#POA only applies during life

[niche-pastiche]

One thing people don't always know about funerals is that Right of Disposition is not included under Power of Attorney. So if you want to make sure your spouse gets to have control over your funeral someday also be sure to check out the specific rules in your state for how you want that handled in the event of your death. You don't want your spouse or your non-biological child to suddenly discover they have no say decades from now.

I'd recommend even unmarried queer people look into this if they come from unsupportive families.

State by state resources for Assigning an Agent to Control Disposition.

Before January 2025:

If you are a USAmerican in a relationship that might be affected by legislation that dissolves same-sex marriages, who may no longer be recognized as next-of-kin, especially if you have children, get your rights in writing!

Your marriage certificate may not be enough to prove you have rights to make medical decisions for non-biological children or for a same-sex spouse or partner.

Go to a lawyer, get it spelled out as clearly as possible that you have a voice in emergency medical and legal situations.

[phantomato]

44, starting a war…

A timeline of the relevant dates in Voldemort/Tom Riddle’s life pre-canon—

Dec. 31, 1926: born

Sept. 1938: Matriculates for his first year at Hogwarts

June 1943: Kills Myrtle (age 16)

Likely Aug. 1943: Kills family (fight me, ring-first people)

June 1945: Finishes school at Hogwarts, applies for DADA post the first time, is rejected, starts work at B&B

1970: First wizarding war begins (As per Dumbledore in Ch. 1 PS: “We’ve had precious little to celebrate for eleven years.”)

Oct. 31, 1981: AK backfires and he loses his body

Which leaves a big ol’ gap between 1945 and 1970 to fill in, 25 years of his adult life to be accounted for. But, we’re not without clues! In particular, we know:

He worked at B&B, until

he killed Hepzibah Smith and took two of her artifacts, after which

he disappeared from Britain for a decade (Dumbledore in Ch. 20 HBP: “Ten years separate Hokey’s memory and this one, ten years during which we can only guess at what Lord Voldemort was doing”), and then

he came back to interview for the DADA position a second time, under Dumbledore as headmaster.

Which isn’t a full picture, and we need one more fact, which we’ll have to borrow from Lupin: in PoA Ch. 18, Lupin states: “I was a very small boy when I received the bite… But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic." Given Lupin’s age, the bite must have happened at some point during the 1960s, and Dumbledore became Headmaster at an unspecified point afterwards. Pottermore/Wizarding World canon sets the age that Lupin was bitten at 5 years old, giving us a range of ~1965 to ~1971 for Voldemort’s second DADA interview.

And so we can begin to fill in those missing 25 years:

Voldemort spent 10 of them abroad, and

at most 5 of them in Britain prior to the start of the first war but after returning from his travels, and

at least 10 of them working at Borgin & Burkes.

Personally, I love a 15-year tenure at B&B for Tom Riddle, because I think it’s fascinating if he spends a huge chunk of his adult life in the working class of Knockturn Alley, building up a great deal of resentment and impotent rage and dissatisfaction with his own life. I think it’s a lot of fun if his first war starts in his middle age, and represents something of a crisis for him: anxiety about whether he can still make the most of his potential, bad decisions like recruiting opposed stakeholder groups (e.g. purebloods and werewolves) from feeling rushed along, and a decade of building paranoia manifesting in the choice to believe and chase down a prophecy.

I also think there’s plenty of wiggle room in here, and a Voldemort in his late thirties starting to recruit for his Death Eaters is perfectly compatible with the canon text. And, of course, it’s always valid to just say fuck it, this is fanfic, I want to write Voldemort at 25 starting his group of supporters. It’s fic; do what makes one happy.

But: I run into this confusion and curiosity a fair bit, given I mostly write Voldemort as starting his first-war effort, including the Death Eaters, in his forties, and that timeline isn’t used by a majority of the fic I’ve read in HP fandom. So it’s interesting to put forward what the textual evidence actually says about his lost years, and consider that there’s a lot of interesting room to work with a Voldemort who doesn’t get his start for at least two decades past when he finishes school, and who might have to create his movement from nothing when he finally starts it. Also, like, starting a war as a midlife crisis is just fun.

[makaria-is-dead]

Marauders feat. Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits

Yeah, no this album, this fucking album is everything. I grew up listening to it, and in the last year I started hearing something completely different in it.

Yes, I started writing a fic about it. And yes, I didn’t finished it and don’t plan to do so. But still, this blowed my mind too hard to keep it for my self. 

Important: I know this album was conceived for exposing a very real war, with very real struggles and very real wounds, and I don’t want to take away any of their meaning. But still, I reckon this album has far less praise and ratings among the newest generations (my generation). So, I guess this is a way like another to draw attention to it. Also, I know this album was published in 1985, a few years after the events I’m gonna talk about. But, he, I don’t care. Let me dream.

So, yes, this is my very veeery long rant.

1. So Far Away: firstly, when I was reading ATYD I thought this song could apply perfectly to Remus’ and Grant’s relationship during his fifth year, y’know, with those phone calls and all. Now though I’ve read a few other fics and I don’t want to rely solely on ATYD, but on  my very few and confused head-canons and also on Cadence of Part Time Poets, ‘cause c’mon they’re soon to be rockstars there (they could meet Dire Straits, for God’s sake!). So this song could be Sirius’ thoughts during the summers he’s kept away from his friends; it could be also James to Lily during the summer; it could be Remus to Tomny and Tonya (spectacular OC’s from coptp).

3. Walk of Life: this song is about James’ STRUTTING and no one can convince me otherwise. I won’t change my mind. Just like, can’t you picture him dancing all of his absolute cockiness out in the common room to this song, maybe after a winning Quidditch match, making eyes to Lily with absolutely no sense of shame? Like, it’s him. Also, also, just look at the lyrics:

“He got the action, he got the motion Oh yeah, the boy can play Dedication, devotion Turning all the night time into the day”

Like, this is his courtship to Lily, his completely bold, bound-to-fail-but-not-really courtship.

“And after all the violence and double talk There's just a song in all the trouble and the strife You do the walk, yeah, you do the walk of life Hmm, they do the walk of life.”

And this to me alludes to the climate of fear that was perceived inside Hogwarts before the war, with all the wanna-be Deatheaters and their crap, especially if you consider Snape’s behavior towards James.

4. Your Latest Trick:

“I don't know how it happened It was faster than the eye could flick But all I can do is hand it to you And your latest trick”

This songs carries all the melancholic, heart-broken, meek Remus' energy after ‘81. I mostly imagine him in the first 90s, when the wounds were starting to heal but still nothing was ever gonna be the same. And then after Sirius’ return, eheh, then things get even messier. 

I always imagined that Remus had resigned himself since they were kids to accept what Sirius brought into his life. Sirius is pure fire, he’s dynamic energy, he’s a miracle and a calamity, and Remus loves him so deeply, regardless of all the hurt. So, he can only sit and watch how his life will be turned around by Sirius once again.

