Bøger af Michael Ettinger

Too many people think that a will is all the "estate planning" they need. Yet wills often fail to take into account the majority of a client's assets. Wills do not govern assets passing by beneficiary designations, such as IRA's, life insurance and annuities. Furthermore, clients are increasingly using POD (pay on death), TOD (transfer on death) and ITF (in trust for) designations to entirely bypass the will and the antiquated probate system. As a result, in many cases the bulk of a client's estate is actually "unplanned", except to avoid probate. By this we mean that the assets may still be unprotected from a Medicaid "spend down" if the client one day needs nursing home care; the assets are not protected from the heirs' divorces, lawsuits and creditors; the assets are not structured to stay in the bloodline to the client's grandchildren and the assets are not protected from a spouse's later remarriage.Perhaps the biggest drawback to relying on a will as an "estate plan" is that it utterly fails to address the senior client's most important issue - planning for disability. Absent a plan for disability, the state has written a plan called "guardianship". In guardianship proceedings a judge chooses who will handle your legal, financial and sometimes even medical affairs if you become disabled.Elder Law Estate Planning avoids guardianship proceedings - virtually guaranteeing you will get the person or persons you choose to handle your affairs if you become disabled - usually one or more of your adult children, instead of a state appointed guardian.With the high costs of nursing homes today, clients who don't plan for disability to protect their assets risk losing everything they've worked for."Elder Law Estate Planning" emphasizes the use of trusts rather than wills to solve the myriad legal problems arising from disability and death. "Elder law" is disability planning to put the people you choose in charge and to protect some or all of your assets from long-term care costs. "Estate planning" is death planning to make sure your assets go to whom you want, when you want and the way you want. Estate Planning includes protecting assets from children's divorces, lawsuits and creditors, and from a spouse's possible remarriage while keeping those assets "in the blood" for generations to come.

The festivities that accompanied Christmas 2015 and the New Year celebrations brought romance and excitement to Rebecca and having a new home designed and built for her in Esher, Surrey.The following months were the most exciting and rewarding for both her and her husband, David Rogan. Then out of the blue, a blackmailer reared his ugly head, at first threatening Rebecca's health more than her wealth.The blackmail related to Rebecca who had run away from home in Moss Side, Manchester at the age of 15 to avoid her father's hunger for abusing her sexually, with her mother not believing her cries for help. She ended up in Cornwall where she became the lead singer in a jazz group known as A Paler Shade of Blue - which was also the name of their signature tune.Promises of love from musicians twice her age and more were replaced by rape, by nearly every member of the band, she was fed H, uppers, downers and participated in drunken orgies, until, at the age of 19, she escaped for the second time taking refuge in a rehab centre in Blackpool to dry out.Following the blackmailer's threats, murder, greed and betrayal combined in fuelling her tortured and fragile mind, David is left to chase down the people that had chosen to relieve Rebecca of the wealth she had accrued in her new life.

The sleepy, gated village of Baniston, 12 miles north of Stevenage, comes to life when two people are found dead within days of each other.Peter Thompson, the owner of the estate, is concerned more about the effect the incidents will have on the village and his vast income than on the unfortunate deaths.Audrey Mosley, the village vamp, whose tennis coach gave her after match "lessons" worries about what might come out of the woodwork. While husband, Richard, seems unable to come to terms with his wife's infidelity. To add to his woes, he also suffered the loss of his beloved show tomato plants which were destroyed before the village fete.Clive Johnson, deep into plumbing, and his wife, Janice, along with Tina, the hairdresser, disgruntled Tom Grangemore who used to work for Richard Mosley, Ben Griffin retired farmer and ex lightweight boxer together with Inspector Peter Prendergast and his team of detectives bring colour and amusement to this fast-moving and thoroughly enjoyable read.Smile and laugh through this spoof murder mystery.