Can Probate Be Avoided?

People often ask about if and how probate can be avoided, and there are a number of different ways of holding assets that will avoid probate. 

The simplest is probably just joint ownership, such as a piece of real estate held as joint tenants or a bank account held jointly. This type of assets will pass automatically to the other joint owner when the first owner dies – but keep in mind, there will still be a probate at the second death. 

Another way to avoid probate is by assets which have 'designated beneficiaries', such as an insurance policy or a retirement plan (such as an IRA). These assets will pass to those beneficiaries when the owner of the asset dies.

Still another way to avoid probate is to hold assets in a revocable trust.

Questions About Elder Law?

As we age, for planning purposes, people often ask about the questions they should be asking themselves and their loved ones. 

Among the most common, which you might want to consider, are: t

• Do I want to make sure my spouse is taken care of?
• Do I want to stay in my own home?
• If I need help making decisions relating to my health care or finances, do I have the legal documents in place without the need for a guardianship?

Read more... 

Welcome Associate Attorney Tom Harlan!

We are happy to announce that Thomas R. Harlan has joined the firm as an Associate Attorney.

A lifelong resident of Manchester, Tom was Valedictorian of Central High School’s Class of 1988.  He went on to The University of New Hampshire, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in History.  

During his undergraduate career, Tom was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society during his junior year, and subsequently obtained his Juris Doctor degree from U.N.H. Law (formerly Franklin Pierce Law Center) in 1997.

Tom has been a member of the New Hampshire Bar since 1997, and focuses his practice on estate planning.

A Case of Asset Protection

A recent client was still working at age seventy-five, but not necessarily by choice. His wife was suffering with Alzheimer’s disease, and had been living at a long-term care facility for seven years. 

During our conversation it became clear that the only reason he continued to work was to pay for his wife's care. He was exhausted, yet unsure about alternatives… 

He felt trapped... 

Like many people, he was confused about asset protection in a case where only one spouse was in need of long-term care. He had also been told about a five-year “look-back,” didn’t know whether his home and other assets were protected, and was worried about the fact that he had not done any planning. 

In fact, he confessed he wasn’t quite sure about how the look-back worked or how he could possibly maintain his wife's care if he were to stop working or, even worse, suddenly be unable to do so. 

The Good News... read the case study.

Is Your Trust "Bucket" Funded?

To avoid probate many families have their estate planning attorney create a trust, which is like a bucket a person or family carries through life. 

While carrying the “trust bucket” they can decide what they’d like to place into it, thus “funding” the trust. They can also decide who should carry the bucket for them should they become unable to do so, and also how the assets within the bucket should be distributed when they die.

If a trust is not funded when someone dies, then the probate court must decide how to distribute any assets involved and the family will incur the costs associated.

Read case study...

Helpful Legal Resource

One of the most highly trafficked legal web sites, FindLaw provides the most comprehensive set of legal resources on the Internet for:

• Lawyers
• Businesses
• Students
• Individuals

The website, findlaw.com, also contains news and legal updates, and can help people find a lawyer should they need to do so.

You can find links to additional resources like this on the "helpful links" page on our website. 

Summer Reading...

We recently read On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s by Greg O’Brien and recommend the reading of this book to anyone who knows someone who is facing Alzheimer’s or any other cognitive disease.

The author, an investigative reporter, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s and speaks personally about living with the disease on a day-to-day basis. Although some of the legal aspects stated in the book seemed to be a bit inaccurate, I found that the author’s frank and insightful observations into what it is like to experience early onset Alzheimer’s to be invaluable to caretakers as well as to the medical profession.

While this book isn’t a “light” summer read, the narrative is very informal and can definitely be read on the beach.