Recently, Lamar Odom, the former NBA star who played for the Lakers and the Clippers, was found unconscious in a brothel in Nevada. In addition to being a professional athlete, Odom is famous for his 2009 marriage to reality television star Khloe Kardashian. Although the couple had separated and signed divorce papers in July of...
Memory loss; difficulty solving problems; becoming confused about place or date or time. Only a doctor can determine whether your or a loved one’s issues are the result of Alzheimer’s or something else, and that doctor should prescribe a course of action for treatment. There are, however, things that you might do to help slow...
If you are the owner of a business or professional practice, it is important that your estate planning documents are complete and up-to-date. You should develop an ownership transition plan so that your family and your business will be protected in the event of your death or incapacity. It is also important to consider the...
Seniors face unique perils when they are hospitalized. Apart from the ever-present threat of Covid infection, delirium, functional decline and medication toxicity are some of the problems that more frequently affect seniors than younger patients. Upon discharge, many patients are overwhelmed by the information they are expected to digest including discharge instructions and follow-up appointments....
Every year we receive telephone calls from people who own property that is titled in a trust or are the trustees of trusts that own property. Often, they have either already sold the property or are contemplating its sale. The purpose of this article is to alert readers to the importance of understanding the trust...
As you may recall, we discussed the proposed changes to the tax code in the second quarter edition of A Step Ahead. The focus of that article was the significant change that was anticipated in the way that capital gains will be taxed. Under the current rules, capital gains are taxed when there is a...
David Bowie, a trend setting entertainer, died from cancer on January 10, 2016. By January 29 the media was already in possession of the details of Mr. Bowie’s estate plan. We learned that his estate was worth as much as $100 million, $2 million of which he left to his personal assistant and another $1...
It’s easy to understand how advance funeral planning can reduce the stress on surviving family members and provide peace of mind. It also makes good financial sense. Many people think of funeral planning as part of estate planning. The benefits of preplanning our own include: the ability to make personal and specific selections that...
In the last issue of A Step Ahead, we discussed how David Bowie’s failure to incorporate a trust in his estate plan opened his plan to public scrutiny. This month we lost Prince, another trend setting entertainer whose estate is going to occupy the media. Within days, the public was informed that Prince died “intestate,”...
Our perceptions about elder abuse are often misguided. Unfor- tunately, our misconceptions affect our ability to recognize the signs of abuse and our sense of urgency about stopping it. Here are some of the myths: 1. Elder abuse only occurs in nursing homes. Even though elder abuse does occur in nursing homes, most of...
