Featured Blogs

Posted on April 4, 2023, by Oliver Hamilton in Featured, Wills & Estate Law

It costs about $475, with taxes, to put in place a valid Power of Attorney (POA) to appoint a trusted person to act for you if were legally unable to manage your affairs and property due to, for example, a car accident or an unforeseen medical condition. When you lose legal capacity, the bank will freeze your assets, even while the housing and stock markets are dropping, until the bank is provided with a valid POA Deed or a court order to appoint someone to administer your affairs and assets. How will your bills be paid?

Posted on February 07, 2023 by Oliver Hamilton in Featured, Wills & Estate Law

A retired mother invited her busy entrepreneur son over for a home-cooked dinner. After dinner, the mother asked, “How goes your new start-up software company”? The son reluctantly explained his latest venture failed. Despite huge sales, it never turned a profit. He sold most of his assets to raise funds for his venture. The son assured his mother, “I’m poor and my creditors can take nothing from me and I’m already onto my next venture that will be a big success”. Not wanting to worry his mother, the son did not mention his main creditor had obtained court judgment against him. He assumed his lack of possessions meant his creditor could not collect on the judgment. The mother bid good night to her son. Worried about his precarious finances, she mused, “I should ensure I leave him something after I’m gone”.

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Deirdre Prestage Severide in Featured, Family Law

Choosing the right family lawyer to work with you on your separation is so important.... you need to consider more than just how many wins he or she has recently had in court! It is really important to choose a lawyer that understands you and what is most important to you now and in the future. It is also important that your lawyer understands what is important to your spouse too, because you will not reach an agreement until some of the needs of each of you are met. If you have seen Marriage Story, after the mediator’s involvement ended, neither of the lawyers dug into what was really important to each of Nicole and Charlie. Sadly for them and their son Henry, they ended up going down a traditional legal path with their lawyers that neither of them wanted to go down.

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Nat Olsson in Featured, Real Estate

If you want to add someone to title as a joint tenant to avoid probate fees, or otherwise, you should keep the following in mind:

Creation of the joint tenancy could interfere with your estate plan: title to the property will pass outside of probate, and this might conflict with the intentions expressed in your existing will. It could also lead some of your beneficiaries to bring a claim against the estate if they feel they are not getting their fair share, because, without clear additional proof of your intentions, the person who goes on title with you can be deemed by the court to be holding the property on behalf of your estate, rather than a gift recipient who obtains the property outright upon your death.

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Nat Olsson in Featured, Wills & Estate Law

Do you know why it is a good idea to have a Power of Attorney document, in addition to a  will, and a representation agreement for medical decisions on your behalf?

You could be out of town when trying to sell real estate, and want to have someone you trust sign the transfer and other documents on your behalf. More importantly, you might lose your mental capacity for making such financial transactions because of dementia, or other debilitating medical conditions. If you do not appoint an attorney you trust to carry out these financial transactions and manage your finances for you, one will need to be appointed by the court.

Posted on May 29, 2017 by David Severide in Featured, Wills & Estate Law

In this blog I discuss why the bank won’t listen to you when you are trying to pay bills on behalf of a family member, in this example your Dad, who has become incapacitated, either physically or mentally or both. Just at a time when you are stressed out with the sudden illness of a close family member, and you need a welcoming face at the bank to assist you to take care of some urgent bills for your Dad, you are met with the (unsympathetic) response “ I cant help you unless you have a joint account or power of attorney”. You reply “But I have Dad’s deposit/cheque book and I can prove I am his daughter and you know me cuz I bank here too……” but you can tell that your pleas are falling on deaf ears.

Posted on July 9, 2016 by Deirdre Prestage Severide in Featured, Family Law

Parents contemplating divorce are always concerned that the divorce will negatively impact their children. Many of my clients tell me that they vividly recall living through their parents horrible divorce and don’t want to put their children through a similar experience.