Blog
The Importance of Being Prepared: Health Emergencies and Estate Planning
Over the past few weeks, the coronavirus pandemic has changed many people’s mindsets as well as their way of living. The social distancing and shelter-in-place orders have created an unexpected amount of downtime at home. Also, people are concerned about COVID-19 and...
How to Serve as the Family Banker Without Upsetting Beneficiaries
With the current wealth gap between the older US population and their younger family members, many parents (or grandparents, relatives) may find themselves in a situation where they’re loaning money to their loved ones. While it is great to be a position to help your...
Learning Resources: We’re here to help!
We know many of you are suddenly home with your kids and you may be struggling to find ways to keep them entertained, while also educating them. The first thing to do is to not panic. Realize that this is a great time to make memories with your kids and maybe even...
Questions to Consider Before Signing a Residential Lease
You’ve found the perfect property, and you’re ready to sign the lease. But before you commit to the contract, you should probably understand all of the terms as well as your rights as a tenant. The more you know before heading into the landlord-tenant relationship,...
How Older Adults Can Be Prepared for the Coronavirus
As news continues to unfold about the spread of the coronavirus into the US, questions are arising about who is at risk and how you can avoid the disease. In Brian M. Douglas & Associates’ latest blog, we’re taking a look at the latest recommendations from the CDC...
Property Rights at Senior Living Communities
More seniors are choosing senior living communities, with 300,000 communities in the US serving close to 800,000 seniors (Source: CDC). There are many different types of housing options available, everything from apartments and mobile homes to condos and single-family...
Social Media and Legacy Planning
In the current digital environment, so much of what we do is online or on our phones and computers. Things that used to exist in a physical sense are now becoming digital. Email is replacing paper. Heirlooms are becoming digitized, with many photo albums existing...
What Happens to a Mortgage When the Homeowner Dies?
Estate planning is not always a comfortable topic. Generally, people do not like to contemplate what will happen when they’re not around anymore. But, with homeownership and mortgages – these things inherently deal with death. The word “mortgage” itself comes from the...
Airbnb vs. Georgia
Airbnb is facing a potential class action lawsuit in Georgia, over claims that the short-term rental company is not paying its required city and county occupancy taxes. Attorneys for Cartersville, Hart County, Rome, and Tybee Island filed the federal lawsuit...
5 Tips For Keeping Your Estate Planning Resolutions
Now that New Year’s is a few weeks behind us, how are those resolutions going? If your answer is “not as well as expected,” don’t worry. 80% of people who make New Year’s resolutions lose their momentum around late-January or mid-February (Source: US News & World...
Atlanta’s Tiny House Movement: A Work in Progress
As the tiny house movement sets up shop in Atlanta, local municipalities have been slow to address concerns about zoning and construction amendments. Whereas some people were concerned about making the switch from a traditional home to a tiny house – the larger issue...
Safely Storing Estate Planning Documents
Where Should I Keep My Estate Planning Documents? After you have gone through the process of creating an estate plan, where should you keep your estate planning documents? You want to protect the paperwork that you so carefully prepared, but also, you want your loved...