All Articles — page 10
Every Beacon article, grouped by section. Use the filters or search to narrow it down.
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Property & Housing
Adverse Possession and Prescriptive Rights: Elements and Proof
A misplaced fence can quietly turn into a legal claim. Here are the elements every state asks for, the sharp difference between owning land and merely having a right to cross it, and the proof courts expect.
8 min readAnalysis -
Property & Housing
Property Tax Exemptions and Homestead Relief: Who Qualifies and How to Apply
County assessors do not hand out property tax exemptions on their own. Here is what the main relief programs actually do, who they tend to cover, and how the filing and appeal windows work.
8 min readGuide -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
Ancillary Probate: Handling Property Owned in Another State
Real estate is governed by the law of the state where it sits. That single rule is why an estate with a cabin two states away often needs a second court case to sell it.
6 min readGuide -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
POLST and Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders: How They Differ From a Living Will
Two documents look similar and behave nothing alike. One is a medical order a paramedic can follow immediately; the other is a legal directive that only matters once you cannot speak.
6 min readExplainer -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
Powers of Attorney: Scope, Revocation, and Third-Party Refusal to Accept
A power of attorney is only as useful as the institutions that accept it. This is what the document can authorize, how it ends, and what to do when a bank says no.
7 min readGuide -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
Transfer-on-Death Deeds and Payable-on-Death Accounts
A recorded beneficiary deed or a payable-on-death form can move an asset at death without probate, without a trust, and without giving anyone rights while you are alive.
6 min readExplainer -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
ABLE Accounts: Saving Money Without Losing Disability Benefits
An ABLE account is the one savings tool built so that having money does not disqualify a person from means-tested disability benefits. Here is how it works and where its limits sit.
7 min readGuide -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
Nursing Home Admission Agreements, Residents' Rights, and Discharge Appeals
Admission paperwork is signed at the worst possible moment, in a hallway, under pressure. Federal law already voids some of what it asks for, and limits when a facility may make someone leave.
6 min readGuide -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
Pet Trusts: Funding and Enforcing Care for Animals After an Owner Dies
Leaving money to an animal does not work, because an animal cannot own property. A pet trust is the structure that turns a wish about care into something a court will enforce.
6 min readExplainer -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
Guardianship of an Adult: Alternatives, Process, and Ongoing Duties
Guardianship transfers decision-making from one adult to another by court order. Modern statutes treat it as a last resort, and the alternatives are the first thing a judge asks about.
7 min readExplainer -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
Veterans Aid and Attendance: Eligibility, Evidence, and Appeals
Aid and Attendance raises the VA pension rate for a veteran or surviving spouse who needs help with daily activities. Three separate tests have to be met, and each one fails claims for different reasons.
7 min readGuide -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
Funeral and Burial Instructions: Who Decides and How to Make It Binding
Every state has a ranked list of who controls funeral and burial decisions. If you do not want that list to apply to you, the way to change it is a signed document, not a conversation.
6 min readGuide
