Colton Babcock Attorney

11/13/2024

Ginny is now offering her services to Missouri clients.

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12/23/2023

Why wait to get hit by a bus?
I saw this quote from George Clooney, who gave $1million to each of 14 friends a few years ago:
"I've slept on their couches when I was broke. They loaned me money when I was broke. They helped me when I needed help over the years. And I've helped them over the years. We're all good friends," he says. "And I thought, you know, without them I don't have any of this. And we're all really close, and I just thought basically if I get hit by a bus, they're all in the will. So why the f---- am I waiting to get hit by a bus?"
What a kind and generous thing to do for his friends!
Few of us can be so kind and generous with our friends while we are here. What we can do, however, is to make sure we take care of them before we get hit by that bus.
We should have in place a will (and maybe a trust to go with it), a living will, a medical power of attorney, other advance directives, and a financial power of attorney.
The cost of being prepared need not be as much as you think! My website has pricing for these documents, as well as for other services.
If you have already done your estate planning, you should dig those papers out of your files and look for any changes you want to make. The cost of changes, by a codicil or amendment or addendum, is much less than your original estate plan.
If you don't want to spend the money to review the estate plan, for example to see if the document works in Colorado, or what is needed to make it work, you can limit the work I do for you to just making those changes.
Having said that, I do recommend a half hour of my time looking at the document and translating those parts of it that you might not understand. You may start out wanting only one change, but then realize there are other things that need to be tweaked.

11/18/2020

Why wait to get hit by a bus?

I saw this quote from George Clooney, who gave $1million to each of 14 friends a few years ago:

"I've slept on their couches when I was broke. They loaned me money when I was broke. They helped me when I needed help over the years. And I've helped them over the years. We're all good friends," he says. "And I thought, you know, without them I don't have any of this. And we're all really close, and I just thought basically if I get hit by a bus, they're all in the will. So why the f---- am I waiting to get hit by a bus?"

What a kind and generous thing to do for his friends!

Few of us can be so kind and generous with our friends while we are here. What we can do, however, is to make sure we take care of them before we get hit by that bus.

We should have in place a will (and maybe a trust to go with it), a living will, a medical power of attorney, other advance directives, and a financial power of attorney.

The cost of being prepared need not be as much as you think! My website has pricing for these documents, as well as for other services.

If you have already done your estate planning, you should dig those papers out of your files and look for any changes you want to make. The cost of changes, by a codicil or amendment or addendum, is much less than your original estate plan.

If you don't want to spend the money to review the estate plan, for example to see if the document works in Colorado, or what is needed to make it work, you can limit the work I do for you to just making those changes.

Having said that, I do recommend a half hour of my time looking at the document and translating those parts of it that you might not understand. You may start out wanting only one change, but then realize there are other things that need to be tweaked.

08/28/2020

I've been exploring "unbundled" legal services as an addition to the traditional hourly fee model that is so familiar. Unbundled is more like ordering a la carte off a menu, where you know the cost of a discrete service before you start. It is a way of budgeting your legal costs in advance.
Won't we all be glad when there is a vaccine and a cure, and we can let up a little? In the meantime, be safe.
Message me, or send an email to [email protected], and let me know how I can help you.

03/30/2020

How are you coping?
I’m at home, as are many of you.
This may be a good time for you to take some essential steps.
If you do not already have a Health Care Power of Attorney, a Financial Power of Attorney, and a Living Will, you should get this done.
Many law offices are closed, but there are alternatives. Your regular lawyer may be working from a virtual office, as I do. If so, reach out to see if he or she can help you.
It may be easier for you to go online to find the forms appropriate for your state, fill them out yourself, and sign them. This really is a stop-gap measure, suited for the near term. Later you should have a lawyer review what you have done, and make any needed changes.
You can find the forms by doing a search. Many states have state-approved forms for you to use, free, and there are commercial websites, too.
Signing these documents may present a challenge. Banks remain open, and often offer notary services. Some may have curtailed these services for the safety of their employees. Get on the phone, and find someone who can notarize the forms for you.
If you can’t get out, or don’t want the personal interaction involved, you can even go online and find a web-based notary service. You will probably encounter a fee for this, but it is worth it.
In addition to the above documents, often referred to as Advance Directives, you should review your will and your trust, and if you don’t have those yet, you might consider an online simple will. There may be a few more hoops to jump through for signing a will, depending on your state’s requirements. Any DIY will should be reviewed by your lawyer as soon as possible, even before we return to normal life.

