By Tim Barkley. October 2014. “Dad’s will leaves everything to me, but when I showed it to the bank they said I needed letters of something. Why can’t they just give me the money?” “Can’t I just go to the broker and cash in Mom’s account?...
By Tim Barkley. June 2014. Long-term care. Nursing homes. Adult daycare. Resented symbols of helplessness foisted on a generation of Americans who all their lives have prided themselves on self-sufficiency and independence. No one wants to think of herself helpless...
By Tim Barkley. May 2013. The threesome came through the door slowly, helping along Mom on her walker. The attorney welcomed them back to the conference room, helped to seat Mom and stow her hardware. The trio declined coffee or tea, but Mom accepted a glass of water....
By Tim Barkley. March 2013. Now that you’ve set up your living trust, you need to feed it to make it grow. In legal parlance, you need to “fund” your trust. The benefits of a living trust – probate avoidance, privacy, efficiency, estate tax avoidance – may be...
By Tim Barkley. February 2013. One of the most commonly employed planning tools on today’s estate planner’s workbench is the revocable living trust. Revocable. Living. Trust. Separate ideas rolled into one planning tool that might be right for you. A TRUST is a...
By Tim Barkley. December 2012. With each new year comes a new opportunity to consider your estate plan and make sure it is up-to-date – or to make one if you don’t have on already! Because we are time-bound mortals, the change of seasons reminds us of changes in our...
