It's the end of the month. That's when we like to survey the elder law landscape and share interesting or useful items that surfaced over the past few weeks. Here's our January review: January's Planning Tips Here are eight common estate planning mistakes from AARP. The most common errors we see out of those eight: 1) plans that are incomplete or in error, 2) misunderstood or underutilized plans, and 5) beneficiary conflicts and mistakes (which should be No. 1). Estate

A recent case out of Maryland illustrates that helping an elderly parent can lead to criminal penalties and (gulp) jail time. Don’t help, at least not like Sharon Shivers did. As the Maryland Court of Appeals tells the story, Sharon and her dad, John, had a “somewhat strained” relationship for many years. John found out they lived a few miles apart and reached out. They reconnected, John got to know his grandson, and Sharon and her son visited twice a

We occasionally hear from grandparents who have visitation and custody disputes with their children. More commonly, they have disputes with their children's spouses, partners or exes. The stories are often heartbreaking, and we want to help. Too often, our best advice is "you'll have to learn to deal with it." Court cases outlining grandparents' rights to visitation and custody have tapered off in recent years. That's largely because of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Troxel v. Granville back in 2000.

Football fans everywhere stood stunned last Monday night when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field. He was resuscitated, then carted off to the hospital. He’s now recovering from the cardiac arrest, talking and breathing on his own. But for several days, he was sedated while his medical team assessed his condition. Hamlin’s Situation Informative No one expects such a thing for a 24-year-old athlete. It’s a startling reminder that a crisis can leave any of us unable