Colorado Estate Planning Blog

According to a 2017 survey, only 4 in 10 American adults have estate planning documents.Wills and estate planning are associated with old age, and it's all too easy for us to convince ourselves that we can put off estate planning for decades to come. Unfortunately, avoiding conversations about death doesn't actually ensure immortality, and none of us can know when estate planning documents might be necessary.

Author - Tony C. Rossi, Esq. Law Offices of Karen Brady, P.C.

Co-Author - Christopher Nicolaysen Springs Law Group, LLC

There are many times when personal injury matters involve probate rules and procedures. In many circumstances, the trial court in a personal injury case cannot approve a trust, for example a special needs trust, for a minor or a person who is incapacitated. In most cases, probate court approval is also necessary. The original court often retains jurisdiction and requires approval of distributions. A budget will be submitted and approved by the court so that future court approval is only necessary for certain changes.

Business succession can be an interesting and worrisome topic if you are an owner who is thinking of retirement in a few years. You have heard that wise owners will plan far in advance if they want to hand the keys of the company to their children. Unfortunately, although you know you need a plan, you have nonstop business demands as owner, president and CEO. Running the company takes your full attention, and succession planning gets shoved to the back-of-beyond burner.

All too often, the unthinkable happens. A permanently incapacitating illness strikes you, or worse, you suddenly pass away. You never made a succession plan; therefore, your business—the one you spent a lifetime of hard work to build--will move out of your family's control. 

With the dawn of a new year, scams and spam letters can be hard to separate from real correspondences about bills and taxes.

A business planning client recently received the attached letter, which states that the recipient business must pay to file a report in order to stay compliant with Colorado law. Because the letter quotes Colorado business law in the first few paragraphs and directly references the client's relationship with the Law Offices of Karen Brady, it's easy to mistake it for a legitimate government correspondence. Further inspection, however, reveals it as an unnecessary service at best and scam at worst. With our clients' permission, we would like to share some of the warning signs and preventative steps to help you stay away from scams in the future.