Hey folks, Dale Davidson here, the Dear VA Guy. Thanks for tuning in today! A special shoutout to all veterans and their spouses—today we’re diving into a crucial topic: back pay for VA disability benefits. If you’ve recently filed a claim, you might be hearing a lot about this term. So, let’s break it down […]
Understanding Back Pay for VA Disability Benefits Read More »
When it comes to filing for VA benefits, it can be an overwhelming process. I’ve helped countless veterans navigate the system over the years and get the benefits they deserve. Here I want to talk about what truly defines effective representation before the VA and why having an experienced Veteran advocate is so important, especially
The Best Veteran Advocate for You! Read More »
I want to address a topic that often confuses veterans and their families—where to go for help with veteran services. Do you need to visit your local Veteran Services Office (VSO)? Should you see a VA-accredited representative? Maybe even hire a lawyer? There’s a lot of information floating around, and it can be overwhelming to
Why You Shouldn’t Consult a VSO for Legal Advice Read More »
When I first heard about pet trusts, I thought it was one of those things that people joke about—another quirky idea for overly pampered pets. But after diving into the topic, I realized how vital it can be for those of us who see our pets as family members, or as we often call them
Creating a Trust for Your Fur Babies Read More »
Hey folks, Dale Davidson here from Davidson Law Offices. I want to share something deeply personal yet universally relevant. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably spent more time planning your next vacation than considering the possibility of needing long-term care someday. But here’s the thing: 70% of us will need some form of long-term
The Emotional and Financial Toll of Long-Term Care Read More »
Hey folks! Dale Davidson here from Davidson Law Offices and I’m glad you visited our blog today! I want to dive deeper into estate planning and discuss the last will and testament, an estate planning document that’s crucial for everyone, regardless of their financial status. It’s a common misconception that estate planning is only for
The Last Will and Testament Read More »
While the term “spring cleaning” is typically used in reference to projects around the house, spring is also a great time to make sure your estate planning documents are correct. Below we’ll go through our estate planning checklist to help you ensure you have what you need to protect yourself and your heirs. We’ve covered
Estate Planning Checklist: What Documents Do You Need? Read More »
Hey there, fellow planners and forward-thinkers! Today, we’re shaking things up a bit. We’re shifting gears from our usual discussions about VA benefits to delve into the realm of estate planning and organization. Now, stick with me because trust me, this discussion about creating a road map going to be valuable. Remember the days when
Creating a Road Map for Your Heirs Read More »
Lately, many of our clients have been asking what’s the difference between an estate plan and elder care plan. So I wanted use this blog as an opportunity to discuss both of these and distinguish between the two. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich and famous or living paycheck to paycheck, you need to have
Estate Plan vs Elder Care Plan: Do You Need Both? Read More »
Asset protection can be defined as a set of strategies and legal tools that lawyers use to protect assets from lawsuits and claims of creditors. In our office we use an asset protection trust to protect your assets from being spent on long-term care, whether it be in a nursing home or other type of
Using an Asset Protection Trust to Preserve Your Estate Read More »
No one wants to lose their estate or assets because they have to go into a nursing home or assisted living facility. But it happens all the time in this country because people fail to plan. In this blog we’ll discuss how do you prevent your estate and assets from being taken by Medicaid Estate
Avoiding Losses from the Medicaid Lien Read More »
Lately we’ve received a lot of questions regarding having a joint will. They’re kind of rare, but I thought I’d add a blog to give you my spin on them. Generally joint wills are created between a married couple. They make a joint decision as to who is going to get their property, how it
A Joint Will Is a Bad Idea! Read More »
Lately we’ve been getting a lot of questions regarding wills and probate. There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding whether or not you have to probate in certain situations. So in this blog we’ll do a little fact or fiction regarding wills, trusts, and in which cases you have to probate. When Do
Do You Have to Probate: Fact or Fiction Read More »
In this blog we’re going to be talking about estate planning, how to avoid probate, and make sure the right people get your “stuff” when you pass. Personal finance expert Suze Orman once said, “Estate planning is an important and everlasting gift that you can give to your family. Setting up a smooth inheritance isn’t
How to Avoid Probate When You Pass Read More »
Online legal document services have become very popular over the last couple decades. People are using these template services to generate their written will, durable power of attorney, living will, healthcare directive, and more. While these services can be helpful for simple wills, many times they are my best referral sources. That’s mainly due to
