Estate planning can be overwhelming. There are a number of factors to consider when planning the transfer of everything you own at a time when you no longer are able to participate in the transfer. However, as an Atlanta estate planning attorney, I know that not having a proper estate plan in place can cause many problems after your death. It’s important that you prepare the proper documents, and that your family knows where to find them and what information is contained in them so that things can go as smoothly as possible in the event of an accident or illness. This idea can even be expanded beyond just estate planning documents to include documents which can help you or your family in the event of any kind of financial emergency. This “financial emergency kit” should contain not only your estate planning documents but also other important documents which may be needed in case of emergency. Some items to include in your financial emergency kit might be considered “no-brainers.” For example, the kit should include your house, life, disability and auto insurance documents. In the event of a house fire, family death, or incapacitating automobile accident, you will need these… [Read More]
Atlanta Guardianship Attorney: Guardians and Conservators Serve Different Purposes
As an Atlanta guardianship attorney, I speak with a lot of people who are confused by Georgia’s guardianship and conservatorship laws and the difference in the roles between a guardian and a conservator. Before distinguishing those roles, it will be helpful to explain why a guardianship or conservatorship may be needed. Generally, there are three circumstances in which a person needs a guardian and/or conservator: (1) a minor is no longer under the care of either of his or her parents (a/k/a natural guardians), (2) a minor is due a payment from a financial institution (e.g., life insurance proceeds, retirement plan beneficiary distribution, etc.) whether or not under the care of his or her parents, and (3) an adult becomes incapacitated to the extent that he or she cannot perform routine daily functions (e.g., cooking, bathing, paying bills, and balancing a check book) without help. In any of those circumstances, an interested party can petition the probate court of the county in which the minor or incapacitated adult (referred to as the “ward”) lives for the appointment of a guardian and/or conservator. A guardian is a person appointed to look after the “person” of the ward. In other words, a… [Read More]
Georgia Guardianship Attorney: Plan for Dementia-Related Incapacity
As part of my Atlanta guardianship law practice, I have represented several clients in guardianship actions seeking to be appointed guardians of a parent, spouse, or other relative with a dementia-related disease. In most instances, the proposed ward had either been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or exhibited many symptoms of the disease. I am reminded with each client how important it is for everyone to have an estate plan in place that includes, at a minimum, a Last Will and Testament, financial power of attorney, and Georgia Advanced Directive for Healthcare. Having these three documents may save you and your family not only from problems that might arise after you die but also from problems that arise due to your incapacitation, whether by a dementia-related disease or otherwise. But for this post I focus on the growing prevalence of dementia-related diseases, and especially Alzheimer’s disease, because it is these types of diseases people least expect but are, year after year, more likely to have as they get older. Over the last decade, the prevalence of dementia-related diseases has grown among the elderly, and Alzheimer’s disease is leading the pack. The Alzheimer’s Association provides a remarkable and worrying fact sheet at… [Read More]
Atlanta Probate Lawyer on Joint Accounts: Use Them with Spouses, Not with Children
In my Atlanta estate law practice, I work with clients on a regular basis regarding accounts owned by a parent who added another person (most often a child) prior to the parent’s death (i.e., joint accounts). The problem that arises is that, upon the death of the parent, Georgia statutory law presumes the parent wanted the child who was added to receive all funds in the account, but other children of the parent typically do not believe such an outcome was intended by the parent. Therefore, the other children seek to pull those funds into the parent’s estate where it will be divided according to the parent’s will or Georgia intestacy laws, in which case the other children are likely to receive some portion of the funds. Joint accounts between parents and children are problematic because of the several ways the parent’s actions can be interpreted. Did the parent really intend the child to receive all of the funds in the account when the parent died? Maybe. Joint accounts can be useful estate planning tools, but if the parent does not tell his other children about the account and makes no mention of the account in his will or some… [Read More]
Georgia Estate Planning: Everybody Needs a Will
I’ve been an Atlanta estate planning lawyer for several years, and on a regular basis I get new calls from people seeking help with an estate of a loved one who died intestate (i.e., without a Will). Those calls usually begin with the caller complaining that the decedent made no Will. Having represented dozens of clients dealing with intestate estates, I am immediately sympathetic. I can still help the caller but know from the start the process will be more complicated than it needed to be. Rocket Lawyer, an online legal service provider, found in a recent estate planning survey that 61% of Americans do not have a Last Will and Testament. Even worse, that number climbs to 70% for people with children under 18 years old. Failing to make a Will, especially for people in the latter category, will subject your estate to unnecessary difficulty and, in some cases, utter calamity through family infighting, incompetent estate administration, and litigation. People have myriad reasons to not make a Will: I’m young. I don’t have kids. I don’t own enough stuff. I’m not sick. I don’t want to think about death. The law will take care of it. All of the… [Read More]
