Americans love our technology; cell phone, laptop, wi-fi, Kindle, iPod—all of these things keep us socially connected, culturally informed, and satisfy our growing need for instant gratification. But there is an assumption that this technological savvy and appreciation stops once you reach a certain age. We expect teens, twenty and thirty-somethings, and baby-boomers to be “plugged in”, but assume that Facebook and Wikipedia won’t be of interest to the elderly.

Turns out, we couldn’t be more wrong.

Stephanie Clifford of the New York Times writes that “among older people who went online last year, the number visiting social networks grew almost twice as fast as the overall rate of Internet use among that group.” For home-bound or wheelchair-bound seniors the internet and social networking sites can be a sanity-saver, keeping them from loneliness and isolation.

This growing trend is being helped along by social networking sites such as MyWay Village, designed specifically for seniors, their friends and families. These online senior networking groups allow members of the physically challenged elderly population to keep in touch with distant family members, meet people from their own cohort all over the country, and reconnect with old friends and co-workers—all at their own pace.

These are the same things we all love about the social networking sites, young or old. It turns out our aging parents aren’t so different from our teenage kids, or even from ourselves. If you think that your parents (or even you yourself) are too old to catch on to the latest internet trend, reconsider. Everyone needs a community, even if that community is out in cyber-space.

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If you’ve been weighing the pros and cons of setting up a trust for your young child, wondering if you really have enough assets to warrant such an expense, you must read Stacey L. Bradford’s recent article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Deciding if Your Kid Is Trust-Worthy”. In her article Bradford explains why every parent should consider a trust for their minor child, even parents with small estates and few significant assets.

You see, legally, non-adult children cannot inherit large sums of money (and if you have a home or a life-insurance policy then you have “large sums of money” to pass on to your child); if a parent dies and leaves this money directly to a minor child the court will step in and appoint a guardian to manage your child’s money for him—and this guardian is not likely to be a trusted friend or relative. A trust will prevent your child from having to grow up with the added level of bureaucracy, and allow you more control over how the money is managed and spent.

Bradford goes on to explain the other benefits of creating a trust for your minor child (paying for education, delaying the age at which your child has outright access to the money, reducing taxes, etc.); she also gives helpful tips about how to choose a trustee, “The trustee holds the purse strings, so don’t delegate this job lightly. You need someone who is trustworthy, is good with money and has great attention to detail.”

Bradford’s article is a great introduction to trusts for parents of young children. And if you find this article helpful, you may want to check out the book from whence it came, The Wall Street Journal’s Financial Guidebook for New Parents.

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We write a lot on our blog about the separate pieces of an estate plan, the unique financial challenges facing adults these days, or each of the many individual concerns we face in the course of keeping up with the present and planning for the future; but today we want to look at the big picture. We strongly feel that planning for the future—really taking care of your family and loved ones—is not about individual pieces, it’s about seeing how those pieces fit together and make up the whole. Which is why, whenever we can, our firm takes a comprehensive approach to protecting your family and your future:

Providing for young children: We know that one of the hardest things to do as a parent is to try to imagine your child’s life without you. We also know that getting over that hurdle and choosing the best guardians for your child and creating a trust designed for their unique needs can bring a world of comfort.

Providing for elderly parents: Baby boomers are not called “the sandwich generation” for nothing. Having an attorney who can help you with the guardianship of minor children and then turn around and help you understand the ins and outs of Medicare for the benefit of your aging parents is not only convenient, it’s essential.

Planning your own retirement: The process of creating an estate plan forces you to get all of your ducks in a row, including your retirement and investment accounts, and we can help. In addition, our firm can help you understand (and execute, if desired) a Retirement Trust, which not only extends your retirement fund past its initial payout date, but gives you more options for distributions.

Saving for college: We can help you make sure that your college-age children will have the wherewithal to follow their (and your) dreams for education in the event that anything happens to you. An education trust is the perfect way to provide for your children’s schooling.

Investing in the future: The future is the business of an estate planning attorney, whether it be protecting your life insurance policy for your family, saving your property from probate fees, or minimizing your taxes.

We know that it’s not easy finding someone you can trust with your family security and finances. Our compassion and expertise make us more than just an estate planning firm, a probate specialist, or an elder law firm—we’re your family law firm.

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