For many people, the idea of leaving a beloved charity or nonprofit organization a gift as part of your estate plan is essential. If you want to do this, it is important that you and your estate planning attorney sit down and discuss not only how much you wish to give, but also the charity to whom you wish to leave your gift. Here’s a simple process you can go through to help you identify and choose a good charity.

Step 1: Make a list.

Start your charitable donation search by creating a list of causes or organizations that are close to you and the issues you feel strongly about. You should not feel obligated to donate to one group or another simply because you have a history with them or because you feel as if it is expected of you. In the end, your charitable donation should be something you feel strongly about and one that you will be proud of making.

Step 2: Research the charity.

After identifying the charities or causes you feel strongly about, you should investigate each charity and determine if it is reputable. In general, a good rule of thumb is to make sure that the charity uses at least 60 percent of its yearly revenue in support of its cause, and not as expenses, overhead or for other purposes.

Step 3: Determine the best method.

While you can always leave property to a charity by making a will, there are other methods that can benefit you and your estate, as well as the charity, even more. For example, you may be able to create a trust that can dictate how your funds are used long after you’ve died. You may also be able to give gifts while you are still alive so you can reduce estate taxes and have an immediate impact.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The estimated 10,000 baby boomers that will reach the age of 65 on each and every day between the years of 2011 and 2030 are making it more and more apparent that the traditional idea of what a retirement home should be is no longer adequate. Any baby boomer making an estate plan should consider several key topics and issues that you will want to account for if you are considering an assisted living community as part of your plan.

Issue 1. Lifestyle. For healthy and active baby boomers, the prospect of being confined to a retirement center all day is nothing short of nightmarish. Many new retirement centers have taken the active lifestyles that baby boomers have into consideration when designing facilities. These new facilities are much closer to resort style communities than retirement homes. They often feature modern designs, contemporary styling, access to hiking, water sports, fitness areas and other perks that fit an active lifestyle.

Issue 2. Location. If you spent your life living in your city home, you may not want to move to a retirement home in the country or in the suburbs. Many communities are being developed inside urban cores and bring with them access to all the amenities the city has to offer.

Issue 3 Pets. For many baby boomers, retiring without bringing their animal companions with them is out of the question. New facilities often offer dog walking areas, pet friendly facilities, increased access to veterinary care and other amenities that make it much easier to make a move with your pet.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

As an estimated 10,000 or more Americans reach the age of 65 every day, the potential threat of elder abuse becomes more and more pronounced. Though incidents of abuse are not as widely reported as those of domestic violence, it’s estimated that about one in 10 elderly people will suffer some kind of abuse at some point in their lives. Those who are under the care of at-home caregivers are especially at risk, given that the caregiver is around the elderly person more often than most other people. Here are a few warning signs you can look out for if you are concerned about an elderly person who may be suffering from elder abuse.

Physical signs. Elder abuse comes in many forms, and can often leave clear physical signs. Intentional abuse can result in bruises, unexplained injuries, repeated trips to the hospital and injuries that appear on both limbs simultaneously. Physical abuse can also come in the form of neglect, which can result in signs such as disheveled appearance, unsanitary living conditions, malnutrition and dehydration, as well as inappropriate clothing for the weather conditions.

Emotional signs. The shame and stigma that accompanies elder abuse is often very powerful, preventing the elderly from speaking out. This will affect the person’s emotional state, often resulting in unexplained emotional outbursts, decreased interest in activities and symptoms that also appear in dementia patients, such as rocking, finger sucking or mumbling.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The 2011 film The Descendants was nominated for five Oscars in 2012 and took away one for best adapted screenplay, but it also has some estate planning issues involved in it that should be of interest to many people who are beginning the estate planning process.

In the film, George Clooney plays wealthy attorney Matt King, who is left to care for his two daughters after his wife is injured and left in a coma. As the descendant of a Hawaiian princess and a wealthy white man, King is one of the beneficiaries of the trust that holds substantial properties on the island of Kauai. One of the central conflicts in the movie is whether King should sell the land or keep it in the family.

As he deals with the realities of having to raise his two daughters, King struggles with the issue of whether to leave them an inheritance that leaves them wealthy without them having to earn it. For himself, King only spends what he earns through his income, and even goes so far as to brown bag lunch everyday. He believes that leaving his children too much would leave them spoiled and unable to appreciate life, while leaving them enough money so that they are relatively comfortable and can have options is the ideal solution.

This conflict is often expressed by many people considering leaving their children large sums. The number of people who have inherited a large amount of money and who go on to squander it is surprisingly large. This is not an unknown problem, and many people creating an estate plan choose to leave their children moderate inheritances instead of the entire fortune.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Every year the Chronicle of Philanthropy releases its list of the most generous donors. In 2011, the single largest donor was someone who has not been alive since 2006. Margaret Cargill, heiress to one of the nation’s largest private companies, gave two different charitable organizations $6 billion to split between them.

If you have never heard of Ms. Cargill before, it’s quite understandable. Though Cargill has been the nation’s largest privately held company for 11 of the past 13 years, it is not a widely known or a household name. The company produces various agricultural related products, such as food and fertilizer, and had a nearly $110 billion in revenue in 2011.

While Ms. Cargill died in 2006, she did not have any children and left her entire fortune to two different charitable foundations. However, she left it as shares of stock in her family’s company. It wasn’t until last year that the foundations could capitalize on the stock because Cargill sold public shares of one of the companies that it had an interest in. The sale amounted to about 2.8 billion, which will be split between the foundations. The remaining funds will not be able to be distributed to the foundation until 2013 when they can sell the remaining shares.

