ARTICLES | BabirakCarr

Latest Articles

People frequently want to make a gift to a minor child. Sometimes the donor wants to make that gift during the donor’s lifetime; sometimes at the donor’s death. There are several ways to make such a gift. One common and inexpensive way is to give the gift to the minor’s parent or other custodian and have the parent hold, manage and distribute the gift as the parent or guardian deems proper. This insures that the child does not waste the gift. The legal authority for such a gift is the...see more

Assets Acquired After Estate Plan

ESTATE PLANNING: ASSETS ACQUIRED AFTER YOU SIGN YOUR ESTATE PLAN

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

So, you already have an estate plan. Maybe you have had it for a while; maybe it is brand new. In the process of preparing and executing your estate plan, your estate planning lawyer advised you on how to title the assets you had at that time and how to designate beneficiaries for your life insurance, retirement...see more

Aging Parents

ESTATE PLANNING FOR AN AGING MOM AND/OR DAD

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

Adult children are frequently concerned when one or both of their aging parents do not have an estate plan. That concern is natural and prudent. The whole family may benefit from good estate planning. Without proper estate planning, the surviving adult children may be left with a mess that is much harder and more expensive to straighten out. So, it is quite common for adult children to contact...see more

Funeral and Burial Instructions

ESTATE PLANNING; FUNERAL & BURIAL INSTRUCTIONS

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

Sometimes people have strong feelings about the disposition of their remains upon death including their funeral and burial services. Perhaps they want a traditional burial or maybe they want to be cremated. Also, people may want to specify and organize the details of their funeral and burial services. It is natural to plan for this but it is emotionally hard work. There are several ways to do this...see more

Tenants by the Entirety

ESTATE PLANNING; TENANTS BY THE ENTIRETY

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

Tenants by the Entirety (“t/e”) is a form of joint ownership of property by husbands and wives. If you are married and own a home, there is a very good chance that you own it as t/e. When the first spouse dies, the surviving spouse automatically owns all of the property by operation of law and nothing passes to the deceased spouse’s heirs, distributees, or beneficiaries. Neither the husband or the wife...see more

Trustee or Executor Action

WHAT IF YOUR TRUSTEE OR EXECUTOR CANNOT OR WILL NOT ACT?

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

You can appoint an executor in your will to administer and probate your estate upon your death. You can appoint a trustee in your revocable trust to administer your trust upon your disability or death. What happens if your executor or trustee cannot or will not act? They could predecease you, become disabled, move far away, or decide they just did not want to do it for some reason. Usually, this is not...see more

Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare

DURABLE POWERS OF ATTORNEY FOR HEALTHCARE

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

A durable power of attorney for healthcare is a commonly used estate planning document in which you appoint an agent to make healthcare decisions for you if you become physically or mentally disabled. If you do not...see more

Digital Assets

ESTATE PLANNING; DIGITAL ASSETS

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

When you think about your assets for estate planning purposes, you may not think of your digital assets. They might seem unimportant, even trivial in some cases, and of virtually no economic value. Your digital assets may be emails, texts and family photos. But upon further thought, some digital assets may...see more

Pet Trusts

ESTATE PLANNING; PET TRUSTS

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

Pets play an important part in our lives, and we can become very attached to them. The number of people that own pets is amazing. There are nearly a hundred million American households that own dogs or cats. Many of these pet owners want to make some arrangements for the care of their pets...see more

Execution of Estate Planning Documents

ESTATE PLANNING; SIGNING ESTATE PLANNING DOCUMENTS

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

If you had your estate planning documents prepared by a Virginia lawyer, your lawyer probably discussed with you how to sign those documents. It is very important to follow the proper and accepted procedures for the signing estate planning documents. The requirements for signing vary, depending on the type...see more

Moving to Another State

ESTATE PLANNING; WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU MOVE TO ANOTHER STATE?

