Estate planning, elder law, family transitions, business planning – the legal issues that affect your family are always evolving. Jennifer writes regularly to keep you informed, educated, and empowered. Browse the latest articles below, or search by topic to find what you’re looking for.
The holiday season can be a sensitive time for anyone but for those going through divorce, or trying to move on after the process of divorce, it can be even more difficult. Some people struggle with moving on at this time of year due to past hurts, children who need to split time with families during the holiday season, or because of the memories of past...
Often, during the divorce process, there are times when one party becomes entirely unreasonable. They won’t agree, refuse to be reasonable, and generally make themselves a giant pain in the you-know-what. Some people, in the throws of divorce, lose their ability to reason, and that can make the other party uncomfortable, in addition to making communication...
While retiling the bathroom floor or installing new switch-plates throughout your house may be great DIY weekend projects, writing your own will should not make your to-do list. In the instance that the tile job is botched, you can hire a professional. If you botch your own will, there is nothing you can do or say about it after you are gone. In case there...
Sometimes the term “estate plan” can be overwhelming. Or people think, “I don’t have very much, I don’t need an estate plan” Estate planning is just the concept planning for the care of our children, our families, and our assets in the event of our incapacity or death. You don’t need to have a million dollar estate to need an estate plan. My most common...
In the divorce world, we get so focused on the children under the age of 18. Children between the ages of 18 and 21 may get a moment’s notice, but children over the age of 21 are routinely ignored. Unfortunately, children are always affected by their parents’ divorce: if they are 5, 25, or 55. Here are a couple tips for adults whose parents are divorcing,...
The term “estate planning” has a tendency to send many people in a panic -too complex, full of legal lingo and complicated tax concepts. In his article Estate Planning Without Anxiety Peter Keating with SmartMoney Magazine does a good job of explaining the basic concepts. There are four simple steps you should be aware of when working on your estate plan:...
There are two big misconceptions when it comes to estate planning: 1. Only the rich need to worry about estate planning 2. Only people with kids need to worry about estate planning. When it comes to estate planning, young adults with minimal assets and no children are all too often overlooked. Unfortunately, failure to get the essential documents done can...
1. What areas of law do you practice? Does the attorney limit their practice to one or two areas, or do they take the “Jack of all trades” approach? There are many different areas of law; if an attorney practices a little bit of everything, does he or she have the depth of knowledge necessary for your case? 2. How many open cases do you typically have...
Buying a house can be an exciting, and overwhelming, time. For couples purchasing real estate there are some legal consequences they should be aware of. All too often these consequences are not considered until the relationship has soured and a court case is imminent. Here are 5 things that couples need to know before buying real estate. 1. Being...
One of the most difficult things in any paternity or divorce case is figuring out the schedule for your children – this comes into play when talking about both physical custody and parenting time. In Minnesota, physical custody is the routine, daily care of the children. Parties can have joint physical custody, or one party can have sole physical custody....
Just like all of you non-lawyers hear the horror stories of over-priced attorneys and expensive litigation (i.e. “I know someone who spent $50,000 on his divorce. All that for nothing!”), lawyers get to hear all of the horror stories of clients who think they can do it without a lawyer, and then suffer the consequences. Just in recent months I have heard...
This is only one misconception that we tend to get from Hollywood. In Minnesota, a legal separation is not a prerequisite for a divorce. (In fact, Minnesota does not have any requirement for a separation period before divorce). While many couples do physically separate prior to or in contemplation of a divorce, a legal separation is an entirely separate...