Among the other more well-known philanthropists of 2011, Microsoft’s co-founder Paul Allen, mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, and financier George Soros, are also in the top 10.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The legions of fans who devotedly watch the British drama “Downton Abbey” on PBS have become engrossed in the lives of the ensemble cast of the aristocratic family portrayed in the show. If you’ve not yet been initiated in the drama, let us bring you up to date. Downton Abbey follows the lives of the Crawley family and its ancestral home, the eponymous Downton Abbey. Following the death of the family heir on the Titanic, the show follows the lives of the family members as they navigate through the complicated ramifications of who will inherit the family fortune under the arcane laws of the day.

But what does Downton Abbey have to tell us about modern estate planning? For one thing, the intestacy laws that applied in England during the reign of King George V are, thankfully, not the same as modern American laws. Yet, in some aspects, the drama surrounding the Crawley family as it determines who will inherit the title and rights to the family estate share some common ground with modern estate planning.

If you, or your parents, should die without leaving behind a will or other estate planning device, how will your property pass on to your family? Though you don’t have to worry about passing on any of your titles, you should know that if you have taken no legally recognized estate planning steps, your estate will pass in accordance to laws that already choose for you. In New York, these intestacy laws are already in place and apply whether you want them to or not. The only way to avoid them is to create an estate plan of your own.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

With a musical legacy that leaves behind films, hit songs, and over 200 million album sales, the Whitney Houston estate stands to earn a substantial income now that the singer has died prematurely at the age of 48. Within 24 hours of her death, her best-selling song “I Will Always Love You” once again became a bestseller, reaching the top spot on iTunes list of best-selling singles.

It should be no surprise that an artist’s death can spur an increase in sales by fans. When Michael Jackson died in 2009, his estate received a massive increase in revenue. Even in 2011, it continued to generate more than $170 million in new sales as people continue to purchase his films, music videos and of course, his music.

Though Ms. Houston had not been as popular in the last 10 years or so, she may still leave behind a legacy of continued success for decades, as have other artists such as John Lennon, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe. How much of an impact her death will have on her estate and her continued album sales stands to be seen, though the details of her finances will become public in the weeks and months ahead. Though some industry insiders say that Ms. Houston left behind some considerable debt and may not have had a large estate, whatever she left behind stands to grow substantially as her fans continue to buy her music.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

One of the stranger legal stories to pop up recently is the tale of Floridian and millionaire John Goodman. In 2010, Mr. Goodman was in a fatal car accident that left another man dead. After fleeing the scene, Mr. Goodman was arrested under suspicion of drunk driving and faces criminal charges that could leave him in jail for up to 30 years. He’s also facing a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of the crash victim.

Much of Mr. Goodman’s Wells is owned by an irrevocable trust he had previously established to benefit his two teenage children. The trust requires that the children must reach the age of 35 before they can choose how to distribute the more than $400 million trust assets for themselves.

This is where Mr. Goodman’s 42-year-old girlfriend comes in to the story. Mr. Goodman legally adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend late in 2011. Though the adoption is currently being challenged by attorneys for Mr. Goodman’s other two children, because his girlfriend is now legally his child, she too stands to benefit from the trust and is entitled to one third. Also, because she is over the age limit imposed by the trust, she can determine for herself how to use her portion and may even give part of it to Mr. Goodman.

The legal move has drawn much scrutiny, and though it was first seen as a possible way for Mr. Goodman to avoid losing his entire fortune, it appears as if the court will either allow the drunk driving victim’s family to seek the normally untouchable trust funds in their lawsuit, or it may rule that the adoption was fraudulent.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If there is one group of people that is most likely to need estate planning services and yet least likely to have a significant presence on the internet, it is seniors. It is perhaps because of this fact that the issue of digital estate planning has not received a lot of attention by either legislators or estate planning lawyers. However, it appears that lawmakers in Nebraska stand ready to reverse this trend and adopt the first kind of legislation that directly addresses digital estate planning issues.

Earlier this week, Nebraska legislators introduced a bill that would allow an estate executor, called the personal representative in Nebraska, to access a Facebook account of a deceased person. The law also includes other types of social media and micro-blogging services in its purview, but essentially grants a personal representative the ability to delete, modify, and otherwise control a social media profile or email account owned by the deceased person.

Though individuals can account for their digital estate assets as a part of their estate plan, there is currently no state that has a specific law that addresses this issue. The Nebraska legislation is the first of its kind, and will likely be succeeded by other laws in other states as the digital estate planning issue continues to gain prominence. For those who do not live in Nebraska, it is important to discuss any digital estate planning concerns you have with your estate planning lawyer.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The Huguette Clark estate is once again back in the news, with word that her distant relatives are now alleging fraud on the part of her nurse, accountant and attorney. If you are unfamiliar with the case, let us bring you up to speed. Ms. Clark died in 2011 at the age of 104, leaving behind an estimated worth of about $400 million. She had been the sole surviving descendent of former United States Senator William Clark, a mining tycoon after whom Clark County Nevada is named.

Ms. Clark’s distant family members, none of whom are closer than a half grand-nephew and half grand-niece, claim that when she wrote her last will in 2005, she did not have the capacity to do so and her closest advisers fraudulently forced her to make the document. This last will does not leave any of her estate to her family, but the will she made six weeks prior to it does. The family is asking the court to throw out the last will and adopt the previous one instead.

This marks another twist in the lengthy case surrounding her estate and the reclusive nature of her life. The last photo of Ms. Clark is believed to have been taken in 1930, and she spent her last two decades in a hospital room under different assumed names, even though she was in good health. Her attorney and accountant, who had been previously named as executors, are now under a criminal investigation for the mishandling of her estate in the last years of her life, and have been removed from their position.

The Law Office of Michael Robinson, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.