With Your Family in Mind

When choosing a beneficiary for a retirement plan, it is important to understand how your spouse will be treated under the plan.  Surviving spouses are treated differently under 401(k) plans and IRAs.  In general, 401(k) plans provide protections for surviving spouses that IRAs do not – 401(k) plans are governed by a federal law known as ERISA.  Under this law, a surviving spouse is the automatic beneficiary of a retirement plan. 

Everyone has the right to appeal.  Keep in mind that about 98 percent of all cases settle at some point.
A small percentage of cases do go to trial, and a percentage of those cases will be appealed.  Family law cases are different than civil appeals because in family law trials, there is no jury.  You have either a judge or a court commissioner.  That person will make all of the determinations of facts and law.  In a civil action, the court decides questions of law while the jury makes findings of fact.  The judge instructs the jury on the law.

If you or a loved one is advancing in age, it is very possible (and probable) that help with daily activities will be needed.  Help may be needed in a simple way, like preparing meals, paying bills, or supervising medications.  The needs may be more extensive, and care may be required outside the home in an assisted living facility, board and care, or nursing home. 

The month marks the 10-year anniversary of Comfort Keepers In-Home Care keeping seniors safe in their own home in the Santa Clarita Valley.  We feel blessed to have had the opportunity to assist thousands of families in caring for an aging loved one, and allowing our clients to remain safely in their own home. 

The nomination of the successor trustee of a trust is critical in establishing an estate plan.  The successor trustee takes office after the death or disability of the grantor, thereby becoming responsible for the administration of the grantor’s trust estate.
Here’s what the successor trustee can expect to do:

Grief is reaching out for someone you’ve always loved, only to find that when you need her one more time, she’s gone.  Death, divorce and other losses catch most people totally unprepared.  Most of us simply are not trained how to handle loss.
“We’re taught to acquire stuff, not what to do when we lose anything,” said Jeff Zhorne, a grief counselor and director of The Grief Program.  Many people as children were given no skills or tools on how to cope with painful emotions.

We discover in the Bible that Samson fought a lion, David fought a lion, and Daniel fought a lion.  We also discover in our own lives that we have to fight lions.  Our lions may not be in the form of the actual animal.  But usually take the form of bills, family issues, work issues, financial issues, health issues, or any stress related issue. 

To all the dads… Happy Father’s Day!  Dads, I’m sure you would agree with me when I say, fatherhood is the source of some of our greatest joys as well as some of our scariest challenges.  The one who said, “parenting is not for cowards” was certainly right.

The Power to Persuade can create unlimited success.  Our voice is the engine of that success.  We can use it to create empires or a simple successful life or to complain and explain why we are victims.  Our tone of voice is very often a reflection of how we view the world.  If we’re nervous and up tight the voice often has an edge and puts people off. 

Keeping the body hydrated is particularly important for the elderly.  In addition to proper diet and exercise, hydration plays a very significant role in healthy living for seniors. With the warm weather approaching, the risk for seniors suffering from dehydration increases.
A loss of hydration can impact how seniors look and feel.  As our body ages, we experience a decrease in our total body water and our thirst sensation also decreases.

As I watch my youngest grandchild sleep, I am surprised by how quickly the years pass.  At two, my granddaughter possesses so many of her mother’s attributes that I find myself mesmerized when she strikes a pose or becomes excited over a new discovery.  I see my daughter all over again at that age, and the fondest of memories come racing back.  Of course, my grandchild’s paternal grandmother sees her son in the very same toddler.  For sound biological reasons, these perceptions serve to enhance the attachment process and secure survival in a developing child.

Child support is governed by the formula in the Statewide Uniform Guidelines For Child Support.  However, it is possible to get more than guideline support in some instances.  There are two mandatory add-ons for child support and a couple add-ons that are discretionary.
The algebraic formula used to calculate child support is set forth in Family Code Section 4055 and is “presumptively correct in all cases.”  Nevertheless, there is a way to get additional support on top of the guideline support awarded. 

When a bankruptcy is filed, the court appoints a Trustee to administer the case.  In Chapter 13 cases, the Trustee often focuses on the debtor’s available income because a Chapter 13 is designed to pay creditors through a plan.  Chapter 7 Trustees are usually more concerned with assets that might be liquidated.
In both Chapters, the Trustee is required to set a meeting called the “Meeting of Creditors.”  It is also called a 341(a) meeting because that is the code section that sets forth the requirement for the meeting.

Privacy rights can be implicated in different ways in a lawsuit.  There is the right to privacy of the person suing (the plaintiff), the right to privacy of the person being sued (the defendant), and the right to privacy of third parties (anyone else that might testify or be required to produce documentation in the lawsuit or at trial).

The amount you can deduct on your taxes as a result of buying long-term care insurance has been increased by the IRS for 2011.  Generally, you can deduct part of your premiums if the premiums, together with your other unreimbursed medical expenses, amount to more than 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income.  The maximum amount of premiums you can deduct each year depends on your age at the end of the year:

With the death of Elizabeth Taylor, we are all reminded that planning ahead is essential.  Given the fact her estate was worth $600 million to $1 billion, it’s a good thing she planned ahead.
Estate planning lessons we can learn from celebrities include the following:

Many of our aging clients are in their 70s, 80s, and even 90s.  They are often veterans of the Korean War or World War II, or the surviving spouse of a veteran who served during these wars.  The harsh realities of aging and illness are surfacing, and our clients are in need of care.  That care may be in the home, or in a care facility.  Either way, that care is expensive, and our clients and their families are worried about the cost.  

“Pain is inevitable.  Suffering is optional.” – M. Kathleen Casey
We are living in a more financially stressful economy.  Divorce and separation add immediate additional financial demands on an already taxing budget.  Home equity, which provided some relief in the past has been replaced (too often) with “upside down” mortgage liabilities.  Faced with debt, couples struggle with the question of how will they support two households with resources that were designed for one?