Check out our April newsletter!
April 2024
603-894-4141 | 978-969-0331 | LegacyCareLaw.com
DON’T LET THE BRADY BUNCH RUN WILD: PLANNING FOR BLENDED FAMILIES Why Your Unique Family Requires a Customized Estate Plan
blended families can powerfully influence how family members perceive and receive estate plans. As an estate planning attorney, my role often extends beyond legal advising; at times, I am a mediator who must understand the emotional undercurrents of various issues and navigate them with empathy. In blended family situations, clients are often concerned with ensuring that their children from previous relationships are not unintentionally disinherited. This is a legitimate worry but can be prevented with the right estate planning tools. By preparing the proper estate plan, which often includes carefully drafted trusts, we can safeguard your children’s inheritance, irrespective of future changes in your marital status. In estate planning for blended families, a range of legal tools are utilized to address the unique dynamics and concerns that arise. By employing these legal tools thoughtfully and strategically, estate planning for blended families can effectively address complex family dynamics and provide peace of mind for all involved parties. Every family is unique, and a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for estate planning in blended families. What works for one family may not work for another. That’s why a customized estate plan tailored to your specific family situation is essential. My role is to listen, understand, and craft a plan that aligns with your wishes, ensuring all family members are considered and protected even as families change over time. If you’re navigating the complexities of a blended family, I encourage you to contact us. Whether you’re a current client with evolving family dynamics or someone considering estate planning for the first time, a consultation or a review of your current plan can be invaluable and set you on the right path. Together, we can create a plan to protect and provide for your unique family situation, ensuring your family is protected and cared for. Remember, it’s not just about drafting documents; it’s about securing your family’s future with care and foresight.
The term “blended families” encompasses a diverse range of family dynamics, of which the classic “Brady Bunch” scenario is just one example. There are many important factors, including prior marriages for each spouse, the cause of the end of a prior marriage, children from those marriages, the residence of prior children, the relative wealth of spouses, and more. However, despite the specific circumstances, blending families presents unique challenges in estate planning and inheritance arrangements. I’ve been helping families navigate this process since 1998, and I’ve seen firsthand the intricacies involved in securing a family’s future, especially when it includes children from different relationships. Having a family that includes children from previous relationships can make things more complex because of competing interests or concerns about how some choices might be perceived. Clients often come to me burdened by stories they have heard about spouses unintentionally disinheriting children from previous marriages or assets becoming entangled following a remarriage. These are not mere stories but real concerns that must be addressed with empathy, compassion, and a comprehensive understanding of estate planning and the law. While proper legal documents are important to addressing blended family issues, solutions can only be reached by professionals who seek to understand the emotional impact, not just the legal impact, of these difficult issues. Left unaddressed, the tensions within
LegacyCareLaw.com 1
Published by Newsletter Pro • www.newsletterpro.com
4 Meaningful Pursuits to Explore After Retirement
Retirement is the end goal after decades spent working and saving. Once reached, a common question retirees ask is, “Now what?” There’s a massive gap in your schedule now, and there are countless things you can fill the time with. So, here are four big ideas you can use to take advantage of your newfound freedom. No. 1: See the World The world is a vast and beautiful place, and now that you don’t have obligations tying you down, you can finally get out there and see everything on your bucket list. If you ever wanted to experience the breathtaking size of the Grand Canyon or dreamt of dining at French cafes by the Seine River in Paris, then retirement is the perfect opportunity to go on those adventures. No. 2: Never Stop Learning Be a lifelong learner. If you’ve always wanted to explore your interests through
education but couldn’t fit it into your schedule, now you can. There are courses available online and in person. Many classes specialize in educating seniors, while others offer highly discounted rates. Some colleges allow seniors to audit their courses at little to no cost with a tuition waiver. Lifelong learning also helps reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia. So, if you worry about these diseases, continuous learning is one of the best defenses you can have. No. 3: Help and Advocate Many retirees find purpose through volunteering. Many organizations need a hand, like food banks, soup kitchens, and animal shelters. Giving them some of your time allows you to support your community, further a cause, and even save lives. Volunteer work also connects you with like- minded people, ensuring you make friends with people who share your values.
No. 4: Retire a Little Less Some retirees miss the purpose that work gives (as well as the income). Many jobs also keep you on your feet and active. If you count yourself among them, consider picking up a part-time job. Roles like delivery driver, substitute teacher, and dog walker allow you to line your pockets while meeting people. Retirement is not just the end of work — it’s the start of leisure. You can do and experience many things, from seeing the Mona Lisa to volunteering at an animal shelter. It’s time to take advantage of retirement and seize every opportunity.
HOW TO SUCCEED AS AN EXECUTOR TIPS TO AVOID MAJOR MISSTEPS
which is why changing the locks could be crucial if the family situation is contentious.
