Do Not Wait Until It Is Too Late! Set Up A Durable Power Of Attorney While You Still Can

Many things in life need to be decided in advance, but none more so than durable power of attorney. Why is this legal document so important? Because in it you indicate who will handle your finances and make decisions for you while you are of sound mind and body, or should you become mentally or physically incapacitated. This trusted individual is known as your agent.

Once you have decided to arrange for a durable power of attorney, how do you choose your agent? Since this individual will be stepping into your shoes to undertake as many or as few of your financial and property matters as you decide, you must choose someone whom you trust absolutely, who has the ability to manage money, and is at least 18 years of age.

Moreover, you must set up a durable power of attorney while you still have the mental capacity to sign a legal document and to make decisions for yourself. Once you can no longer do this, it is too late to give anyone else the authority to do so. Your wishes regarding bank accounts, financial transactions or real estate dealings could be largely ignored or unknown.

Normally people choose a trusted family member, spouse, friend or legal advisor for their agent. What is crucial to note here is that if you would like your spouse to manage your affairs in circumstances foreseen and unforeseen, you must arrange in advance for him or her to have a durable power of attorney. Lingering in the mind of the public is the misperception that your spouse can automatically sign documents for you if you are mentally or physically incapacitated, but this is not the case.

One of the great benefits of the durable power of attorney instrument is its flexibility and convenience. When your durable power of attorney takes effect and the powers that you grant your agent can be as broad or as narrow as you choose.

For example, you can be completely competent to manage all your affairs, but choose to give your agent power immediately because you would like him or her to act on your behalf if you are on vacation, out of the country, or sick. For a couple who moves to Florida to retire, it is much more convenient to have their New Jersey-based son, who is their agent, sell their New Jersey home.

By the same token, you can grant your agent power that becomes effective only in the future, whether you remain competent to handle your own affairs, or not. In either case, the powers that you grant your agent are completely up to you and can encompass as many or as few tasks as you designate.
Some of the powers that you can give your agent include the authority to sign checks, make deposits, pay bills, file tax returns, make health decisions (the subject of another article), sell property, or invest money.

You can also empower your agent to hire individuals to manage your business and personal matters, whether it is as simple as lawn mowing or as complex as investment advising. The only restriction is that your agent cannot write and sign a will for you, and his or her powers become void upon your death. Whatever powers you designate, you can also revoke at any time.

How is a durable power of attorney different from a power of attorney that is not durable, and why is appointing a durable power of attorney so much more important to your future? If you were to grant a non-durable power of attorney to your agent, it would only become effective only upon your showing signs of mental incapacitation.This means that if you are physically incapacitated, your agent does not have the authority to act upon your behalf.

As the following example shows, a non-durable power of attorney is not at all flexible.

When an elderly widower was hospitalized and physically incapacitated for several weeks, he was unable to rollover a CD and pay the premium on his life insurance policy in time.

Because he had previously arranged for his daughter to have a non-durable power of attorney only, she could not carry out either of these tasks for him. She was neither able to take advantage of a new CD offer with a better rate, nor was she able to prevent the life insurance policy from lapsing. Had the father arranged for his daughter to have a durable power of attorney, she would have been able to act on his behalf in both of these matters.

Finally, a durable power of attorney is much more affordable than the alternative: setting up a guardianship. If you have already planned for a comprehensive, durable power of attorney, and you become mentally incapacitated, the need for a guardianship is obviated. Establishing up a guardianship can take months of court time and medical testimony, as well as costing thousands of dollars.

Ultimately, it is up to you and your lawyer to decide how to best ensure that your affairs, whether in the present or the future, are managed according to your wishes. A well planned durable power of attorney can do just that.

Nicholas Giuditta is a trust and estates lawyer in Cranford, NJ. He prepares estate plans for high net worth individuals that protect their loved ones and preserve their assets. Find out how your family can benefit by visiting http://www.giudittalaw.com

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Estate Planning : When Does the Trust Stay Private?

Often revocable living trusts can help heirs avoid probate court, and affairs can remain private. Find out when a trust stays private from an estate planning and probate lawyer in this free video on estate law.

Jeffrey Volosin Discusses The Difference Between LLC And C Corps for Businesses

As being a part of the business world, it is important to understand different terms. Educating oneself on these terms not only helps with learning and understanding business conversation, but lets people know that the businessman (or woman) is serious and truly knowledgeable in the field. The two terms professionals should be able to know are a limited liability company (LLC) and a C corporation. While they are both structures, they both have their different traits and can allow many businessmen and businesswomen know what is most suitable for a business. Both have an indefinite term of life, but LLCs having plenty of distinguishing traits.

A limited liability company (better known as an LLC) is a specific type of business entity that mixes the personal liability protection of a corporation with the tax benefits of a partnership. It is a structure that offers protection to a company's owner. An LLC is best suited for small businesses with very few shareholders.

A limited liability company's taxation is a single taxation, which means the interests of the profit or loss is passed to members who are in the top 39.6% bracket. An LLC has the option to elect to be taxed as a corporation. Only the members own and manage an LLC. It has limited liability. In other words, the liability is not exceeded by the amount invested by members. Meetings for members are not required, but activities should be recorded.

A C corporation is a complete opposite. It is a specific type of business entity that is taxed separate from its owners. It is used for medium and large-sized corporations and owned by its shareholders; this is different from an LLC since LLCs deal with small businesses with a few shareholders. C corporations are managed by officers while LLCs are managed by the members or managing members themselves.