8 Things That Shouldn’t Be In Your Written Will Read More »
As we’ve often said about estate planning, trusts are not just for the rich and famous. You don’t need to be wealthy to benefit from a trust. Many of our clients use trusts for asset protection from nursing homes, taking care of special needs children, and more. Below we’ll discuss the differences between a revocable
Why Do You Need an Irrevocable or Revocable Trust? Read More »
Estate planning is not only for the rich and famous. If you have a house, you have an estate. If you have a car, you technically have an estate. Even if you don’t have a tremendous amount of wealth, you still need an estate plan. In this blog we’ll discuss the top 7 estate planning
The Top 7 Estate Planning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Read More »
In this blog we’re going to share some letters that we recently received from people needing help with estate planning and Medicaid qualification. Below we’ll have each letter followed by our response. Our first letter involves a family who is concerned that their mother has a gambling problem. They’re worried that their mother will spend
How to Deal with Family Members That Have a Gambling Problem Read More »
What is the greatest threat to the family farm here in America? Some say it’s the rising costs of fertilizer or farm equipment. But actually, the greatest threat to the family farm is long-term care. As we’ve mentioned on previous blogs, 70% of us will need long-term care at some point in our life. If
Long-Term Care Planning for Farmers: How to Save the Family Farm from Medicaid Read More »
Estate planning is just not for the rich and famous. It’s for everybody — especially Veterans who are receiving benefits from the VA. So we wanted to take this opportunity to talk about the unique challenges of Veteran estate planning. We love our Veterans and we want them to be prepared in their later years
Veteran Estate Planning Techniques to Protect Your Assets and Family Read More »
In this blog we’re going to talk about something that will affect 70% of people in the United States — long-term care. We’re all going to be affected by this either directly or indirectly through a family member. Since long-term care is inevitable for most of us, what are your options to pay for it?
Planning for Long-term Care: Who Will Pay for It? Read More »
Estate planning is not just for the rich and famous and it’s not just for seniors. Anyone over the age of 18 can benefit from having some basic estate planning documents, especially if they are married and have children. Below we’ll discuss why estate planning is for everyone and not just the wealthy. Estate Planning
Do You Need a Will if You’re Young? – Estate Planning Documents Everyone Needs Read More »
As an estate planning attorney, we see many cases where family members feel like they’ve been slighted by their parents or grandparents when it comes to the contents of a will. This usually results in what we call a will caveat case. These family members are usually pretty upset because their parents or grandparents didn’t
Family Disputes and Will Caveat Cases — What Can You Do To Avoid These? Read More »
What is “undue influence?” This is a term frequently heard in the estate planning realm, but it’s not a common term that you hear everyday. Even if you’ve never heard of undue influence, you’ve probably seen it happen or heard of it happening to someone you know. We most frequently hear the term undue influence
We have a saying around here in our office: “You truly don’t know someone until you have to share an inheritance with them.” When two or more heirs are splitting an inheritance, there’s always the potential of a family feud. We do see some cases where heirs are cordial to one another, but that’s not
How to Prevent a Family Feud with Proper Estate Planning Read More »
Have you had a family member that had to be placed in a nursing home? If not, you probably know someone who has. Statistics say that 70% of us will need some type of long-term care in our lifetime. That’s a scary statistic — almost 3 of every 4 people! If those statistics are true,
Are you a veteran suffering from PTSD as a result of traumatic events that you experienced while in service? It is likely that you are entitled to disability benefits through the VA. These Disability Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits require that you meet several criteria relating to your diagnosis and your time served. Here we’ll discuss
In a previous blog we explained the different types of trusts you can use for estate planning. These would include revocable, irrevocable, and testamentary trusts. Today we’re going to be digging deeper into the topic of trusts and talking about a type of trust that is used to ensure proper care for your pets if
So what exactly is a trust? Many people think that a trust is a very complicated document, and it can be depending on the complexity of your situation. There are different types of trusts that you can use. There are trusts that you can change and trusts that you can’t change. The trusts that you
Today we have a really interesting topic that almost everyone has to address at some point when doing their estate planning. We’re talking about the concept of fair versus equal when it comes to dividing your estate among your children or grandchildren. Several years ago I had a family that was struggling to determine how
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