“Nancy always said baking is a science,” Randy Hallstrom says of his late wife. “Cooking you can do whatever you want, but baking? That’s a science.” After more than 30 years as a Home Economics/Family & Consumer Science teacher, Nancy would know! By that definition, estate planning might be more like baking than cooking. Deviating...
Trauma & Soul Retrievals
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”] We have all experienced some form of trauma keeping us from optimally moving forward in life. These experiences can be anything from loss and illness to physical or sexual abuse. Trauma takes an essential part of us, so we may not feel whole. Many times a part of...
Guest Article: Death as a Teacher
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”] What is your relationship with death? For most of human history, we have carried life in one hand and death in the other. We lived closer to the earth and witnessed the creation and dissolution of life all around us every day. Death happened in our homes, and...
Guest Article: Navigating Grief in Family Law
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”] Something I have thought a lot about since becoming divorced and then shifting my legal practice into family law is grief. Divorce—and really anything else under the umbrella of “family law”—involves a change in family structure and routines. Changes often mean loss. And loss brings grief. I’m a lawyer,...
Urgent Estate Planning: Breaking the Procrastination Cycle
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”] During the past several weeks at our firm, we’ve received several phone calls from frazzled family members. A loved one is in the hospital, sometimes even in hospice care, and they haven’t started working on estate planning documents. In these moments, we do our best to help these...
Guest Article: Saying (and Writing) the Hard Words
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”] In October 2013, I used a work trip to Chicago as an excuse to bring my 9-month-old son to visit his grandparents. My mother opened the door of my parents’ high-rise condo with a strange look on her face. She welcomed us as brightly as she could, but...
Guest Article: 5 Tips for Navigating Grief During the Holidays
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”] Picture this. You’re at the dining room table on Thanksgiving Day. Family is all around you. They’re laughing, sharing stories of past Thanksgiving dinners. They’re happy. But all you want to do in this moment is to be alone and cry. Maybe the tears are right there, right...
Difficult Discussions: Options After Death
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”] Simple burial, cremation, or green burial? As you make estate planning decisions, it’s common — and prudent — to start discussions around your future funeral and burial, too. For centuries, simple burial was the go-to option with burial methods becoming more complex through the years. Prior to the...
Difficult Discussions: Right to Die Laws
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”] In her recent memoir, author and therapist Amy Bloom discusses her heart-wrenching decision to travel with her husband to Switzerland to end his life at Dignitas, a clinic that prescribes life-ending medication to terminally ill patients. Brian had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and wasn’t able to find the...
How to Help People Facing Illness or Death
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”] Show Up Things can be awkward at the hospital or funeral home. You want to visit and support family and friends there, but it can feel uncomfortable. You may not know what to say or how to act. It’s important you come anyway, spending time with your hurting...