I Need Your Help  I am nearing completion of my book — well, ok, just the first draft — that compiles a lot of my columns and adds commentary and helpful hints. The issue I am having is the opening line. The subject matter of estate planning, wills, trusts, probate and guardianship just doesn’t lend itself to something catchy.   Here are some of the lines I have come up with, but — and maybe it’s just me — they all seem a little off.  “Call me Virginia.”  “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family springs from a lack of...

A Probate Hearing Unlike Any Other  Can you imagine the court hearing for the probate of Jesus’ will?    “The Court calls In Re Estate of Jesus of Nazareth. Counsel, could you please explain the strange phone call that you made to my court coordinator last week?”    “Your Honor, we have a slight problem. In our Application for Probate, we said the date of death for Jesus was on a Friday, but since then there’s been a development.”  “What type of development, counsel?”   “Well, apparently His body is missing...

Your mother did her best to protect you from harm while you were growing up.  It may soon be your turn to protect her.   I refer, of course, to the increasing threat posed by romance scams, which are big business. In a post, the FBI noted the following news in just the month of March, 2026:  Nigerien National Indicted in Connection with Role in Romance Fraud Scheme  Maryland Man Arrested for Facilitating Multimillion-Dollar International Romance Fraud Scheme  Connecticut Man Sentenced to Nine Years’ Imprisonment for...