I generally say “let me know about two weeks before you need it” when people tell me they are thinking about getting their will or trust done.  Yes, I smile and sometimes wink after saying that. The fact is we don’t know when our two week timer has started… and when it’s going to BUZZ!  […]

I recently met with “Mabel,” an 85 year old client with a dog named “Buddy” who she loves very much. When Mabel dies who will take care of Buddy?  She believes her neighbor will take Buddy but will he?  Can Mabel do something to provide more security for Buddy?  Herein lies a problem when the […]

At least once a week I get a call from a perspective client that goes something like this: ME: “Good morning this is John Palley….” CLIENT: “I need your help fast… we are trying to sell mom’s house… it might be in foreclosure… and the mortgage company won’t talk to me since we haven’t started […]

Estate planning attorneys love acronyms: Q-TIP, Q-DOT and Q-PRT are three relatively well known types of trusts.  Others include ILIT, CRT, GRAT, GRIT and A/B.  Though all of these initials are good estate planning tools to consider the QPRT, or QUALIFIED PERSONAL RESIDENCE TRUST is a vastly underutilized tool in this author’s opinion. A QPRT […]