By Bret Telmonti

Estate planning, in its simplest terms, is the preparation for one’s death or incapacitation. You should do it now, regardless of your age or health. It is important for each of us to recognize that substantial wealth or assets are not a factor in determining the need for estate planning.

Ask any estate litigation lawyer why he has a job and he’ll tell you that poor or zero estate planning is the main source of his income. Unless your goal in life is to provide the estate litigation attorneys a living, I suggest you embark on your estate planning adventure today.

The basic components of estate planning are: making a will, minimizing taxes by setting up trust accounts for beneficiaries, naming a guardian for living dependents, appointing an executor to enforce the terms of the will, ensuring the proper beneficiaries are named on 401(k)’s, insurance policies and IRAs, establishing funeral arrangements, setting up a program of annual gifting to reduce the taxes on the estate and establishing a durable power of attorney to direct other assets and investments.

As the list implies, accumulated wealth and assets take many forms. While you may not be flush with cash, there are other things, more precious, that deserve to be cared for in the event of your passing or your incapacitation, chief among them, dependent children.

Naturally, the greater the value of the estate, the more complex planning becomes. For us average ‘Joes’ the process is not quite as complicated. Rich, poor or average, whom do we turn to for estate planning?

There are attorneys, in fact, entire law firms specializing in estate planning, professional associations of estate planners, Trust Officers in the Trust Department of your local bank, financial planners with accreditation/certification in estate planning and accounting firms with accredited estate planning staff. Pick one!

There are many resources on the Internet that can be of value in helping you locate an estate planner in your area. Keep in mind that estate and probate law vary state to state, so prudence dictates that you select an estate planner from your home state.

I also recommend that you read up on this rather dry but important subject. Of course, you’ll be working with an expert, but understanding what you want to accomplish is critical to the process and to achieving the desired result. If you know little or nothing about estate planning, it will be difficult for you to provide any direction over the process. Things could be overlooked and defeat the purpose of the entire exercise. You needn’t become an expert. Just familiarize yourself with the objectives, the language and the pitfalls.

Even if you are a young man with his first child, a 401(k), no cash in the bank, credit card debt and a 25-year mortgage hanging over your head you need estate planning. In this author’s opinion, everyone can benefit from estate planning. Get off your hands and start the process! Your family will thank you for it, you’ll sleep better and except for updating things as your life circumstances change, you will have this chore behind you!

I hope this article has given you a head start on this process and the motivation to get it done!

That said; let’s explore the lemon laws as they relate to the automobile. As I’ve said previously, apart from the provisions of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which provides consumer protection on the federal level, each of the 50 states has enacted its own version of a Lemon Law.

At first blush, this might seem confusing, but realistically, you only live in one state at a time, so if you feel you have a Lemon Law case, you only need concern yourself with the applicable law in your state.

The scope of this article does not allow time for even a synopsis of each state’s lemon law. Suffice it to say, they are very similar. The most important thing you can do to insure a successful outcome is to keep detailed records of the problem, such as, dates of contact with the dealer/manufacture, contact names, results of the contact and anything else that may have a bearing on your claim. Pay close attention to the mileage on your vehicle and the number of months that have elapsed since you purchased it. Most, if not all, state Lemon Laws limit your ability to act under the statute after a specific number of months from the date of purchase and a specific number of miles the vehicle has been driven since purchase.

There are excellent sites on the Internet that detail each state specific Lemon Law and I urge you to visit one or more of these sites as soon as you have identified a problem with your vehicle.

This brings us to the definition of a ‘lemon’. Three criteria must be met.

* The use, value or safety of the vehicle has been substantially reduced by a defect

* You have given the dealer/manufacturer several opportunities to rectify the problem * The problem with the vehicle is repetitive, occurring over and over again

When in doubt, secure the services of a Lemon Law attorney. Your vehicle is a substantial investment and you may need professional assistance to secure that investment.

About the Author: Bret Telmonti encountered family estate issues that made it necessary to seek Los Angeles estate litigation lawyer services. Bret used qualified Santa Clarita estate attorney, Julia C. McBride and recommends her to anyone looking for help with estate, trust, or probate litigation.

Source: isnare.com

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