02/24/2020

Do you have a will?
Everyone knows what a will is, but not everyone has one. A will is something that may make us uncomfortable to contemplate, but it shouldn't.
If you have a will, and maybe with it, a trust, your property will go to whomever you choose, or to causes you believe in. A will lets you express your desires about a guardian for your children. A will lets you minimize that taxes payable on your estate, should you have that much money and property.
Without a will your property will go to your heirs. That may sound ok, but it doesn't let you give your property where it might be needed the most.
Without a will someone else will decide about who the guardian of your children should be.
Without a will taxes on your estate will be greater than if you planned for maximum savings.
Without a will there will most likely be probate of your estate, leading to more expenses. With a will and a trust there could be very little property subject to probate, and a simplified, less expensive, procedure could be available.
It's not expensive to have a proper estate plan prepared by an attorney. A simple will could be as little as $500, and adding a trust could be about $600 or $700 more. Wills and trusts prepared for a couple, with reciprocal provisions, might add $200 or $300 more. All told, your estate planning could be under $2,000.
It is important to have professional help with your estate plan!

01/13/2020

Have you ever signed an important document without reading, and understanding, it? Perhaps it was a lease, or a purchase order, or a contract to buy a house, or an insurance settlement and release. Perhaps it was something that you created online. It is so much better when you have it reviewed by an attorney. The cost of a review and evaluation by an attorney is quite reasonable, and can give you peace of mind. A review could save you from making a big mistake that could cost you thousands. I'll review your document and follow up with you for only $225 for most documents. PM me and tell me what you need.

12/04/2019

Do you have a family member or friend in a nursing home?
Nursing home care is expensive. The cost of care can run $100,000 a year or more. Not many people are really ready to pay those costs.
Medicaid is a federal program that can pay all or a part of nursing home care. It requires that “countable” assets not exceed a certain amount, and that monthly income falls below a threshold amount. What the limits are depends on what state the nursing home is in. Whatever the limits, there are exemptions that may help preserve some or all of your assets and income.
Elder Law attorneys are experts at navigating the many rules that apply and at implementing plans which preserves assets and income.
Applying for Medicaid is a complicated matter. Records of bank accounts and investments must be gathered. Deeds and other real estate documents must be produced. Once submitted, the application is examined, and follow-up questions are almost always asked. Producing records often involves using acceptable releases and authorizations, access to online accounts, passwords, and so on. It requires a comfort level with computers and the internet.
Lawyers are adept at getting the right materials to support a Medicaid application. They are good at organizing what can seem like a mountain of documentation into proper order.
Contact your lawyer for help, and if he or she is not actively involved in elder law, you can get a referral to a lawyer who can help you.

07/05/2019

Call me now....or call me later!
Legal problems have a tendency to grow worse the longer you put off addressing them. What might be relatively easy to take care of early on can grow into a much bigger problem later.
Take, for example, a business dispute. Early on, a consultation with your lawyer will let you know what your rights are, and how you might solve it yourself.
Put it off and the problem can escalate into a full blown confrontation with lawyers on both sides, and maybe even litigation or arbitration.
Of course, your costs, in lost time, attorney fees, and distress, escalate along with the unsolved problem.
Your attorney can consult with you, perhaps make a phone call or two, and write a letter on your behalf, at a modest cost. It is better to do it now than to put it off.