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.
Sign up for Our NewsletterCheck Out Our Free Webinars
Estate Crash Course Webinar In-Law Protection Planning Webinar
If you care about what you have an who you want making decisions for you if your can't, then it is critical to have legally have written instructions in place. However, about 68-70% of the population has no written plan whatsoever. The focus of my law firm is to help people plan ahead the...
Probably one of the most critical but misunderstood planning documents is the Living Will, or as we call it in North Carolina, a Declaration of a Desire for a Natural Death. While there are a lot of misconceptions and misnaming going around (no, a Living Will is not a Will that avoids probate;...
Death is not something we enjoy talking about, but something we know we all have to face. For many there is no preparation. It's sudden, unexplainable and without mercy. However for some, there is at least the favor of a little preparation. As much as the reality is all around you, talking about...
Unfortunately, the next generation may need a little extra protection... even from themselves. I'm not talking about specific beneficiaries with Special Needs who may need an inheritance to be locked up so they don't lose their benefits. Instead, I mean making sure that an inheritance. Sometimes...
Unfortunately, it is all too common, and it just happened a few weeks ago. I spoke with a long-time client about his father passing on and that his mother was in the nursing home on Medicaid. He had been trying to get answers from the attorney his father had hired, but as I looked through the...
There are many attorneys who are happy to just “go with the flow,” and dole out a Last Will and Testament for their clients when asked. After all, the general public expects that that all they have to do is create a basic Will, and suddenly their estate is completely taken care of....
The following is a chapter from my book The Long Term Care Solution: The Truth Behind Today's Long Term Care Planning Explained in Plain English covering what I have seen as the top ten myths in Medicaid and other Care Assistance Planning Methods. If you want to learn more about how the main...
A few weeks ago, I was at the monthly meeting of the Triangle YP Civitan club, and one of the main topics of discussion was our annual Corn-a-ment fundraiser to benefit Special Olympics NC. The event will be held at Trophy's Maywood Hall and Garden (622 Maywood Ave, Raleigh,...
When it comes to financial and estate planning, knowing how to start seems to be the toughest part. While we already have plenty of content on starting estate planning, building up that estate is its own subject. Getting started is very dependent on where you are in life and what goals you have,...
This is one of those uncommon times I tell my clients it is important to stay updated with the office newsletter because that is where we post information about critical updates in the estate and Medicaid planning world. For this one, it is mainly small business owners under The Corporate...
I recently had the privilege of discussing the subject of non-profits versus charities at the Homeschooling Unleashed conference in Raleigh. As Homeschooling becomes more popular, parents have been looking for ways to group together. These groups invariably want to know if they should form as...
When my grandfather passed on, I was just a few weeks away from heading out to law school. My grandmother helped raise me after my mother passed on, so when she started calling me in law school with legal questions, I did my best to explain things to her in plain English because whenever she...