Estate Planning Newsletter

April 2005
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In this Issue
Joke of the Month
Estate Tip of the Month
The Terri Schiavo Case
Free Initial Consultation
Business of the Month
List of Services

About Us
Andrew Traub Attorney Lawyer Austin, Texas
The Traub Law Office is a Full Service Law Firm located at 8601 RR 2222.
Andrew Traub is my name, and I want to help you ensure that your loved ones are taken care of. Call me at 343-2572 or email me.

Free Initial Consultation
Did you know that the Traub Law Office offers a free initial consultation?
Part of my dedication to my clients is ensuring that there is a good fit between you and I. The purpose of the free initial consultation is for you to tell your story, learn about me, and then we can decide whether we would work well together. There is no obligation on your part, so why not schedule a free initial consultation today?

Joke of the Month
Outrageous Lawsuits
An inmate filed a $5 million lawsuit against himself (he claimed that he violated his own civil rights by getting arrested) - then asked the state to pay because he had no income in jail. He said, "I want to pay myself $5 million dollars, but ask the state to pay it on my behalf since I can't work and am a ward of the state." The judge was not impresses by his ingenuity and dismissed the suit as frivolous - Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse
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 Estate Tips
Stacey Lemire of Healing Touch Therapies was kind enough to forward this information to me on how to protect your identity from theft:
  1. The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your checkbook, they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks.
  2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED".
  3. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.
  4. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS# printed on your checks. (DUH!) You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.
  5. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. I also carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, and credit cards.
  6. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.
  7. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).
  8. Call the 3 national credit-reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.
Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, etc., has been stolen:
1.) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
3.) Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

The Terri Schiavo Case

How to prevent conflicts about medical care in your family

No matter what your personal opinion about the Terri Schiavo case, there is one clear lesson to be learned: you must take steps to ensure that your health care wishes will be honored. Ms. Schiavo did not have a living will. The lack of this important document left the question of her desire for life sustaining measures open for debate. This debate has raged for over 15 years as her husband, her parents, and then Congress have battled over what each feels she would have wanted.

There has been a lot of talk about living wills and health care powers of attorney lately. These legal documents (often called advance directives or health care directives) are important because they make your medical wishes known if you can't speak for yourself. Here is a brief description of the four primary health care directives and how they protect your wishes:

A Living Will is the directive you use to explain your medical preferences in the event that you are unable to speak for yourself. This is the document you use to indicate whether you would or would not want a feeding tube, a ventilator, etc.

A Health Care Power Of Attorney is the directive you use to choose someone to speak for you if you aren't capable of making your own decisions. This person, often called a health care agent or health care proxy, uses your living will or your other instructions as guidance to make informed decisions about your care. It is important that you choose a trusted individual who will uphold your wishes when the time comes.

A HIPAA Authorization allows doctors and hospitals to give your medical information to the people you designate so they can make informed decisions about your care and treatment.

Organ Donation Authorization is completed if you wish to be an organ donor.

Here at the Traub Law Office, we include all of these directives as part of our complete estate planning package.

Completing these documents is crucial, but it's still not enough. It's also essential to do a few other things.

First, you should talk to your loved ones. Tell the person you've chosen as your health care power of attorney that you've selected them, and be sure they're willing to do it. You also need to talk to your family about your medical wishes, especially about end-of-life care. The more information your family has about your views, the more you will help yourself and your family, should the need arise down the road to make decisions about your care. These discussions can help ease the emotional stress your family may feel in making difficult decisions about your care, particularly if you opt for less medical intervention at the end of life.

Second, if you have already completed these documents, it's important to review them periodically to make sure they still reflect your wishes. We recommend that you look at them once a year. It's especially important to update them if your family situation has changed (ie, do you need to appoint a different health care agent?) or if there's a change in your medical condition.

Also, changes in state or federal law can make it necessary to update your directives. For example, if you completed your directives prior to April 2004, they probably need to be updated for HIPAA (see above), so that you're not tripped up by hospitals that could try to deny you access to medical information about a family member, even in a hospital emergency.

Third, it is also critically important that these directives be available to hospitals and doctors right away. It's vital to have completed and updated your documents, AND it's also essential that they be accessible in an emergency. So, we take your health care directives an important extra step to secure their availability.

We offer emergency access to our clients' health care directives by offering clients a DocuBank membership. DocuBank is an emergency access service for your health care directives. It will get your health care directives to a hospital or doctor that needs them at a moment's notice, anywhere in the world. This service also supplies the names and phone numbers of your loved ones and your doctor so they can be contacted in an emergency.

