Watch Out for a New Health Insurance Phone Scam!
By: Caroline Bielas, 11/24/2021

The pandemic has certainly been a boon for phone scammers. According to a 2021 Harris Poll and Truecaller ID survey, nearly 1 in 3 Americans have fallen victim to a phone scam in the last year, and 59.4 million Americans lost money to a phone scam, costing a record-high average of $502 per person and a total of $29.8 billion (yes, billion).

Charging stations & Estate Plans – Part 2
By: Caroline Bielas, 8/16/2017

After seeing how cool the charging station was, I of course had to order one for my home. I went on Amazon and ordered one right away. I didn’t check to see if it was the same one, it looked like it so I figured it was fine. When I took it out of the box and plugged it in, I was baffled. There were no charging cords for the different kinds of phones. I didn’t read the fine print to see that the model that I had ordered didn’t come with cords, the cords were sold separately. In order to make it work, I had to place two more orders – one for iPhone cords and one for Android cords. I didn’t feel so great about my charging station after placing those orders. Yes, it does what I want it to do and it is helpful. I just didn’t like feeling like I paid for one thing and then got something that I had to pay more for to have it work the way I wanted.

Charging stations & Estate Plans – Part 1
By: Caroline Bielas, 7/26/2017

Recently, I discovered that my mom had bought a charging station for her house for guests to use. What a great thing! Especially since either I or one of my kids usually have the dreaded low battery flashing on our phones while at her house.

The charging station has cords for all of the different types of phones and tablets, how convenient! Anyone that has ever had to endure a long car ride with kids who cannot use their phone or tablets because they killed the battery knows how nice it is to have the opportunity to charge it before leaving Grandma’s!

Estate Planning and The Holidays Part 2
By: Caroline Bielas, 1/2/2017

As 2017 quickly approaches, carve out some time to think about what you would change about 2016 if you could. 2016 was a tumultuous year for our country and for many people. 2017 provides each one of us with the opportunity to make things different. To better ourselves and our communities. Each of us has different talents and gifts, but we can all make our little corner of the world better. How will you improve yourself and your world in 2017? Will you be kinder? Will you join a gym? Will you listen more? Will you finally get your estate planning done? Get your financial house in order?

Estate Planning and The Holidays Part 1
By: Caroline Bielas, 12/21/2016

Isn’t it funny how the holidays can make us all feel like kids again? When it comes to holiday joy, the suspense of opening that special gift, or the warm feelings we get when surrounded by our loved ones – the holidays can be a big positive. When it comes to feelings of dread over seeing a certain family member, or guilt over not being able to visit our family members, or sibling rivalries resurfacing – the holidays can be a big negative.

Dirty Deeds - Part 2
By: Caroline Bielas, 1/15/2014

Legal Services plans provide discounted or free legal services to their members. In our practice, we see many clients who have availed themselves of free or low-cost estate planning services through legal services plans. A recurring issue that we have seen in legal services planning and in older estate plans done by attorneys who do not specialize in estate plans is the "record it later” deeds. The attorney drafts the deed either transferring the home into the client’s trust or to children upon the client’s death, but tells the client not to have the deed recorded until "later”. Usually this means that the client’s heirs will record the deed after the client dies. more

Happy 2014 from Huron Valley Law Center
By: Michael Hickox, 1/1/2014

Huron Valley Law Center (HVLC) wishes you and your staff the very best for 2014. HVLC looks forward to working together with you in 2014 to discover mutually beneficial business opportunities.

In addition, we currently have several informative public seminars on estate planning and related issues scheduled that may benefit your clients. If you or your clients are interested in attending any of these seminars, the following is a list of upcoming seminars for January and February: more

Dirty Deeds - Part 1
By: Caroline Bielas, 8/20/2013

Real property ownership is evidenced by deeds and property ownership transfers through deeds. That much is easy to understand. Drafting property deeds is easy too. One just looks up a quit claim deed form on the internet, enters property information, slaps on $1 consideration and it’s good to go! Right? Wrong! more

The Wealth Counselor - Three Simple Ways to Sell Complex Solutions
By: Michael Hickox, 6/1/2013

When it comes to financial and wealth planning issues, more often than not, people go to a professional they trust. They may be working with a financial planner, CPA, agent, or banker, but when trust and estate concerns arise, clients need their trusted advisor to listen to their needs and to explain things clearly. Trust and estate concerns are often technical issues, and this can lead to three common mistakes on the part of the professional: more