The answer to that is false. Because in fact, if you become incapacitated, it is not automatic that your spouse would be able to step in and make all financial and medical decisions on your behalf. Just being married doesn’t necessarily mean your spouse can do that. You really need to make sure that […]
Tales of Caution
Terri Schiavo Life & Remembrance Day – March 31
Hello, everybody. My name is Miranda Dressler, attorney with MacKay Dressler Law Firm, located in Petaluma, California. And coming up this month, on March 31st, is Terri Schiavo Remembrance Day. And for those of you who are maybe my age or older, you may remember that case that happened in the 90s, where Terri Schiavo […]
Tale of Caution: The Cost of a Kind Heart
Hi there, Bridget MacKay at MacKay Dressler Law Firm. And I want to give you what we used to call, or have called, if you go way back in our archives, a Tale of Caution. Recently, I had someone come to me whose brother is older. He’s still competent, but he lives on his […]
Don’t Stop Till You Fund Enough: Michael Jackson’s Empty Trust
After Michael Jackson’s death in 2009, his roughly $500 million estate became the subject of years of legal wrangling. While Jackson had created a revocable living trust, designed to convert after his death to benefit his children (at ages 21, 35, and 40) and his mother, he failed to transfer most of his assets […]
The Biggest Estate Plan Mistakes
We often talk about the best ways to make an estate plan, but it’s also important to review things that we should never do. Making any of the estate planning mistakes below might drastically diminish your financial legacy. Many people make these common mistakes: Final Thoughts: The Importance of Regular Estate Plan Reviews To […]
When Smart Money Acts Dumb
When the FTX exchange collapsed and filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, reverberations rippled across the cryptocurrency universe. Investors across the board lost millions, from venture capitalists, hedge funds, and large asset managers (known as “whales”) to tiny accounts of a few thousand dollars. It is widely assumed that smart money always makes the right […]
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