With Your Family in Mind

For aging adults, it’s quite easy for the room that’s considered a primary gathering place—the kitchen—to instead become a nightmare. Not only are seniors over the age of 65 more likely to be injured in a kitchen fire, they are more likely to suffer a fall injury due to: items stored out of reach—both too high and too low—and the likelihood that meals are carried to eat in another room.

When representing senior citizens in any real estate transaction, it is important to be very sensitive to their specific needs. It may have been several years since their last real estate transaction, and as we all know, things have changed.
First, seniors may not be as technically savvy as most people are today. That being said, there are always exceptions…I recently met an 80-plus year old who could “out tech” me any day of the week! The majority of seniors tend to be a bit more comfortable with paper and ink.

Did you know that being a caregiver for a spouse with Alzheimer’s disease is hazardous to your health?  Multiple studies have been done, and the results are unanimous:  family members who serve as caregivers have very high levels of stress-related health problems.  An Ohio State University study reported that Alzheimer’s caregivers had remarkably higher levels of infections, depression, elevated blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and other illnesses. 

With the holidays comes the opportunity for ex-spouses to fight with one another over splitting up custodial vacation time. Some, albeit the minority, of my clients have a loose custody agreement which works to the advantage of both parents because they can decide amongst themselves how to fairly divide the time. Other clients have a very detailed custody arrangement precisely because the parents cannot fairly decide how to allocate the time between them.

It’s New Year’s resolutions time, an ideal opportunity to get our legal and financial houses in order. Here are some resolutions we can all accomplish:
1. Organization:
• Label and store all closed bank and financial accounts.
• Place an up-to-date summary of your family’s assets and debts in an Assets file.

Have you ever thought of becoming a foster parent or wanted to adopt a child in need of permanency? Koinonia Family Services is now serving the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valleys, and is looking for families who want to provide safe, caring, and nurturing homes for children who are in need of short-term or long-term placement. Children in need of placement range from newborns to 18-year-olds.  Koinonia Family Services has expanded due to the significant need in the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valley areas. 

The need for an estate plan is not so much dependent on your age but on life events.  Here are a few key events that may trigger the need for an estate plan or a change in an existing plan.
1. Marriage or Divorce – After marriage, a couple may want to consider designation of a spouse as a health care agent and the distribution or division of joint property on death.
After a divorce, the distribution of separate property and the designation of new trustees and health care agents should be addressed in a new estate plan.

California is a community property state. Thus, when a couple divorces, the court must divide the community property equally. Divide by two, what could possibly be any easier? Why then is it that many cases drag on and require hundreds of thousands of dollars of effort to “divide by two”?
The answer seems to lie in the complexity of determining what something is really worth. Perhaps there is a bank account with $100,000, an investment account with $100,000, and a real estate equity of $100,000. Easy, each spouse gets $150,000 of assets. Now add the element of time.

What are your goals?  Don’t be vague or too general.  Be specific.  If you do not have a clear understanding of your goals then they cannot be reached.  We need more than a clear understanding.  We need a strategy, a roadmap, if we are to make it from where and who we are today to where and who we want to be next or someday.  A very common mistake in human experience and thinking is to think we are clear on a goal, but to be missing the truly essential components to reach them.

Many of us ask ourselves just this question right after Christmas.  You may have heard that the Christmas season is the time of the year when more people become sad, depressed and despondent… but I think that the “after Christmas blues” are just as prevalent and devastating. 

There have been many exciting advances in technology recently that are geared to help seniors stay safe and comfortable in their own homes as they deal with disabilities or changes due to the aging process.  One area that has shown promise is home monitor systems.  These systems have come a long way from the push button “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” pendants. 

Inner Circle is a Foster Family Agency with two offices located in the cities of Van Nuys and Palmdale. They provide many services ranging from trainings for potentially qualified foster parents to working with victims of crimes, just to name a few. But of all the services they provide, their main goal is to grant children that have gone through traumatic events, a safe and loving environment. Inner Circle serves foster and biological families that are working together to potentially grant a child a life and environment that will help them thrive in the long run.

Millions of Americans are managing money or property for a loved one who is unable to pay bills or make financial decisions.  This can be very overwhelming.  It is also a great opportunity to help someone you care about, and protect them from scams and fraud.   Consumer Financial Protection...

“Every day is a new day, and you’ll never be able to find happiness if you don’t move on.” – Carrie Underwood
Facing divorce and separation in the New Year is an opportunity to define a New You.
What does it look and feel like? Answers may not be clear at first, but the process of defining your life and creating the picture of moving forward is often helpful.  Many find divorce creates a need to redefine the picture, or fantasy, of what we thought our life would look like.

Making wise decisions about what you eat as you get older is important.  Research shows that it’s not too late for smart food choices and other good health habits like being physically active, to help reduce your risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.  The goal is to make healthy lifestyle choices so you can stay active in the coming years.  The foods you eat and your level of exercise is related.  Because our metabolism slows with age, if you continue eating the same amount and types of food but do not become more active, you may gain weight.  What you eat and how active you are keeps your weight in balance. 

A common New Year’s resolution is to get one’s financial affairs in order.  When there is a lot of debt, that can be difficult.  Credit card interest rates can make it even more difficult, as many borrowers find themselves just treading water on their debt, and never paying it off. 
If you find yourself in a situation where you can barely pay your mortgage or rent along with the basic necessities for you and/or your family, bankruptcy may be a solution to your debt problems.  A Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows a debtor to eliminate most unsecured debt, and some secured debt as well (when the secured property will not be retained).

Comfort Keepers is thrilled to Chair the first ever “Santa Colorita Run”, affectionately known as the “Happiest 5k on the Planet”, taking place on February 15, at Castaic Lake Recreational Area. Taking place all over the world, these fun community runs have become a celebration of health, happiness, individuality, and a spirit of giving back to one’s community. This event is for runners and participants of all ages... there’s only one rule... wear something white... anything white... and maybe some goggles... ‘cause you’re gonna’ get “rainbowed”!

I have had the wonderful pleasure of living and serving in the Santa Clarita Valley now for a little over five years, and I am so thankful for all of the outstanding churches and pastors with whom together I have the pleasure of serving our community.
At BethlehemSCV we are seeking ways that we can be of service to this community and we would like to welcome you to consider two new things that are happening here.  The first is a Service of Healing and Prayer.  This service takes place on the first Thursday of the month in our Worship Center’s Prayer Garden.