Another trait of C corporations is that it uses a double taxation in lieu of a single taxation that is seen in LLCs. Income is taxed roughly 34% and shareholders pay taxes on profits distributed. The choice of taxation structures are not allowed with C corporations, they must be taxed at a corporate tax rate. Shareholders are required to attend board meetings whereas stated for LLCs, meetings are not required. While these differences may be broad between the two types of corporate structures, knowing the differences allows professionals to make the right assessments for future businesses.

If you are looking for more information on incorporating your small business, please visit http://www.jeffreyvolosin.net to get find out more.

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Reasons Why Making a Will Is Important

Most people tend to procrastinate about making their last will and testament, primarily because it is a harsh reminder of our mortality and as such, we prefer not to have anything to do with it until the time comes when it is too late to do something about it. In most funerals you attend, you often hear people ask if the deceased left any will and the most common answer being "no" or "none."

While making a will is certainly no one's favorite thing to do, what many people don't realize is that it can alleviate your fears of death because once you decide to make it, you will be assured that the loved ones you leave behind will be taken care of properly and that your estate won't be spent on legal expenses from contests initiated by your heirs.

However, that's not to say you can't die without ever making a will. In fact, there are two ways by which you can die without a will, the first being because you never wrote one and the second being, the will you wrote was declared invalid by probate court. In both cases, this is referred to as dying intestate or dying without a valid will.

When you die intestate, that means the control of your property and the distribution of your assets will be done under the laws of intestacy. If for example you co-owned a property with two other people, the laws of intestacy dictate that the ownership will not transfer to the other co-owners but your heirs, which is one situation that the remaining co-owners may contest.

There are four types of assets where these laws don't apply and they are as follows:

• Life insurance and retirement plan proceeds
• Properties that are jointly owned with a right of survivorship
• Properties held in a living trust
• Properties under the community property system

The entire purpose of making a will is to make sure your property and assets are distributed to people and organizations as you intended. To make sure this happens you can elect an executor of your will to make sure every condition in your will is fulfilled. Choosing an executor means you should choose someone you trust like a relative or a close friend. If you don't have neither to choose from, then it should be someone who is dependable, trustworthy, well-organized, good with paperwork and diligent about meeting deadlines.

And lastly, making a will doesn't have to follow a strict guideline because what will matter is not how the will was written but the conditions written within. There are many ways these days to write your own will, such as software that you can use just by asking you a few questions where your answers will be inserted into a ready-made will. Having a will ready will also save you from having to hire a lawyer to help you write one - not only is it time-consuming to find a good lawyer, it is also quite expensive to have one draft your will for you.

When you want to learn more about how to avoid problems after you've gone, check out this post about will disputes so that your loved ones are well taken care of when it matters.

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Does a Will Control All of My Property?

Does a will control all of my property?

Should You Include Your Spouse When Forming a Small Business LLC?

In this video it talks about a couple of reasons why you may not want to have your spouse included in your LLC. But every situation is different.

Estate Planning Eases Confusion, Financial Worries

What you need to know about estate planning, including why having a will and assigning a power of attorney is crucial.

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Uncontested Divorce - Definition, Terms and Conditions

An Uncontested Divorce is a legal procedure in which the spouses mutually agree on certain terms and conditions, in order to adjourn their marriage. An uncontested divorce can be executed successfully if the spouses comply to a shared agreement in the matters related to the property partition, financial matters, any kind of support activities related to their children, and other litigious affairs.

A major benefit of consenting with an uncontested divorce is that unlike contested divorce, it doesn't have to deal with emotional and financial issues, is relatively inexpensive and quick, since most of the times the spouses may not find any need of an attorney or a court case for the divorce, if they are in good terms with each other, and plan to go with proper understanding. This is quite helpful essentially when the couple has much less assets to deal with and no children.

There are many "Do it yourself" forms available at concerned regulatory agencies, which can assist you in going ahead with the uncontested divorce activity yourself, without the need of any outside legal authority or attorney.But, in case of the issues for child support or the partition of community property, one must follow up with attorney related to divorce, before they proceed with signing off any legal documents.

Divorce is a quite tedious and sometimes displeasing procedure.Despite having mutual consent on many of the terms, there still exist loads of matters that need to be taken care of, before ending up the marriage. The couple needs to be capable enough to distinguish these issues and resolve them as soon as they can. To decide whether it is appropriate for a couple to go ahead with an uncontested divorce rather than a contested one, there are certain points that can be used as reference:

1) Are both the spouses agreeing to go for a divorce, or one of them still wants to re-establish the relationship?

2) Are all the financial issues, modes of income and other related assets properly understood by both the spouses, so that they can divide and decide on them accordingly?

3) In case, there are children, are all the issues regarding the child care and support,custody, periodic meetings and visits decided yet?

4) Are all the issues getting settled with mutual consent, and are devoid of any hard feelings?

5) Are both the partners in accord with the honesty or authenticity of the other partner's notions,regarding the resolution of these issues?

If either of the above mentioned questions, has an answer as "yes", then it is appropriate to go for an uncontested divorce.

Uncontested divorce can be carried on easily and without much hassles, but they can be derogatory to certain individuals in case the people involved in the divorce, do not know much about their appropriate rights with respect to the alimony amount, partition of pension, earnings from real estate, and other modes of income.

Hence, it is always advisable to consult an attorney or other legal authorities related to divorce, even while going on with the uncontested divorce, where you and your partner mutually agree to all the terms.

Uncontested Divorce.

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Can Someone Challenge My Will After I Die?

Can someone challenge my will after I die?