Family feuds and estate planning were an oxymoron in the 50’s and 60’s.

The family consisted of a mother, a father, and children who shared the same mother and father.     Whether someone died with or without a will, the results were usually the same.     If the spouse made a will, they named the surviving spouse and the children as beneficiaries.   If a spouse died without a will, state intestate laws named the surviving spouse and the children as beneficiaries.

People died fast.    There were no caregivers or need to pay for long term care from family resources.

Fast forward to today. According to a recent USA article: Blended families are now the norm.   “More than half of all first marriages end in divorce and about 75% of divorced people will marry again, according to the National Stepfamily Resource Center. About 65% of these unions will include children from previous marriages. More than 40% of American adults have at least one step-relative, according to a Pew Research Center study earlier this year.”

If you are part of a blended family, dying with or without a will may not provide the results you want for children from a prior marriage.   If your surviving spouse dies without a will, state intestate laws do not provide for step children.     The parents or siblings of your surviving spouse will inherit any property you gave to a surviving spouse before state intestate laws grant any inheritance rights to your children from a first marriage.      If you think a surviving spouse has provided for your children from a first marriage in their will, remember a will is a revocable document.   A surviving spouse has the right to change a will after you die and give property you intended to be left to your children from a first marriage  to his or her children from another marriage.

We no longer die fast.     As we age, we lose our ability to manage our own affairs.    Our children are often our caregivers.    A caregiver may believe they deserve more than other siblings for taking care of their parents.

In a recent conversation with an estate planning lawyer, we talked about the growing demand for estate planning lawyers with litigation experience.   He explained families usually fight for two reasons.  The siblings fight because they believe the caregiver doesn’t deserve any special treatment.  The children from a first marriage and a surviving spouse from a second marriage fight because the children want to protect their future inheritance.

Many people today are looking for a green burial solution.  That’s one that doesn’t use chemicals that pollute the earth and doesn’t leave a body in a metal casket for many years.  They also want something that is cost effective.  Two such solutions have been around for years – cardboard and wood.  A cardboard coffin can cost as little as $50 and weighs next to nothing.  A plain wooden box – often made of pine – can cost anywhere from $500 up and weighs between 80 and 90 pounds.  A third solution has just been introduced – a casket made of banana sheaves and bamboo.   It’s cost starts at $800, weighs about 80 pounds and is completely biodegradable.

Does the combination of banana sheaves and bamboo sound weird?  You may not know that in the 1950’s and 1960’s funeral homes often used woven baskets to transport bodies from health facilities.   And wicker coffins were popular in the United States for many years.   

So if you’re looking for a green, cost friendly casket in which to bury a loved one, this is an option you should consider.
http://www.ecoffinsusa.com/home.htm

58% of the news in the last 3 days has focused on health care reform.   A lot of discussion has centered on proposed legislation regarding “death panels” and end of life counseling.     How can 10 pages in a bill that is 1017 pages long cause so much fear and rhetoric?

Here’s our insight about these 10 pages..and the Health Care Reform Bill.
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