Q. My lifelong friend, Declan, has a family that has a history of early-onset Alzheimer’s. Declan is worried that he will get sick when he is still young and will not be able to pay his bills or make other decisions about his savings, his house, or his wishes when it comes to healthcare. Declan […]
How Much Should an Agent Under a Power of Attorney Be Paid?
Dear Ernie and Jannette, Both my parents signed Power of Attorney documents naming my sister as their financial agent. They now both have dementia and live in an assisted living facility. My sister wants to pay herself to do things like take them to the doctor, pick up their prescriptions, do some occasional shopping, and […]
Family Feuding Over the Power of Attorney Decision
Maddie was asked by her mother to assume the role of agent under her Power of Attorney, entrusting her to act on her mother’s behalf and to place her mother’s interests ahead of her own when the time comes. Maddie lives the closest to her mother and has proven to be both responsible and trustworthy. This […]
Should new Virginia residents Update their Out-of-State Estate Planning Documents?
Dear Ernie and Janette, I recently moved to Northern Virginia from Florida to be near my children and grandchildren. Although I really miss the warmer weather, I adore having family close by. I went to an estate planning attorney when I was in Florida and got all my documents done. Do I need to update […]
Yikes! Our Top 10 Scariest Articles of 2018
Believe it or not, in Elder Law, Estate Planning, and Special Needs Planning, there are some news stories that sound more like the scary plots of horror movies than real life. The topics can be so horrifying that suddenly, you need to turn on all the lights just to read the news stories and do […]
Adult Children Seek Guardianship of Their Astronaut Dad, Buzz Aldrin
In July 1969, the first person to set foot on the moon’s surface was Neil Armstrong. Nine minutes later, Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. touched down. History was made! On the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 next year, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, 88, seeks to remain an influential voice on our country’s space exploration policy. Just […]
The Biggest Misconceptions About A Power of Attorney
Q. My lifelong friend, Peter, has an aunt who was never married and never had children of her own. Peter was the closest family member she had, but she was not a very trusting person, and didn’t trust Peter or anyone, especially when it came to money. When she was beginning to experience memory loss, […]
Estate Planning for the Modern Family
Q. My family is not what many would consider “ordinary.” I am divorced and have been remarried for five years. I have a 40-year-old stepdaughter, a 25-year-old daughter, and a 10-year-old grandson, all of whom reside with us. My mother lives with us, as well, in a large home that I purchased with her, my brother, and his husband. Any suggestions when it comes to estate planning for my “modern” family? […]
Do You Need a Representative Payee for Social Security if You Have a Financial Power of Attorney?
Q1. My long-time friend, Ellie, is a widow who lives alone and never had children. Without family members to help, and dealing with her own dementia-related challenges, she’s finding it more and more difficult to manage her day-to-day finances and expenses, which she pays almost exclusively with her monthly Social Security income. She recently received […]
I Am My Mother’s Financial Caregiver. Now What?
Dear Bebe, When my mother did her estate planning several years ago, I was told I would be the trustee for her trust and the agent under her Financial Power of Attorney, should there come a time when she can no longer handle her own finances. Well, that time has come and it’s my time […]
Update Your Estate Planning Documents Now!
Dear Magic, My husband and I came to Evan’s office to do our estate planning several years ago. We have had some family changes since then, such as our children got married and had children of their own. With all this happening and with the new tax plan going into affect, does our estate planning […]
Top 17 Articles of 2017
From the passing of the RAISE Family Caregivers Act to offer much-needed support to caregivers, to Trump’s tax overhaul, we covered a lot of ground in 2017. It was a year that included a massive data breach, the ACA almost being repealed, and amazing new technological innovations to help seniors age-in-place. At the Farr Law […]
Her Parents Were Kidnapped by a Professional Guardian
Rudy North was an avid reader, who had a sharp mind and liked to write down quotes from his favorite books. Rennie, his wife of fifty-seven years, was recovering from lymphoma and suffered from neuropathy so severe that her legs felt lifeless. Yet, she spent her mornings prettying herself up for her husband, who referred […]
Find Out Why Only 1.5% Of Social Security Recipients Use This Program!
Q. My mother, Louise, was diagnosed with dementia when she was 60 years old. Her dementia has progressively gotten worse since then, and I am helping a lot these days with some caregiving tasks, and money matters. My mother is currently living off of Social Security only. Since I am in charge of her finances at this […]
Is it Time to Take Control of Your Parent’s Finances?
Q. My dad is in his mid-80’s and he still resides in the home where I grew up, without much outside assistance. He is healthy and takes exercise walks daily, to keep himself fit and active. When it comes to cognitive health and memory, he seems to remember most things. However, he is beginning to repeat himself a […]
Acting in My Sister’s Best Interest
Dear Angel, My sister named me as agent under her Financial Power of Attorney, and she recently had a massive stroke, so I need to step in and start managing her legal and financial affairs. She’s only 59 years old, so this was VERY unexpected. But at least she was smart enough to do a […]
Our Top 10 Scariest Articles of 2016 (If You Dare)
With Halloween upon us, now is the time when we present you with this year’s scariest stories. From one typo costing you your computer to loved ones with Alzheimer’s owning guns, we uncovered some scary ground. To celebrate Halloween, we’ve ranked our scariest articles from least to most scary (but you be the judge) for […]
Do New Electronic Medical Record Systems Make It Difficult to Access Advance Directives?
Q. I have heard several horror stories about Advance Directives being unavailable when needed, as more hospitals are implementing new systems to store and access electronic medical records. Or, in other cases, patients’ documents are being rendered unreadable by incompatible software. What if a patient’s doctor uses one record system and the emergency room another? […]
Overcoming Emotions: Moving Mom to a Nursing Home
Q. My aging mother has lived in her home since I was a child. My family loved the neighborhood so much that we never moved, and when I got married and had my own family, we bought a house a few blocks away. Now, dad’s been gone for many years, and mom has had home […]
Why Every College Student Should Have an Incapacity Plan
Q. My 18-year old daughter, Madison, will be a freshman in college in the fall. At her high school graduation party, my friend Phil told me that he is already doing estate planning for his own daughter, and he told me that it is really important and I should do it for my daughter. Is this really something that a college student needs? My […]