“Well now my door was standing open Security were laid back and lax But it was only my heart that got broken You must have had a pass key made out of wax”

I think you get that. But now, I love this song for them in PoA and later on, especially because of this last verse. I think it really embodies the moment in which they both realize that, even if they are reunited, nothing is going to be the same. They are not the same anymore.

“And we're standing outside of this wonderland Looking so bereaved and so bereft Like a bowery bum when he finally understands The bottle's empty and there's nothing left”

[takes a pause to cry]

5. Why Worry?: this song could easily be a lullaby for baby Harry that Lily or James would sing. It has its ALL. I like to imagine, if this album was released before ‘81, they would sing it to him, but then they would start to sing it to each other before bed during the worse days. Imagine James singing this to Lily after Marlene’s death......

I also LOVE the Gryffindor theme we can pick from it:

“But baby, just when this world seems mean and cold Our love comes shining red and gold And all the rest is by the way”

P.S. if you’re looking for extra tears, imagine Lily and James singing this to Harry in his dreams after they’re gone. Yeah. How do we love hurting each other in this fandom...

6. Ride across the river: you know, my strange obsession with the combo Brothers in Arms/Marauders started with this song. Just... let me explain.

“I'm a soldier of freedom in the army of the men We are the chosen, we're the partisan, alright Well the cause it is noble and the cause it is just We are ready to pay with our lives if we must”

This is James and Sirius. They were so eager to prove themselves, they believed in the cause blindly.

“Oh, nothing gonna stop them As the day follows the night Right becomes wrong, the left becomes the right And they sing as they march With their flags unfurled Today in the mountains, tomorrow the world”

This is both Regulus and Peter. They are surrounded by people who believe firmly in what they are fight for. But those boys are not like that. They are scared, they are insure, they feel pressured, they feel alone. They don’t chant, they don’t ban their flags. They remain still while the walls are closing on them, and at the end they snap: one embraces fear, the other raises his head.

6. The Man’s Too Strong: I can see this being a back-and-forth between Sirius and Peter. 

“I am just an aging drummer boy And in the wars I used to play And I've called a tune To many a torture session Now they say I am a war criminal And I'm fading away Father, please hear my confession”

Sooo Sirius in Azkaban.

“I have legalized robbery Called it belief I have a-run with the money I have hid like a thief Re-written history With my armies and my crooks Invented memories I did burn all the books

And I can still hear his laughter And I can still hear his song The man's too big The man's too strong”

How can’t this be Peter? HOW? His fear for “a man who’s too strong”, but also that little taste of revenge. “Invented memories”? “I can still hear his laughter” (Sirius’)? C’mon, people, this fits too well.

“Well I've tried to be meek I have tried to be mild But I spat like a woman And I sulked like a child I have lived behind walls That have made me alone Striven for peace Which I never have known”

For heaven’s sake, this is so Sirius.

7. One World: okay, okay, hear me out. This song can sound pretty generic, but imagine it as Remus’ thoughts after the prank. Yeah, now you get it.

“Can't find the reasons for your actions Or I don't much like the reasoning you use Somehow your motives are impure Somehow I can't find the cure Can't get no antidote for blues”

8. Brothers in Arms: and here we are. This may be the best song ever written on the face of the Earth. I cannot express with words how much I love it. But now, it’s also perfect for our aims. I may be a bit biased, or just crazy, but I assure you, every single word in this lyric screams Marauders to me. It’s about war, it’s about loss, it’s about brotherhood (emotional but also genetical, if you consider Regulus and Sirius). 

Even better, consider this as Sirius’ farewell to Regulus:

“There's so many different worlds So many different suns And we have just one world But we live in different ones”

This is their whole relationship. They grew up looking at other, better functional and non-abusive families, while they were stuck together in their hell. But they were also so different, so far apart; they had completely different experiences and outcomes. And also:

“Let me bid you farewell Every man has to die But it's written in the starlight And every line in your palm We're fools to make war On our brothers in arms”

Well, I did it. I made myself cry. Good job.

[tiphprince]

I was reading the Wizarding World article about the Patronus Charm, and found a couple of interesting things...

It’s described as “a pure, protective magical concentration of happiness and hope“ and that producing a Patronus is “generally considered a mark of superior magical ability“.

“In some cases a witch or wizard may choose to produce an incorporeal Patronus deliberately, if he or she wishes to disguise the form it generally takes.”

This is something that I can absolutely imagine Snape doing. We only see him using his Patronus twice, and these two times the appearance of his doe was needed, first to guide Harry to the sword and then to Dumbledore. But what about in POA, when Dementors were roaming the school grounds, and Lupin, who may have known the origins of his Patronus was around? I can see him using the less efficient version of his Patronus, both in case someone may have recognized it (or just because Snape and a doe, doesn’t really fit with his wannabe vampire reputation), or to even save himself from the pain of having to see Lily fly off to save him against the darkness of the Dementors.

“It may be that a true and confident belief in the rightness of one’s actions can supply the necessary happiness. However, most such men and women, who become desensitised to the effects of the Dark creatures with whom they may ally themselves, regard the Patronus as an unnecessary spell to have in their arsenal.”

Rowling uses here the example of Umbridge, who can obviously procude a Patronus while not being a “pure of heart” person, to show that people who “questionable morals” are also able to use this charm. But what I find the most interesting is the second part, about Dark Wizards being desensitised to the Dementors. Does this mean that they barely feel the cold and depression that the Dementors bring with them? Maybe because they don’t have as many pure happy memories to feed from? And what does it mean for Snape? He is a practitioner of Dark Magic, thus is a Dark Wizard, maybe not to the extent that Bellatrix is for example, but still. Does that make him less affected by Dark Creatures, so Dementors?

“The Patronus represents that which is hidden, unknown but necessary within the personality.”

“For it is evident [...] that a human confronted with inhuman evil, such as the Dementor, must draw upon resources he or she may never have needed, and the Patronus is the awakened secret self that lies dormant until needed, but which must now be brought to light...”

Isn’t this a perfect metaphor of Snape’s use of his Patronus? Of his secret, the biggest of the whole series, slowly cultivated for seven books? In the end, it was his love for Lily, symbolized by his doe Patronus, that was brought to light exactly when needed, and that enabled another (Harry) to fight off the darkness (Dementors/Voldemort).

And lastly, there’s this:

“The form of a Patronus may changed during the course of a witch or wizard’s life. Instances have been known of the form of the Patronus transforming due to bereavement, falling in love or profound shifts in a person’s character.”

I kept that last part in the quote because I think that all three examples here can apply to Snape, which I find very interesting. But what intrigues me the most, is what the article isn’t saying. After this quote, Rowling uses Tonks’s Patronus as an illustration, and not Snape’s. Of course Tonks’s Patronus is the most explicit one to have changed, or in fact the only one we know of for sure.