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

If you had an estate plan prepared while you were a Virginia resident, your estate plan is almost certainly a Virginia estate plan, governed by Virginia law. If so, you’ve spent a lot of time with your Virginia lawyer working on it and you’ve paid him a fee to prepare it. But what happens if you move to another...see more

Confidentiality of Financial Documents

ESTATE PLANNING; WHY DO I NEED TO DISCLOSE MY FINANCIAL INFORMATION TO MY LAWYER

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

When you employ an estate planning lawyer to prepare your estate plan, that lawyer will ask you for lots of confidential financial information. That lawyer will give you an initial questionnaire to fill out and they will ask you for a copy of your financial documents, such as your: house deed, previous estate plan, income tax return, any prenuptial agreement, monthly statements for bank accounts...see more

Coronavirus

ESTATE PLANNING AND THE CORONAVIRUS

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

The impact of the coronavirus on our lives cannot be overstated. The curve has flattened here in Virginia, but the virus will probably be with us for some time. What does the virus mean for your estate plan? If you contract the virus, who makes your healthcare and financial decisions if you cannot? Customarily, an estate plan includes a general durable power of attorney for financial affairs (DPA for Finance), a general durable...see more

Trustee and Executor Compensation

ESTATE PLANNING; DO TRUSTEES AND EXECUTORS GET PAID?

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

Will. If you have a will, simple or complex, you have named an executor to administer your estate upon your death. You may have also named a successor executor in case the first named executor is unable or unwilling to act as executor. In your will, you may have a testamentary trust and for that trust...see more

Periodic Review of Estate Plans

PERIODIC REVIEW OF ESTATE PLANS

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

Estate planning is a process, not an event. If you have an estate plan, it’s a good idea to review it every once in a while. Under what circumstances should you review it? How often? These are important questions. Frequently, I see clients who have estate plans that are many years old but not reviewed. Ten or fifteen years is not uncommon. Yet, we all would agree that it is important...see more

Safekeeping of Documents

SAFEKEEPING OF ESTATE PLANNING DOCUMENTS

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

There are several different types of estate planning documents. In addition to a will and/or trust(s), there are durable powers of attorney for financial affairs and healthcare, beneficiary designations, deeds, postmortem letters and other documents. Of course, you want to keep all of your estate planning...see more

How Much Do You Have to Leave Your Spouse

WHEN YOU DIE, HOW MUCH DO YOU HAVE TO LEAVE YOUR SPOUSE?

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

Commonly, the estate plans for a married couple provide that on the first to die, the decedent will leave all or almost all of their assets to the surviving spouse. However, this is not always the case. Some couples have prenuptial agreements or even postnuptial agreements that provide otherwise. Such agreements have long been permitted in Virginia. In other cases, a spouse may want to leave...see more

Types of Updates to Your Revocable Trust

UPDATING YOUR ESTATE PLAN

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

It’s a good idea to review and update your estate plan from time to time. The primary document of your our estate plan may be a revocable trust or a will. By its terms, a revocable trust can be revoked, amended, terminated and supplemented. In addition, you can add assets to the trust or remove assets. A will can be...see more

Durable Power of Attorney for Financial Affairs

DURABLE POWERS OF ATTORNEY FOR FINANCIAL AFFAIRS

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

This document is a common estate planning document in which you appoint an agent to take care of your financial affairs if you become physically or mentally disabled. If you do not have this document and if you become disabled, your family or friends have to go through an expensive and time consuming court proceeding...see more

Mental Capacity to Make an Estate Plan

MENTAL CAPACITY TO MAKE AN ESTATE PLAN

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

This is a question that comes up frequently for the elderly or the disabled. Age, injury and disease take their toll. As for many legal questions, the answer is: “It depends.” In this case, it depends on the type...see more

Do Not Resuscitate Order

DURABLE DO NOT RESUSCITATE ORDERS

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

Cardiac or respiratory arrest can be an ever present concern for some people. If a patient is in cardiac or respiratory arrest, emergency medical services personnel and licensed health care providers may provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation in an attempt to save the patient’s life. Some elderly and frail patients, for...see more

Real Estate

ESTATE PLANNING; REAL ESTATE

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

Many people own real estate at the time of their death. It can be a substantial asset; in some cases, it can be the decedent’s largest asset. What happens to real estate when you die? How does it get transferred on...see more

Virginia Small Estates Act

ESTATE PLANNING; VIRGINIA SMALL ESTATE ACT

By Milton Babirak, JD, LLM | Babirak Carr, PC | Sterling, VA

You may not have a small estate but there are many circumstances when people die with a small estate. For example, when a parent dies, they may have spent almost all of their estate on the expenses of their care or last illness, including assisted living care, and medical and hospital bills. Also, someone...see more

CONTACT TODAY

Take the first step towards protecting your loved ones' futures.