Client Information Packets
New clients should complete the client intake packet provided below, or contact us to inquire about our new online interactive client information packets and receive $100 off your estate planning bill! For more information on our new interactive client information forms, see our "Interactive Practice" page and claim your discount!
Couple Planning Packet: For larger estates (over $1 million).
Couple Planning Packet Short Form: For modest estates.
Single Individual Planning Packet: For larger estates (over $1 million).
Single Individual Planning Packet Short Form: For modest estates.
If you are having trouble opening any of the above forms, please call or e-mail me. Thank you!
Get Organized!
The Day After Guide: This is a guide (click on the blue title "The Day After Guide") I have complied to assist individuals in organizing their personal and financial affairs to help ease the way for those left behind at death. If you complete this Guide, please store it in a safe place. I will never ask you for a copy of your Day After Guide and provide it merely as a courtesy. For general convenience, I have made this form interactive so you should be able to type directly into it and save it to your personal computer.
Plan and Pre-Pay for Your Burial, Cremation and/or Funeral Now: Advance planning and pre payment for your final affairs is a great way to ease the burden of those you leave behind. Locally, we recommend Lucas and Eaton Funeral Home (http://www.lucaseatonfuneralhome.com/?page=services). If you are not comfortable doing this alone, we are happy to arrange for a meeting with a funeral director in our office or at the funeral home.
How Will Your Assets Pass at Death?
Do you know how your assets will pass at death?
Which, if any, of your assets will have to pass through probate?
Which, if any, of your assets will pass directly to your heirs without additional delay or expense?
The following table (click here) is designed to help you identify how common assets in an estate might pass.
Talking with Mom or Dad about Estate Planning:
Much could be said on this topic and the best approach will likely depend on your parents, their assets and your family situation. It may not be an easy conversation to have but it is a necessary conversation. The following article By Deborah Jacobs, published by Forbes, be a helpful starting point.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2011/09/08/the-shrinking-violets-of-estate-planning/
Also see " How to Start a Conversation About Estate Planning", by Deborah Jacobs, published by Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/pictures/efik45lig/how-to-start-a-conversation-about-estate-planning#content
Advance Health Care (Living Will) Planning?
Looking for additional assistance in making decisions regarding the choices available under an advance health care directive or heath care proxy? The following ABA guide might be helpful. Heath Care Planning Tool Kit.
If you haven't seen the movie The Descendants, and are thinking about your estate plan you should. http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thedescendants/.
Planning for how decisions about your health will or should be made when you are no longer capable of making those decisions is an important part of your estate plan. Don't wait and risk asking those you love to guess about your wishes.
Emergency Link: Free service designed to inform others in the event of an emergency. See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303640804577490690701359730.html and http://www.emergencylink.com/
Body (and Organ) Donation:
It's is a grim topic but an important one to think about. Not only can your estate planning documents address the donation of organs but it can also provide for directions about the donation of your entire body. You might even save your estate the cost of the cremation and/or burial after the study of your body is complete. The College of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of New England is just one example of a place to which a human body and be donated. http://www.une.edu/com/bodydonor.cfm
Need Help With Your Day to Day Needs?
National Association of Geriatric Care Managers: A Geriatric Care Manager is a service specialist who can assist families who are caring for older relatives. Geriatric Care Managers are trained and experienced in a number of fields related to care management, including nursing, gerontology, social work, or psychology. If you or someone you know is having trouble with their day to day needs, needs professional guidance with respect to life, health or living decisions, a Geriatric Care Manager may prove useful. To learn more, and to locate a Geriatric Care Manager near you, visit the website of the National Association of Geriatric Care Managers at the following link. http://www.caremanager.org/index.cfm. In Southern Maine, also vistit the link below for the Southern Maine Agency on Aging.
If you are a child facing this situation, start by reading the following article.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44907987/ns/today-money/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews,
Other Resources - Local, State and Federal
Resources in Southern Maine
York County Community Action Corporation: The mission of York County Community Action Corporation is to alleviate the effects of poverty, attack its underlying causes and to promote the dignity and self-sufficiency of the people of York County, Maine. http://www.yccac.org/
Southern Maine Agency on Aging: The Southern Maine Agency on Aging is a non-profit organization dedicated to planning and implementing social services for adults age 60 and older. Their programs and services are designed to foster independence, reduce the burden on family and caregivers and promote an active and healthy lifestyle. http://www.smaaa.org/
Hospice of York: For help with end of life matters.
http://www.hospiceofyork.com/
Beacon Hospice: For help with end of life matters.
http://www.beaconhospice.com/
Maine State Wide Resources
Hospice Locator For Hospice Centers in Maine:
http://www.caring.com/local/hospices-in-maine
Maine Department of Health and Human Services:
http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/
Maine Legal Services for the Elderly: LSE provides persons age 60 and over with FREE legal advice regarding health care, health insurance, Medicare (including Part D), MaineCare (Medicaid), Social Security and other public benefits, pension and retirement benefits, powers of attorney, consumer matters including creditor and bankruptcy problems, physical and financial abuse, guardianship defense and other issues. To see if you qualify, call the LSE toll-free number, 1-800-750-5353, and talk with a Helpline attorney about your problem(s). If the Helpline attorney is unable to resolve a client's problem, the client then is referred to a staff attorney at the LSE office which is situated closest to the client's town for extended representation.
http://www.mainelse.org/
Maine Revenue Services: http://www.maine.gov/revenue/
Maine Revised Statutes: http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/
Federal Resources
Social Security Online: Do you know what you will receive when you are ready to receive social security? Find out!
ttp://www.ssa.gov/onlineservices/
Federal Benefits for Veterans:
http://www1.va.gov/opa/publications/benefits_book.asp
Internal Revenue Service: http://www.irs.gov/
USC Title 26 (the Internal Revenue Code):
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode26/usc_sup_01_26.html
Treasury Regulations under Title 26:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/cfrassemble.cgi?title=201026
Do You Have Suggestions?
If you would like to share a resource you think might helpful to others, please e-mail us the linke and we will considering adding it to our resource list.
Thank you.
Attorneys in York, Maine serving Maine (York and Cumberland counties including: York, York Beach, Kittery, Kittery Point, Eliot, South Berwick, North Berwick, Berwick, Ogunquit, Wells, Kennebunkport, Kennebunk, Alfred, Lyman, Arundel, Biddeford, Saco, Sanford, Springvale, Acton, Shapleigh, Limerick, Scarborough, and Portland) and Northern Massachusetts (including: Boston, Saugus, Dorchester, Roxbury, Waltham, Beverly, Lynn, Medford, Newbury, West Newbury, Newburyport, Newton, Peabody, Lowell, Lawrence, Andover, Boxford, Amesbury), with a focus on Estate Planning (Wills and Trusts, probate and estate administration), Elder Law, and Tax (estate, gift, and income) matters, and providing general business formation (LLC, Corporations, and General and Limited Partnership) services and business succession planning and real estate services.