Learning Center

Captain’s Blog: 001 “Wow. That’s A Lot.” As an elder law attorney, I counsel clients in estate planning, long-term care planning, guardianships, and Medicaid. At the end of an initial consultation, which typically lasts between one to two hours, I have watched countless clients deeply exhale and lean back in their chairs. Then, they utter the same four words, repeated by nearly every client, “Wow. That’s a lot.” Indeed. The amount of information that attorneys deliver is a l

Captain’s Blog: 002 Plan Early. Plan Often. Plan Well. It’s more than just a catch phrase. Those three little sentences represent the foundation upon which Beach Barrister Law was built. Our hope is that it becomes your mantra as you make legal plans throughout your lifetime. Plan Early. I’ve said this countless times before, and I’ll surely say it again. And again. The absolute WORST time to plan for an emergency is DURING an emergency. When we receive a client in an elder

Captain’s Blog: 003 Who was your favorite teacher? Most people can spontaneously blurt-out that teacher’s name like a reflex. Some folks can even toss-in the grade level to boot. Mrs. Smith in the fifth grade . What made your favorite teacher stand out in your memory after all these years? Perhaps she explained things in a way that you could understand. Maybe he pushed you to achieve more than you thought you ever could. Maybe she encouraged your talent. Among all the qualit

Captain’s Blog: 004 Green is good . As it turns out, this sentiment isn’t limited to money or vegetables. The study of ecopsychology examines the relationship between nature and humans—specifically the wellbeing that we derive from our environment—through ecological and psychological principles.[1] In the arena of mental health, ecopsychology strives to understand positive influences that impact individuals, which helps them thrive.[2] Ecopsychology suggests that exposure to

Captain’s Blog: 005 Not Everyone Gets the Golden Ticket Our state and federal laws impact each of us every day, whether we're aware of them or not. Some laws are literally in our faces, posted on big signs (like the speed limit), and some laws have penetrated our public consciousness (like “Don’t Text and Drive”). However, other laws—like estate planning—quietly confront us without the benefit of billboards or media campaigns at very specific times in our lives. We assume tha

Captain’s Blog: 006 As adults, there are a million items on our Grown-Up To-Do list. The mundane chores are shuffled, depending on our moods and needs. “Nope. I don’t feel like mopping the floor today,” or “Skip the laundry, I have one clean pair of socks left.” Ill-timed mishaps, like a broken hot water heater, shove themselves to the top of the To Do, mostly because we’re inconvenienced in some way. There are also nagging Big Chores that we keep pushing-off, like an oil c

Captain’s Blog: 007 Part II: Time In our last Captain’s Blog, Overcoming the Five Roadblocks to Legal Planning , we discussed the issue of Unawareness. Many people don’t know exactly what estate planning is because it isn’t taught in our traditional educational system, and not every parent has knowledge of this life skill to pass it down to their children. In the absence of knowledge, misconceptions about estate planning frequently deter people from executing critical legal d

Captain’s Blog: 008 Part III: Money In our series, Overcoming the Five Roadblocks to Legal Planning , we've discussed how unawareness can create misconceptions about estate planning, and we've explored how these misconceptions can deter people from executing critical legal documents. We also acknowledged how time, or lack thereof, may become an obstacle to legal planning. Many people think they don’t have time to tackle the complexities of law. As busy adults, we spend the bu

Captain’s Blog: 009 Part IV: Perception We’re in the home stretch! In our series, Overcoming the Five Roadblocks to Legal Planning , we have discussed the obstacles of Unawareness, Time, and Money. We’ve considered how unawareness of estate planning can lead to misconceptions, which can diminish the importance of these legal documents. We also noted that, as busy adults, we rarely have time to learn about legal planning to bust these erroneous myths. Above all, the biggest ro

Captain’s Blog: 010 Part V: Procrastination Congratulations! You’ve reached the last installment of our five-part series, Overcoming the Five Roadblocks to Legal Planning . In our previous blogs, we’ve examined obstacles that prevent people from taking the plunge into estate planning, and we’ve presented different perspectives to help you move past these impediments. We’ve discussed Unawareness, Time, Money, and Perception. Our last roadblock, Procrastination, is simply the b

If your parent or loved one is experiencing memory loss or struggling with decisions, then you might hear the word “capacity” repeated quite frequently. But what does “capacity” mean? And why is capacity so important in estate planning? Before addressing how capacity applies to estate planning, it is important to clarify that generally, there are two types of capacity: medical capacity and legal capacity. In conversation, medical and legal professionals rarely specify to whic

A Power of Attorney is a document that establishes an agency.[1] An agency is a relationship where one person gives another party the authority to act on one's behalf.[2] The person who creates the Power of Attorney is called the “principal.” The party who will act on the principal’s behalf is called an “agent.”[3] In a Power of Attorney, the principal selects their agents and picks the different types of decision-making powers that they want their agents to have. Sometimes,

While the “Lucid Interval Doctrine” may sound intimidating—as law often does—this fancy term only describes what many of us see in our aging loved ones every day. Sometimes, Mom or Dad is razor sharp…and sometimes, not so much. The lucid interval doctrine acknowledges this ebb and flow of cognitive functioning.[1] The law states that a person diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disorder, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, may still possess legal capacity to execute estate planning d

Estate planning typically refers to five legal documents: the Durable Power of Attorney, Designation of Health Care Surrogate, Living Will, Last Will & Testament, and Trusts. (Outside the state of Florida, a Durable Power of Attorney can be called a Financial Power of Attorney , and a Designation of Health Care Surrogate can be called a Medical Power of Attorney or a Healthcare Power of Attorney .) Think of these individual documents as tools that you'll keep in your Estate