Blended families have become increasingly common in Arizona. When married couples have children from earlier marriages and subsequently have children together, their estate plans should be written in a way to ensure that everyone's interests will be protected so that...
Estate Planning
Can step-parents inherit an entire estate?
If someone dies in Arizona and leaves a will behind, their children might feel like they should get priority over their step-parents. Some people leave everything to their new spouses, assuming that they'll divide their estate among their children from previous...
What happens to your debts when you die?
In an ideal situation, when you pass away, your heirs would be able to receive the assets that you want to leave to them without any creditors involving themselves in the process. Unfortunately, ideal situations aren’t always realistic, and some of the debts that you...
How common are pet trusts?
Socially, the emotional bond between pets and their owners can feel like family. It should come as no surprise that more owners in Arizona feel the need to set up trusts to care for their fur babies. This is especially true for individuals who own multiple pets. How...
Are personal belongings part of your estate?
When you’re planning your estate in Arizona, it’s important to include any belongings that you want to pass along to your friends or relatives. Naming all your assets in your will might be time-consuming, but it pays off in the long run. Your assets will be...
Passing a home to kids while housing a surviving romantic partner
Adult children in Arizona sometimes learn that their parent wants to keep a home in the family while also giving their romantic partner a place to live. After hearing your mother or father express this wish, you may have mixed feelings. You naturally worry that an...
Understanding how wills work
Arizona property owners who do not already have an estate plan may want to start thinking about how to pass their property on after they pass away. If a person holds a joint tenancy with a right of survivorship and only one owner dies, the other owner will take full...
Drafting several powers of attorney for simplicity
People in Arizona can write powers of attorney to give others the power to act for them if they become incapacitated and are unable to make important decisions for themselves. In some cases, it might make sense to draft several powers of attorney to grant the...
Introduction to Estate Planning
So what exactly IS estate planning? When I tell people that I am an Estate Planning attorney, the usual response is "oh that's nice." The after a pause, they ask, "So what is it that you actually do? What exactly IS estate planning?" The short answer that I usually...
Estate Planning 102: Probate
The second part of the Wikipedia definition explains that Estate Planning "attempts to eliminate uncertainties over the administration of a probate . . ."Probate? This sounds complicated. Will it hurt?? Well, only a little bit. (Just kidding . . . sort of). Seriously...