The Plain English Attorney Blog
Far too many attorneys overcomplicate things, making topics convoluted and difficult to understand to the average person. This blog is committed to explaining legal planning topics in an easy to understand format, in plain English. Enjoy the blogs, and please let us know if there is a topic you would like covered.
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The media loves a sensationalized story, especially ones that gets people angry enough to share and comment on social media. When a woman won $5.2 million from car insurance company GEICO because she contracted an STD in the backseat of one of their insured vehicles, the Internet went wild. Cries of...
Maybe you can't be all things to all people...
Over the last few months, I have seen a lot of different responses to different types of content. This includes some reviews and explanations of current legal news, fitness posts, and the usual estate and Medicaid planning information. The content we h...
Once again, I was out at the Durham Bulls Baseball Park to record content, but this time I discussed the big four solution areas that helped me go from somewhere around 220 to 171 pounds over six months. The actions I took were not crazy or elaborate, and there were no cheat codes. It was just consi...
I occasionally go on Reddit and respond to posts in the r/estateplanning section. This time, it was to help warn someone about trying to do their own trust by getting a form online. Unfortunately, they didnât know what they didnât know, and despite the pleas of commentors to get a lawyer, they took ...
As technology improves and my video skills have quickened, itâs becoming easier to produce more content to post on YouTube and social media on a regular basis without eating up much more time. In addition, there are only so many videos and posts that can be focused on the same or similar estate and ...
Many of my long-time estate planning clients have commented on my weight loss over and asked how I did it. While fitness isnât really related to estate or Medicaid planning, or even law in general, I do think that this fitness journey has made me a better person and better professional. This recurri...
When an estate goes through probate, privacy is out the door worse than Beyonce taking a stroll down Rodeo Drive. In this outtake from the webinar âEstate Planning⌠Bigger Than Beyonceâ I review the loss of privacy that occurs to an estate mired in this court process. For the full FREE webinar, sign...
"Hearsay is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.â In this reaction video, I explain in plain English the definition of âhearsayâ that kept popping up in the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard t...
Many of our estate planning clients have chosen to use a Revocable Living Trust as a way to avoid probate of their estate as much as possible when they pass on. Unfortunately, just having the documents set up is not enough to avoid probate. The process of âtrust funding,â meaning retitling assets or...
âProbate fees in our state are not that high.â Unfortunately, I hear this from some attorneys who focus their practice on handling probate, and probate is exactly what you get when you rely on a Last Will and Testament for your estate plan. Considering the massive attorney's fees involved in handlin...
This question keeps coming up... "Does a trust need a separate taxpayer identification number?" It depends. In general...
* Revocable Living Trusts do not need an EIN/Taxpayer ID if the Trustor(s) are still alive
* Irrevocable Trusts generall DO need a separate EIN
* Hybrid Irrevocable Trusts lik...
Sometimes something that is âcommon knowledgeâ is just a myth, and myths are prevalent in estate planning for special needs beneficiaries. For example,
* MYTH: You can't leave an inheritance to to a beneficiary with special needs.
* MYTH: You should leave a house, a ...
