The Nutz Law Firm

03/19/2015

Hi Y'all. I have closed my law firm and taken a job in Paris. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up! I thought about shutting this page down, but looking back, there is a lot of useful information on here. So I'll leave it up.

Hope everyone's doing well. Call an elderly person you know today. In our busy lives, we forget them, but they think of us all the time. Take a few minutes to listen to them, and learn about their lives. You won't regret it.

01/29/2014

Folks, in the midst of all this ice and snow - please don't forget to check on your elderly neighbors.

Y'all stay safe out there - and try to only go out to play, if you can.

09/11/2013

The family of the Speed Stick fortune (didn't know there was a family fortune, did you?) sued for investment losses in their trust. Uncle So and So shouldn't have been allowed to invest in such and such...

Asking $100m. It's early stages yet.

Wilmington Trust Co., a unit of M&T Bank Corp., was sued by heirs to Mennen Co., maker of Speed Stick deodorant, seeking more than $100 million in damages for investment losses.

08/22/2013

Here's the hard truth that Americans culturally don't want to face: dying isn't a choice.

Our only possible choices are where we die, how we die, with whom we die, and our personal definition of living.

Talk to your family and doctor about your wishes - even if you're healthy. But most importantly - get your powers of attorney in order: financial and health care. Do it. Don't wait. You never know.

For twenty-nine years my grandparents taught me how to live; in my thirtieth year they taught me how to die. My grandfather's death was orchestrated, my Nana's improvised.

08/10/2013

Talk about your end of life wishes with those you love. Even if you're young. Better yet - get a health care power of attorney and living will in place.

Hopefully these choices will never have to be made by or for you, but don't leave it to chance.

Alexandra Drane, co-founder of Engage with Grace, shares why having "the conversation" is so important.

07/25/2013

Disinheriting a child is usually because of miscommunication between the parent and child. Sometimes it's hurt feelings over something that happened a long time ago. Sometimes the parent thinks a child has bad motives in asking all kinds of financial questions as the parent ages, when all the child was trying to do was make sure the parent was fully cared for. Sometimes, rifts are healed and the will is just never updated. Perhaps the parent thinks giving money to the child will be detrimental in some way, and never discussed it with a planner.

Regardless of the cause, disinheriting a child cuts a wide wake within that family. The disinherited child's feels the parent didn't love them, and the rift hurts all over again. Siblings are uncomfortable handling the situation, and the rift widens to encompass them. The surviving parent may be thought as part of the problem and the rift now includes them as well.

There are reasons people cut someone out of a will. Good reasons. But before you do it, think about all of the consequences, and weigh those against why you're disinheriting someone. Is it really worth it? This is not the time to be petty.

Mary Beth Caschetta and her father never saw eye to eye, but she didn't think he would cut her out of his will.

07/15/2013

Having the hard conversations:

When older parents need help managing their money, the role reversal can be difficult for all. Get over the awkward feelings and have the conversations.

07/15/2013

If you don't have a health care power of attorney ("living will") or a financial power of attorney ("durable POA") - you need them. They will tell others what your wishes are for end of life, and give them the power to make it happen.

And check that your parents and siblings have them too - a family fight over these things is not good. Going to court is time consuming, expensive, and emotionally hard. At a time when emotions are already difficult to deal with...

For many people, it's hard to think about dying. But denial won't make this go away. And a lack of planning will make it so much worse. Please don't do that. Please.

What’s unusual about medical professionals is not how much treatment they get when faced with a terminal illness—but how little.

07/11/2013

"Those surviving past the age of 90 today are living longer and are mentally sharper than nonagenarians born a decade earlier."

Great news!

When it comes to brain power, 90 may be the new 80.

07/07/2013

Gandolfini's estate:
He used a will to pass some assets directly to friends and family members. Since a will is a public document we know who gets what under the will.

But he used trusts to pass (?most?) of his assets privately, and protect his young children from receiving money before they're truly able to manage it. We don't know what the children (and his widow) are actually getting because trusts are private documents, but his net worth was estimated at $70m.

07/02/2013

What treatments physicians would choose to prolong life when a cure isn't possible. Overwhelmingly they choose pain medication only - palliative care.

A recent RadioLab podcast, titled The Bitter End, identified an interesting paradox. When you ask people how they’d like to die, most will say that they want to die quickly, painlessly, and peacefully… preferably in their sleep.

07/01/2013

No need for a test because there's no cure? But what if identifying Alzheimers patients - before the autopsy - helps us find a cure? Or just a better treatment? We have to start somewhere - identifying the disease during life would be a good place.

The U.S. government is set to decide this month whether federal health insurance should cover the cost of a $3,000 test that for the first time accurately identifies the signature brain plaques of Alzheimer’s disease.