French Law Group had quite a busy month, with lots of changes and developments. You and we have exercised our Constitutional Right to Vote on November 3. Our office was closed so our employees could vote. Laura spent the day as a volunteer for We The Action/Election Protection to ensure every eligible Georgia voter was able to safely and securely cast their vote. The outcome of the Presidential election may impact your planning, and we remind you that we are here for you to help you navigate through your life’s planning in a way that PROTECTS you.
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Everything you own is part of your estate, and you should make a plan that dictates how your assets will be distributed among your loved ones when you die. Death is a feared subject, and people avoid talking about it, but Life and Death Planning should be part of our conversations.
Estate planning is all about who you are, who you love, what you own, and how we put all of those pieces together for you. It is about life – what happens during periods of incapacity. And it is about death – what happens to your family after you die.
The HOW of estate planning is what concerns most people, and causes anxiety or even fear. But fear not! It is my job as your professional advisor to sort out the HOW, and give you guidance on reaching your own unique goals. I promise it will not be scary!
Give Yourself Peace of Mind
Our clients regularly tell us how great they feel after meeting with us. They’ve gotten answers to their questions, options for their life, and guidance for how to care for their loved ones after death. The peace and confidence comes through making a decision!
Your LAST GIFT to your Loved Ones
A well-planned will, trust, or power of attorney is literally the last gift you can give to the people you love. It is a gift to your loved ones because you have thought ahead, eliminating interference from the court, third-parties who have no business in your affairs, and minimizing any opportunity for family conflict. You also have the opportunity to give a gift to your community. Through proper planning, you may leave something to charity or church. And you are doing one more thing as well: if you plan in advance, you are lessening the burden on your local court, community resources, and medical providers. Why? Because YOU have made decisions ahead of time, which eliminates the guessing game.
Ease the Strain on Your Family
When a loved one passes away, the family is overwhelmed with emotional pain, grief, and sadness. I can’t take that away, but I can give them room and space to remember YOU, your life, your legacy, and your impact on the world. Proper planning allows families to check “legal worries” off of their list, opening the way to joyful remembrances of you.
Halloween may be scary, but your estate planning doesn’t have to be! We are here to have the “scary” conversation with you, give you peace of mind, so that you can give your family one last amazing gift. Click here and schedule a life and death planning conversation today.
As an entrepreneur, you need to understand that business law is the body of rules that govern the dealings and associations between people in commerce matters.
Some benefits have been associated with understanding and incorporating business law in your company.
Understanding and Handling Contracts and Legal Agreements
Contracts and agreements are part of everyday activities in a business venture. If you are equipped with sufficient business law information, you will be guided to make the right decisions and enter into beneficial contracts.
Be Aware of Your Business Rights.
As a business owner, you and your business have rights. Understanding the law will allow you to protect your business from any unlawful actions by other business partners or any other business entity.
Make Everyday Business Decisions.
As an entrepreneur, decision making is part of your everyday activities. You will be required to tackle vital and expansive legal issues that will affect your business operations while considering the legal consequences and implications in your venture.
What are the primary business laws that you should be aware of as a business owner?
Licensing Laws
To run a successful business, you need to have the required licenses in your area of operations and location. Consult with your lawyer for guidance.
Employment laws
Some laws govern your employees and their rights; you need to understand them so that you do not infringe or violate any of them in your operations.
Tax laws
Uncle Sam requires you to pay taxes for your business, your employees, and your products. Discuss with your lawyer and do the right thing.
Advertising and Marketing Laws
If you need to do advertising and marketing for your business, you need to adhere to the set laws governing this aspect.
Online Business Laws
With every business setting up shop on the digital marketing platform, you need to understand that laws govern the online space.
Privacy Law
There is a need for you to offer data security for your business-sensitive information. When you collect clients’ personal information, you need to ensure that the information is well protected.
Healthcare Law
Your employee’s healthcare and well-being should be part of your priorities; if they are in good health, you can be rest assured that they will perform their tasks and duties well and contribute to your business success.
Finance Law
There have been cases where businesses hit financial roadblocks, and there are laws that govern such situations. With your lawyer’s guidance, I hope that your business never comes to experience this situation.
Having a business lawyer from the beginning in your business should be a crucial aspect that you should never ignore. Your business lawyer is your quarterback, your silent partner who has your interests at heart.
At French Law Group, we understand that as a business owner, you cannot do it all; you need a person who can guide you through the complexities of running and operating a business. If you are a business owner, schedule a conversation today and let us talk about the life of your business. Together, we can protect your house.
Health Care is in the spotlight right now, thanks to COVID-19. Now more than ever it is important to think about how you want to be cared for should you become incapacitated and who you would like making decisions for you.
However, you can make these decisions now with what’s called an Advanced Directive for Health Care. Now you might think “why is this important.” Your decisions on medical care are different from others. This document will allow you to put your instructions in a legal form so that your philosophies, religious or spiritual beliefs, or whatever is important to you can be put into a medical directive. It’s planning so that IF you become physically or mentally incapacitated, someone who can make medical decisions for you knows what your wishes are.
Part of this is deciding who you want to make medical decisions for you. This person does not necessarily have the same belief system that you do. It needs to be someone who is going to back you up and advocate on your behalf, even if they don’t necessarily agree. It’s important to remember that this person will only be able to make decisions for you if you can not make them for yourself.
Medical directives apply to:
– Life sustaining procedures
These are all things we need to think about whether we are in the time of COVID or not. Even if you don’t become ill, there are other things that could happen that would require someone to make medical decisions on your behalf. That’s why it’s important to make the decisions now.
If you haven’t laid out your plans or appointed someone to make decisions for you, now if the time. We’d be happy to sit and talk with you about what’s important to you and how you want to be cared for. Click the contact page to get in touch with us today.
