In our house, we always refer to ourselves as a modern family. We joke that the post office must get confused because we have three last names in the house. No, we have not taken in renters. We are a blended family. When I married my lovely wife, I was immediately blessed with step-fatherhood because my wife had a young …
Planning for the future of your children Parenting involves much planning. The simplicity of making your own plan, or one for you and your spouse or significant other, disappears when kids come into picture. Parents quickly realize that their role is more of logistician for the children than anything else. Indeed, when my children were still babies I was often …
And now, a short story that is more truth than fiction, you became a hero to your family when you created an estate plan. You took home a binder full of signed documents, put it in a safe place and forgot about it. Weeks, maybe months later, you vaguely remember that your lawyer mentioned something about funding your trust but …
After traveling around the world and meeting people from all walks of life, I noticed there is a prominent common denominator for all those with children – as parents we do almost everything we can for our kids. Picture this… Every morning you wake up at the crack of dawn, get breakfast going, and wake up the little munchkins to …
These two terms are often confused and used somewhat interchangeably. But, wills and trusts are two very different things. When talking about planning for the future, many people just think of a will. Developing a plan requires thinking about more than just what happens when you die. Understanding the important differences between these tools will help you to decide which …
The sudden deaths of the iconic fashion designer, Kate Spade, and of the celebrity chef and world storyteller, Anthony Bourdain, have become a sobering reminder that tomorrow is never promised. While the deaths of Ms. Spade and Mr. Bourdain resulted from them succumbing to internal demons, other possibilities of tragedy also exist. Regardless of the cause, sudden death can cause …
This past week, countless parents posted back-to-school photos all over social media. Regardless of age or grade, parents lamented that time flies by too quickly. I’m feeling this, too; my youngest is in his last year of preschool, and the middle one is plotting with her friends to take over kindergarten. Wasn’t it just last month that we lugged diapers, …
The more things change the more they stay the same. Not long ago, we wrote about several celebrities who died without an estate plan. As we’ve seen, the media sensationalizes celebrities who have failed to plan for their death. Recently, the world grieved as Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, lost her battle with pancreatic cancer. Despite her advisor’s recommendation …
As a parent of school age kids, keeping track of everyone’s schedules and to-do lists could be a full-time job. Besides lists, there are planners, and random sticky notes of tasks because yellow notes are a higher priority (right?) Get the kids to school, go grocery shopping, and… and…there’s something else on the list and one day I’ll figure out …
With March right around the corner, the most common question I get from my kids is “What are we doing for spring break?” This is one of the most popular questions being asked here in South Florida, not only by all school kids but by their busy parents who are in dire need of a vacation. Luckily, South Florida’s weather …
