The Options are Limitless

"I chose not to have children, so I do not need an estate plan." 

This statement is generally true, but it is generally true for all of us, not just those of us who choose not to have children. The state has designed an estate plan that any of us can follow if we do not put one together ourselves.
The problem is that the estate plan designed by the state is probably not going to be the one we would choose for ourselves. Everything we worked for in life will end up going to the niece we never knew, or the brother who never came to visit. Or it could all just end up going to the state. The process is called probate, and how probate works is a discussion for another day.

While an estate plan is not necessary for anyone, it is certainly something that is desirable for all of us. We work hard in our lives, when we are no longer here we have the ability to share with the things that matter to us. This is especially true if we have anything that we care about in life.
We have the option of sharing our assets any way we choose.

• Have pets? Make sure they are taken care of.
• Love animals? Donate to your favorite animal welfare organization.
• Love books? Set up a scholarship fund for writers.

Making the choice to not have children does not mean that you do not want a say in how your things are treated when you are gone. For some, this act of not having children was a conscious choice and we can make another conscious choice to distribute our accomplishments in the way that we chose to live our lives - with deliberation. We can choose to give to the things we care about.

The options are as limitless as your imaginations.

A Time to Assess

Now that the holidays are behind us, and the excitement, anticipation, and stress of the season are no longer bearing down on us and clouding our minds, we can turn to reflect on our experiences at the holidays. Though it may seem strange, this is a great time to assess whether those we love are in need of greater assistance than we realized.

There are many people who we only see once or twice a year, and the holidays are often that time. This makes the perfect time to reflect on our experiences and see how we feel about how our loved ones are doing. It is hard to think about our parents and grandparents needing help, but it is even harder to think about them being alone and not having their needs met.


The fun and excitement of the holidays is a great time to spend with the ones we love. It also can be a time where our loved ones are able to mask and hide how life really is for those who are getting older. With the hustle and bustle of family gatherings and all the accompanying work, being tired and forgetful might be normal, but at the same time it might not. Having nothing in the house to eat except what is needed for the family feast might be a sign that someone we love is struggling, either to go shopping or financially to afford groceries.

After the holidays is a great time to check back in with those ones we love and talk to them about how life is. With all the joy of having family close to them behind them it is not to surprising to think that depression can follow, especially for those living alone or far from close family. It is also a great time to find out who our loved ones friends are and to make sure we have their contact information and they in turn have ours as well.

In the excitement of the season it can be easy to overlook signs that someone we love needs help, but with a little reflection we can sometimes spot something early enough to help those we love be able to make decisions for themselves about changes that need to be made. We can help them see that they need someone to come in once a week to help with the house, or that they need someone to bring them their groceries.

This can be a good time to talk to our loved ones and make sure they have thought through how they want things handled if they cannot do so themselves and to encourage them to find an estate planning attorney they like and trust to help them decide on and to record how they want things handled for their own lives, allowing them to make their own decisions while they can, saving themselves and their loved ones the pain and strife of having to make legal decisions on their behalf.

If you need help learning what your options are and making sure that they are available for your loved ones to follow, or if someone you know could use some help, reach out to me. I can help you or those you care about, decide how you want things to be handled and put a plan together that reflects your choices.

Disclaimer: The materials contained on this page is for general informational purposes, it should not be considered formal legal advice and does not create a formal lawyer/client relationship

Magic of the Season

For me, living in a home with small children renews the magic of the holiday season exponentially. They look around and see the magic and the surprise and their energy is infectious.Their wonder and joy at the lights and magic in the air reminds us of the beauty of life, that we each have just this one time, this one chance, to live and share and give and love.

The days are now growing longer, and the nights shorter. The energy that fills my life has shown bright on these long, dark nights with the sounds of laughter and running, the joy of living.

I am reminded that the holidays are a time to give thanks, to show my love and appreciation for those I am fortunate to have in my life. They are a time to celebrate this gift of life and to reflect on what we have accomplished and what we will accomplish in the year and years ahead. To set the framework now to ensure the best for the year ahead, to learn from the year that is falling behind, and to find joy in the life that we live.

The relationships I have forged remind me everyday that what we each truly want is to be loved and to share our love with those around us. It is a wonderful time to reflect and reinforce what we want our lives to mean and what we want our lives to be remembered for once we are gone. I meet many different people in my life, and those I am fortunate to have the chance to work with reinforce for me this idea that we want to share our lives and share our love with all those we are connected to for as long as we can.

If you reflect on your year and look ahead with a desire to put a framework in place to share with those you love reach out to me and we can design an estate plan that accomplishes just what you want. Learn more at my website or on my facebook page.

