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“Digital assets.” It’s the latest buzzword. It means the ownership interest you have in your online accounts. To a lawyer, it is a subset of “intellectual property”. But what does it mean in terms of estate planning? Financial writers and estate planners are posting articles all over the internet (and in print) about what happens to your digital assets when you’re gone. The problem is, most of them don’t have a lot to say about it. The articles tend to be short, vague, and not very helpful. Here...
Q. My bank regularly sends email messages encouraging me to download their app. How safe is banking on my phone? A. Banking on your mobile phone is no more vulnerable than any other sort of bank transaction, and in some ways it is more secure. However, there are a few important things to consider first. Make certain that the application is actually from your bank and not some third party. Never store your password on the phone itself, which could grant anyone else access to your bank account. If your bank supports it, and most do, use...
Older Persons Action Group and Senior Voice Alaska solemnly salute all who have fallen in battle in defense of this great nation. This Memorial Day, let us take a few minutes out of the day to thanks those who have fallen in service to our country. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Over two dozen cities and towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. While Waterloo, NY, was officially...
Cats and people have been companions for nearly12,000 years. And no wonder – cats not only enchant us with their beauty, they also entertain us with their playful antics and graceful movements and bring smiles to our faces when they sit in our laps, purring with contentment. Cats are often considered easier companions than dogs because they don't need daily exercise or regular potty breaks outside. However, they have a few basic needs that if met will make them much happier in your home. What c...
Theories about how and when Alaska became inhabited with people ebb and flow like the state's rivers. Archeologists pretty much agree that Alaska's mainland was physically and ecologically a part of Asia 10,000 years ago, and that the Bering Strait was a grassy land area that separated the Bering Sea to the south and the Chukchi Sea to the north. While the picture of who crossed the land bridge and when is still murky, the strongest hypothesis leans toward people crossing over from Asia in waves...
She put the "Tennille" in the popular 70s music duo of "The Captain and Tennille" and enjoyed two huge number one Billboard hits – "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Do That to Me One More Time." But Toni Tennille also brushed shoulders with Hollywood's biggest stars. Born and raised in Montgomery, Ala., Toni recently left five decades of West Coast life behind her, as well as nearly 40 years of marriage to musical partner Daryl "The Captain" Dragon, and returned to the South. "I'm now living j...
One of the things that makes estate planning interesting in Alaska is the high percentage of Native Americans here, compared to other states. Natives come from a different background culturally, which can be a little bit challenging but is usually pretty easy to deal with. What is really interesting, though, is that there are certain types of assets many Natives own which require special treatment. The first are Native Corporation shares. Most older or middle-aged Alaska Natives have these...
Q. A manuscript I’ve been working on is gone. It simply disappeared from my computer. How can that happen? A. There are two kinds of people who experience data loss: those who have, and those who will. The risk of data loss is always present. There are countless ways to lose files from your computer or smartphone. It would take a book to catalog them all. A friend of mine recently crashed into this reality when he lost months of work. He thought he had done everything correctly. He backed up his data. He kept his computer up to date. He did n...
If you have just received your VA disability notice, you should take advantage of the VA’s disability insurance plan. Veterans who are granted a service-connected disability but are otherwise in good health may apply to VA for up to $10,000 life insurance coverage. The following is a summary of Service Disabled Veterans Insurance. Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance The Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (S-DVI) program was established in 1951 to meet the insurance needs of certain veterans wit...
As the days get longer and winter begins to wane, it's safe to assume that the boys of summer are preparing for another awesome season of baseball – a mainstay in Alaska for generations. Before Anchorage had plotted out its main street on Fourth Avenue in 1915, baseball teams faced off near the mud flats to put bats to balls that Fourth of July. Following statehood in 1959, Alaska attracted a multitude of collegiate players who played for teams like the Anchorage Bucs, Alaska Glacier Pilots, Pen...
Recognized for hundreds of television roles dating back to the 1950s, Peter Mark Richman broke into film alongside Gary Cooper in the 1956 civil war western, "Friendly Persuasion." "But I'm not only an actor, I'm also a playwright," noted Richman, who turned 89 in April, from his home in Los Angeles. "'A Medal for Murray' just finished a two year run in Israel and it toured Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa." Richman was doing a scene from his play in Los Angeles several years ago with Sean Penn's...
“Avoid probate? I don’t have to worry about that; I have a will,” says the elder gent sitting across from me. “A will doesn’t avoid probate,” I tell him. A confused look comes over his face. “I still have to go through probate, even if I have a will?” “Yep,” I say. “In fact a will does absolutely nothing to avoid probate.” He ponders that a moment. “Then what, exactly, is the point of having a will? What does a will do?” There is a very common misconception that having a will is a way to g...
Q. I have not flown in quite some time. When I flew last month, missing was the usual preflight announcement asking everyone to turn off all electronic devices. Now that we can use smartphones and tablets on airplanes from gate to gate, why do they still have an airplane mode? A. It took a very long time for most airlines to accept the inevitability of a cabin full of passengers happily tapping away on personal electronic devices. There was an especially humorous few months as the cabin prohibition continued while at the same time pilots...
