You Probably Need A Lawyer If . . .

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Celebrity comedian Jeff Foxworthy has developed a series of jokes that begin with the phrase: “You might be a redneck if  . . .” If Mr. Foxworthy was a lawyer, perhaps he might adapt that concept to identify some of the circumstances when an attorney’s […]

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Business Entities – Not Just For Businesses Anymore

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Most people are familiar with corporations. Some people may have encountered a business entity that has existed in Indiana since 1993 called a limited liability company (an “LLC”). Business people have used these entities in Indiana to solve a wide variety of problems, including protection […]

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Non-Traditional Households Require Special Planning

Posted on by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] A report published by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2009, showed that more than 60% of Americans had been married at least once by age 30 and at least 10% of Americans had been divorced by age 30 (https://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p70-125.pdf). If a “traditional” household includes a […]

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Attention Veterans: Avoid VA Pension/Medicaid Eligibility Traps

Posted on January 16, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] The US Department of Veterans Affairs (also known as the “VA”) expresses some of our nation’s respect and gratitude to US military veterans by providing various benefits to veterans, their surviving spouses, and dependent children. Unfortunately, many veterans follow bad advice to pursue the VA’s […]

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Too Young to Plan? Think Again!

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Young adults have blind spots about life because they were oblivious during their childhood of many decisions that their parents made for them. They never had to worry during childhood about filing income tax returns or whether to have x-rays or stitches because such decisions […]

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Happy (Paper) Trails – Good Reasons to Stop Using Cash

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] All of our ancestors conducted business by paying with cash. When we were younger, our parents told us that it was irresponsible to live without carrying substantial amounts of cash. Those beliefs may have been valid in the past, but doing business without keeping a […]

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2015 Year-End Tax Planning Traps and Opportunities

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Congress changes federal tax law almost every year. Some changes are very dramatic, and other changes are so subtle that tax lawyers must scour them to find the nuances. Federal tax law changes for the 2015 tax year (affecting income tax returns filed in 2016) […]

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Register Gifts Cautiously

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] People all over the country will be registering electronic gifts for warranty purposes and opening new online accounts on December 25. Most of us have done this so many times that we take online account registration for granted. Unfortunately, careless indifference to technology can become our […]

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Gifts of Memories

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Inherited material wealth is often very modest, but heritage is priceless. We have enjoyed hearing stories of family heritage from aging clients and their children over the past decades. Clients have shared many stories with us about hidden treasures of old letters, annotated photographs, diaries, […]

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Conscience and Ethics in Estate Planning

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Hawkins Elder Law.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Humans dominate the animal kingdom partly because we possess physical and mental abilities to change our environment and behavior deliberately. More than that, a person’s values elevate the person above the crude comfort and self-preservation instincts that define other creatures. The power to conceive and […]

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