Blog

This year marks my 27th year as a lawyer. When I reflect on what’s changed the most during my career it’s easy to know it’s the use of technology. As a new lawyer, when I needed to draft a document, I dictated onto a cassette tape which was then transcribed by one of the ladies in the typing pool. Now, 27 years later, I’m sitting outside using the hotspot on my phone to connect to my firm’s cloud-based server and typing this article on my laptop.

Technology has not only changed how I practice law, but also the substance of my practice. When we talk to clients about their assets, we’re no longer focused on just their real estate ...

Do you have a stash of quick, crowd pleasing recipes? The recipe below makes the list. Squeeze it into your menu during days of 'soup weather.'

Paula Deen's Crockpot Potato Soup www.stockpilingmoms.com

Ingredients 1 - 30oz bag of frozen southern style hash-brown potatoes 1/3 cup chopped onion 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 - 14.5oz cans of chicken or vegetable broth 1 can cream of chicken or cream of celery soup 1 package softened cream cheese Optional: shredded cheese for serving

Directions Combine all the ingredients, except for the cream cheese and shredded cheese, in a large crock pot. Mix well and cook on low for 6-8 hours (or...

A Continuing Care Retirement Community, also known as a CCRC, is a retirement community that provides a continuum of care which includes independent living, assisted living, memory care for individuals struggling with cognitive disabilities and/or skilled nursing care. These levels of care are typically in one building and/or on one campus. The general concept is a retiree can move into a CCRC and any future medical aging needs can be met on one campus. This truly allows aging in place.

It is not uncommon for the community to have a residency process and requirements. Potential residents may need to disclose financial and medical...

Top Five Reasons to Update Your Estate Plan upon Moving to Delaware

Reason No. 1: Revocable Living Trusts

Many people have estate planning goals that cannot be accomplished through a Will alone.

In Delaware, proper use of a Revocable Living Trust provides many benefits:

• Overall, it avoids the time, paperwork, and expense of probate.

• It eliminates many filing fees and the closing cost fee, which is 1.25% in Sussex County, 1.75% in Kent County, and because of a technology fee, is 2% New Castle County.

• It provides increased privacy because its terms are never made public and no newspaper advertisement is required.

• It elim...

The Top 10 Reasons You Need a Professional Patient Advocate by Your Side

Introduction:
Navigating the healthcare system can be complex and overwhelming, especially during times of illness or medical crisis. That's where a professional patient advocate can make all the difference. In this article, we will explore the top 10 reasons why having a patient advocate by your side is essential for ensuring the best possible outcomes for your healthcare journey.

1. Expert Guidance:
A professional patient advocate is well-versed in the intricacies of the healthcare system. They have the knowledge and experience to guide you through complex...

In the traditional sense, an obituary is a shared announcement that summarizes the life of someone that has died. It can be straightforward with details on the funeral or memorial services, and the familial relationships of the decedent, or colorfully written in a way that captures the personality of someone who mattered to you. Either way, an obituary is a story. A factual account that becomes part of the archives.

Prior to the internet, most people went to the back of the newspaper, near the classified ads, to find the obituary section. Today, we consume news and current events in radically different ways so you might wonder if an...

PWW Summer 2023 Reading List

Several of our team members love to pass their free time reading, and one of the best parts of reading a good book is sharing it with a friend! We’ve compiled a list of books that our team members have enjoyed recently and we hope you find a few titles to add to your to-be read list.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

London Séance Society by Sarah Penner

The Other Emily by Dean Koontz

Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover

Hang the Moon by Jeanette Walls

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay

Artificial or the Real Deal

By: Amber B. Woodland, Esq.

A few springs ago, I fell into the trap of purchasing artificial plants to fill my outdoor urns. I was baited by beautiful arrangements displayed in glossy catalogs that timely appeared in my mailbox as the weather warmed and the pollen fell. What a convenient, easy solution to making my patio look beautiful for summer!

