“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” – John F. Kennedy In his 1962 State of the Union Address, President John F. Kennedy acknowledged that the previous year began with the country “in the valley of a recession.” By the time he addressed Congress in January of 1962, however, America …
Melissa, my wife and I have always kept our finances separate. She has plenty of money and doesn’t need anything from me, so when I die, I want all my money to go to my son and my grandson. Does Arkansas law require me to leave something to my wife? – Karl Karl, the short …
Lindsey, my wife and I don’t have any children? Who will receive our assets once we are gone? – Jared Jared, if you have a plan, the answer to that question is completely up to you! You and your wife can tailor-make your plan to benefit family members, friends, or charities. You can even set …
Lindsey, if I pass away, what happens to my family if I don’t have an estate plan? – Laney Laney, Arkansas law actually does provide for this contingency, but you may not like what you find. This is because your spouse won’t inherit all of your assets under these laws in many situations. In fact, …
Melissa, I’ve heard that my Power of Attorney should be effective immediately – as soon as I sign it – rather than it taking effect only if I become incapacitated. Will you explain this? – Paul Paul, our law firm is among those that recommend signing a Power of Attorney (POA) that is effective immediately. …
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“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” When Ben Franklin penned those words, he was eighty-three and, as it turned out, only five months away from death. But considering men in his day only lived thirty-six years on average, he had already beaten the odds by a long …
About a month ago, Mike and Carol lost their long-time housekeeper, Alice, to retirement. In her absence, the house quickly fell apart. After a couple of weeks, to get things back in order, the couple set aside a weekend to get organized. As Carol dug her way through the home office, she ran across the …
Justin, My mother recently set up a trust, and she asked me to look over everything to see if I had any questions. Everything looks right to me—she even retitled her home and brokerage account into the name of the trust. She didn’t change her checking and savings accounts, but she said she planned to add me to those. Do you have any other suggestions?
Justin, My current wife and I are both in our second marriages. Each of us brought several children into this marriage. She has been pressuring me to schedule an appointment with an attorney because she read an article that scared her. She thinks that in a situation like ours, the children of one spouse could be completely left out of our estate depending on the order of death. Do we really have anything to worry about?
Justin, I read your comment that planning ahead for VA benefits is more crucial now than ever. Can you clarify why you say that and explain how I can plan ahead?
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