This is a true, but sad story. Mom and Dad owned a farm in North Missouri. Mom and Dad have two basic goals when they go see their lawyer. First, they want to keep the farm "in the family". Secondly, they want to do so as inexpensively as possible. They have their lawyer prepare prepare and ...
The general rule is that a Will or Trust is valid anywhere if it is valid "where executed, when executed". That being said, however, if you are moving to another state it is always a good idea to see a competent Estate Planning lawyer in your new state. This is particularly true if ...
Time and time again we get phone calls from people stating they want us to prepare a "simple will" for them. Time and time again my response is that they are likely wrong. The simple truth is that simple wills do very, very little. To be sure, there are few, limited situations where they make ...
Many times wills do absolutely nothing. Consider this sad, true story, modified only slightly: I received a call from a client a little while back. We'll call her Suzy. Her father had died four years ago. He left a Will that said, in essence, I leave ...
On the passing of a loved one the State issues a "Death Certificate", a document that is important for a variety of reasons. It contains much biographical information, and is relied upon by insurance companies, financial institutions, and others in paying benefits, transferring ownership, and documenting the date of death. It is also an important ...
HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The law deals with a variety of issues but we are most concerned about the privacy rules that are a part of the Statute. In general terms they provide that a patient must give written approval prior to their “protected” health care information is ...
A Beneficiary Deed, also commonly called a Transfer on Death Deed, is an instrument that transfers title to real property on the death of the owner, or sometimes on the death of the last of several owners, such as husband and wife. They are available for use in Missouri, and many other states (but not ...