Beware: When something looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Doesn’t it seem like a great solution to an otherwise time-consuming, laborious, and pricey endeavor? No trip to the nursery, no planting, watering, or deadheading, and no need to spend money on a...

“Alexa, set an alarm for 9:00 p.m.” My mother-in-law Carol takes a medicine at night, that’s best ingested an hour or so before she’d otherwise be sleeping, and best administered at the same time every evening. Generally, she does really well managing her meds, except for an inclination to forget this part of her nighttime routine.

I found myself talking to “Alexa” recently, starting out confident that I could easily program “her” to sound a musical alarm every evening to help Carol remember her pill. “She” had other plans. This funny memory of talking to our smart speaker made me think of a handful of changes we’ve made recently ...

Secured Storage By: Samantha R. Banning, Legal Assistant

Most people consider creating an estate plan as a one-time transaction. They hire an attorney to have a thorough estate plan prepared and invest their time in the process to choose Trustees, Executors, and fiduciaries. Upon completion, the documents are stored in a home office along with all the other “important papers.” Whew. Check that task off the list.

Years later though, after a person passes, family begins searching for all of the important papers, most of which have not been revisited in years, if not decades. The grief and stress during this time, paired with long lis...

The Gray Divorce Boom By Kim Painter Contributed by: Catherine M. Seeber, CFP®, CeFT® Vice President | Financial Advisor CAPTRUST Lewes | Lewes, DE catherine.seeber@captrust.com *Note: This article was originally published at captrust.com/vested. *

During her long marriage, Brenda Frank, 82, says she paid “absolutely no attention” to family finances. The former real estate agent left all the details to her husband, even in the years after he retired, when she was still working. So when he asked for a divorce, 12 days before their 56th anniversary, she was unprepared for what came next: a settlement process that, she says, left her with...

Friends Are Great at Every Age

Some older adults forget to make time for social activities, or don’t yet realize how important those activities are to their overall wellness. Weakness, early stages of dementia, medical conditions, or even loss of friends their own age may make spontaneous activities difficult and could potentially lead to loneliness, depression, falls, or wandering. If you or a loved one are experiencing these challenges, perhaps enrolling in an Adult Day Center could be a solution.

Adult Day Centers, also known as Adult Day Care or Senior Day Centers, are facilities that generally operate Monday through Friday during ...

Research finds that one of the most important things older adults can do to remain happy and healthy long-term is to engage with others on a regular basis. Some older adults feel that their quality of life is greater when they’ve created an active schedule for themselves, but sometimes the activities they are interested in feel inaccessible without support, or no longer interesting without companionship. Remaining active can also assist in managing or delaying the onset of chronic disease. Senior centers provide an opportunity to remain engaged with other adults with similar interests.

A senior center is a type of community program whe...

Will Your “Stuff” Avoid Probate?

By: Donna J. Schuchart, Estate Administration Coordinator

According to Gallup.com the average retirement age in the U.S. is 61 years old. The average life expectancy is about twenty years later around 80 years old. These studies paint a picture of the reasons to strategically plan to have financial means to support yourself during what is hopefully a long period of retirement. Having a strategic plan for what happens to your “stuff” when you pass away isn’t much different.

Any person with “stuff” has an estate. We’re used to believing this term implies significant wealth but in reality, an estate ...

Contributed by: PACE Your LIFE, located at the Milford Wellness Village

Did you know October is Long-Term Care Planning Month? This allows us to create awareness among our community to understand and prepare for the outrageous costs of long-term healthcare. Unfortunately, this is not something many of us plan for.

Knowledge is power, and it is crucial for you to know what long-term care services are available to you and how you will pay for that care if/when the time comes. There is a new resource available to individuals 55 and older that reside in southern Kent and northern Sussex counties (see below for zip codes in our service...

Recipe found at: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/key-lime-cream-pie/

Key Lime Cream Pie

1 package (11.3 ounces) pecan shortbread cookies, crushed (about 2 cups)

1/3 cup butter, melted

4 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup Key lime juice

1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

Optional: Maraschino cherries with stems and sliced Key limes

Directions In a small bowl, mix crushed cookies and butter. Press onto bottom and up sides of a greased 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. In a large bowl, beat...

