You are what you eat. This familiar phrase reminds us that eating healthy foods will keep you fit. While we know that eating well can help with heart disease or other illnesses, experts agree that food choices may also help with brain function and cognitive ability.   Get your greens and blues Harvard Health Publishing at health.harvard.edu has an article devoted to five specific foods that may be some of the best choices for brain health. Incidentally, these foods are also on the lists for people who want to follow a healthy heart and blood vessel diet. They include:   Green leafy vegetables  The nutrients in foods such as broccoli and kale have been suggested by research to slow cognitive decline.   Fatty fish According to the article, salmon, cod and canned tuna all carry healthy omega-3 fatty acids which have been linked to lower blood levels of beta-amyloidthe protein that forms damaging clumps in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.  Blueberries and strawberries The article states: A study done by researchers at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital found that women who consumed two or more servings of strawberries and blueberries each week delayed memory decline by up to two-and-a-half years.  Caffeinated tea and coffee While it gives you your morning (or afternoon) boost, research shows these beverages may help with mental function and memory retrieval.  Walnuts A power punch of protein and healthy fats, walnuts have been linked to improved cognitive test scores in research studies.  For more information on healthy brain foods, read our article here!  Peanut butter, anyone? According to an article on consumeraffairs.com, a study showed that peanuts or peanut butter may affect cognitive function.   The article writer, Kristin Dalli, explains: At the end of two years of gathering information from participants, those who were regularly eating nuts had stronger cognitive health outcomes, without any other changes to health or wellness. Participants who were eating at least three servings of peanut butter per week showed better cognitive function, including slower decline, than those who were eating peanuts or peanut butter less than once a week. To learn more about foods that can help with cognitive health, read WayForth's blog here! 

I often find in my estate planning and elder law practice that every child or family member wants to be named as an executor in their loved one's documents.However, I often find that nobody actually knows what that means and has absolutely no idea how much work it entails. I think people believe it is a rite of passage or an honor to be named, which it can be, but it also comes with a lot of work and some significant responsibility.The person who is named as the executor in a Last Will and Testament is a fiduciary and is held to a higher standard than an ordinary individual or beneficiary. If the executor does not carry out his or her duties and obligations appropriately, if the appropriate taxes are not paid or if the beneficiarys interests are not protected like they were supposed to be the executor can be held personally liable in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.Furthermore, it is imperative that the person who is being named as the executor is a very organized individual, who can handle balancing and managing a checkbook and also multi-tasking. The relationship of a person to another individual does not make them the right choice or the right candidate for the position.If you are named, my recommendation would be to start understanding now what that entails, and what you will be asked to do. If you are not comfortable serving, I would advise that you let the person know so that they can make alternate or contingent plans in their estate planning.If you find yourself named as an executor, I would highly recommend that you seek advice from an attorney who has lots of experience in this area. Oftentimes, people are lulled into thinking that acting as the executor and opening the estate is a very simple process and that an attorney is not needed.While I agree that the original meeting at the courthouse and getting the grant of Letters Testamentary are not difficult things, that is merely the first step, from that point forward there is a myriad of requirements of notices to not only beneficiaries and heirs but also creditors. There is a Pennsylvania inheritance tax return required to be filed as well as potentially a fiduciary income tax return. Being named is only the first step, and that is by far the easiest.Since an executor is a fiduciary and is held to a higher standard and can be held personally liable to creditors and to other beneficiaries, I highly recommend seeking the advice of counsel. Not any counsel, but counsel who is familiar with the inner workings of the estate administration process in Pennsylvania, including but not limited to, the priority statutes, understanding who gets paid first, second, third, etc., which can undoubtedly cause issues if the estate does not have a lot of money or happens to be an insolvent estate.While it can be an honor to be named as an executor, we urge you and encourage you to understand all the expectations that come with it and what you can do ahead of time to be prepared. If you find yourself named, plan to seek the counsel of a qualified individual to walk you through the process so that you do not have to worry about any potential liability or any potential pitfalls of which you may be unaware.If you would like to learn more about being an executor in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, please give our office a call at 717-208-4546 or come to one of our upcoming workshops to learn more.

