Tips for Home Buyers

The Boston Globe Magazine has a terrific article in today's issue on the topic of "building your brain trust" in preparation for purchasing a home or condo.  It touches on all of the main points-- a good realtor, a good mortgage lender, a good home inspector and of course a good attorney are all crucial components to getting through the process with the proper protections and achieving the best outcome.   I can provide excellent recommendations for brokers, inspectors and lenders, and of course I want to be your attorney!  Don't miss this informative article:  http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2011/05/22/building_a_home_buyers_brain_trust/.

Do I need life insurance?

In the course of working with estate planning clients, I am often asked for my opinion about whether they should have life insurance, and if so how much.  Generally, if you are not responsible for financially supporting anyone else, and you have sufficient assets to cover your liabilities, there is usually no need to purchase a policy.  If, however, a spouse, children or anyone else relies on you for income or financial support, you should definitely have life insurance coverage in place.  Upon your death, the proceeds of the policy will pass to your named beneficiaries to provide them with liquidity and a source of funds.  It is often recommended that you maintain coverage in an amount at least large enough to pay off your mortgage.  If you have young children, you may want it to cover higher education costs as well.   Term insurance will be much less expensive than whole life, which includes an investment component, and the premiums for a term policy will generally be small money in relation to the amount of coverage and thus peace of mind the policy can offer. 

One important point to all the stay-at-home parents out there:  don’t think that just because you have no income, you don’t need life insurance.  If the stay-at-home parent were to die, the survivor would spend a shocking amount of money in child and household care to replace the services that the deceased parent was providing for “free”.  A life insurance policy on the life of the stay-at-home parent will provide an important source of funds to cover those costs. 

How To Choose An Executor

Here is a link to a very informative article in the New York Times on the process of choosing an Executor for your estate plan.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/business/retirementspecial/03EXEC.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Farewell, Lynna

For the last eight years, Lynna Pallas Henderson has been my sidekick, my confidant, my conscience, my mind-reader, my confessor and my general  “right-hand woman”.  She has been the sunny voice on the other end of the phone line when you called, the happy face at the door when you came for our meeting, the one I could count on to make anything happen, and the glue that held so many things together.    And now, the time has come for her to move on to the next adventure in her life.  Lynna and her husband are relocating to Maine, where she will enjoy long-earned and much-deserved “retirement” at the family estate on the beautiful shores of the Atlantic.  It’s hard to imagine life at the office without her, and I will miss her terribly, but I am so excited for her to begin the next chapter in her life.  Lynna, my life has been immeasurably changed for the better for having had you in it.  So in a nod to our mutual love of musical theatre, I turn to Stephen Schwartz with my farewell to you:

“I’ve heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason

bringing something we must learn, and we are led to those who help us most to grow, if we let them, and we help them in return . .

. . . So much of me is made of what I learned from you. 

You’ll be with me like a handprint on my heart . . .

Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.”

Mortgage Broker Rule Changes

Interesting article on changes to the rules regarding mortgage brokers and their fees . . . all part of a massive effort to better protect consumers in the mortgage industry.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/realestate/20mort.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

My Facebook Page and Relevant News Articles

I am kind of a news junkie... and in connection with my reading a whole lot of newspapers and online sources, I regularly post links to articles of interest on my Facebook page.  Here are a couple of links to interesting articles in today's New York Times, one about calculating the APR in comparing mortgage products: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/realestate/mortgages/13mortgages.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
and another about the new estate and gift tax laws:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/yourtaxes/13estate.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y.
 
And of course, the link, once again, to the Facebook page itself: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Law-Offices-of-Judith-R-Pike/118159531528358

Titling of Assets Matters!

Having a Will and a even a Trust is not all you need to do for proper administration and disposition of your estate.  The way you hold title to your assets will also play a large part in determining who receives your assets upon death.  Here is a link to an excellent and very comprehensive article in today's New York Times on this important topic:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/business/10ESTATE.html?pagewanted=1&tntemail1=y&_r=1&emc=tnt