Continuing care retirement communities, also known as CCRCs, fall into the category of long-term care options and are oftentimes a good fit for older adults who prefer to stay in the same location through their aging process. Most CCRCs include levels of living including independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing, and memory care. Some have enrollment programs that will accommodate older persons in their residential home before becoming an onsite resident within the community.

Most adults considering a CCRC move into the community while they are still able to live independently, not requiring much, if any, assistance from the...

PWW Summer Reading List

Several of our team members love to pass their free time reading, and one of the best parts of reading a good book is sharing it with a friend! We’ve compiled a list of books that our team members have enjoyed recently and we hope you find a few titles to add to your list.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

No Exit by Taylor Adams

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

Such a Quiet Place by Megan Miranda

The Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Overnight Guest by ...

Meal Options for Seniors in Delaware Contributed by: Mira A. Prisco, 2L , Paul M. Herbert Law Center

My grandmother prepared the most delicious meals and desserts. I may be biased, but her Thanksgiving dinner was second to none. Some of my favorite memories with my grandmother involved standing at the kitchen counter helping her fix meals. When she decided she no longer wanted to cook for herself, let alone for our large family meals, I began to wonder what her nutrition would look like.

It was difficult for me to wrap my head around how my grandmother would eat when she was not interested in cooking. Would she eat at restaurants for...

Elder Law is a specialized area of legal planning meant to guide any adult through lifetime planning, end of life planning, and asset protection planning. At the root of elder law is estate planning. What is estate planning? For many, the concept seems limited to signing a series of lengthy, legalistic documents in order to meet the goals of providing for loved ones, reducing tax liability, and avoiding probate. However, a true estate plan encompasses much more than executing the right documents.

Planning for the future can bring about overwhelming feelings of anxiety, insecurity, and the desire to avoid the topic all together. However,...

Provided by the Social Security Administration:

Dear Colleague,

Ten years ago this May, we launched my Social Security. It started with letting people see future benefit estimates or current benefits. Over the decade, we’ve added and upgraded features to turn my Social Security into a powerful suite of online services that make your clients’ lives easier when doing business with us online.

More than 69 million people have signed up and benefited firsthand from the many secure and convenient self-service options. And they’ve used their account more than 1.1 billion times to get what they need quickly and securely without needing to spe...

Succession By: Amber B. Woodland, Esquire

Raise your hand if you’ve binge-watched a series on your favorite streaming service over the last 2 years? I have, and I would bet that most of us are guilty. There’s just something meditative about retreating to the mindlessness of good television. When you find an entertaining series, it’s like you’ve struck gold.

This happened to me when I clicked over to “Succession” on HBO Max. In this series, leader of his business and his family, Logan Roy, contemplates who’s best fit to take over the highly dysfunctional family dynasty. Is it his son who’s always worked in the business or his daugh...

Serving Those Who Serve Contributed by: Taylor R. White, Estate Planning Coordinator

Procino-Wells & Woodland takes great pride in serving the needs of our active military service members and Veterans. The men and women who serve our country hold a special place in my heart and my prayers as I have observed the sacrifice, honor, and grit they possess for this country and its citizens.

Admittedly, the last thing on my mind as my younger brother prepared for his first deployment was discussing his insufficient, ‘fill in the blank’ estate planning documents provided by the military. In a blur of emotion, fear, and strained positivity, I fou...

A Good Deed is in the Details Written by: Taylor Tallarico, Deed Preparation Coordinator

The average person will spend roughly one-third of their lives working. A 40-hour-per-week career from college graduation to retirement equates to 90,000 hours invested in a person’s occupation. I think about the examples my parents and grandparents have set for me, including the example of working hard to earn the things you want and need.

Oftentimes, those 90,000 hours earn a family the ability to purchase real estate. What begins as a house quickly transitions to a home. For many, our homes hold some of our most precious memories. Home is the p...