When it’s time to start the process of doing your estate planning (that time is right now, by the way), entrepreneurs need to remember to take their small businesses into consideration. Whether you own the entire business outright and work for yourself or you simply own a portion of the entity, you will need to leave instructions for your family to follow. [Read More]
Starting your own business can be a daunting prospect, filled with decisions ranging from whether you should have a storefront to how much you should pay employees. You’ll need insurance of many colors, an attractive logo. You’re hoping for a big splash and wild success. But you may have forgotten one very important choice: which business entity will you use? [Read More]
To the average person, the term “business lawyer” or “corporate lawyer” may sound like something that only exists on Wall Street. In reality, though, nearly every business in Northwest Iowa can and should use the services of a good business lawyer. This means large and small businesses alike. [Read More]
Now that you’ve earned your college degree, you may not feel like you have anything to “protect” through estate planning. After all, the stereotype of the “starving college student” got started for a reason! But, even if you leave college with a load of student loans and an entry-level job (or hopes of one), you will do yourself a favor by spending just a little time doing some basic estate planning here in Northwest Iowa. [Read More]
Have you been to the doctor? Have you ever taken aspirin or ibuprofen for a headache? Had an out patient procedure? Had a surgery? What led you to take those actions? Did you call the nurse’s station at the local clinic or your health insurance? Did the doctor explain the risks and rewards of the procedure or surgery? Ultimately, you made the decision. But what if you couldn’t speak for yourself? [Read More]
Nursing home care is expensive, and it’s not going to get better any time soon. With the 2014 average cost of nursing home care reaching $169 per day in Iowa, 70% of people reaching age 65 this year can expect to pay about $123,370-$141,115 (or more!) for their end of life care. The question becomes, how do you pay for an expense that huge? [Read More]
one area that often gets overlooked in the estate planning process is long-term care insurance. People have a variety of reasons for overlooking long-term care insurance, and, while some or all of these justifications may be true, it may still make sense to at least discuss the risks with your Northwest Iowa trust and estates attorney. [Read More]
When you sign a general power of attorney, you authorize someone to manage financial matters on your behalf in the event that you are unable to do so yourself. That’s a lot of responsibility to sign over to someone. You need to pick someone who is trustworthy, someone who will act in your best interests. [Read More]
Our society has assigned value to marking the passage of time in a particular relationship. Collectively, we recognize that the commitment it takes to maintain a relationship is a significant investment of time and energy, effort and resources. So, we honor those persons or entities who have reached a milestone – usually a multiple of 5 – in terms of years spent on a relationship, whether personal or professional. [Read More]
The person whom Northwest Iowa trust and estates attorneys have long referred to as the “executor” when managing your estate also has an alternative name. Known as the “personal representative”, this person is appointed by either the person doing the estate planning or by the courts when there was no one named in a will. The personal representative has a very big job of finishing up the decedent’s business, such as taking care of taxes and keeping the bills paid; not to mention the much more commonly recognized job of making sure the decedent’s wishes are followed when it comes to distributing assets. [Read More]
