Admitting that the health and abilities of your loved one is deteriorating can be hard to do. However, when a person is suffering from ill health more frequently or they are having falls often, it may be time to explore the best interests of your loved one. Family...
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How to choose the right nursing home for a loved one
It's nothing you look forward to, but there may come a point when you need to choose a nursing home for a loved one. For example, an elderly parent may require care after surgery or for the rest of their life. Regardless of where you live, you're probably familiar...
Recognizing dementia and the end of testamentary capacity
When your loved one creates a will, or even if you create one, one thing that can't happen is for changes to take place after you lose testamentary capacity. If you've never heard of this before, it simply means that you can't make changes to your will or other estate...
Challenging an estate with a no-contest clause in California
There are numerous reasons why you may need to contest a will or estate plan in California. Maybe your parent remarried, and his or her spouse applied a lot of pressure toward having the will changed. Perhaps your loved one made drastic changes to the will in the last...
What is the executor’s responsibility during probate?
If you are the executor of an estate going through probate your responsibilities can feel overwhelming -- especially if you've never had to complete the process before. For one, you'll be carrying a lot of weight on your shoulders, and if you make a mistake, you could...
Putting your parent in a nursing home: Tips and advice
Like most, you do your best to provide your elderly parent (or parents) with the at-home care they need. With this approach, you hope that he or she will be able to remain in his or her home for as long as possible. There could come a time when you have no choice but...
Why you need a California Advance Health Care Directive
A thorough estate plan shouldn't just reflect your wishes for what happens after you die. It should also include directions to those caring for you if you become so ill or incapacitated that you can't speak for yourself. That's why an advanced medical directive should...
What happens if a parent dies in debt?
As Americans live longer and have to stretch their retirement savings farther, many people die owing more money than they have. Increasingly, older Americans are in debt -- sometimes substantial debt. Almost a quarter of people over 75 are still making mortgage...
Music legend’s James Brown’s estate still mired in family battles
Recently, we discussed the fact that many estate disputes involve stepmothers and their stepchildren. That's the case with the estate of music legend James Brown. The "Godfather of Soul" died just over 11 years ago, on Christmas Day 2006, after a complicated life that...
Tips to help you with your executor duties
If you are the executor of a loved one's will, you might have a challenging job ahead of you. The duties can often be time-consuming and usually include protecting the decedent's assets until it is time to dissolve the estate and distribute the remaining property to...