As part of this membership you will receive a wallet card that instructs the hospital to call DocuBank's toll-free number and the directives will be faxed to them promptly.

If you are not a member of DocuBank, call us and we will see about your enrollment. If you do not have these essential documents or if you think they may need to be updated, call us today at 512-343-2572. We will be happy to discuss your health care directives with you.

A health care directive protects you and your family. Make your wishes known now - - prevent the conflict later.
Business of the Month

A Short History of Balloons

Most of us think of balloons as innocent toys, the cheery decorations of our childhood birthday parties, red, blue and yellow in brilliant bunches. When we see them, our minds flash back to ice cream cakes and cotton candy. But balloons have played a rather strange and obscure part in the history of our nation, and most of us are not even aware of it. During the Civil War, balloons became a symbol of technological advancement, playing a key role in how that war was waged.

While the idea of using balloons during wartime in America was originally suggested by Benjamin Franklin, the significance of their usefulness wasn't verified until the spring of 1861. Thaddeus T. Lowe proposed using balloons to spy on enemy troops from the south, in an attempt to learn their positions and the numbers of their troops. By that summer, he had built a prototype called Intrepid which he brought to the White House in order to demonstrate its military use to President Lincoln. After giving it a great deal of thought and inspecting the craft, the President gave his approval and ordered the assembly of the Balloon Corps, making history by utilizing the first balloons in a U.S. war.

Though balloons were a key factor in military engagements for only a few short years, from 1861-1863, their effect was considerable. The Balloon Corps was taken enough with the potential for these military balloons that they created a sort of balloon aircraft carrier, attaching the balloons to the deck of a coal barge. Ironically, the balloon's inventor, Lowe, was the target of the first anti-aircraft barrage; he was attacked by Confederate soldiers firing on him from the ground beneath his balloon. Lowe's military balloon also spurred the wartime tradition of blackouts: since the spycrafts could spot campfires from high in the air, troops got into the habit of dousing fires when enemy aircraft were known to be in the vicinity.

Military balloons turned out to be a rather short-lived invention. Their heyday ran from 1861 to 1863, during which time the balloons had a significant impact on the way battles were waged. The members of the Balloon Corps even came up with a predecessor to the aircraft carrier: they equipped a coal barge to tow the balloons and launch them. Of course, along with military aircraft came the invention of anti-aircraft artillery. Lowe was one of the first targets: Confederate soldiers beneath his balloon opened fire when he was floating above them. Because the enemy could now potentially see such things as campfires from the ground, troops on the ground knew enough to put out the blazes if spy balloons were nearby.

There were visions of balloons being used in other ways, too: for troop transport, taking photographs from a great height, and dropping bombs on the troops below. But none of these other inventions ever came to fruition, and soon the military balloon as Lowe created it was relegated to the dustbin of war history.

Arment Dellio is the owner of At Balloons which is one of the leading resources on the subject of balloons available online.
Services Offered by the Traub Law Office
Why plan your estate? Here are some of the benefits:
  1. Establish guardianship for your minor or incapacitated children
  2. Establish trusts for minor children to prevent them from getting everything at once
  3. Establish trusts for minor children so they won't get everything at age 18
  4. Establish trusts for incapacitated adults to protect them from themselves
  5. Establish who can make medical decisions for you if you become incapacitated
  6. Establish who can pay your bills if you become incapacitated
  7. Specify what actions doctors should take if you are incapacitated and have an irreversible condition
  8. Leave property to charities and organizations
  9. Leave property to people who are not related to you
  10. Make sure property does not got to people you don't want it to go to
  11. Leave property to people or organizations you choose, rather than the State of Texas
  12. Reduce or eliminate Federal Estate Taxes
Here are some of the services I offer:
  • Wills
  • Living Trusts
  • Estate Planning
  • Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
  • Limited Partnerships
  • Probate
We would love to hear what you think of this issue of the Estate Planning Newsletter. And of course, if you have any suggestions for upcoming issues that you'd like to share with us, please send those, too! Just e-mail me.

P.S. My business is completely by referrals so if you know of someone who is in need of legal assistance, please send them my way. You have my promise I will provide excellent service!

P.P.S. If you liked this newsletter you can forward it to a friend or colleague.


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This newsletter is designed for general information only. The information presented in this newsletter should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.
8601 RR 2222, Building I, Suite 104 € Austin, Texas 78730 € Phone: 512-343-2572 € Fax: 512-597-0200
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