately, we see the negative effects of cheap estate planning when family members come to us during a time of grief with that fancy binder that sat on the shelf for years sending out signals of false security, full-of-out of date estate planning documents. They often find themselves stuck in court or conflict even though that’s exactly what their loved ones thought they had paid someone to avoid for them.

An Illustrative Story For You About A $3,000 Plan That Didn’t Work

By Alexis Neely, America’s Family Business Lawyer™

“When I was in law school, my father-in-law died. He had spent $3,000 to work with a law firm in Florida to create estate planning documents that he was told would keep us out of court and out of conflict with his ex-wife when he died or if he became incapacitated.

“He received a nice thick set of documents, a fancy binder, and peace of mind. He put the binder on his shelf, never looked at it again and never heard from his lawyer again. He died thinking it was all handled.

“You can imagine our surprise then when after his death, we were stuck dealing court and his ex-wife – the exact things my father-in-law had spent good money to protect us from having to deal with.

“It turns out that his fancy set of documents had never been updated so they were completely out of date. And his assets weren’t even titled in the name of his estate plan.

“I thought, ‘For sure this must have been malpractice.’

“But after going to work at one of the best law firms in the country and then surveying hundreds of other lawyers just to confirm, I found out that this was not malpractice at all.

“This was common practice.

“Lawyers everywhere were putting in place form documents that they know won’t work when their clients’ families need them, not because they are bad people or bad lawyers but because that’s how they were trained.

“This model typically involves form documents, no updating of the documents or regular communication with clients once the plan was done, no inventory of the assets to ensure that all assets could be found after the death or incapacity of a loved one, and not ensuring that assets are titled properly to make sure the plan even worked.

“On top of that, I later discovered that the plans lawyers were putting in place for families with minor kids at home had huge gaps that left the kids at risk of being taken out of their home and into protective custody while the named guardians were located.

“This happened even at the best law firm in the country, which I worked at for three years after law school.

“When I left to start my own law firm, I made a commitment to create something truly meaningful for my clients: plans that would actually work when their families need it to give you true peace of mind, all through a compassionate process that supports my clients to not just plan for death, but to become better parents, better business owners, and better community citizens during their lives.

“Now Family Business Lawyers™ across the globe are being trained the right way to plan for families and be there for your loved ones when you can’t be.”

5 Reasons To Avoid The Same Mess

Here are five reasons why shopping around for the cheapest estate plan is likely to leave you with a plan that won’t work for your family … and will leave them with a big mess instead.

The least expensive plan is not worth the paper it’s written on once you’ve left the attorney’s office. Your life changes, the law changes, and your assets change over time. Your estate plan needs to keep up with those changes. The truth of the matter is that a lawyer who charges only a few hundred dollars for documents cannot afford to provide anything more than documents. There simply is not room for the lawyer to provide the updating and regular check-ins that need to happen when you do an estate plan. That business model simply doesn’t work.

Cheap estate plans are often sold by financial professionals or form document companies who are not trained estate planning attorneys. But they are not doing right by your family by selling you something cheap. An attorney who has built a practice to actually serve your family in your best interests cannot support their practice, their clients, and their own family by selling $399 documents. Buyer beware!
Forms and documents won’t be there for your family when you can’t be – you want to leave your loved ones a relationship with a trusted advisor with whom you have built relationship during your lifetime and who your family has already met and already trust.
You get what you pay for and unfortunately it’s your family who pays the price. As you read in Alexis’ story above, her father-in-law died after paying $3,000 for an estate plan (not cheap) so that his family would not have to deal with the probate court or his ex-wife after his death, and yet that’s exactly what happened when he died. Why? Because the law firm was a traditional forms-and-documents firm that only put documents in place, but didn’t make sure his assets were owned in the right way or that his plan stayed up to date over time. You might think that is malpractice, but unfortunately it is not. It’s common practice and it leaves your family at risk if and when something happens to you!
An estate plan isn’t a “set it and forget it” kind of thing. You estate plan needs to stay up to date with changes in your life, your assets and the law. There is currently a massive amount of money sitting in state departments of unclaimed property throughout the U.S. This typically because surviving family members of a loved one lose track of it or doesn’t even know about it.

These are five ways your family loses out if you shop around for the cheapest estate plan rather than getting in place a plan that actually works for the people you love.

Plus, there is a risk that if you simply keep shopping around, you will never actually get around to putting a plan in place at all.

False Security Or Genuine Peace Of Mind?

If what you want is the false security of a cheap estate plan, go online and do it yourself. Chances are, you haven’t done that because you know that’s risky business and you love your family too much for that.

It’s the same way when you are shopping around town for the cheapest plan possible.

Because you love your family, you don’t actually want the cheap plan. You want the plan that is going to work for your the people you love when they need it.

In the meantime, if you already have an estate plan in place and you are concerned you may have gotten a cheap plan that will not actually serve your family when they need it most, contact us for a plan review.

We don’t just draft documents – we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge. Schedule online today.

February 13, 2021 by Cava Faulkner

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Your Rights as the Parent of a Young Adult – What You Need to Know When a Medical Crisis Hits