Disclaimer: The materials contained on this page is for general informational purposes, it should not be considered formal legal advice and does not create a formal lawyer/client relationship.

Here Comes the Rain!

It seems late to me, the very end of November, to be seeing the first rains of the season. It has been a beautiful summer, and a summer-like fall, but now the forecast calls for a change in weather
conditions and rain is on the horizon. Here in the mountains close to California's Central Coast, where beautiful weather is the norm, we prepare for a real storm with rain coming to wash away the grime of a year, and nurture the beauty we so adore.

Our house sits in the forest, and the change in weather means preparations need to occur. The summer umbrella needs to be folded and brought in, and the chairs we enjoyed the sunshine in need to be covered. My eldest is on vacation, so we have raked leaves and cleared the way for the rain to wash through the yard together with almost a festive sense of anticipation, enjoying that universal childhood experience of jumping and diving in the pile we created. Most get cleared, but some remain to provide habitat for the creatures in winter.

The trees mean not just leaves in the yard, however, but also leaves on the roof and in gutters. Downspouts need to be cleared and our drainage system needs to be inspected. I'm not the type who waits around for someone else to handle the chores that need doing, so I bring out the ladder and climb up to clear the leaves and detritus of a year from the gutters. Cleaning gutters can be tedious, and my mind turns to how many people get hurt doing simple home maintenance tasks such as this. Instead of moving the ladder, you climb one rung too high and lose your balance. Instead of climbing down and then up again, you reach and stretch to just finish the job, pushing the ladder out from under yourself. You step off one step too soon and fall backwards. Though the six foot ladder might not look so tall, the drop can cause more harm than you realize.

It seems silly that such a yearly chore can make you realize that you need to have your legal documents in place. And again we feel like those accidents are something that "won't happen to me". The reality is though, that it is not unheard of for people to fall from ladders at home, requiring medical treatment, trips to the emergency rooms, and even sometimes worse.

It's never a bad time, and never a better time than now, to make sure you have papers in place to protect yourself and your loved ones. If you get hurt cleaning your gutters who will be able to take care of your responsibilities? If you get hurt and are hospitalized, who will make your medical decisions for you? Making sure that you have all of your appropriate powers of attorney in place and current can save you and the ones you loved from unnecessary headache and heartache.

Now that the gutters are cleaned, and the holiday season is upon us, it is time for the decorating, with all of its associated potential hazards, to truly begin! Reach out and give me a call so I can help ensure that you are prepared for the unanticipated accidents of the season.

Self Care... With a Lawyer?

A day at the spa, relaxing on the beach, taking a long fishing trip, going for a hike in a beautiful place. These are all examples of activities one can take that fall into the category of self care. Seeing an attorney does not appear anywhere on the list. Seeing an attorney is undoubtedly not the first thing when you think of self care, but if we take a moment to look deeper we can see that it is.

In this constantly changing and busy world, taking care of ourselves and our loved ones seems to be more difficult than ever. It seems that the American culture is one of busy-ness - long to do lists, always connected and available to answer the phone or an email wherever and whenever they pop up. This constant connectedness can interfere with our ability to step back and gain perspective about the why of it all - why do we work? why do we care? what's the purpose? Self care can help bring us back so we can really answer those questions again.

If we each take a moment and think about why we do what we do we can see our underlying motivation. Sure, having a home, food, electricity are all wonderful in and of themselves, but if you are a parent you know you are also doing these things to provide a good life for your children. You need a vacation, so you go to Disneyland - not because you are a lifelong Mickey Mouse fan, but because you want your children to have the experience of going. If you are a grandparent you know you are also working to share life experiences with your children and grandchildren. And for those who are pet parents we know we are also looking for ways to enrich the lives of our pets with comfort, treats and travel. Self care can mean learning to love living life again, which sharing those experiences shows us.

The desire to continue being able to help those we love can be one of our fears with growing older and with death. We know we still want to contribute and help even when we are gone can be a source of underlying stress in our lives. For parents of young children the thought of someone else raising them, and possibly not someone we would have chosen, can be unfathomable. For our pets, not knowing whether they will be cared for or if they will be turned over to the animal shelter with an uncertain future.  That's where seeing an attorney becomes self care.

When we put our wishes and desires down on paper and let everyone know what we want for the things that matter most to us we have a huge burden lifted from our shoulders. We can enjoy more of life, and do more living, knowing that if something happens to us those we love will be cared for long after we can no longer do so ourselves. Once we see what we are capable of, we can see clearly that a visit to an attorney is an important form of self-care afterall.