A lady is driving down a country road and sees a blossoming ornamental tree out the corner of her eye. Since she has extra time to get to her destination, she slows down and puts the car in Reverse. She wants to go back and enjoy the beauty of the tree.This is something that a lot of us want to do in life. If we have time, we want to go back and enjoy something. The problem is that we may not be able to afford to go back.In many ways borrowing money is the same thing. We want the money to enjoy something, but we cannot afford the payment that comes with borrowing. This is the reason that you want to go in Reverse.A REVERSE MORTGAGE gives you money, AND you are not required to make payments on the loan. How can this be? It is actually simple. A person that has an abundance of equity in their home can essentially use their equity as a pledge in place of making a payment on the loan.Here is one basic example. A person has a home that is worth $100,000, and they do not owe anything on the home. This is great, but what is the equity doing for the person? The answer is nothing. You cannot eat equity, you cannot do any renovations or additions with equity, you cannot take a trip with equity, and you cannot pay for a grandchilds education with equity. But what if you converted the equity to something useful called money? You can use the money to buy food, do renovations and additions, take a trip, and pay for college expenses. The problem with this is that to get the money, you will need to use your home as collateral for a loan, and then you will need to make payments every month. I dont know anyone that likes to make monthly payments, and some people cannot afford to make monthly payments.In 1989 FHA, a governmental agency, created a HECM. A HECM is a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage. This means that you can convert your equity to money, BUT you do NOT need to make a payment. This is akin to actually having your cake and being able to eat it too!Getting back to our example of the $100,000 home that has a zero balance.A person may be able to use a HECM to access $50,000. The person would then not be required to make ANY loan payments on the $50,000. The reason is that the remaining $50,000 of equity is used to cover any amount that would be paid.There are still requirements. You need to qualify for the loan. You need to maintain the home and pay your taxes, insurance, and other related housing expenses.There is not anything in our world that is perfect for everyone, but practically everything is perfect for someone. A REVERSE MORTGAGE may be the perfect fit for someone that you know.

When engaging in estate planning for any parent whose child is not yet an adult, there is always one very important decision to make: who would be the guardian of their child(ren) if both parents pass away? Like many issues in estate planning, it is an almost unimaginable thought that such a tragedy could occur to a child. But if we did not plan for the worst when doing estate planning, it would not be providing your family the protection it deserves.If a child would ever lose both their parents before they are an adult, the state would have to appoint a person to be in charge of your childs best interest and who could legally act as the childs parent (for example to have authority to register the child for school or take the child to a doctor). This person is what is referred to as a guardian, and can only be appointed by a Judge after a very thorough vetting process and Court proceedings all centered on the standard of what is in the best interest of that child.A common misconception is that there is some automatic and informal process whereby, in the event of the death of both parents, the childs pre-determined relative x would automatically become the childs guardian. Again, this is simply incorrect as stated above, even if you list a preferred guardian in your Will. The only way that your child will have a guardian appointed is after they go through the guardianship process in Court. Nevertheless, it is not as though a Judge would ignore the wishes of the deceased parent. The wishes of the deceased parent would be overwhelmingly strong evidence to any Judge who was trying to decide what person would be best to care for this child going forward. For that reason, it is imperative for any parent to list their preferred choice of guardians in their Will in the event of their death.When I am working with estate planning clients and helping them consider who should be listed as their childs preferred guardian, things can get complicated quickly. It can be difficult for any couple to agree on who would be the appropriate guardian for their child, and it is something that most people try not to even imagine. Common examples of concern quickly become issues such as which set of grandparents should be listed first. Should we make both of our siblings act as co-guardians? Do we still feel comfortable with your father as guardian if your mother is no longer here, or vice versa?The best approach is to plan for the immediate. I always remind clients that they should only try to plan ahead for the next few years because they can always revise that choice in their Will as time goes by. Sometimes, there is an obvious choice of who would take care of toddlers; but maybe that same person would not be such a great choice with a teenager. Its also important to take into consideration a list of backup guardians. You can have as long of a succession line for your preferred guardian in your Will as you like to provide you with the most comfort possible. By taking these steps, and understanding that there is an entire judicial process set up to protect your children, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing you have done the most you can to protect your family.If we can be of any assistance or answer any questions while you make decisions about yourself and your family, please give us a call at 717-844-9639 or click the link here and we will contact you.