Posts by VMGOKEA Law

Include Special Needs Trust Planning in Your Revocable Living Trust If you created your estate planning, you likely have heard of special needs planning. You know you should plan for a beneficiary who has special needs by creating a special needs trust (SNT) to hold their inheritance otherwise the special needs beneficiary might lose the…

Recent headlines have been replete with data breach stories in the last few years. The number of companies and government agencies that have had their systems hacked is staggering. Names, addresses, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, and other personal information have all been stolen by hackers from companies like Target, J.P. Morgan, Home Depot,…

Ride-sharing pioneers Uber and Lyft are proving to be very successful in markets around the country and the globe. Uber operates in 250 cities in 50 countries, and Lyft is in 70 cities across the United States. The draw of these companies is the ease with which customers can hail and pay for a ride,…

Have you ever slammed on the brakes of your car to avoid a crash? If so, odds are that you were using automated vehicle technology. Major auto manufacturers are racing to develop self-driving car capability, but will we see that technology soon? How will this cutting-edge technology affect you? What Is a Self-Driving Car? Let’s…

When I heard that Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, were donating 99 percent of their Facebook shares — currently worth more than $45 billion — to charity, I immediately assumed they had been the beneficiaries of smart family wealth planning advice and would be funding a private foundation that could be used to save money on…

Talking with Your Family About Your Estate Plan Is it time to have “the talk” with your kids?  We’re not talking about a “birds and bees” talk but one that is equally important, perhaps more so. Everyone has concerns about what will happen when they die.  Some people worry about their homes, cars, or money.…

You’ve spent your entire life building up your retirement account. It may even be the biggest asset you’ll leave behind for the people you love. If that’s the case, you may want to consider creating a special trust designed specifically to receive your retirement account assets in the event of your death. If you leave…

As a Personal Family Lawyer®, I see many of the same estate planning mistakes made time and again by people who either fail to plan properly or who use “do-it-yourself” estate planning websites or forms in an effort to save money. Without professional guidance, this can cause more problems for your heirs and end up…

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell If you are like most parents, your primary objective is to support your children to be prepared to   handle the pressures of adulthood.  If you have wondered what the most important thing you can…

People who are nearing the age of 65 should be making plans for the transition from private health care to Medicare. It is not a simple process or one that happens automatically. You have to initiate the enrollment process at a specific time or suffer a monetary penalty. It is important to understand that applying…