Category Archives: Children

New Poll: 58% of American Support Gay Marriage Equality

A new Washington Post-ABC poll shows support for gay marriage equality at a new high with 58% of Americans stating they support marriage equality. It’s no surprise that people between 18-29 years old support marriage equality by an enormous margin: 81% of people in that age group favor it. The real surprise is that theContinue Reading

Wrap up of 2012

As you may know, I write this blog because I love educating those in our community about how to protect their families.  Why then haven’t I written since September? Because in September both of my parents fell in and both died in November. Given the travel between hospitals in California and Minnesota and handling clientContinue Reading

Choosing a Guardian, Part 5: When to Talk to Others About Your Decisions

This post concludes the series on choosing a guardian for your child by discussing when you should discuss your decisions with those closest to you.  Presumably, you are very familiar with the person you’ve identified to be your child’s guardian.  That makes you uniquely qualified to pick the proper time and format for talking toContinue Reading

Choosing a Guardian for Your Child, Part 4: Explaining Your Decisions to Others

This post continues my series on choosing a guardian for your child(ren).  You know how to choose someone to (or not to) raise your child and discussed your decision with the person(s) whom you chose.  But you want to be sure to do everything possible to avoid future conflict if anything should happen to you. Continue Reading

Dead Father to Gay Son: Marry a Woman or Lose Inheritance

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Robert Mandelbaum is trying to overturn his father’s will that says he must marry the surrogate mother of his child. However, Robert is already married to a man, Johnathan O’Donnell, reports the Daily Mail. Frank Mandelbaum, Robert’s late father who died in 2007, had set aside a $180,000 trust for hisContinue Reading

Choosing a Guardian For Your Child, Part 3: Talk to Your Chosen Guardians

Several weeks ago upon seeing a man on the side of the road asking for money our 3-year-old daughter asked, “what is he doing with that sign?”  We braced ourselves for a difficult conversation in which we would explain how some people aren’t lucky enough to have the money for a home or food soContinue Reading

Choosing a Guardian, Part 2: How to Keep Your Children Out of the Wrong Hands

In a post on my law-firm blog I wrote about how difficult it is for parents to choose guardians for their children; but most parents, even if they are unsure about who they want to serve as guardians, are positive in the knowledge of who they don’t want caring for their children. This is especiallyContinue Reading

Choosing a Guardian, Part 1: How to Choose A Guardian for Your Child

If you have kids – YOU MUST HAVE A VALID WILL.  A will is where you still have some say in who will raise your child(ren) even after your gone.  You use a will to speak when you are no longer able to in order to tell the court who you believe would be theContinue Reading

Choosing a Guardian for Your Child, Part 4: Explaining Your Decisions to Others

This post continues my series on choosing a guardian for your child(ren).  You know how to choose someone to (or not to) raise your child and discussed your decision with the person(s) whom you chose.  But you want to be sure to do everything possible to avoid future conflict if anything should happen to you. Continue Reading

Check Your Beneficiaries Now

We all know the feeling.  You are hired at a new job and show up for your first day all scrubbed up and ready to work.  Then you spend your first day – at least – filling out endless forms.  You are suddenly faced with forms for insurance, retirement, pension, parking permits, sexual harassment policies,Continue Reading