​When it comes to a parent or spouse’s healthcare, the law can be strict about who can receive status updates, participate in conversations with medical professionals and make medical decisions. These policies are meant to protect our sensitive information, but they can also pose serious problems for family caregivers.

​It has become more common than not that retirees over 65 have parents that are still living independently, but are they at risk? What if they were to fall or a sudden illness meant they could no longer maintain their current lifestyle, and there now senior-aged children do not live close by? Or their children have health concerns of their own. Are both you and your parents at risk?

The acronym HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and should be taken into consideration when you are planning your estate.

​Many people make New Year’s resolutions. If one of your resolutions was to make sure your affairs and finances are in order, then you are going to need to review your estate plan – or create one. How do you know if it needs to be changed or updated, or whether you even need one in the first place? Below are a few scenarios that you may want to consider.

Some people get scared off by the term "estate planning" because they think it sounds like something only the wealthy need to do. When in truth, one of the greatest gifts you can make for your loved ones is leaving instructions regarding your wishes. Not only for after you die, but in case you can't make health or financial decisions while you're alive.
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Remember, it's not always about money, it's about planning to make things easier, for the transfer of your assets and if anything should happen to you. 

In the past few weeks, an escalating number of clients have hurried to meet by videoconference and phone with their legal advisers.

Mortality is on everyone’s minds. Spurred by the coronavirus pandemic, clients who I haven't touched their legal documents in years as well as prospective new clients, have been reaching out to update their existing estate planning documents, or write new ones.

COVID-19 has caused scores of people to write Wills and make critical estate planning decisions about who will oversee their medical care and finances if they become ill or incapacitated. Yet, more than 50 percent of people age 55-plus do not have a Will or the other key estate planning documents they might need during the pandemic, according to Caring.com.