Don’t Ignore Goodwill and Good Customer Service When Deciding on an Attorney
Let’s face it, deciding on an attorney when seeking legal services for you, your family or your business can be confusing. After all, it’s not like lawyers are hard to find. Some would even say they...
View Article5 Things You Can’t Accomplish In Your Will
I’m not going to beat a dead horse and tell you all of the reasons why you should have a will. Honestly, if you’d rather leave the fate of your property to the mercy of your state legislature, that’s...
View ArticleA Virtual Law Practice Riding the Consumer Law Revolution
I began my virtual law practice in April 2012, with my site officially going live in June. Having spent much of the past year writing content for my website, enhancing and building upon my legal...
View ArticleYour Stepchildren Could Inherit Even Over Your Dead Body
A question that keeps popping up on some legal question-and-answer sites lately reminds me how fact-sensitive estate planning can be: Are stepchildren legal heirs? It makes sense that people would be...
View ArticleHow to Plan for a Social Media Afterlife: Tools for Zombies
In a sign of the digital times, the explosion of social media participation is prompting states to update their probate laws in an attempt to keep up with technology. To that end, more and more states...
View ArticleI Beg You: Please Don’t Leave Me An Inheritance
In estate planning and probate law, it’s common to hear people ask questions like “How do I find out if I have an inheritance?” or “How can I find out if my father left me anything in his will?” Less...
View ArticleHow To Probate A Small Estate
Having an estate plan is all well and good, and really should be part of every person’s “things to do when I grow up” list. Even if you’re not worth millions of dollars, if you’ve got kids, a home,...
View ArticleProtecting Your Digital Assets With Google’s Inactive Account Manager
For those keeping score at home, add Google to the list of those in tune with the intersection of technology and estate planning. If you haven’t already heard, Google announced a new feature last week...
View ArticleWhat Duck Dynasty Can Teach Us About Business Succession Planning
I have to admit, I love the A&E reality series “Duck Dynasty.” Apparently a lot of other people like it, too. So much so, in fact, that the show’s April 24 finale beat Fox’s sagging American Idol...
View ArticleA Memorial Day Expression Of Appreciation
Memorial Day is just around the corner. To many of us, this marks the (un)official start of summer and the outdoor barbecue season. But before we throw the burgers and hot dogs on the grill, let’s take...
View ArticleAttention Do-It-Yourself Legal Consumer: Caveat Emptor
For the price, do-it-yourself estate planning can be a pretty attractive option in the internet age. After all, who doesn’t know how to “point and click”? Or “guess and click,” as the case may be. To...
View ArticleElectronic Wills: The Next Frontier?
A recent ruling by a probate judge in Ohio provides an interesting example of how technology is intersecting with the law. In what just might be the first case to address this particular issue, Judge...
View ArticleWhy You Should Read The Declaration Of Independence This 4th Of July
Even though I was born and raised in Rhode Island, I’ve never made it to the famous 4th of July parade in Bristol, described as “the oldest continuous celebration of its kind in the United States.” I’m...
View ArticleA MA Court Case About a Wolf, a Sheep, and Undue Influence
One of the reasons the law requires certain formalities when signing important legal documents is to minimize the chances for fraud and undue influence. Whether you are signing a will, trust, or power...
View ArticleWho The Hell Thinks They Need An Estate Plan Anyway?
A good friend of mine recently posed this question to me: Who the hell wakes up in the morning and says, “I think I need to get an estate plan”? Judging by the fact that nearly 50% of Americans have no...
View ArticleWho Wouldn’t Like A Good Death Dinner?
Leave it to baby boomers to come up with a novel approach to talking about death and dying. As reported in a recent Bloomberg article (Death Dinners at Baby Boomers’ Tables Take on Dying Taboo): Over...
View ArticleSick of Washington’s Games? Start a Nonprofit
I recently completed a blog post for the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce where I outlined some of the benefits and disadvantages of starting a non-profit (or charitable) organization. For someone...
View ArticleIs Your Social Media Privacy Under Attack?
Over the past couple of years, social media privacy laws have been cropping up around the country in response to stories about companies and government agencies asking job applicants for the “keys” to...
View Article5 Items for your Estate Planning “To Do” List this Year
I’ve never really understood the lure of making “New Year’s resolutions.” If you truly need to change some important aspect of your life, why not start tomorrow? Why wait until the start of a new...
View ArticleIs the US Treasury Worthy of your ‘Charitable Bequest’?
As I was going through some of my subscriptions in my feedly tab recently, a headline on the Wills, Trusts & Estate Prof Blog caught my eye: “Loner Makes Mysterious Bequest.” Intrigued, I clicked...
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