Why Do-it-Yourself Wills Don’t Work
From time to time, clients have come into our office with wills or powers of attorney they had prepared or printed from an online source. In most cases we have…
Love-Hate on Four Legs
Furry little puppies – don’t you just love them? You have to love them. Videos of a tumbly mess of awkward little furballs trying to play can make you want…
Two Different Types of Special Needs Trusts
This article is reprinted with permission of the Special Needs Alliance - www.specialneedsalliance.org. There are two types of Special Needs Trusts (SNTs), commonly designated as first-party and third-party SNTs. It is…
FALL (ING)
Last Friday at 3:02 PM Central Time, summer here was over. Fall began. Fall. I have had a few thoughts about that word. For the next three months, it will…
Sicker Seniors More Likely to Drop Medicare Advantage Plans
When Sol Shipotow enrolled in a new Medicare Advantage health plan earlier this year, he expected to keep the doctor who treats his serious eye condition. “That turned out not…
Preventive Measures Might Help Delay Dementia or Cognitive Decline
In a landmark report, scientists have endorsed three strategies for preventing dementia and cognitive decline associated with normal aging — being physically active, engaging in cognitive training, and controlling high…
Where Can Service Animals Go?
by Richard A. Courtney, CELA Service animals can change lives. My daughter, Melanie, who’s had service dogs for years, comments that beyond the many helpful tasks they perform and the…
Medicare Milestones
On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare, a health insurance program for elderly Americans, into law. At the bill-signing ceremony, which took place at the Truman Library…
Do a Letter of Intent for Your Child
A “Letter of Intent” is a detailed description of a child (or incapacitated spouse) with a disability, including explanations of his or her medical, physical, mental, emotional, family, social, religious,…
Court Confirms that Joint Ownership Trumps a Will
In 1988, Robert Ehrhardt, Sr. and his wife, Julia, purchased a home as “joint tenants with full rights of survivorship, and not as tenants in common.” In 2000, Robert Sr.…