Anytime you are looking to hire a professional advisor (which for purposes of this article shall include, but is not limited to, a financial advisor, attorney, insurance agent, banker and/or accountant), you should do some preliminary homework to determine the type of person with whom you would like to work and prepare some questions to […]
In previous posts, the importance of having a Power of Attorney has been discussed (see Maggie Green‘s “The Power of Attorney In Real Life” and my post “Powers of Attorney: The Basics”). In general, the document is a good one to have while you are alive to ensure that important documents and other financial matters […]
In my previous post, I discussed the basics of a guardianship. In this post, I discuss terminating a guardianship when the Ward has regained mental capacity. For example, perhaps the Ward has a brain injury from an accident or a stroke, but after a couple years of therapy she has recovered enough so that a […]
In many posts, we have eluded to and discussed the basics on Medical Assistance (see: Jamie Held‘s Medical Assistance & Real Property and Jen Santini‘s Medical Assistance Basics for Minnesotans). Medical Assistance, or Medicaid as it is known, is the insurance program provided by counties to those who have no money of their own to […]
Today we have added a new resource to Epilawg’s Resources page: Understanding Loans and Credit at Every Stage of Life. This resource is a comprehensive guide that covers loan options and financial education at different stages of life: from being a student to preparing for retirement. Hopefully, this will be a useful additional resource to […]
March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959 Lou Costello – known for half of the Abbott and Costello comedy team – passed away 54 years ago today, just days shy of his 53rd birthday, from a heart attack. He was born in New Jersey and went to Hollywood to become an actor in his early […]
For months before the end of 2012, the “fiscal cliff” dominated news cycles. Now, we have the sequester. The sequester is a series of automatic spending cuts to the federal budget to reduce spending by $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. The sequester will take effect on Friday, March 1st, unless the White House […]
Grieving through Facebook has been previously discussed on Epilawg (see Jen Santini’s post, Grieving in the Digital Age), but I was again reminded of this topic as the result of a recent Minneapolis Star Tribute article by Katie Humphrey, Facebook is Changing the Way We Grieve. Ms. Humphrey reminds us that, “[d]eath doesn’t kill a […]
If Congress ultimately expands gun legislation, then it could have a profound impact on an individual’s ability to transfer guns to their beneficiaries. Bequeathing a gun in an estate is very different from passing on other personal property. Because a gun is a regulated piece of personal property at both the federal and state levels, […]
Although you may earn too much to contribute to a Roth IRA, there is no income restriction to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. What is a Backdoor Roth IRA? The Backdoor Roth IRA is an indirect way to contribute to a Roth IRA when your income is too high to contribute directly […]
Trustee A trustee is a fiduciary with a high degree of responsibility. As a fiduciary, a trustee has legal duties that he or she must perform. As discussed in Maggie Green’s series of posts, those duties include loyalty, impartiality, and recordkeeping. A trustee must act out of loyalty to the beneficiaries and not to further […]