Changing Seasons

The seasons are changing and fall is in full swing. The air is crisp in the mornings, but warms come afternoon- inviting us outside to enjoy just a little more sunshine. October is a special month. It is the start of the holiday season with wonderful celebrations of Halloween and Dias de los Muertos. Costumes, and pumpkin carving, candy and marigolds. As the mother of two young children these holidays have a special place in my heart.

Halloween is a special time for young children especially. It allows them to connect with the world of possibility and live their imaginations. They get to celebrate their ideas of what could be - what could be real in the world and what could be possible for them. They can take themselves wherever their fancy takes them, growing their imaginations while opening possibilities for their future. A healthy imagination is the heart of creativity and can change the ideas of possibility to probability.

I was fortunate to celebrate Dias de los Muertos with friends this year. Taking time to honor my ancestors, and theirs, and reflect up on those who went before me, the lives they lived so that I could live this life and so that my children could live theirs. It is interesting to take a moment to contemplate where we come from in such a literal sense. It can help to remind us that we are not alone - that our way was paved by the love and struggles of the lives of many who continue to hold us up and move us forward.

These days tie what was tightly to what may be. Being back to back like they are is like a condensed version of life itself and gives us a chance to reflect on how we want what was to carry forward to what will be. It reminds us that the love and work of our ancestors helped carry us to where we are today and that we have an opportunity to take what was given to us and decide how we want it carried forward into the future. We can choose how we want to fuel the imaginations of our children by sharing what we have learned as we have journeyed through life.

An estate plan is not just a legal document that conveys our property. Preparing an estate plan also gives us an opportunity to share our dreams and the fruit of our imaginations with those we love. We can use it as a trigger to prepare a document that doesn't just transfer property, but can also include our thoughts on life and leave a message to the ones we love. LIke a time capsule, it can exist to share the past with the future and create an ongoing message of love. Contact me today to see how you can connect the past with the future.

Disclaimer: The materials contained on this page are for general informational purposes. This information should not be considered formal legal advice and does not create a lawyer/client relationship.

The Nitty Gritty

Wills vs. Trusts? 

Estate planning can be confusing. Often when we think about estate planning we think of someone with a lot of money, not someone that we identify with ourselves. We picture this person who looks nothing like ourselves sitting down and dictating their wishes to their trusted advisor or attorney telling them what they want to have happen with their property when they die - recording their final wishes. Then we see the family gathered in front of the attorney in the fancy office as the will is read. But estate planning is not just for the "other people" out there, it is something for all of us. 

For anyone who has started considering the need for estate planning the question is always "Do I need a will or do I need a trust?". Sometimes we get to this question after we figure out what the difference is between a will and a trust, sometimes we ask this question before we know the difference. Since the answer to the question of will vs. trust depends entirely on the difference between the two, we'll start there in deciding which to prepare.

A will is a document that starts working when the author passes away. It identifies who they want to receive their property and who they want to raise their minor children (if they have any) after they are gone. It is a document that requires the use of the courts to make it effective - the court will oversee your wishes being carried out, your minor children being settled with their guardians, the creation of a trust for your children and your property being distributed to your heirs. 

A trust is similar to a will in that it also lays out where your property and your minor children will go, but it does so without the use of the court system (except for the settling of minor children, the court always oversees that). With a will the court is involved in every step of the process, while for a trust  the court's involvement is very limited. A trust is different in that it often covers more issues than a will and it has the ability to continue to make decisions into the future. 

The ability to carry decisions into the future is one of the biggest benefits of a trust when you have minor children. Not only are you able to control who gets what, but you are also able to control when they get it. You can decide that your children should receive their inheritance from you not as a lump at the age of 18, but instead you can spread it out over many years so they have fallback in the future once they become wiser in their spending habits and life decisions. 

A will can be very effective if you have no children and no property, just personal belongings. It makes it clear to the people you care about what you want to have happen with your property and your remains. Since it has complete court oversight any squabbles that arise are sorted out by an impartial judge. If it is used when you have very little property to transfer, the cost can be minimal.

The ultimate decision of will vs. trust depends on many factors, and belongs to each of us. Doing so with the help of a compassionate estate planning attorney can turn a confusing process into a satisfying expression of love for the life we have lived and for the people we have been fortunate to share it with. Reach out to the Law Office of Michelle D. Smith today to learn more and get started.

Disclaimer: Michelle D. Smith is a California Licensed attorney, SBN 233515.  The materials contained on this page is for general informational purposes, it should not be considered formal legal advice and does not create a formal lawyer/client relationship.