Advanced Directive

When “The Talk” isn’t About the Birds and Bees

Published on: November 8, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Conversations about money, death and dying wishes become tangled up in strong emotions surrounding these matters. A strategic approach might be helpful.

Every family is different, but almost every family struggles with conversations about wills, estate planning and money. A recent article in The Chicago Tribune, “Have the estate planning talk,” advises a thoughtful approach while letting you know that this is hard for everyone.

This is a tough topic because feelings and money get tied up. Money in many instances can conjure feelings of control (or lack of it), dignity, shame, fear, or a lack of confidence. Many conversations go south quickly. For example: if an adult son asks his mother if she and his father have recently updated their wills, he might be met with a response such as, "Why? Are you hoping we’ll die soon, so you can use your inheritance to finally pay off that huge mortgage we warned you not to take?"

Make Sure Your Divorce Degree Aligns with Your Estate Plan and Vice Versa

Published on: September 6, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Forget to make these changes and your heirs may never forgive you. Forget to align these documents, and your estate planning attorney will never forget you.

Once the process of legally ending your marriage begins, you will need to make sure that your own interests are protected and that includes updating your estate plan to reflect this big life change. While some things may remain the same, like leaving your children certain assets, be assured that pretty much everything else will change, according to Forbes’ article, “The First Thing You Must Do When Your Divorce Is Final.”

Once your divorce is final, that is, the divorce decree has been approved by a judge, and a judgment rendered, contact your estate attorney and begin to review and revise the following legal and estate planning documents:

Got Kids in Texas Colleges? You Need These Documents

Published on: August 11, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Far too many parents are stunned to learn that healthcare providers and colleges are by law not permitted to speak with them about their children without the correct documents in place.

That long-awaited, bittersweet moment has finally arrived: your children are headed off to college. They are now adults—and likely far from home, where they must learn to fend for themselves. But if they run into a problem, let’s say a health emergency, the hospital might not take your phone call. As reported in businessinsavannah.com’s article, “College-bound children need critical financial, health documents,” there are certain steps you can take so that you will be able to speak with doctors at a hospital and college officials on his or her behalf.

Otherwise, you’re not legally allowed to help him. Why not?

Six Key Houston Estate Planning Documents To Protect Your Loved Ones

Published on: May 23, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Privacy and a faster resolution to settling estates are just two good reasons to create an estate plan.

You really don't have to be a millionaire or famous to create an estate plan, as noted in an article appearing on the Forbes' website, "Prince and Estate Planning: What We Can Learn from the Late Musician's Financial Picture." All you have to do is make sure that you have six basic estate planning documents in place to protect your loved ones from additional stress and worry when you pass away.

Here are the six key documents you should have to protect your assets and your family in the event of your passing:

Most Americans Still Don’t Have a Will

Published on: May 20, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Despite countless celebrity estate battles, most Americans still put off having a will created. Think of a will as an itinerary for your family that will make their lives easier once you are gone.

Prince was clearly busy with performing, writing, recording and creating. But that's still not a good reason for him to not have put a will in place. The very public court processes that are now underway could have been completely avoided had he devoted the time to creating an estate plan.

The Huffington Post, in its May 3 article, "Like Prince, A Majority Of Americans Don't Have A Will," stressed that wills are important as they establish beneficiaries, distinguish who gets what (and how much of it), and prevent the state from deciding what happens to your property.

It’s National Healthcare Decisions Day! Do You Have Your Advance Directives?

Published on: April 16, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD). And now that you’ve met the big deadline for filing your tax return, it's a great time to turn your attention to ensuring that your estate planning documents are in place, beginning with your own advance directives.

Everyone needs current and valid advance directives. This simple outline of the care that you wish to receive when you may not be able to communicate your wishes provides a clear and concise roadmap for your loved ones and health care providers. This single step is so important, because your family won’t have to guess or assume what “Mom or Dad would have wanted” in the event that you cannot give direction to your family. Your instructions can be clearly spelled out in a legally recognized document.

We encourage you to consider taking a step forward in planning for your family’s peace of mind by making a decision on the the following — today:

Doctors Need to Know: Who is the Decision-Maker?

Published on: July 7, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

“What about the wife?” the social worker asked.

How could we have missed this most basic and vital piece of information? It’s easier than you might think. The sister didn’t get along with the wife and apparently wasn’t moved to tell us of her existence. The social worker had been out sick, and his replacement assumed that we knew. And we had a concerned sibling at the bedside who fulfilled our mental checkbox for who makes an acceptable surrogate decision-maker.

While doctors are dealing with the medical issues during end-of-life situations, they have a harder time thinking about the personal wishes of their patients. It's best to have a plan in place and someone to communicate those wishes to the doctor in charge.

End-Of-Life Decisions – What Would The Doc Do?

Published on: June 10, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

[Dr. V.J. Periyakoil] and her colleagues wanted to learn more about the attitudes of young doctors toward advance directives. So the researchers asked what choices they would make for themselves if they were terminally ill.

How do people make their end-of-life decisions? Everyone varies medically, intellectually and culturally. In addition, there are some important religious questions that may come into play. It can be very helpful to learn from the practices of others, too.

A very important perspective to consider may well be doctors themselves. According to a recent post in the New Old Age Blog of The New York Times, there is a bit of a consensus among those who wear the white lab coats.

Understanding The “Do Not Hospitalize” Directive for Houston Families

Published on: December 27, 2013 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Often, proxies are confused about how “do not hospitalize” orders work. Several proxies believed, mistakenly, that a such an order was equivalent to a request to withhold medical intervention altogether.

For elderly loved ones in nursing homes, there is a very powerful tool found in a little known directive known as the “do not hospitalize” directive. Unfortunately, it also happens to be underused and misunderstood, as pointed out in recent article in The New Old Age Blog titled simply “A Misunderstood Directive.”

Advanced directives, as you may well know, are your medical choices reduced to black and white. They are intended to speak for you when you cannot. “Do not hospitalize” does not mean you do not want to receive care. In fact, you can even spell out the circumstances when you really want to go the hospital!

Planning In Advance For Your Advance Health Directive in Houston

Published on: November 6, 2013 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Nancy

Wagner, a social worker at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, N.J., encounters

this frustration at least once a week: A patient arrives in the emergency room