Estate Planning for New Parents

I have been a bit quiet lately. I have been working hard, in the new year, to update some pieces of my website.

I'll be sharing them with all of you in the next few weeks.

I'm hoping that with these new additions I can provide my clients, friends, and the general public more information surrounding important legal topics AND the process of working with a lawyer.

I'm happy to share one of my new website pages- Estate Planning for New Parents. I hope the new and soon to be parents find it helpful and educational.

http://www.dcravenlaw.com/estate-new-parents/

If you are a new or soon to be parent, do not hesitate to contact me for your estate planning needs. It is one of the areas of law I am most passionate about as these legal documents are so important for you and your child/children.

Thanks for the use of this beautiful photo to:
Kendall Pavan Photography for her talented photography work (http://www.kendallpavanphotography.com/families)
and of course, my two very good friends pictured here- Katie Parise Neves & Carlos Neves

Wills & Trusts- New Child

Legal IQ Tips: Estate Planning

Have a new child?

If you have a Will, it’s time to update it. If you don’t, it’s time to get one.

I always advise new parents that it’s important to get a proper estate plan documented.

In Rhode Island, if both parents are to pass away, or become incapacitated rendering them no longer able to care for their child, the child would be left “guardian-less”. Laws here do not automatically govern who the child’s guardians would be.

What that means is that whomever would want to become the child’s guardian would need to go to court and petition for legal guardianship. For example, if the maternal grandparents wanted to become the legal guardians, they’d have to file with the court. That is a long, expensive and emotionally draining process.

Even scarier there is no guarantee that the maternal grandparents would be awarded legal custody. Think of the situation where the family and child lives in RI and attends RI schools, with the maternal grandparents living in Maine. The judge may rule that it is in the best interest of the child to stay in RI with the schools and friends they are accustomed to, and therefore the child needs to stay with another family member.

Now, mix in a possible custody battle between two siblings, step grandparents, or maternal and paternal grandparents. You can see how this can all get very messy and expensive.

The simple solution, is for the parents to make a plan beforehand and document this in their estate plan.

If you are a new parent in RI and are interested in making your estate plan, please feel free to reach out to me. Wills & Estates is an area of law I focus my Providence based practice in.

Have a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving.

New Child Series (6 of 7): Health Insurance & Rights to Nurse in Public

Legal IQ Tips: Consumer Protection, Contracts & Estate Planning

Some more on my series dedicated to my new and soon to be parents out there. This one focuses on the last two 'legal things' you need to be aware of once your baby arrives.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Now that your little one has arrived, you want to be sure your health insurance is updated to the family plan. This "life event" will allow you to change your plan. As noted in my "planning post" (https://www.facebook.com/dcravenlaw/posts/747689372054329:0) you may want to take a good hard look at your actual plan to see if you want to adjust coverage and plans now that your family has grown.

Beyond plan change, you need to make sure your new boy or girl is added to your plan. It's imperative you get this information over ASAP as you'll want to be sure your new child is covered. Each insurance company and plan is different and it’s best you contact them directly to see how to send in the information.

RIGHTS TO NURSE IN PUBLIC

For all my moms out there, this topic is so important for you to be informed about. The US is actually pretty progressive with their rights, as compared to some countries where women still struggle for equal rights and protections under the law. When your traveling, be sure you know the laws of the country your headed to.

Just like with all laws, there are federal and state statutes which dictate the laws around nursing. While there isn’t anything on the books federally for public nursing, federal laws do cover standards in the work place (my next post). Breastfeeding in public is covered by state specific laws.

The law explicitly protects moms, who are breastfeeding, in public, in almost ALL of the 50 states.

Forty-nine states (Idaho is the only State that doesn’t have a law protecting mothers) as well as the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands have laws that specifically allow women to breastfeed in ANY public or private location. What this means is that a woman breastfeeding in public; cannot be asked to “cover-up”, be discriminated against in any way, or charged with indecent exposure.

In RI the law states that a woman is allowed to feed her child, by bottle or breast, in any place open to the public. RI goes one step further and allows a mother to sue if this right is denied. RI is one of the few states where a mother can actually sue if they are discriminated against for breastfeeding in public.

Twenty-nine states as well as the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands exempt breastfeeding from public indecency laws. This means that moms who nurse in public cannot be criminally charged with indecent exposure. In the other states, there isn’t anything specifically on the books stating that mothers cannot be charged with indecent exposure, but, a mother has never been prosecuted on that matter.

Seventeen states and Puerto Rico exempt breastfeeding mothers from jury duty or allow jury service to be postponed.

Six states and Puerto Rico have implemented or encouraged the development of a breastfeeding awareness education campaign.

As always, if you have questions, feel free to contact me.
Last post in this series will focus on back to work- nursing rights and discrimination.

New Child Series (5 of 7):Legal Concerns-Birth Certificate & Social Security Number

Some more on my series dedicated to my new and soon to be parents out there will focus on all of the 'legal things' you need to be aware of once your baby arrives.

BIRTH CERTIFICATE
Birth certificates are critically important documents. A birth certificate is a legal document which lists the child's name, birth place, date, time and parents. If you have everything ready at the time of birth, you can apply for this document right at the hospital. Otherwise, you can contact the State vital records department to get it created. You’ll want to be sure you check the information carefully. Sounds funny, but I can't tell you how many times issues arise. Be sure the child's name is exactly how you want it- spelling, hyphenated last name, middle name. Whatever you want your child's legal name to be, make sure it's exactly that way on the document.

If there is an issue, i.e. you did not give the official name at birth, you’ll want to get it taken care of right away. To make updates to the name you’d need to get an order from family court. Once you get that order, you can provide the update and court order to the state vital records department.

If your birth happened outside of a hospital, you'll need to make sure you write to the department of health and complete their worksheet within 30 days of birth. If you do not complete the worksheet within 1 year of the child’s birth, you’ll end up with a real mess. You’ll have to provide additional evidence of birth and pay additional fees. Most concerning, your child’s birth certificate will automatically be marked DELAYED. The DELAYED mark can cause authorities to question the validity of this document and cause issues, for the rest of their life. You should get this done ASAP.

Adopting? Make sure you get the ‘new’ birth certificate. At the court hearing, the report of adoption will then go to the state offices of vital records. You’ll need to request a certified copy of the new birth certificate from that office, once everything is recorded.

From a legal standpoint, the Birth Certificate is a document which officially record's the child's birth, legal name and legal parents with the State in which the Child is born. You could call it the "Official Record" that your Child was born and born a US citizen. The name given on this document will be your Child's legal name for life (unless later changed, not an easy process). Parents on record will be considered jointly responsible. This document is always used in divorce cases and custody battles.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
Social Security Number is another extremely important legal identifier. Unlike the birth certificate, a social security number is not drawn up right away. Sometimes, the hospital will give you the form to take home and fill out. Otherwise, to get your Child assigned a SS number, you'll need to visit the government website, fill out paperwork and send in proof that your child was born in the US (here is where that Birth Certificate comes into play!). Again, you want to be sure that all information is 100% accurate before submitting.

From a legal standpoint, a Social Security Number officially records the child's birth with the United States of America. You could call it the "Official Record" for the US. In addition to your child one day being able to taxes to the USofA (ha), this number allows for a few different things. With this number now assigned, you, as the parents, can now legal write-off a dependent. This SS number also entitles your child to different benefits if they are disabled. As they grow up, this 9-digit number can help them apply for State and Federal Aid, if they need it. Once they hit the golden years, this same number you got them when they were born, will allow them to collect a monthly stipend from the government, Social Security. This number will follow your child throughout their life. It's critically important you get it and keep this number safe.