Idaho Law Blog

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

With the coronavirus pandemic raging throughout the world and in the United States I have had several clients talk to me about whether they should update their estate planning documents. It’s a wonderful question and it’s one that should be asked regularly by any individual who has their estate planning done. The reason for this is that life simply doesn’t stand still.

What I mean by this is that life is ever-changing. Our job, our marriage, or children, where we live, can all change very quickly. I usually suggest to my clients that they review their estate planning documents anytime they have gone through a major life change, or if nothing significant has changed in their lives they should review their estate plan every 5 years at least.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

Every client I talk to has questions about how the Coronavirus is affecting their lives and what they can do about it. This is especially true when it comes to either completing or updating their estate plan.

We encourage you to download our Estate Planning Questionnaire which is a simple document you can type into on your computer and save. Our clients tell us the Questionnaire made the process of gathering information simple and easy. Once this is done, we provide a free 30-minute consultation to discuss the information on the questionnaire and to answer questions about estate planning. Our goal is to help our clients understand the options and choices they have for their own estate plan.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

When it comes to the coronavirus, there are a number of questions my clients have posed recently. The purpose of this blog article is simply to answer some of the most common questions I’ve been asked.

If you don’t find your question listed below, please contact me. I am still doing phone consultations and video calls to answer questions for clients and to help them with their estate planning needs. I do this through a free 30-minute consultation and would be happy to spend some time answering your questions and helping you!

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

The Coronavirus has definitely been a motivator for people to think about getting their estate planning done. Well I believe that it is always a good thing to think about getting estate planning done, or updating estate planning that already exists, I am a firm believer that people should not panic.

I’ve been an estate planning attorney now for over 20 years, and I am a firm believer that we are always at risk of injury, illness, or death even before the Coronavirus pandemic spread throughout the world. Because of this, it’s important that we always consider ourselves, our family members, and our loved ones. We should look down the road of the future and think about how we can plan and prepare to care for ourselves and others both while we are alive and after we are gone.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

The first conversation is usually a panicked one. It’s either a phone call or the person has scheduled an appointment to meet with me in person. The first sentence is almost always the same. “Mr. Erickson, I’ve been named in the Will as a personal representative for my father/mother/sister/brother or spouse’s estate, and I have no idea what I need to do. Can you help me?” When this happens, I am always happy to help.

The first thing I do is sit down with this client and show them the probate diagram that I use with all clients during the first consultation. As I talk about the steps and process of a probate, I usually start by describing the main reasons that a personal representative is appointed. There are really only four.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

As an estate planning attorney, I often have conversations with my elderly clients about whether or not they should leave a sizable inheritance to their children or grandchildren. This is a question that can be discussed from a number of different angles depending on your perspective. However, I usually start the conversation by telling my clients that they have absolutely no legal obligation to leave any inheritance to any of their family.

I often tell my clients that if I had a crystal ball and we knew exactly when it was their life would end, we could come up with the perfect estate plan where they could spend their last dime the day before they die. If I had this ability, I would be the most sought out estate planning attorney in the world.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d be familiar with the biggest news story coming out of Idaho recently. This has to do with Chad Daybell and his new wife Lori Vallow. In addition to the two missing children, several mysterious deaths surround these two individuals including the death of Chad Daybell’s first wife Tammy. Though no details have been released to the public yet, Tammy Daybell’s body has been exhumed so that additional tests can be done to determine whether or not her death was due to natural causes as claimed by Chad.

Without getting into all the details having to do with Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and the missing children, we will simply focus on what will happen under Idaho’s inheritance laws if it is determined that Chad Daybell played a role in Tammy’ death.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

For more than 20 years I’ve been an estate planning and probate attorney in Idaho. I love where I live, and I love the work I do! I find that I have an opportunity to help many people in creating their own customized written estate plan. I also get to work with these people to keep their plan updated whenever they go through a major life change. Additionally, I’m available to help the family members or loved ones of each of my clients when my clients pass away.

Whatever I tell someone that I’m an estate planning and probate attorney I usually get a series of questions. These questions can range all over the place from how do you start to get an estate plan done or what is it that you need to do after a loved one or family member has passed away. Recently, however, I was asked a question I’ve never been asked before. This question was, “What does executing a will mean?”

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

Estate planning is a unique and personal thing to complete. As an estate planning attorney for more than 20 years I’ve seen all kinds of ideas and goals that people have come up with as part of their estate planning. Really, an estate plan can be as unique as the individual who creates it.

One of the things I have found is that most people want to have a plan in place that doesn’t require a lot of time and maintenance to keep current. I completely understand this. I believe that getting a good estate plan done through a competent and qualified attorney is worth the money. However, I can understand that people don’t want to have to keep returning to the lawyer every time they want to give a specific gift through their written last will and testament. The good news is, they don’t need to use an attorney when this happens.