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A Rose by Any Other Name. . .
Change is in the air for same-sex partnerships in California. The CA Supreme Court ruled yesterday to recognize gay marriage, a ruling that is meeting with mixed but strong reactions throughout the state—and the country. The overall significance of this landmark ruling has yet to be seen. California was one of the few states sympathetic to gay […]
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Life Partners Deserve Life Planning
There are times when everybody needs a little motivation to plan for the future, but when you live in a situation that is outside the “norm” it’s even more important to think and to plan ahead. A little motivation to plan for retirement is exactly what many same-sex couples need, according to this study published in […]
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Non-Traditional Plans for Non-Traditional Partners
Can you imagine your beloved partner being gravely injured, and you unable to be at his or her bedside? For most of us this is unthinkable, but this is exactly what happened to Brett Conrad and Patrick Atkins, a gay couple of 25 years, when Patrick suffered a stroke in 2005 and was placed in […]
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No Contest for Meddling Relatives
When are you safe from meddling relatives if not when you’re dead? It turns out, even death is no safe haven, as this article by Tracy Breton in The Providence Journal suggests. According to the article, the Will of University of Rhode Island professor Beatrice S. Demers, who died last year at the age of 100, […]
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Estate Planning for Parents, One Step at a Time
Thinking about who will care for your children if anything happens to you can be the most difficult thing in the world. Although many people would like to shy away from the subject altogether, every parent knows how very important it is to ensure their children don’t end up as a ward of the state. […]
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A Guardianship Panel Allows Flexibility
When it comes to selecting a guardian (i.e. a “backup parent”) for your children, not every parent has a clear-cut decision. Who do you choose if you don’t have extended family with whom you are close? Or what if you are close to your family, but worry that the person who would make the best guardian […]
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Taking Stock of the Future
Learning about investing is like learning another language—a language of numbers and symbols and percentages. Although everybody wants to grow their money, not everybody has the time to learn this new language. Luckily, there are an abundance of people who have learned the language of investing, and whose job is to help the rest of […]
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The Gift of Education
Your grandson’s birthday is coming up, and once again you’re stumped for ideas. You may wonder, is there something other than video games I can give him; something with a lasting value? How about an education? Give your children or grandchildren the most useful gift of their lives, and benefit yourself as well; contribute to […]
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Probable… probably… PROBATE
“Probate” is a term that is mentioned quite a bit in the estate planning world. We’re always talking about the process of probate, the cost of probate, the list of “horribles” with probate, and how to avoid it. With all this talk of probate, a definition and description of the process seems in order. Probate is the […]
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Will You Outlive Your Money?
All of us know about saving for retirement, but how much do any of us know about spending during retirement? With fewer people receiving pensions, and more and more retirees using a combination of IRAs, 401(k)s, stock investments and real estate, your retirement income can begin to look like something even an economics expert would […]
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