Other Patronuses are mentioned throughout the article, Umbridge’s, Remus’s, and there’s mentions of cats, horses and dogs as corporeal Patronuses. But nothing about the most important Patronus in the story, Snape’s doe.

My theory has always been that Snape’s Patronus was simply always a doe. Two people can have similar Patronuses, it’s both written in the article again, and we have the example of McGonagall and Umbridge (I always found it amusing that McGonagall’s “biggest rival” shares the same Patronus, at least same species).

“However, every Patronus is as unique as its creator and even identical twins have been known to produce very different Patronuses.”

Meaning that Snape’s doe would have differed from Lily’s. In what way, we don’t know, but it wouldn’t have been a perfect copy. A doe Patronus uniquely belonging to Snape, that would represent him, and not her. And this, I love.

[violetsmoak]

Pieces of April [15/?]

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21099044/chapters/50202530

Summary: On the anniversary of his death, Jason’s second life takes an abrupt new turn and he’s faced with a challenge that neither Batman nor the All-Caste prepared him for.

Rating: PG-13 (rating may change later)

Author’s Note: Here's your daily reminder to stay inside, wash your hands and not to hoard toilet paper! As a reward, enjoy another chapter of POA, featuring sass, subtle and not so subtle inklings of romance, and off-screen appearance of another Bat!

First Chapter

________________________________________________________________

After two movies and being so distracted that Ives kicks his ass at Mario Kart, Tim returns to his apartment. It’s not very late in vigilante time—two o’clock, as promised—and he’s sort of half expecting Jason to be still awake when he gets back.

The older man is sitting on the couch in the living room, flipping absently through the channels, eye flicking to the baby-monitor beside him every few seconds like he’s prepared to jump into action if he hears a cry.  

“Has she been keeping you up?” Tim asks as he strides over.

Jason blinks blearily at him. “No.”

“Then why don’t you grab some sleep while you can? There’s no point staying up if you don’t have to.”

“First of all—fuck you. Second of all, that’s rich comin' from the family insomniac. And third, I’m havin' trouble shuttin' my brain off, okay? It’s still tryin' to figure out if I didn’t accidentally travel to another alternate reality of something.”

A sharp, distorted cry echoes over the monitor and Jason really does jump.

“Stay put,” Tim tells him, already heading for the stairs. “I’ll get her.”

It’s still surprising when Jason listens to him, which Tim puts down to being in a desperate situation. He hopes that having someone else in the apartment to help with Isa will diminish whatever anxiety has the older man wound so tight.

Once upstairs, Tim slips into the guestroom and scoops her into his arm, wincing at the shrill squealing cry. After a quick check of her diaper—blessedly empty—he carries her still crying form downstairs to prepare a bottle for her.

Jason winces when they appear and—he doesn’t really run away, but he makes a hasty exit over the stairs.

Tim huffs under his breath. “It’s not like she’s a bomb, Jason. Geeze.”

Though she is doing an excellent job imitating a percussion grenade while they wait for the bottle of formula to warm up in the microwave, so maybe there are some similarities.

“It was thirty seconds, not thirty years, calm down,” he grumbles as she latches onto the plastic nipple like a starving animal.

He watches her nurse for a few minutes, brows furrowed and mind on Jason.

I know he’s still adjusting, but at some point, it’s got to start sinking in, right? I mean, he’s not even planning on keeping her, it’s all temporary, so there’s no reason for him to be this out of it.

Unless there’s more going on than just a surprise baby—which, given Jason’s past and present activities, could very well the issue.

I wonder how hard he’d punch me if I suggested he talk to someone about this?

Not Dick, obviously; calling him has always been one of Tim’s major avenues of support when he’s going through hard times, but he knows Jason would rather crawl through broken glass than open up to his predecessor.

Sometimes I think Jason’s relationship with Dick is a hundred times more complicated than it is with anyone else in the family…

Isa gives a dissatisfied whimper and turns her face away from the bottle. Tim frowns, seeing that she’s barely drunk a quarter of it, and tries to tempt her to take another, but she refuses, already going dozy and limp with sleep.

“Really? After all that? You raise holy hell and you don’t even finish it?” He snorts. “You really are his.”

It’s an effort to get the sleepy infant to burp, but he manages it; she passes out before he’s even made it back up the stairs and back to Jason’s room.

Despite having explicit permission to enter without knocking, Tim’s still uneasy broaching Jason’s personal space. Especially since Tim can tell he’s not asleep, even if he’s lying on his bad, holding a pillow over his face like he’s trying to block everything out.

Tim carefully arranges the baby back in her basket-bassinet, and quietly asks Jason, “Need anything else?”

Jason mutters something that sounds suspiciously like "Another life", and turns his back on both Tim and the baby.

And really, what can he even say to that?

It’s a problem for some other time.

Tim takes a quick shower, before faceplanting onto his unmade bed. The exhaustion he’s been ignoring for the past day or so finally hits him, and he passes out without even getting up to turn off the lights.

By some miracle, he gets six hours of uninterrupted sleep before his alarm goes off later that morning. He doesn’t feel fully rested, but he gave up on chasing that sensation two Robins ago.

After dressing and taming his hair (it might be time for a haircut soon), he spends an extra ten minutes checking the bruises on his face—they’ve gone from dark purple to blue—and applying a liberal amount of cover-up. A beat later, he adds a bit of eyeliner as well, to give an appearance of alertness that he doesn’t quite feel.

Heading downstairs his nose twitches as he becomes cognizant of an unfamiliar smell.

Of...someone’s cooking?

He finds Jason in his kitchen, flipping pancakes. The baby carrier is in the middle of the kitchen island, Isa sleeping soundly in a cocoon of blankets.

Instead of asking Jason why he’s cooking, Tim grabs a coffee cup from the cupboard and turns on his Keurig. “How was the first night?”

He doesn’t expect Jason to respond beyond irritated grunting, and so is surprised when he answers.

“Took me an hour to fall asleep,” he says. “Then at four she woke me up…then at six…and then just now. So, I decided, screw it, I’m hungry anyway. And about the only thing you have all the ingredients for are pancakes.” He shoots Tim a judging look. “I don’t even think you have maple syrup. It’s a disgrace.”

“I think there might be corn syrup in the pantry?”

“Disgrace,” Jason repeats.

Tim ignores him and glances at the two dozen pancakes he’s caught sight of behind Jason’s bulk. “Exactly how many people are you feeding?”

Something that might be a blush darkens Jason’s cheeks.

“I may have gotten a little distracted,” he admits defensively. “But I needed something mindless to do and it worked, so just…shut up and eat.”

He shoves a plate with three pancakes at Tim, who doesn’t have the heart to tell Jason he doesn’t really eat breakfast. Instead, he goes looking for the much-maligned corn syrup and takes the smallest pancake he can find in the bunch.

