In January, we added two new employees, Julie Helter and Brandon Eckstein, to our estate
planning department!
Also, after taking a break for
the holidays,
we started booking Nancy
Roberson's speaking engagements for 2019, which
initially
resulted
in six events where Nancy speaks on the importance of having your affairs in order. We continue
to book more events for Nancy in the summer.
In February, we added a pa
rt-time Attorney, Sahreem George, as an independent contractor to assist with ou
r overflowing case load. We also contracted our prior Associate Attorney, Will Jennings, to help us with our marketing while he works remotely from his new residence in Indiana. Will helped us design a brochure about our estate planning services, which is the first time that we have had an official firm brochure for that department. So many people do not really understand what the term estate planning means, so we decided that creating a brochure to explain what our estate planning services
entail was long overdue. In the future, we hope to have a brochure about our probate and trust law services.
In March, our Paralegal Janna Speck
and Legal Secretary
Penny Norvell celebrated their work anniversaries. Janna has worked at
our offic
e 3 years and Penny celebrated her first year. In addition, we received a copy of Marquis Who's Who in America for 2018 and, lo and behold, Nancy is
listed on page 1016 of the publication. What an honor it was for Nancy to be publicly acknowledged for her legacy and contributions in law. And, last but not least, Attorney Kristina Rainer's daughter, baby Katherine, turned 1!
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What You Missed From Our Weekly Facebook Posts...
If this is the first time that you have seen this video or these pictures then you must not be our fan on Facebook!
Although our newsletter goes out only once a quarter, we make posts to our Facebook page once a week. That means liking our page gives you weekly access to what is going on at our firm.
We post everything from pictures of staff members to articles about the latest topics in our area of law.
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News You Can Use
In This Issue:
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Don't Make These 6 Estate Planning Mistakes!
This year, for our annual reminder of what not to do
when it comes to death and disability planning, we are doing a re-boot of an article that we wrote two years ago that resulted in a lot of buzz from our readers. Enjoy!
Article from March 2017 Roberson Law Newsletter:
The mistakes we have seen people make throughout the past 35 years we have been in practice have caused a lot heartache, stress, and money for our clients to correct.
We realize that understanding what to do and what not to do when it comes to estate planning can be very confusing to a person who isn't familiar with the probate and trust laws (Side note: That's why you don't hire an attorney who is not a specialist in this area of law). It is for the reasons above why we are encouraging our clients to read an article recently published by the law firm Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C. titled,
"The 6 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes."
The
article sums up in non-legalize why you need to listen to the advice of your estate planning attorney or suffer serious consequences. Some of the mistakes people make include burying their head in the sand and not planning at all, not funding a trust, incorrectly designating beneficiaries on bank accounts, retirement funds, etc. or going online for "do-it-yourself" estate planning forms, which is a "doozy" mistake due to the vast differences in each state's laws.
One "size" does not fit all when it comes to death and disability planning in the United States. For that reason, attorneys are required to be licensed to practice law in each state where they are giving advice, so that is why going to a site that is not state specific is not wise.
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By Law, If Your Child Died, Would You Be Permitted To Access His or Her Social Media Accounts?
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Social media, a term that didn't
event exist until the late 1990s, is now something that influences almost every teenager every day. Long gone are the days when teenagers' biggest influencers were MTV and "Seventeen" magazine.
Digital asset planning has been a hot topic in estate planning to enable the representative of an estate to gain access to online bank accounts and other online assets after a person's death. However, since so many social media users are teenagers, and teenage suicide has become an epidemic, the latest challenge for probate attorneys is obtaining access to a child's social media accounts after the child's death. Believe it or not, in some states, access to social media accounts is even restricted from a child's parent or guardian upon the child's death.
Accessing a child's social media account post mortem may not seem necessary, or may even be viewed as morbid. When unanswered questions exist behind the cause of death, however, often such questions may be answered by getting a closer look behind the "screens." Sometimes it can be very insightful to see a child's activity on social media before his or her death.
The American Bar Association recently published an article about this topic, "
Digital Asset Planning for Minors," that is very informative. The article contains a wealth of information about the law and who is legally allowed to have access to a minor's social media accounts.
Internet laws in some states are actually different for minors under 13 than those who are under 18. A handful of states even allow a minor to execute a will and other estate planning documents. For more information about this topic, please read the full article
here.
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Is Being A Lawyer Really Worth It?
Many college graduates still don't know what they want to be when they grow up. As a default, many graduates decide that going to law school is the reasonable next step to "find themselves;" or some believe that becoming a lawyer will provide the ticket to have the lucrative, successful career with a Bugatti in the driveway and vacations in Figi. As a result, a plethora of people go into the practice of law for the wrong reasons and leave the practice of law almost as quickly as they entered it, but with a mountain of law school debt to accompany their career change. At our office alone, in the past 20 years, we have had two lawyers leave our firm because they decided to pursue a career that was outside of the practice of law.
We decided to write an article about this topic because so many clients ask us whether their children or grandchildren should go to law school. In order to answer this question, the three attorneys in our office shared their thoughts on the topic.
Attorney Nancy Roberson, President and Senior Partner,
licensed for 35 years: "When I was 12 years old, God called me to serve Him. When I was 21, God called me to become a lawyer. I have been amazed, humbled, and blessed by all of the opportunities that God has given me to serve Him by serving people. For example, I recently met with a lady who was terrified that she was going to "lose it all" because her husband had Alzheimer's. During our meeting, I educated the lady about her Medicaid planning options and assured her that she would not become destitute if her husband went into a nursing home. Her bright smile and relaxed countenance at the end of our meeting meant everything to me. I marvel that I get paid to do something that I enjoy so much. The downside of being a lawyer is working long hours and dealing with people's unrealistic expectations about their cases and negative perception about the legal profession.
Attorney Kristina Rainer,
Partner
, licensed for 11 years:
"I love the opportunity that practicing law gives me to help people. I like complex challenges and problems given to me, and being able to put in writing my client's thoughts, wishes, and desires. I dislike, however, the stress that is caused by the uncertainty of not knowing every answer to every client's problems. If only lawyers could know everything about every subject!"
Attorney Sahreem George,
Independent Contractor,
licensed for 5 years:
"Born into a family of a lawyer, I knew what the future held for me, if I chose to step into this profession. Law is a noble profession that often requires a great amount of time and sacrifice. If your heart isn't in it then you might find yourself in a vexing situation.
Law is a passion and this journey from rigorous full-time schooling to daunting and grueling practice is only worth the risk if you have a heart for it. So that's for you to decide; are you ready for it?"
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Our mission is to provide excellent, compassionate legal services to help people plan for the unexpected and prepare for the inevitable.
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All material in this newsletter is Copyright © 2019 by Nancy A. Roberson. All rights reserved. |
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