During the course of estate planning conversations in Virginia, the term fiduciary will often arise. However, understanding exactly what this term means is not always straightforward. Essentially, a fiduciary is a person who has been legally appointed to act in the...
When age or medical conditions leave someone unable to care for themselves, they need a guardian. Typically, the Virginia courts will only name a guardian when someone has already experienced cognitive decline and lacks the testamentary capacity to act in their own...
Most people’s wills go unchallenged. People assume that what the deceased wrote is what they wanted to happen to their assets. Yet, occasionally someone has a reason to doubt the veracity of the will contents. When that happens, they may want to mount a challenge to...
Finding out about long-term care services and how to pay for them often overwhelms many people. If you served your country in the military, you likely have access to certain benefits that could make the process less expensive. These benefits come in several different...
Both living trusts and wills can be powerful forces in your estate plan. However, while the majority of Americans are at least casually familiar with what a will does, living trusts are far less well understood. There are two major types of living trusts. Which one is...
When creating your Virginia estate plan, you have options, and different estate planning tools enable you to accomplish different estate planning objectives. Many people working on their estate plans choose to create wills, irrevocable trusts, or both along the way....
Injury, illness, age and various other factors may leave people unable to speak or to make decisions for themselves. When loved ones cannot care for themselves because of physical or mental incapacities, family members may consider asking the court to appoint...
If you are your mother’s caregiver, it is natural for you to have concerns about nursing home abuse or neglect. Both of these are huge problems in caregiving facilities across the United States. However, it is also possible that if your mother is complaining about the...
An advance medical directive is a planning tool for future medical complications. The directive is a legal document that explains how you want others to handle your medical decisions when you cannot make those decisions yourself. Advance directives are not just for...
As an adult child, you want what is best for your parent’s health and wellness. Unfortunately, disabling conditions in the elderly may require you to take control of your parent’s care. As explained by the Virginia circuit court, the guardian takes responsibility for...