It’s only polite, after all.

Isa starts to whimper again and Jason groans. “There is no way you’re hungry again, I just fed you.”

Instead, he carts her over to the coffee table—the vintage Henredon table Tim actually spent a couple of weeks tracking down because it resembled one his parents had when he was a child—has since yesterday seemingly become the chosen changing station. 

There are piles of fresh diapers and wipes spread out on it, clearly from earlier changes, and there’s a pail next to it, along with the detritus of the packaging it was in.

“That can’t be sanitary,” Tim says. “Or environmentally friendly.”

“Yeah, well, your highness can shell out for cloth diapers and hire a service to clean them if that’s your issue.”

Tim rolls his eyes but wisely doesn’t reply to that, instead busying himself with finishing off the giant pancake and a much-needed cup of coffee.

“Ugh,” he hears Jason say after a while. “Are we sure this is a human child? Because what’s coming out of her doesn’t look human.”

Tim chokes on a large lump of pancake and glares across the room. “Yes, thanks for that while I’m eating.”

“As if your stomach hasn’t been tested by many a murder scene.”

“Never while I was eating,” Tim grumbles and pushes his plate away. He hunts down a travel mug for his second much-needed cup of coffee and then grabs his messenger bag from the hook on the door.

He’s halfway headed for the garage when he pauses and considers Jason again.

“Do you need me to stay?” he asks. “I mean, it’s the first day you’re doing this, so—”

“I don’t need you holding my hand, Drake,” Jason deadpans, “especially since you’re not going to be here during the day anyway. No point in getting used to a crutch.”

Tim isn’t sure he likes that comparison.

“You sure?”

“I figured out how to defuse bombs, I can figure this out.”

“Okay…but Safiya did give you her number, right? You know there’s no shame in calling her if you’re stuck.” That earns him a withering glare. “Just saying.” He offers Jason a mock-salute. “Enjoy learning how to baby.”

“Fuck you.”

“Language!”

“She’s two days old, she doesn’t know what the hell I’m sayin’.”

“A-plus childcare, Mary Poppins,” Tim mutters—under his breath because he doesn’t actually want to be punched this early in the morning—and finally leaves.

Once at the office, he falls into his usual routine—perfunctory greetings to people he should only know by sight but for whom he has done extensive background checks, sitting in a board meeting and chewing out the legal team for not filing their water-filter patent faster (he may have brushed it off to spare people the wrath of Damian, but he fully understands the kid’s anger), a stop at the break-room for a third cup of coffee and to keep an ear out for the office gossip.

Tam is waiting in his office when he finally settles in for the rest of the morning.

“How’s everything going at home?” she asks, closing the door behind her. She hands him his schedule for the day and a checklist of phone calls to return and products that require oversight.

“As well as can be expected,” he replies, sipping his coffee. “It’s an adjustment.”

“No kidding. You go from single, introvert shut-in bachelor to living with Dream Daddy overnight.”

Tim promptly inhales and then spits out very hot coffee, only narrowly missing a stack of contracts that need reviewing.

Tam’s eyes flick to the mess. “I’m not cleaning that up.”

“Why would you say that?” he splutters as his brain frantically tries to reboot after the shock.

“Because it’s not my job to clean up after the functional man-child that is my boss?”

“Not that.” He glares. “Filling my brain with disturbing notions.”

“Is the disturbing notion that I said it, or that you know what Dream Daddy is?”

“The disturbing thing is that you think my—” He pauses, hesitant to use the word ‘brother’ in relation to Jason, if only because it feels wrong for some inexplicable reason. ‘Friend’ is also a gross over-estimation of their relationship. “—new roommate is attractive.”

“Well, some of us have eyes,” Tam shrugs.

“And some of us have criteria for what we find attractive beyond looks.”

“Right. Forgot. You like the dangerous types that try to kill you first and ask questions later.”

Tim opens his mouth to object, and then tilts his head to one side to acknowledge it: given his recent dating history, she’s not wrong. “You forget that type tends to be female. As in something my new roommate most definitely is not.”

“Puh-lease, I’ve seen you when you’re hanging out with Connor. You can’t tell me that’s a hundred percent platonic.”

“It is!”

“If you say so,” Tam replies. “But you forget—I’ve kissed you. And I’ve never felt less spark or even interest in a guy before.”

“Because I was surprised,” Tim grouses. “That doesn’t mean I don’t like women. You’ve met Stephanie.”

“Yeah, but she told me she hit you in the face with a brick the first time you two met.”

“I regret ever introducing you to each other,” Tim groans, pressing his face into his hands. “Look, you’re the one who decided us dating would be a bad idea, so don’t go taking that as evidence that I’m gay.”

“First of all, our dating would be a bad idea, and not even just because of the inevitable involvement of ninjas or Vicki Vale’s byline. I’ve already explained why—which you agreed with at the time. And second of all, I never said you were gay, I said you had a type. Lynx tried to break you with a sword, Connor broke your arm, and as I said, there was Steph…Point is, gender has nothing to do with it, you’re just a masochist.”

“I must be since I put up with you,” he sighs. “Let me be clear: I have no interest, nor will I ever have interest in…my new roommate. And this is so far from the appropriate place to talk about this stuff.”

“And he pulls the ‘boss’ card,” Tam narrates sarcastically. “Fine, I’ll leave it alone. For now. Only because I have a conference call with my opposite number in Hong Kong.” She heads out but can’t resist throwing an over-dramatic sigh over her shoulder. “Maybe if I had the ability to throw you through a wall, you and I would have had a chance. Guess we’ll never know.”

She opens the door to the office, and then she’s gone, leaving Tim to parse the utterly bewildering turn to the conversation.

“How did we even get on that topic?” he mutters to himself, searching his desk for his glasses.

God, she can never find out that Jason tried to kill me that first time we met. I’ll never hear the end of it. Even if she’s completely wrong about all this, I’ll have to deal with knowing looks the rest of my life…

Tim makes a valiant effort to lose himself in his work after that, if only to erase the memory of Jason being called ‘daddy’ by another adult. He cleans up his desk as best he can, wrinkling his nose at the idea the place is going to smell like stale coffee for a while, and then does a quick triage of what work needs to be done now and what can wait.

He manages to lose himself for a few hours, working even through lunch, before setting aside time to wrestle with the current problem in his life: namely, helping Jason find someone to step in and deal with the baby situation.

It’s not like a business deal or falling stock options. A human being doesn’t come with cheat codes or hacks.

Well…not directly.

Tim grins to himself and opens an encrypted server to access to the CPS servers. Jason’s adamant about not working through the system, but that doesn’t mean they can’t investigate families within the system on their own and outside of whatever arbitrary criteria individual caseworkers use to evaluate potential parents. It’s a starting point.

