If you’re paying attention, you’re aware that the subject of caregiving is coming up a lot more frequently in the news and in conversations with friends and colleagues. The AARP is devoting one of its monthly newsletter to a variety of topics related to caring for America’s aging family members....
My family tried for years to get my folks to create a Living Trust. While my mom was an easy sell, it was my stepfather, Charlie, who was the holdout. A retired Navy pilot, we figured it was some kind of macho-military thing. He wouldn’t listen to my mom, his...
Just about the time we thought it was safe to enjoy the holidays, omicron has popped up to spoil our fun. We kicked off the holidays just a few weeks ago with money in our pockets and high expectations. We prepped for in-person parties and planned trips to exotic locales....
As you start thinking about what belongs in your Living Trust, here are four things that often get overlooked—and can have significant, often costly consequences. Creating Joint Tenancy Assets In Living Trust conversations, joint tenancy generally refers to real estate and how you hold title to a property. If two people own...
According to the CDC, those who have been vaccinated no longer need to wear masks in indoor settings. We’re still playing it safe, masking up and social distancing. And while we’ve gotten used to our Zoom meetings, the results of our recent survey indicated that many still prefer one-to-one communications....
In April, 91-year old Minna Buck revised her Advance Healthcare Directive. She doesn’t want to be intubated if she becomes infected with COVID. Ms. Buck has done her research and knows she doesn’t want any part of intubation. She knows that even if she survived, the recovery would leave her...
“Alice” and her husband “Andrew” had a very good question about appointing a Successor Trustee for their Living Trust. At 80, Alice had been diagnosed with cancer, and she was still very weak after months of chemotherapy. Andrew was 85 and dealing with a number of health problems. He had...
Dr. Barak Gaster is a Seattle internist who spent three years working with specialists in geriatrics, neurology, palliative care and psychiatry to create a dementia-specific advance directive. The document maps out the stages of dementia: mild, moderate and severe; it asks patients to specify which medical interventions they would want...
Clients frequently come in to our offices seeking to get a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive for a parent who is suffering some degree of dementia. In many cases, one parent has died, and the remaining parent is no longer able to manage his/her financial matters or make...
End-of-life planning isn’t just about the legal documents we help our clients prepare. In our offices, there are many discussions that surface about related topics—disability insurance and the limits of Medicare. There’s a lot of confusion about hospice, and thanks to modern medicine, we are living longer lives, yet that...
It was October 2015 when California voters elected to become the fifth state to allow terminally ill patients to end their lives with prescriptions from their doctors. This was not an easy decision; many remember months of contentious debate; religious groups and disability rights activists heatedly opposed the law and...
The heartbreaking story of Brittany Maynard, the 29-year old woman who moved to Oregon so that she could take advantage of the Death with Dignity Law, hit home for many Bay Area residents because Maynard lived right here in our own East Bay community for many years. Maynard, a graduate of...
