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Family Matters

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Parental Responsibility

     Are you the parent of minor children? If so, then they surely are your most valuable treasures. What arrangements have you made for their care should something happen to you and their other parent?
     As with your personal, health care and financial decisions, would you rather select the back-ups yourself, or let a court make the selection without your input? Sometimes it’s prudent to select back-up parents along with professional money managers to handle any inheritance.
     Bottom line: Only through a valid Last Will & Testament can you appoint the guardians (i.e., back-up parents) for your minor children.

Boomer Responsibility

     If you were born between 1946 and 1965, then you are a Baby Boomer. Have you asked your parents or grandparents whether they have made proper legal plans for themselves should they become incapacitated? Whom have they appointed to make their personal, health care and financial decisions? Where are these legal instruments and other important personal and financial records kept? If long-term care becomes necessary, have they insured this risk with some form of long-term care insurance and, if so, with which insurance carrier? These are all important questions to be asking sooner rather than later.

Inheritance Responsibility

     Wealth built through a lifetime of toil and thrift can disappear in one roll of the dice, a divorce property settlement, a lawsuit judgment or a bankruptcy decree, unless legal plans are made to protect and preserve it. No one appreciates the value of a dollar more than the person who earned and paid taxes on it. An inherited dollar just spends differently once it has been inherited. Even if that same inherited dollar is not squandered, it may attract and invite problems.
     You can avoid, or at least mitigate, many of these problems with appropriate planning now that will protect any inheritance ... both for your heirs, and from their problems.

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