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If You are Counting on Receiving an Inheritance, You Better Think Again: How to Help Your Client Avoid Receiving a Negative Inheritance

By Kim Culver

Kendall and Jackson Smith are both in their late forties and have been married for twenty-two years. They have two boys, ages 13 and 17. Each work long hours and together make around $175,000 per year. Kendall’s father passed away a few years ago, and her mother, Jane, was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Jane is terrified of living in a nursing home, and Kendall and her brother, who lives a couple of hours away, promised Jane that they would do everything they could to make sure that Jane would not have to live in one.

Getting To Know You. Conociéndolo.

Immigration Laws for Trust Attorneys: Know Your Undocumented Immigrant Client and Understand How He Can Benefit From a Special Needs Trust

By Margaret Elizabeth Perry

Due to the 11.9 million illegal immigrants who reside in the United States, it is especially important for attorneys to know their clients. Furthermore, with the current state of immigration in this country, a worthy question for attorneys to pose is not if but how illegal immigration will affect their law practice. Illegal immigration is an issue that impacts both United States politics and economics, and knocks on the door of every type of law practice across this country. Therefore, estate planners must familiarize themselves with immigration laws and understand that no law prohibits the “Special Needs Trust” from serving the undocumented immigrants residing in the United States. A special needs trust is a mechanism that the law provides to care for individuals who are victims of a severe personal injury.

The Do-It Yourself Phenomenon: Where There is a Will, is There a Way?

By Christina Conway

In the past when an individual needed assistance with a legal matter, the evident thing to do was to consult an attorney. Today, however, technology has changed our American way of living. Advances in technology have placed a world of resources at our fingertips and has changed the way we research, work, and learn; it should come as no surprise that technology has changed the legal world as well. More Americans are now participating in “do-it-yourself law,” and a do-it-yourself attitude is sweeping the legal community. This do-it-yourself phenomenon is not just one thing—it is a large umbrella encompassing online legal documents, online legal research, and do-it-yourself legal kits. In the field of estate planning, the do-it-yourself attitude is most apparent when it comes to the creation of wills. Individuals can now create their own will through the use of online legal forms and legal kits, keeping more Americans at home and out of an attorney’s office.