At the same time, he’s using his personal computer that’s linked in with the Nest system to add a few extra layers of protection to Jason’s falsified information. It’s a fairly routine task, but he wants to ensure no one realizes he’s there.

His screen freezes.

 O: Do I need to know why you suddenly needed to hack the SSA?

 “Almost no one,” Tim corrects himself with a sigh; of course she’s keeping tabs on him.

He types a quick reply:

 T: You mean you don’t already?

O: No. I’m waiting for you to be upfront about it.

 That would be a definite change from the usual Bat modus operandi. He wonders how long it’s going to last.

 T: Precautionary alias for a case.

O: I see.

T: You know if it was anything more than that I’d have reached out.

O: Even if it involves a certain red sheep of the family?

 Tim groans, and only just refrains from pressing his palms against his eyes in frustration. Babs’ stance on Jason isn’t exactly clear, and she’s just as likely to give Bruce a heads-up about possible Red Hood antics coming up as wait for him to figure it out himself.

 T: Even then. This is a personal thing and I’m handling it.

O: Alright. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt.

O: For now.

 Which Tim knows from experience will only last for so long; any potential threat in Gotham—and Jason is still occasionally classified as one of those—and Oracle might just take a page out of Batman’s mitigation playbook.  

“Problem for another day,” he tells himself.

He’s starting to feel like that’s going to become his new mantra.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

Your feedback matters! I want to know what you think of my story, so feel free to leave kudos, a comment or as many of these emojis as you want and let me know how you feel!

❤️️ = I love this story! 😳 = this was hot! 💐 = thank you for sharing this 🍵 = tea spilled 🍬 = so sweet and fluffy! 🚔 = you’re under arrest! the writing’s too good! 😲 = I NEED THE NEXT CHAPTER 😢 = you got me right in the feels 🤯mind blown 🤬god damn cliffhanger 😫 whyyyyyyy?!?!?

Next Chapter

[raptured-night]

Would you indulge me and share your thoughts about the relationship between Slughorn and Snape? I can't quite decide which I favour; the idea of Slughorn as a genuine mentor who perhaps greased the odd wheel for Severus, or a Slughorn who was entirely distant from the too-dark-to-be-comfortable youth who later claims association based upon Severus' success at Hogwarts?

I tend to go back-and-forth when it comes to Slughorn and a young Severus. Did Slughorn see his potential but ignore it because he lacked the connections?  Was Slughorn initially someone who tried to mentor a young Severus and, when he felt he would be unable to steer him away from the kind of darkness he once failed to recognize in Tom Riddle, did he decide to cut his losses and leave him to whatever end he met? 

Then there’s Severus. Did he ever feel maligned by Slughorn? Did he resent him? Feel his talents went unappreciated by a man who only appeared to want to court the kids with access to certain privileges or with certain character traits he couldn’t hope to ever have? Or did he respect him? Or perhaps he was entirely ambivalent to the man. Maybe, as a proud young man already critically engaging with his own textbook and making corrections, he felt Slughorn’s teaching style left much to be desired and he wrote him off as a self-aggrandizing hack. 

There are quite a few possible ways to look at their student-teacher relationship and very few concrete bits of canon that can tell us what the nature of it was with any kind of certainty. However, I do find it interesting that Slughorn’s teaching style and approach to being Head of House, from what we were able to glean in HBP, was markedly different from Snape’s own methods. 

Where Snape may have walked around, observed the student progress, and criticized obvious failures before providing his corrections when teaching a typical potions class, I believe that we get an idea of how Slughorn operates and where his priorities are very early on in HBP just by how he conducts his classes. He may have more affably corrected a few students; nudged those struggling in the right direction to avoid potentially disastrous mistakes but more than anything else he made it very clear to the students who his “picks” were among them and that it would have little to do with his house affiliation at Hogwarts. 

Notably, we saw a bit of a reversal in HBP where Hermione, who is typically the student who answers all the questions and earns points and praise for her house from teachers, is overshadowed by Harry in Slughorn’s class. Indeed, I would argue that the symbolism of Harry being singled-out by Slughorn both as a result of his legacy (being the Boy-Who-Lived after facing off against the student he once praised, Tom Riddle, and Lily’s son in particular) and achieving much of his success by following the instructions of the Half-Blood Prince (Snape) carries the most poignancy and weight if we apply it to a reading where Slughorn allowed a young Severus’s brilliance and talent to go unacknowledged and be neglected. A reading where Slughorn (perhaps shy of making the same mistake he made in the past or perhaps just unconvinced a boy of his class and background can hope to go far) doesn’t nurture Severus’s potential and joins the ranks of authority figures in his life who may have, ironically, contributed to the series of circumstances that made it possible for Voldemort to recruit him into his ranks.

In fact, it is mainly because of the poetic and cyclical nature of it that I typically find myself going back to an interpretation of Slughorn’s and Severus’s relationship where Slughorn’s role in his life was less that of a warm or potentially helpful mentor and more one that a boy like Severus may already have become accustomed/resigned to; wary, distant, guarded, or even something bordering on dismissive. The neglected boy from Spinner’s End who once dreamt of finding his place in Slytherin at Hogwarts finds himself with a Head of House who overlooks him; he finds himself with a Headmaster who fails to protect him; bullies who ensure he must watch his step and expect danger at every turn; and ambitions no closer to being within his reach than before. 

It falls in line with the sense of tragedy that appears to inform Severus Snape’s character. It also serves to further the connections between Severus, Harry, and Voldemort/Tom. Slughorn, who favored Tom and came to regret it, neglects Severus (perhaps out of the fear of repeating his mistakes) and closes off access to the sort of connections and resources that may have enabled Severus to find a better path to achieve his ambitions, thus furthering the likelihood that Severus would fall into the path of the Death Eaters. Then, years later, and in a great twist of irony, we see Slughorn finally praise the genius he once ignored in Severus through Harry (an amalgamation of Tom, Lily, and James) and his use of Severus’s old textbook while assuming the talent Harry demonstrates is something he inherited from Lily. Which, in itself, becomes intriguing for me because we again could potentially say we’ve encountered a bit of a cyclical symbolism in the fact that Slughorn acknowledges Harry’s talents and his belief he inherited it from his mother, while Hermione (a character who Rowling often parallels with Severus) becomes overshadowed by his success, but I digress. 

Another point of interest for me is in the fact that Slughorn was a character who clearly played favorites. Where some of fandom, certain Gryffindors, and Harry liked to criticize Snape for favoring Slytherin (ignoring the potential for similar house politics and favoritism from other professors, McGonagall most notably) what made Slughorn so interesting is that he went outside of his house loyalties and simply favored individual students on the basis of who they were or what potential they held to become someone.