Public Law calls for VA to provide you hospital care and outpatient care services that are defined as “needed.” VA defines “needed” as care or service that will promote, preserve, and restore health. This includes treatment, procedures, supplies, or services. This decision of need will be based on the judgment of your health care provider and in accordance with generally accepted standards of clinical practice. The following three categories contain a list of health care services that are provid...
An abundance of gamblers, con men and thieves made their way north following the discovery of gold in the Klondike in the late 1890s. And with no official lawmen to take care of evildoers, miners took the law into their own hands and dispensed frontier justice. Murder was punished by hanging; stealing meant a sound whipping or banishment. After Alaska became a territory in 1912, Alaskans turned away from hanging and whipping offenders but kept their tradition of banishment to deal with...
The battle for late-night talk show dominance is nothing new to TV audiences. In the 60s and 70s, three prominent hosts sometimes went head-to-head for the coveted ratings bragging rights. "There was a time when Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin and myself were all opposite each other," noted Dick Cavett from his home in New York. With the addition of "The Dick Cavett Show" to the Decades Network line-up at the beginning of February (see www.decades.com for schedule), the trio of former competitors ar...
One of the questions every estate planner gets is, “should I just give my house to the kids while I’m alive, as opposed to having it go through an estate or trust?” It’s a simple question that, alas, doesn’t have a simple answer. Here are just a few of the things to consider: It will avoid probate. When assets have to go through the probate court, it costs money and it takes time. If you give the asset away during your lifetime, it doesn’t go through probate. That’s good, but… Will you need i...
SStaff from Alaska’s Social Security office will be available for questions via videoconferencing at the following locations and times: Kodiak Job Center, on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month (April 12 and 26), 9 a.m. to noon. Kenai Senior Center, on the first and third Wednesday of each month (April 6 and 20), 9 a.m. to noon. Ketchikan Job Center, every Thursday (April 7, 14, 21 and 28), noon to 3 p.m. Social Security provides toll-free telephone service to all of Alaska. Residents in Alaska’s southeast communities can call the Jun...
Q. All of a sudden many stores near me have installed new credit card readers. The replacements are more confusing and seem slower. What’s happening? A. It is not your imagination – the new card readers are less friendly. They tend to operate slowly, they have two slots for different types of cards, and some models emit a loud alarm if you mess up the transaction. In short, they are a hot mess. The new readers are needed to support “chip and pin” type cards which should eventually replace the traditional magnetic strip cards we have used fo...
Not a day goes by without Alaska’s fiscal problems making the news. Whether cuts to public services, talk of new revenues, or a downgrade of the state’s creditworthiness, it’s hard to escape the numbers. So it’s good that Alaskans and our elected leaders are talking about the state’s fiscal problems. It would also be good if everyone could separate the myths from the facts. Myth. Higher oil prices and/or more production will arrive in time to save us. Fact. Oil prices would have to almost quadruple to fill the budget gap, or productio...
The tagline of our local pretentious Keynesian crowd is, “We can’t cut our way out of this.” Well my friends, “You can’t tax your way back to the good ole days of $100 oil,” either. No informed Alaskan can help but conclude that the state has some hard times ahead. But to think you can move the deckchairs around on the Titanic to solve the problem is crazy. The dilemma for the state is that our future economy will be a zero net sum game. There is just so much money on the table to spend and w...
Living in Alaska can present many challenges to getting outside safely with our canine companions: winter darkness, icy sidewalks, chilling rain, and pesky moose. But as a loving dog owner, you know that your dog needs physical and mental exercise, so what are your options? Indoor training, games and puzzle toys are your answer. New tricks Training your dog doesn't have to end with the basics of sit, stay, down, and come when called. You and your friend can have fun with reward-based trick...
The second-largest earthquake in recorded history struck at 5:36 p.m. Anchorage time. Measuring 8.4 on the Richter scale, experts later upgraded it to 9.2 on the Mw (moment magnitude) scale as the Richter scale was determined to be inaccurate at measuring earthquakes above 8.0. Many Alaskans later said they lived through hell on earth during those 4 minutes and 38 seconds of violent shaking and the tsunamis that followed. The temblor's epicenter was located about 75 miles southeast of...
Four decades before James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster "Titanic" made waves at the Academy Awards with 11 wins, Audrey Dalton signed on for Hollywood's 1953 recreation of the famous 1912 maritime disaster. "Our version only received one Oscar for writing," said Ms. Dalton, who turned 82 in January, from her home in Saddleback Valley, Calif. "But the special effects were pretty good for 60 years ago." The cast included Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb, who delighted '40s and '50s movie audiences...
It was the mid-1980s. Ronald Reagan was in his second term, Tears for Fears was on the radio, and I was in law school in upstate New York, taking my first estate planning class. And what I learned was this: when it comes to estate planning, the inheritance taxes are absolutely everything. Nothing else matters. But that was then, and this is now. Estate taxes were indeed a big deal back then. The exempt amount – the number below which your heirs didn’t have to pay estate taxes – was only $600,...
