Schlesinger and Buchbinder, LLP is pleased to announce that Paul N. Bell has joined the firm. Paul will continue his practice in areas of commercial real estate, residential real estate and business law (including his niche specialty relating to the acquisition, finance and leasing of commercial and private aircraft). Paul earned his B.A. from UC Santa Barbara in 1982, and graduated from Boston College Law School in 1996. After law school, Paul practiced at the national law firm of Greenberg Traurig until 2005, after which he established his private practice as the Law Office of Paul N. Bell.

Paul is joined by his associate Jonathan A. Goldman. Jonathan graduated from New England School of Law in 2011 and earned his B.A. at the State University of New York at Geneseo in 2004. He practices commercial and residential real estate and business law.

Schlesinger and Buchbinder, LLP, is pleased to announce that Katherine Braucher Adams has joined the firm as a Family Law associate.  Katherine earned her B.A. from Brown University in 1997, and graduated from Boston College Law School (J.D., cum laude) in 2002.  After law school, Katherine spent two years clerking for the Justices of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court.  Thereafter, she practiced domestic relations law at Brofsky & Richter.

Once your children turn 18, they are legally considered “adults” and you, as parents, lose your legal rights as their decision-makers, as well as the ability to access their information.  The Boston Globe had a recent article explaining the importance of certain documents that adult children should have.  Proper planning can help bring everyone some peace of mind, ensuring that someone can make their decisions if they are unable to make them, and to allow you to have access to critical information.

Here are the 3 essential documents your adult child should have in place, whether they are staying in Massachusetts, going off to college in another state, or (particularly important) going abroad to study or travel:

1.  Health Care Proxy:   A child over 18 has authority to make his/her own health care decisions, including whether to disclose information to parents or anyone else.  The Health Care Proxy allows your child to name another person (typically parents) to make their medical decisions if they are unable make or communicate them.   This should be done for Massachusetts as well as the state where they are attending college (each state has its own form and requirements).

2.  “HIPAA” Authorization:  Federal law prohibits information about your child’s health from being disclosed to anyone other than your child.  The “HIPAA” Authorization form allows your child to designate you (or another person) to have access to his/her medical information.

Our attorneys typically combine the Health Care Proxy and the HIPAA Authorization into 1 document, and we are able to prepare these forms for MA and all other states.

3.  Power of Attorney:   The Power of Attorney allows your child to name you (or another person)  to be able to handle financial-type matters for him/her, such as dealing with banking, signing tax returns, and other non-medical decisions. In addition to allowing seamless decision-making, having these 3 simple, yet important, documents in place can avoid a lengthy probate process such as guardianship in the event that an adult child becomes incapacitated.

In addition to these 3 “lifetime” decision-making documents, adult children should also have a simple Will if they own any assets, including investment accounts and/or stocks.

The Massachusetts Homestead law gives you protection on your home from potential creditors and/or lawsuits.  After years of attempting to have the existing law revised, a new MA Homestead law was finally passed in December, 2010, and went into effect March 16, 2011.

Among other things, the new law provides:

* Automatic Protection:  $125,000 of automatic protection to any primary residence without having to record a Homestead at the Registry of Deed

* Recording a Homestead:  $500,000 of protection if you record the Declaration of Homestead at the Registry of Deeds.

* Homestead Protection for Trusts!  Property owned in a Trust can now benefit from the Homestead ($500,000). You no longer need to choose between the benefits of transferring your Brookline home or condo into a Trust (for estate planning purposes such as avoidance of probate or estate tax savings) and the creditor protection from the Homestead – you can have BOTH! 

* Re-financing:  Clarification that refinancing a mortgage will not invalidate previous homesteads.

* Manufactured Homes:  homestead protection to manufactured homes.

* Additional Protection:  continued additional protection to elderly (over age 62) and disabled individuals.

The new law makes the forms a bit more complicated to fill out.  Attorneys usually charge a nominal fee to prepare a Homestead for you, so depending on your situation, it might be wise to have it prepared by an attorney.

The recording fee (payable to the Registry of Deeds) for a Homestead is $35.