I’ve been working a lot in the family law arena lately — divorces and child custody cases. Thus, I’ve been thinking a lot about how and why divorces can lead to negative outcomes for kids. One major factor I’ve seen a lot of lately is the issue of parental alienation. Parental alienation is loosely defined to describe when one parent’s behavior interferes with a child’s relationship or attachment to the other parent. At its extreme, parental alienation can cause the child to come to ...
Squandered Opportunities
Many people scrimp and save in the hopes of having something left over for their children at their death. But as an estate planning attorney, I know that often times that hard-earned-by-mom-and-dad inheritance turns into a squandered opportunity for the kids. The money (much like lottery winnings) is quickly used on a new flat screen TV, that motorcycle they always wanted, a two-week cruise to the Caribbean, or the worst possibility: to fuel an addiction to drugs, alcohol, or ...
Community Property Versus Separate Property — What’s Mine Is Mine, Or Maybe It’s Yours, Or Maybe Not…
Idaho is what’s known as a “community property” state — one of 9.5 such states in the United States. (Alaska has an opt-in provision for community property, so it is the 1/2 state.) The rest of the states are “common law” property state. In those states, determining who owns what is generally straight-forward. If there is a written title document for the property (house, car, boat), then whoever is listed on the title owns the property. If there is not title, then whoever owned the money ...