Personally, I would argue that his approach had the potential to be far more demoralizing for a student because of the nature of his selection process. Where a student may feel maligned or overlooked by Severus or McGonagall they do have house politics to fall back on to brush it off. It becomes less about them, as an individual, and more about their house. That is, after being given detention alongside Harry and Hermione by McGonagall, Draco can go back to his housemates and complain about how unfair she was; how she clearly just favored Gryffindor, etc., etc. In contrast, when Slughorn excludes him from his Slug Club it is a clear and very personal rejection of who Draco is, of his family, and who Slughorn believes he’s associated with (i.e. Voldemort and the Death Eaters). In essence, it’s a very different sort of statement and a different form of rejection. 

That is why I typically argue that the Slug Club strikes me as something of a testament to the fact that Slughorn was clearly a teacher who played favorites during his tenure, in-so-far as that to be able to gain access/membership one had to be invited by Slughorn personally. As previously said, he didn’t appear to favor his house specifically when it came to his selection process but rather the students individually. Otherwise, Gryffindor and Muggle-born Lily Evans wouldn’t have been such a favorite of his.

Which brings me back to his relationship with a young Severus. The very fact that Slughorn didn’t appear to specifically favor his house is interesting. Because then Slughorn isn’t just the Head of Slytherin who opens the door for his young, ambitious Slytherins as part of his role as their mentor. He’s someone who acts as something of a talent scout, which means that being in Slytherin doesn’t appear to guarantee you’ll be invited to become a member of his Slug Club. 

You can be a Muggle-born from a rival house like Gryffindor and still be favored by Slughorn, so long as you demonstrate to him you have the potential to go far in the world. And there’s the crux of it; we know that Severus was brilliant; we know that he was every bit the progeny that Lily Evans was at that point, yet when reflecting back on Severus as a student we have Slughorn remarking on his unfortunate disadvantages while contradicting himself by attributing some of his success at Hogwarts to himself. Could it be that he’s merely puffing himself up for posterity, does he genuinely believe he contributed in some way, or does that momentary hesitancy where he reflects on a young Severus who he saw as having little prospects serve as a reflection of regret in the same vein that we saw from McGonagall in POA over her treatment of Peter Pettigrew?

No matter how you look at it, the fact that Severus appears to have been excluded from the Slug Club and that Slughorn once doubted Severus had potential to go very far does come as a more personal rejection –and from his own Head of House no less.

One may assume that were Severus making connections in his house in the wake of Malfoy’s graduation (and assuming that the Malfoy name didn’t always rank as persona non grata in Slughorn’s book prior to Lucius Malfoy’s very public incarceration and affiliation with Death Eaters we can even examine what sort of outlook he may have had when it came to the Malfoys) that carried any influence Slughorn’s attitude may have been altered. Indeed, even had he felt that Severus’s associations were too dark for his taste and distanced himself, one would assume he would have been more inclined to have reflected on his past concerns for Severus, his ambitions, and what kind of influential people he had chosen to associate himself with rather than concluding he had been a boy with potential but too little prospects for him. 

Then we have Severus and his own methods for teaching and his approach to being the Head of Slytherin House. As a spy we often have to factor how much of his behavior can be attributed to his role; however, we can still see that where Slughorn’s priorities were in cultivating individual talent in specific students, Snape’s focus seems to be specifically on his house. In Severus, we have a Head of House who, in the wake of Voldemort’s downfall when Slytherin was likely at the lowest point of morale, managed to lead them through a series of House Cup winning streaks until the arrival of Harry Potter. We have a Head of House who still allegedly favors his own house, despite never appearing to have awarded points to any student of any house (and one who could give a Gryffindor Muggle-born like Hermione higher marks in her exams than a pure-blood Slytherin like Draco and still be regarded as biased in favor of his house and remain a favorite of Draco’s). In short, we have a Head of House that Slytherin children like Draco go home and apparently talk about endlessly. 

Is this solely to enable Severus to fulfill his role as a spy or could a case also be made that Severus has modeled himself into the kind of Head of House that he would have wanted as a student? The anthesis of Slughorn; someone who does not run away from the dark reputation of his house or among some of the students for his own sake and who strives to rally them, stoke the fires of their ambition, and not allow them to be neglected even during the times when the stigma surrounding their house is at it’s greatest? Someone who can honestly threaten to hold back his Slytherins (Crabbe and Goyle) or grade one lower than a Muggle-born Gryffindor (Draco) and still be favored because he’s made such an impression on them that they can accept his criticism and still see him as on their side. 

Ultimately, it’s for all these reasons that I always end up coming back to the headcanon that Slughorn and Severus’s relationship was always more distant or reserved rather than any student/mentor dynamic. As I said, I do tend to waver back and forth but the literary scholar in me always tends to prefer this reading because it fits so neatly with all the threads of the overarching story and the character of Severus Snape. 

Thanks for the ask! I don’t get them very often and Severus and Slughorn’s dynamic is one that I feel is so seldom explored by the fandom that I always enjoy turning it over and examining it in my mind. There’s so little material to go on yet the bits and pieces we do have to go on fascinate me. I’m the same way when it comes to the connection between Moody and Snape. Anyway, I hope that I managed to organize my thoughts coherently and that my answer has been satisfactory.

Regards,

Raptured Night 

[bloomsburgu]

No tuition hike for BU students

PA State System of Higher Education votes to freeze tuition for second consecutive year

HARRISBURG — On Wednesday, April 29, the Board of Governors for Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education for the first time in its 38-year history froze basic in-state tuition for a second consecutive year, even while confronting financial challenges brought on in part by the coronavirus pandemic.

Basic in-state tuition for undergraduate students at Bloomsburg University and the system's 13 other universities will remain at $7,716 for the 2020-21 academic year. Also remaining the same will be the system's technology fee for students, which stands at $478 for the academic year. The Board voted to freeze tuition and the technology fee unanimously. “We are united in believing that even under these historic, extraordinary circumstances, the State System must maintain its affordability and not pass the burden of these times onto our students," said Cindy Shapira, chair of the Board of Governors. “While the coronavirus has impacted so much of our society and economy, what remains the same is our mission to provide quality, affordable, accessible public higher education." Prior to last year, only once – the 1998-99 academic year – did the Board approved a year-to-year tuition freeze. It has never before frozen tuition for consecutive years. “Pennsylvania will recover from this pandemic, and our outstanding universities will have a role in leading the recovery," Chancellor Dan Greenstein said. “To be a leader will take courage, and the Board showed that kind of courage today by choosing to be on the side of students and affordability. We will be here to educate the business, healthcare, education, and community leaders of tomorrow by maintaining our place as the affordable higher education option for students of the Commonwealth."

“Yesterday’s decision by the Board of Governors (BOG) confirms its commitment to the students of the Commonwealth,” said Bloomsburg University President Bashar W. Hanna. “The BOG understands the financial implications of the coronavirus and its impact on students and their families.  At BU, we will continue to strive to ensure that a quality college education is accessible and affordable for our students, and we appreciate the leadership of the Board of Governors during these challenging times.”

