If you are divorced or separated from your child’s other parent, you know that the distance between you and your ex can impact custody, particularly if you have joint custody. Your child custody agreement may specify that both parents must stay in the same area to...
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Buffalo New York Legal Blog
What is a health care proxy?
Older adults are often more likely to suffer from medical conditions that impact their physical and mental abilities. As a result of their health issues, many elderly New York residents get to the point where they are no longer able to manage to care for themselves or...
Seven goals that you can achieve through strong estate planning
There’s a lot of different ways to direct your assets once you pass away. While these options are great in that they allow you to custom tailor your estate plan to suit your needs, the complexities of it all can feel overwhelming. Don’t let that fact drive you to...
Drafting a parenting plan in New York
If you and your spouse have children and are getting divorced, you will need to address custody issues in your divorce. These custody issues include: Physical custody: When the child is living with or is under the care of a parent, that parent has physical custody of...
Your options when filing for bankruptcy
Debt, no matter the amount, has the tendency to loom over us. This is because we have been trained to think that debt is bad while at the same time being pressured to have multiple credit cards and to constantly buy. Thus, many individuals seek debt relief each year....
What happens if you die without a will?
Recent surveys indicate that only about one-third of Americans have a will. A common question is what happens to the assets belonging of those who die without a will. Intestate laws Like every other state, New York has laws — known as intestate laws — that specify how...
Do you need a will, a trust or both?
The answer to this question depends on a number of factors. Your first step, though, is gaining a thorough understanding of the difference between a will and a trust. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions out there, which has left many people thinking that...
Do you need a spendthrift trust in your estate plan?
There are a lot of ways to use the estate planning process to protect your wealth. One way is to be careful about who you leave your assets to, but sometimes you want to provide financial support to a loved one even when they don’t have the greatest track record of...
What is a Medicaid divorce?
As you probably know, Medicaid can help elderly New York residents pay for long-term health care needs. To qualify for Medicaid, you need to meet certain income and asset thresholds. This means that you cannot get Medicaid if your income is too high, or you have too...
Two ways to protect your separate property in a divorce
Most of us own some valuable assets before marrying that we do not want to lose if our marriage is not a success. “What’s mine is yours” is not always fair. There are ways you can protect your separate property if you divorce. Separate property vs. marital property...