As the stock market plunged faster than a theme park roller coaster I had the fortune of visiting with a client who is over ninety years old. I asked him about his thoughts over the current financial crisis, as he lived through the great depression, numerous recessions, wars and a host of other national and […]
The Lee County School District offers a wonderful course for parents called “Love and Logic”. The basic premise of the course is to not shield your child from her mistakes, and allow her to bear the consequences of her actions and decisions. The idea is that if you allow the child to bear her own […]
Tim Stephenson, Executive Director of the Legacy Foundation at Shell Point Retirement Community asked me a pointed question the other day, “Who do I disinherit this month?”
You see, some Shell Point residents use the Legacy Foundation’s office as a bill paying service, particularly when they fall ill and can’t manage their own checkbooks any […]
I write this as the stock markets brace for the reaction to Lehman Brothers filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch. I’ll leave the financial analysis and what you should do, if anything, to your portfolio to your financial advisor. Today I’m going to write about how these turbulent […]
My wife has a cousin who is gay. This cousin lives in Massachusetts with her partner, who has two grown sons from her prior marriage to a man. The couple formalized their relationship in a civil union, which is legal in Massachusetts.
Everyone in my wife’s extended family welcomes the couple as we would any other […]
Regular readers of this column know that I consider the family member who takes on the responsibilities as trustee of a parent’s revocable living trust to have taken on serious obligations as opposed to having an honor bestowed upon them. Recent changes to the Florida statutes underscore this thought.
When a parent becomes incapacitated or dies, […]