For information on the BU admissions visit http://bloomu.edu/admissions.

In other board action: The State System approved a 10-year loan up to $6 million to Mansfield University, a measure that will support the 163-year-old institution with a path toward fiscal sustainability and accountability. Mansfield University must submit a fiscal sustainability report to the chancellor before the promissory note is executed and afterwards achieve clear cost-saving measures to be reviewed by the Chancellor. “This measure will help ensure the Northern Tier has the higher education and economic development resources it needs for the future," Greenstein said. “It comes with measurable outcomes and meaningful accountability, and I'm confident Mansfield's leadership already has this proud institution moving in the right direction." The Board also approved an extension of a retirement incentive program to five collective bargaining units, making about 460 employees newly eligible. The program now applies to qualifying members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Service Employees International Union Local 668 (SEIU), Office and Professional Employees International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania (OPEIU), PASSHE Officers Association (POA), and International Union, Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA). The board also granted the chancellor authority to develop similar arrangements for the other employees within the system. The program provides an enhanced sick leave payout if employees retire on or before Sept. 25, 2020. The program began earlier this year with the Association of Pennsylvania University State College & University Faculty, and 220 APSCUF members opted into the program. “This program honors, in many cases, decades of service to a State System university," Greenstein said. “Choosing to retire is a significant life decision, and we hope eligible employees will consider this incentive carefully."

[ironicpen]

Estate Planning for Same-sex Couples

Surveys show that 10 per cent of LGBTQ couples are married to a same-sex partner. This is an increase of 3 per cent after the high court ruling.

This shows that the world has changed rapidly, and as such, same-sex marriages have become common.

As an LGBTQ couple, you need to handle so many issues, so get ready to handle some more when you decide to plan your estate.

When it comes to estate planning, you need to understand that the same rules apply to your union just like any other couple out there – as long as you have an estate to protect, you need to have legally binding documents to prove ownership and guide the distribution of wealth.

Since you are faced with the same predicaments that come with other kinds of couples, you will need the following documents to make things easier for your beneficiaries.

Have a Will

This is the mainstay of any estate plan. The document might seem easy to draft, but its importance is enormous. The will determines the following:

The beneficiaries of your estate.

Who will protect and watch over your kids if they are less than 18 years old.

Executors for the estate.

The names of an adult to manage assets for minors.

Your beneficiary list can be anyone who takes over your property when you are gone – it can even be the family pet.

Remember that if you fail to come up with a will, the property that you own will be controlled by the law of the state.

Dying without a will is an exceptionally massive issue for same-sex couples because the law will rely on existing stipulations about these types of marriages. So, if you aren’t married, or the state laws don’t allow you to get married, then your partner might end up with nothing.

Avoid Probate

When you don’t have a will, then your estate is handled by the courts. This process is usually lengthy and costly, and won’t benefit your beneficiaries a lot.

We also have various ways you can avoid probate, but this is hard for same-sex couples because many states won’t give you the chance to use the laws that allow the property to pass through to your partner without going through probate.

Other ways to avoid probate is to use the following methods:

Set up a living trust.

Use accounts that transfer your property to a beneficiary upon your demise.

Use joint ownership of the property rather than a sole proprietorship.

Have a Health Care Directive

If you have a condition that threatens to be terminal, you need to come up with these directives. This is where you allow somebody to make health decisions on your behalf when you are incapacitated.

The directive is ideal because it tells the attending physician what to do when you near the end of your life. The good thing is that you can assign your partner to make decisions on your behalf without anyone doubting your relationship.

Understand Estate Taxes

If you plan to give your property away, you have to think about taxes. The estate plan is one of the ways to reduce the amount of taxes you pay.

The federal government has set a directive to use when paying taxes. If your estate is small, you might not have to pay estate tax.

However, you need to consult with an estate planning attorney to find out if the state you reside in has an estate tax. This is because different states charge different estate taxes, which you must pay.

Create Powers of the Attorney (POA)

This comes in two types. The financial POA allows you to choose someone to handle your business decisions when you are not in a position to do so yourself.

The second type is the health care POA. This entrusts someone the power to make decisions on your behalf regarding the nature of medical procedures that can be performed on you. The person only makes the decisions when you can’t do this on your own.

Decide Final Plans

The estate plan also gives you room to make final arrangements. The document you come up with talks about what happens when you die and should be done during your funeral. This document isn’t legally binding, but it assists your surviving partner in making decisions faster regarding your final journey.

Final Words

As a same-sex couple, you need to make sure you have the right estate planning documents ready and well-crafted so that regardless of the law of the state, you get to leave your partner with some property.

The post Estate Planning for Same-sex Couples appeared first on New York Estate Planning Law Firm.

source https://trustsandestate.com/estate-planning-for-same-sex-couples/ source https://trustsandestatellc.blogspot.com/2020/05/estate-planning-for-same-sex-couples.html

[book-binge]

Estate Planning for Same-sex Couples

Surveys show that 10 per cent of LGBTQ couples are married to a same-sex partner. This is an increase of 3 per cent after the high court ruling.

This shows that the world has changed rapidly, and as such, same-sex marriages have become common.

As an LGBTQ couple, you need to handle so many issues, so get ready to handle some more when you decide to plan your estate.

When it comes to estate planning, you need to understand that the same rules apply to your union just like any other couple out there – as long as you have an estate to protect, you need to have legally binding documents to prove ownership and guide the distribution of wealth.

Since you are faced with the same predicaments that come with other kinds of couples, you will need the following documents to make things easier for your beneficiaries.

Have a Will

This is the mainstay of any estate plan. The document might seem easy to draft, but its importance is enormous. The will determines the following:

The beneficiaries of your estate.

Who will protect and watch over your kids if they are less than 18 years old.

Executors for the estate.

The names of an adult to manage assets for minors.

Your beneficiary list can be anyone who takes over your property when you are gone – it can even be the family pet.

Remember that if you fail to come up with a will, the property that you own will be controlled by the law of the state.

Dying without a will is an exceptionally massive issue for same-sex couples because the law will rely on existing stipulations about these types of marriages. So, if you aren’t married, or the state laws don’t allow you to get married, then your partner might end up with nothing.

Avoid Probate

When you don’t have a will, then your estate is handled by the courts. This process is usually lengthy and costly, and won’t benefit your beneficiaries a lot.

We also have various ways you can avoid probate, but this is hard for same-sex couples because many states won’t give you the chance to use the laws that allow the property to pass through to your partner without going through probate.

Other ways to avoid probate is to use the following methods:

Set up a living trust.

Use accounts that transfer your property to a beneficiary upon your demise.

Use joint ownership of the property rather than a sole proprietorship.

Have a Health Care Directive

If you have a condition that threatens to be terminal, you need to come up with these directives. This is where you allow somebody to make health decisions on your behalf when you are incapacitated.