Preplanning is a gift. It’s a gift to yourself, it is a gift to your loved ones, and it is a gift to the things you care about most. It can give you peace of mind knowing your wishes will be carried out in your own way, instead of leaving decisions up to someone else. That, in turn, will make things much easier on your family should you become incapacitated.
By naming a Financial Power of Attorney you will be able to decide who can make decisions on your behalf, and maintain authority and control over yourself by documenting your wishes and instructions.
I tell many clients that a Financial Power of Attorney, in some respects, is actually more important than a will, because Georgia Law has a will written for you. If you die without a will, Georgia will still make sure your assets are distributed amongst your family. However, if you do not have a Financial Power of Attorney, a local judge will put someone in place for you. Most of the time, it will not be someone you would want to be able to make those decisions.
A Financial Power of Attorney is durable, meaning it is valid during your life, should you become incapacitated. However, it is NOT valid when you die. At that point, your will, or the state statute, or your trust will take over.
When you sign a Power of Attorney, you are the Principal. As the Principal, you appoint an agent, who will act on your behalf. You can authorize this person to handle several types of financial dealings for you including:
– financial and business type transactions
– real property
– tangible property
– stocks, bonds, commodities
– banks and financial institutions
– insurance
– annuities
– estates, trusts, and beneficial interests
– claims and lawsuits
– personal and family maintenance
– government benefits
– medicaid benefits, va benefits, and civil service or military pensions
– retirement plans
– managing taxes
This is a lot of responsibility and you may decide you’d like to limit your agent’s ability to deal with one or several of these things. That is why it is SO important to meet with a professional attorney who can help you set up the plan that is right for you.
As a wife and a mom, I know how important it is to get your plans in place for the future. If there is anything we can help you with, we’d be happy to work with you, please click on the contact tab to get in touch today.
Most people who come to see us at French Law Group have a preconceived notion about estate planning. They’ll say “Oh, I just want to make a will” or “I just need a power of attorney.” They believe they don’t have an estate or that they don’t need to plan because they don’t have anything of value.
What they don’t realize is that estate planning is simply the act of thinking about who in your life is important to you, what you have that you want to protect, preserve, or pass on to someone else and how we put those two together. If you want to help your loved ones after your death, you need to plan properly. That is why estate planning is an act of love.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have much money, or if you’re a multimillionaire, everyone needs an estate plan. If you don’t make a plan, the State of Georgia has a plan they will use for you. And most of the time, Georgia’s plan will not line up with your wishes.
When we work with our clients, we break down estate planning into 4 main categories.
1. Will-Based Planning
This is a Last Will & Testament. Anything you own individually will be subject to probate court. If you have a will leaving your assets to your spouse, children, or even charities, it is subject to probate court supervision.
2. Trust-Based Planning
This is where you set up your own ball game. You set up the structure and make the rules. This includes any rules to protect you during your lifetime and rules that will protect your loved ones after you die. This document will help you avoid probate and minimize estate taxes.
3. Protection Planning
This type of plan will protect your house, money, or other assets from unknown creditors. You can also separate your business endeavors from personal endeavors through this plan. Long-term care is also addressed in this plan. This includes medicaid planning, and VA planning.
4. Powers of Attorney
This includes your financial power of attorney and your Advanced Health Care Directive. If you don’y have these things in place and you become incapacitated, the probate court will be responsible for appointing someone to take care of your medical needs and your finances.
The time to plan is now. Don’t put it off. Show your loved ones you care by calling our offices today to start planning your legacy. 706.991.1701
Here in Georgia, parents of college-age students have been surprised to learn that their children are adults. UGA has recently published guidance about college students, COVID-19, and sex, which has caught parents in denial about their children’s activities. Twitter and other social media has blown up over this guidance. And guess what may be news to Georgia parents? Once your child is 18 years old, your baby is an adult in the eyes of the law. This means that you don’t have legal authority to make decisions for your child any longer. So, it is important to plan ahead using powers of attorney.
Sending your kids off to college is a very emotional time, filled with excitement and understandable anxiety. Your baby is growing up and leaving the nest. And even though he or she is still your baby, as soon as your child is 18, you’ve got a legal adult. You’re thinking about things that may have never crossed your mind before and you need answers.
All of this means your child is allowed to make their own decisions without your permission or involvement. And unfortunately, that also means that if your adult child becomes incapacitated, you may not be able to make health care decisions or manage money for them absent a court order. This is true even if you are paying tuition, health insurance, and/or claim them as dependents on your tax returns.
So what can you do to make sure you don’t have to get a judge’s permission and court order to act on your adult child’s behalf? How can you continue to protect and guide your now-adult child? Have them sign two very important documents: A Financial Power Of Attorney, and an Advance Health Care Directive.
You might be thinking these documents are usually for the elderly, but every adult should have one. Accidents happen, are the leading cause of injury for young adults, so you must always be prepared.
1. Financial Power Of Attorney
This entitles a designated agent, or in this case, a parent, to make financial decisions on the student’s behalf if he or she becomes incapacitated. This document will allow the agent to access bank accounts, pay bills, sign tax returns, and make changes to financial aid, etc.
2. Advance Health Care Directive
Also known as a Medical Power of Attorney, this document allows an agent to make medical decisions on the student’s behalf in case he or she becomes incapacitated. The agent will also be able to access the student’s medical records and speak to doctors.
So even though you still think of your child as your baby, you need to be prepared for the law to treat him or her as an adult with rights. Signing these two documents will ensure you have more say in what happens to your child in case he or she becomes seriously sick or injured. If your child is headed off to college soon, then contact me to get a plan in place ASAP!
