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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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,...
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...
This one's going to be in two parts and it's about protecting the kids from a potential divorce disaster. The first part is putting together your own estate plan and what you can do to protect an inheritance that's going down to the kids so that it doesn't end up being claimed in a divorce. And...
Taken From “The Simple Guide to Special Needs Estate Planning”
“No, you can’t,” the woman was loudly saying. “You can’t leave money to an autistic child! Are you crazy?”
I usually enjoy attending conferences and informational fairs, and my office...
You’re an adult, you have a lot going on, and you’re not going to die tomorrow. As far as you know. Putting together estate planning documents may be the last thing on your mind, but it shouldn’t be if you care even a little bit about where your assets go when you pass on....
Funding a Revocable Living Trust is critical to ensuring your estate avoids probate. Unfortunately in my line of work, I see too many trusts where nothing, or almost nothing, is actually funded in the trust. That is why I make sure at least every six months or so to post this chapter from my book...
Medicaid is one of the most effective, and most needed, programs when it comes to caring for seniors and our most vulnerable citizens. However, the rules are designed to be extremely complex so that families will tend to throw their hands up in frustration, spend everything they have, and then...
One of the biggest frustrations I see in my line of work is when people who are already going through a crisis because of the death or a long-term illness of a family member end up in probate. This time-consuming, frustrating, and paperwork intensive process only compounds the grief and agony...
I’m an estate and Medicaid planning attorney, so why talk about prenups? It’s because it has all of the same hallmarks about planning ahead for the worst while hoping for the best that I do in my law practice, and because I have seen what divorce has done to the adult children of some...
I don't usually use a blog just to highlight another person's video, but in this case the information is too important not to. For my clients, their children, and even grandchildren, there are some big potential changes resulting from a legal settlement that can impact the way buying a house...