If you’ve been named the executor for someone’s last will and testament, you’ve been entrusted with the responsibility of carrying out a person’s last wishes. This honor — and legal responsibility — means you must take care of financial obligations, including paying any outstanding debt or taxes, and then properly dispense the remaining assets according to the directions in the will. The person who chose you to be executor trusts that you can handle this responsibility, so we’re here to walk you through the process and clear up any questions you may have. If you are listed as the executor or the trustee in someone’s estate planning documents, you should do a few things immediately upon their passing. First, you must secure their home and any other property as quickly as possible. This involves
Next, you should locate all relevant estate planning documents and then determine whether the estate must go through probate. You will need multiple copies of the death certificate for banks, credit card companies, and insurance. Other important documents you will need include insurance policies, credit card statements, investment account and pension statements, and contacts for attorneys and accountants. Give yourself time to review these documents carefully. Once you understand the estate plan, you can call a meeting with all involved to review the deceased family member’s instructions on how to distribute the assets. Being prepared and proactive will ensure you carry out your duties as an executor with precision and honor the person who entrusted you with this duty.
maintaining any property until the estate is settled, including changing the locks.
Often, family members will try to go into the house after someone passes away and remove items. As the executor or the trustee, you have to ensure this does not happen,
603-894-4141 | 978-969-0331 2
Published by Newsletter Pro • www.newsletterpro.com
How a Goalie Helped Rescue a Stricken Spectator KEEPER LEDESMA SHOWED FANS A DIFFERENT KIND OF SAVE
Those who respond heroically tend to be hopeful people who take charge in difficult situations — traits professional soccer goalies clearly need. People who step up to help others also tend to have a strong sense of responsibility, another requirement of keepers. The coach of the rival team praised Ledesma’s quick thinking. “We’re talking about a human life, and any human life is above a soccer game,” Barcelona’s coach, Xavi Hernandez, was quoted as saying. Only after the spectator was revived and en route to the hospital did the teams agree to resume the game. Although Cadiz lost the match 4-0, Cadiz fans went home with a different kind of win — global recognition of their goalkeeper’s good deed. Video of Ledesma’s quick response quickly went viral, earning “massive respect” from commenters and worldwide plaudits for heroism.
The European football pitch is often the scene of bitter rivalries and even violence between fans, but spectators at a 2022 match between the Spanish professional football clubs FC Barcelona and Cadiz CF witnessed an entirely different kind of drama. The match was suspended when a spectator in the end zone collapsed. As medical staff rushed to help, the goalie for Cadiz broke from his position, raced to his team’s dugout, retrieved a medical kit with a defibrillator, sprinted back toward the scene, and tossed the kit to the medics. Thanks in part to the defibrillator, which medics used to resuscitate the victim, he was safely transferred to a nearby hospital. Many onlookers credit Cadiz’s goalie, Jeremias Ledesma, with averting a tragedy. It is hard to tell who will step up in a crisis and who will freeze. People who are normally empathetic may shrink back, while sometimes introverts dive in to help, surprising even themselves.
LegacyCareLaw.com 3
Published by Newsletter Pro • www.newsletterpro.com
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
9 Red Roof Lane, Salem, NH 03079 603-894-4141 978-969-0331 LegacyCareLaw.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1 2
Safeguarding Your Loved Ones in a Blended Family
How to Flourish in Your Retirement Years
How to Be a Successful Executor
3
Check out our Upcoming Estate Planning Seminars
Soccer Goalie Saves a Fan’s Life
4
What We Can Learn From Chaotic Celebrity Probate Battles
Chaotic Celebrity Probate Battles Hold Lessons for All BIGGER STARS, BIGGER MESSES
her an allowance so she could remain in the couple’s home. However, his three children eventually inherited the home, and the widow agreed to a settlement in 2015. Even murkier is the case of Gary Coleman, star of the TV series “Diff’rent Strokes.” Coleman died at age 42 after a fall in his home left him in a coma with a brain hemorrhage. Coleman and his ex-wife, Shannon Price, divorced in 2008, and the actor left his estate to Anna Gray, his personal assistant and former girlfriend, in a 2005 will. Price claimed Coleman created a 2007 codicil that left his assets to her, so the battle dragged on for years. The lesson here? The bigger they are, the harder they fall? Perhaps. But there is also real wisdom to be gained: Don’t do as these celebrities did. Seek professional help with estate planning — long after you’re gone, your loved ones will thank you for it.
In November 2020, after 20 years of leading the high-flying retailer Zappos, Hsieh died alone without a will at age 46 from injuries caused by a fire he set himself, leaving a $500 million estate. He had jotted many of his final wishes only on sticky notes, so his family and friends are still battling in court. After the artist formerly known as Prince died in 2016, no fewer than 700 people claimed to be his descendants. Without a will or named executor, the artist’s estate remained unsettled for years as lawyers, bankers, advisers, and heirs haggled over it. It took DNA testing to clear the fog, qualifying his sister and five half-siblings as his rightful heirs. Relatives of the beloved comedian Robin Williams mounted a long and bitter legal fight over his estate, estimated at more than $100 million. His widow, Susan Schneider Williams, claimed Williams intended to leave
While living celebrities claim an outsized share of our attention, many keep grabbing headlines long after they die. Among crazy celebrity probate cases, few have made a bigger mess than celebrated entrepreneur Tony Hsieh.
Photo: Eva Rinaldi
4
603-894-4141 | 978-969-0331
Published by Newsletter Pro • www.newsletterpro.com
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator