Anchorage Will and Trust Lawyer: What Property Should Be in a Living Trust?
If you are reading our blog, you probably already decided that you want to create a living trust with an Anchorage will and trust lawyer to avoid probate and put a quick end to the estate administration process. You might also have decided that you want your estate...
Contesting a Will is Not Easy
Though not as often as movies and soap operas would have us believe, estate planning lawyers do sometimes deal with family members who contest their loved one’s will. The case of a contested will normally involves a person who feels the deceased did not properly...
Anchorage Special Needs Planning Attorney: How to Plan for Your Child’s Future When You Are Divorcing
Raising a child with special needs is challenging. Sadly, the stress of the situation contributes to the high rate of divorce among couples who are raising children with special needs. In fact, it is estimated that the rate of divorce in these households are between...
Alaska Will and Trust Lawyer: How to Plan When You’re Ill or Dealing with Health Challenges Related to Old Age
Serious health diagnoses can impact your life in huge ways and may bring concerns you haven’t thought of up to the forefront. One of those concerns, which is often pushed off when everything is going well, is estate planning and/or elder law planning. Planning can...
Solid Retirement Planning with an Estate Planning Attorney in Anchorage
Perhaps one of the best reasons to hire an estate planning attorney in Anchorage is because of what they can do to help with retirement planning. Most of us have a kind of fantasy about what our retirement will look like, but a smart Anchorage estate planning lawyer...
What Does an Anchorage Will and Trust Lawyer Do to Protect Your Will From Being Contested?
While it doesn’t happen in real life as often as it does in the movies and on soap operas, Anchorage wills and trusts lawyers do sometimes have to deal with a contested will. Wills and trusts are created in order to ensure that a deceased’s wishes are followed, as...
Alaska Will and Trust Lawyer Answers: “Our Property is Titled in Joint Tenancy. I Don’t Need a Will, Right?”
The answer to this question and so many other estate planning questions is, “It depends, ....”. It is true that if you own an asset jointly with rights of survivorship in Alaska, the joint tenant will automatically retain ownership of the property when you pass away....
Anchorage Estate Planning Lawyer: How to Use Trusts to Protect Your IRA from an Irresponsible Child
A lot of parents come into our Anchorage estate planning law firm with mixed feelings about passing on the balance of their retirement accounts to their children when they die someday. On one hand they are proud of the money they have saved over their lifetime in an...
Anchorage Elder Law Attorney: Determining Legal Competency for Senior Citizens
Legal competency concerns can lead to issues for senior citizens, during both life and death. This is especially true for financial affairs and disputed inheritances. An Anchorage Elder law attorney must be able to determine a senior’s legal competency in both...
It’s December in Alaska
What are we thinking about? The holidays?, how cold will it be tonight?, what am I grateful for?, what am I going to plant in the garden next spring? will this cold weather give up for a bit and be warm enough for us all to go skiing?, what a year it has been, seems...
Anchorage Trust Lawyer: You May Need Two Guardians for Your Minor Children
People often struggle with deciding who will serve as guardian for their minor children if they pass away. We’ve walked hundreds of Anchorage families through this process. Sometimes, the family situation requires naming not just one guardian, but two. If you leave...
Now Is a Good Time to Review Your Estate Plan
For many of us, the holidays are a time to reflect upon the changes that have taken place over the course of the year. (There is certainly a lot to reflect upon this year!) As estate planning attorneys, the end of the year is a time to remind our clients about the...
What is the Difference Between a Will, a Living Will, and a Pour-Over Will?
These three legal documents have similar names but they are quite different in terms of the estate planning goals they help you accomplish. A will directs how a person’s estate is to be administered and how his or her assets will be distributed after death. The person...
Do You Need a Trust?
One of the first questions many clients ask is whether they need a trust. It's a great question, but it leads to another: What do you want your plan to accomplish? Let's begin with a brief discussion of what trusts are and how they work. Then we'll explore their...
September Change The Battery
It's almost the end of September. What are you thinking about? I can tell you what I am considering: yard clean up, planting last minute perennials, self care that includes cardio exercise daily and stretching and of course healthy foods and lots of water. I will tell...
Anchorage Will and Trust Lawyer: What Property Should Be in a Living Trust
If you are reading our blog, you probably already decided that you want to create a living trust with an Anchorage will and trust lawyer to avoid probate and put a quick end to the estate administration process. You might also have decided that you want your estate...
What Happens If Your Child Dies Before You?
The majority of people we see name their adult children as beneficiaries of their estate plan. In most cases, this works well because children typically outlive their parents. But, what happens when a child dies before the parent? What becomes of the inheritance that...
Words to Live By
I don’t know about you, but I like to surround myself with things that motivate, inspire, encourage or comfort me. And apparently a lot of other people like to surround themselves with positive sayings, too. Look at the market for word wall art and refrigerator...
The Forget-Me-Nots of June
I can’t believe June is here already! With the bloom of Alaska’s beautiful wildflowers, I am reminded that we, too, are rejuvenated with the thought of outside activities. Today, I want to write about one of my favorite wildflowers, Forget-Me-Nots. This humble, but...
Write a Note to Self
April showers bring May flowers. Snow free trails invite biking and hiking. Planning a summer escape to your favorite get away. What are you up to? As I write this, I guess I am looking inside and wondering. When I saw the following "note to self" on the internet, I...
Simplifying a Complex Subject
What are you thinking about as we head into spring here in Anchorage? What are you hoping to do this spring, this summer, this year, next year? I am really looking forward to everything I want to do and add to my calendar. The dump trucks are driving down my street as...
Serving Our Community
It’s March, the month we celebrate all things Irish, Girl Scout Cookies, especially Thin Mints, and the American Red Cross. Those three things have absolutely nothing in common, other than they’ve all made an impact on our culture! The calendar tells me that Spring is...
The Ultimate Act of Love
What does the ultimate act of love mean to you? February is here! It’s a month marked with pretty pink and red heart decorations, and flamboyant expressions of love. That’s what I’d like to talk about today – love, and what that looks like in real life, beyond the red...
A New Year
Happy New Year!! I hope this letter finds you and your family well and enjoying our new year, 2021. It seems like yesterday was the year 2000 and we were worried about all of the computers in the world. This year brings new concerns, but more importantly, it brings...
Law Office of Constance A. Aschenbrenner
907-334-9200
205 E. Benson Blvd., Suite 121-D Anchorage, Alaska
