We have written blogged several times about Missouri Beneficiary Deeds – the good, the bad, and the ugly. We ran into a new situation recently. A divorced dad died a few months ago and left his house to 19 year old Molly, his only child, through a beneficiary deed. We offered to help her with “getting organized” but she thought… Continue Reading
Author Archives: Rick
Preventing Fighting over the Funeral in Missouri
A sad situation presented itself a few weeks ago. A funeral director was demanding that all the children of a recently deceased client consent to a cremation. One of the children was out of the country permanently, and could not be reached. Fortunately I was able to convince the lawyer for the funeral home that… Continue Reading
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A Missouri Beneficiary Deed that Failed
A good friend and client just became the victim of a poorly conceived Estate Plan involving a Missouri Beneficiary Deed. Fortunately I wasn’t the one who advised that be used. Unfortunately I wasn’t asked to, because I would have advised against it. My friend, Frank, and his sister, Karen, had been named beneficiaries on their… Continue Reading
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Challenging the Validity of a Missouri Trust
I got a couple of weeks ago from Barry. Barry was very concerned that his mother’s trust will be challenged. Mom’s second husband died several years back. Mom and her second husband each had their own children from their first marriages. At the time of the second husband’s death his children received what amounted to his assets and property. Barry’s… Continue Reading
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Everybody in Missouri Should have a Durable Power of Attorney
Everyone in Missouri who is age 18 or over should have a Durable Power of Attorney. It doesn’t matter is you have $10 million or just $10. Most of us will be disabled sometime during our life, and will need someone to handle things for us. An existing client came to see us last week. We had… Continue Reading
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Final Instructions to Loved Ones
An often overlooked matter in Estate Planning is leaving instructions to loved ones as to final arrangements, the funeral, burial, and related matters. This is likely the case because we get focused on stricly legal and financial matters – which is a natural thing to do. It’s also because this is work that the lawyer can’t really… Continue Reading