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Image credit:  www.sxc.hu - free image Has the stork made a visit to your home?  Whether the visit was earlier this year or 14 years ago, as a parent you have undoubtedly given some thought to naming a guardian for your minor children.  And I'd bet money you've thought about what couple would make good guardians.  Great, now ask yourself "if they did have guardianship of my child(ren) and got divorced, which person would I want to have my child(ren)."  That is the person I would name.   Yes, this stuff happens.  Parents die.  Guardianship is established.  The new family unit suffers a divorce.  Custody disputes arise.  Worse case scenario?  Sure, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.  Attorneys are trained to see the worse case scenario and plan accordingly.

Image credit:  www.sxc.hu - free image Daily I find emails in my in-box addressed to "estate planning professional".  Most are trying to get me to attend a continuing legal education seminar or purchase on-line research tools.  Sadly, some are peddling marketing tools.  One such email arrived earlier this month, and I cringed upon reading it. Greetings Estate Planning Professional, Take advantage of our end of the month offer!  Our portal has opened for qualified estate planners & probate professionals that are interested in capturing the lucrative bereavement market.  See why over 500 of your peers have choosen to do business with our firm. Ask yourself: Is your firm receiving new clients on a regular basis?  If you are unsure, we can help.  Here are a few things to consider:... "The lucrative bereavement market ?  I highlighted it for your reading.  Beware.  Upon the death of a loved one, companies are lining up to ...

At seminars I routinely joke that one role of being an attorney is to translate law into English.  The converse of that statement is another role is to translate English into law.  I have to take my client's wishes and put it into a legally recognizable will. Case in point, turning the state "give my stuff to my kids".  What constitutes "my stuff"?  Here is how the conversation should go: Client: Give my stuff to my kids. Attorney: Are there any specific items you would like to distribute?  For example, a wedding ring, piano, etc? Client:  Yes, give my piano to my daughter. Attorney:   Which piano, can you describe it?  What is your daughter's name. Image credit:  2012 - taken by author, M. Gustafson Gervasi.  Features the "new" family piano and her daughter. And so on and so on.  Be specific.  More specific than you ever are (unless you are an attorney).  Give the level of detail you would have to give if yo...

Last week I found myself once again climbing Bascom Hill to the University of Wisconsin Law School .  Learning was on my agenda. The class was not for a semester, but part of the week long 41st Annual Estate Planning in Depth (ALI-ABA) .  An entertaining lawyer named Eric A. Manterfield (Indiana) started the day off with an amusing news report. "Worlds oldest person, 118 Russian man dies.  Family says death unexpected." Unexpected?  Death is something none of us will escape.  There is no time better than the present to put affairs in order.  And because death is often an event stretched out over days, weeks or months, consider the importance of creating powers of attorney, both for health care as well as finance. Sadly I left the session without being able to ask my question....did the 118 man have a will?   A follow-up email will be sent to the speaker. Image credit:  www.sxc.hu - free image

What will you be doing the evening of Saturday, July 28th?  I know what I'll be doing.  Running in my second 5k of the year -- the Capital City 5K for Organ, Tissue and Eye Donation .  Here are five reasons why I've signed up: Transplants save lives.  Friends as well as clients of mine are living proof; Money and awareness mean more transplants, and a 5k raises both; Scheduling a timed run forces me to put daily runs on my calendar, and running neutralizes the stress of being a solo-practitioner; Who can say no to a twilight run along a lake in Madison?; and It makes for a great "date night" with my husband, who will be running along with me. Does a 5k seem daunting to you?  Would dinner and drinks make for a better date night?  Skeptical about what good can come from a few hundred runners and walkers in south central Wisconsin?  Negative thoughts like these are pushed from my mind when my phone rings.  Too often the person on the other ...

Being a bookworm and an attorney often go hand in hand.  Adolescents who love reading often take an academic path laden with words. That was me.  As a child books were my dearest possessions.  College, grad school and finally law school brought me endless texts to read.  Even though the years of tuition and exams have ended, my love of reading remains. Something about the combination of my focus area (estate planning and probate), my parents poor health, and the fact I'm the parent of two young children results in many of the books on my bedside table being about health.  So when I read a short review of The End of Illness by David B. Agus, MD in my USC Alumni magazine, I requested a copy from the library.  Apparently many others had too because it was months before I got an email saying it was available. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it town.  It offers serious science, public policy, and action points, making it one of the most powerful ...

Today's date, June 21st, marks the most significant life event for me, the day I married my husband.  So, it seems fitting that today, on the 21st of June, that I take this blog in a new direction.  Until now the posts have been informative, educational, and at times funny or sad.  Useful, yes, I'm certain that most have been useful.  But I have felt that something was missing.  That something was me.   There was not enough "Melinda" in the posts.  There were okay, but not the "great" I aim for. Going forward from today the posts offer my personal thoughts and observations on illness, death and taxes.  Being an estate planning and probate attorney means I view life through a different lens.   I'd like you to see what I see.  Enjoy the turn in the road I am taking. Image credit:  www.sxc.hu - free image