Americans are living longer and well past retirement age. With a longer retirement comes a need for legal counsel specific to older Americans. Seniors have unique legal needs, and a Portland, Oregon elder law attorney specializes in those issues. You should consider specifically hiring an elder law attorney if any of the following situations are applicable to you.
Read MoreWhen creating a trust to protect your family, the most crucial choice you will need to make is who will be named as the successor trustee. This is the person who will fulfill the trustee's duties when that person is incapacitated or passes away. This person has a large job, and you want to be sure you trust this person with your personal and financial health as they will be executing your final wishes.
Read MoreA Special Needs Trust is a specialized legal tool that allows a beneficiary with disabilities to utilize property or money held in the trust for his or her benefit, without jeopardizing the ability to access essential needs-based public benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid.
Read MoreDetermining the right time to make an estate plan is a serious task. When you visit a Portland estate planning lawyer, there are some factors the lawyer will look at, such as your current family, medical, and financial situation, to see what kind of estate plan will fit you the best. Here are some of the ways these factors can impact the estate planning process.
Read MoreAs a Portland estate attorney, I believe that an Advance Directive (commonly known outside of Oregon as a Medical Power of Attorney or Healthcare Proxy) should be included in every estate plan. A properly created Advance Directive allows someone to make important medical decisions for you in the event you are incapacitated or unable to speak for yourself.
Read MoreNursing home abuse happens in every state. Whether it’s from overworked staff, under-funded facilities, or simply the wrong people entrusted to care for the elderly, nursing home abuse can happen even in the seemingly nicest of places. While nursing home abuse is still the exception and not the rule, watch out for these six red flags.
Read MoreScammers want your information. They have all kinds of creative ways for getting your account numbers, address, and other personal information. Once they have it, they steal your identity. As a Portland elder law attorney, I’ve seen it all too often.
Read MorePlanning for the future when you have a child with special needs can be complicated and daunting. The laws are often difficult to understand, and it is equally hard to anticipate the extent of your child’s future care needs. Whether you have an elementary school child whose days are filled with speech therapy appointments, occupational therapy, specialized schooling, and IEP’s or an adult child with disabilities who is completely reliant on you for daily support and care, you must begin planning ahead to ensure that your child will have a safe and secure future—even when you are gone someday.
Read MoreYoung families are busy! They are often raising young children and at the beginning stages of their careers. Estate planning is often at the bottom of their priority list – if it is even on the list at all! But our Portland will and trust lawyer would like to help bump that priority up by explaining several reasons why young families need estate planning.
Read MoreAccording to research, 69% of adults ages 50-64 are on social media regularly, and 50% of adults older than 65 are on some form of social media as well. However, in my experience as a Portland, Oregon wills and trusts lawyer, I’ve found that most people do not have a plan for what should happen to their growing portfolio of “digital assets” when they are gone.
Read MoreAs a Portland, Oregon estate lawyer, when I meet with parents to start the process of creating a special needs plan for their child with disabilities, I almost always advise against leaving any type of inheritance outright to the child when mom or dad passes away.
Read MoreCreating a will is a significant undertaking. This is essentially the document that will guide the courts and your family on how you want your final affairs to be handled when you pass away.
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