The directive is ideal because it tells the attending physician what to do when you near the end of your life. The good thing is that you can assign your partner to make decisions on your behalf without anyone doubting your relationship.

Understand Estate Taxes

If you plan to give your property away, you have to think about taxes. The estate plan is one of the ways to reduce the amount of taxes you pay.

The federal government has set a directive to use when paying taxes. If your estate is small, you might not have to pay estate tax.

However, you need to consult with an estate planning attorney to find out if the state you reside in has an estate tax. This is because different states charge different estate taxes, which you must pay.

Create Powers of the Attorney (POA)

This comes in two types. The financial POA allows you to choose someone to handle your business decisions when you are not in a position to do so yourself.

The second type is the health care POA. This entrusts someone the power to make decisions on your behalf regarding the nature of medical procedures that can be performed on you. The person only makes the decisions when you can’t do this on your own.

Decide Final Plans

The estate plan also gives you room to make final arrangements. The document you come up with talks about what happens when you die and should be done during your funeral. This document isn’t legally binding, but it assists your surviving partner in making decisions faster regarding your final journey.

Final Words

As a same-sex couple, you need to make sure you have the right estate planning documents ready and well-crafted so that regardless of the law of the state, you get to leave your partner with some property.

The post Estate Planning for Same-sex Couples appeared first on New York Estate Planning Law Firm.

source https://trustsandestate.com/estate-planning-for-same-sex-couples/

[inspiringlawyer-blog]

7 Benefits Of Estate Planning: Wills & Power of Attorney

Do you really need a complete Estate Plan? Even Establishing a Power of Attorney?Is it really necessary to have an estate plan and power of attorney to protect your assets?  100% absolutely, at least, for the vast majority of Americans.

What are the benefits of preparing estate planning documents for you and your family? Why is it necessary for you to hire a legal expert who specializes in Estate Planning?

Keep reading to discover the answers.

Defining “Estate Plan”

What is an estate plan and how does it work exactly?

An Estate Plan is a set of official documents that provides legal protection for a person’s assets and clearly describes how the assets are to be distributed after they’re gone.

The Principal Documents of the Estate Plan

A Last Will and Testament (your Will)

A Living Trust (your Trust)

A Power of Attorney for Health Care

A Financial Power of Attorney

A Living Will

Who needs an Estate Plan?

American law applies to every American. You either fulfill the legal requirements in exchange for full protection, or you leave yourself exposed.

Are you an American who wants to know the benefits of creating an estate plan?

Generally speaking, an estate plan is for everyone. However, there are circumstances where getting an estate plan may not be high on your list of priorities.

A person may not be ready for an estate plan if he or she currently:

Has assets valued less than $10,000

Does not own property

Does not have family

Why should I get an Estate Plan?

Avoid Probate

Ever had a fun experience at the DMV? Imagine putting your family through something similar, only worse, as your estate is being handled.

Most people employ the services of an estate planning attorney simply to avoid the nightmares of probate. You don’t need to understand what probate means to know that you don’t want your estate to end up there.

The bottom line, going through probate means a judge decides how to distribute your estate, and that a huge chunk of your estate disappears in costs, taxes, and fees. It also means your loved ones may have to wait months, even years to receive their inheritance.

Tax Reduction

Nobody likes losing money, which is why you make changes to stop the leakage when you find out you’re losing money.

There are great tax benefits to be enjoyed when your estate plan is in order and lots of estate planning techniques that can be employed to reduce income and estate taxes.

Avoiding Complications

Most people hire estate planning attorneys after witnessing the resultant mess occasioned by a relative passing on without a proper estate plan. By taking care of your estate, you automatically shield your loved ones from experiencing similar pain.

To Protect your Beneficiaries

People create estate plans for their beneficiaries for two major reasons: (a) to protect their children, and/or (b) to prevent young adult beneficiaries from making bad decisions, experiencing creditor problems, detrimental influences, and messy divorces. Each state in the United States has its own laws for the protection of minors.

Without your Estate Plan in order, if something happens to you and your significant other, custody of your children will be decided by a judge interpreting the laws of your state.

Do you really want to leave the decision on the raising of your precious children to a stranger interpreting laws that were set in stone decades ago?

Assigning a trustee and guardian to your minor beneficiaries is part of your estate planning process. It will prevent costly (emotionally and financially) legal battles, family disagreements, and a myriad of other nightmares.

Are your adult children having difficulties with life and money? Can you entrust them with your assets? If you don’t fully trust your adult children to handle their inheritance appropriately, you can make stipulations and guidelines in your estate to protect them. They will receive their inheritance under your continued guidance as your legacy endures.

To Protect your Assets

People are now hiring

estate planning

attorneys for asset planning protection, even those with existing estate plans. There are immense tax benefits and liability protections that you can enjoy when the proper entities are set up to hold your assets.

It might be too late to organize a plan to safeguard your assets if you’re already the subject of a pending lawsuit. This is why you need to start by creating a good financial plan which can be added to an all-inclusive estate plan to protect your assets during your lifetime and after your death on behalf of your beneficiaries.

Breaking Down Your Estate Plan

A Will (Last Will and Testament)

A Revocable Living Trust (or Irrevocable, depending on your situation)

Power of Attorney for Health

Power of Attorney for Finances

Centuries ago, people only used wills to pass on their estate to their heirs. Today, a will is only one piece of the puzzle. A revocable living trust is the next estate planning mechanism which can be combined with a will to give you full legal protection.

A living trust is not just a way of avoiding probate, it offers special before and after death benefits.

What is a Will?

In its simplest terms, a will, or last will and testament, is a document that allows a person to assign his assets for inheritance after his death. A testator has the power to choose his heirs and determine what they receive.

A will can also be used to name executors that will distribute the testator’s assets in the manner he or she deems fit. In addition, you may use a will to appoint a guardian for your child if the child is a minor.

What is a Revocable Living Trust?

A revocable living trust is a written agreement used to appoint a manager for your property. The fact that it is created in the lifetime of the creator is what makes it a living trust. The revocability gives you the power to dissolve or change it during your lifetime for whatever reason you decide. However, a living trust automatically becomes irrevocable upon the death of the creator.

There are three parties to a trust: the creator, the trustee, and the beneficiaries.

Generally, people appoint themselves as trustees to retain complete control of their assets during their lifetime. Being a trustee gives you the power to deal with your assets as you see fit- invest, sell, and do whatever you wish with your assets.

How does living trust works and its difference from a will?

The two legal instruments are used to pass on inheritance by giving instructions on how you wish your assets to be shared.

A will can be used to declare that all your assets belong to your living trust and must be shared with probate.

Your living trust is a private document that bypasses probate.

In your living trust, you declare exactly how you want your assets are to be distributed.

What happens if I don’t have a will or a living trust?

Without either, you leave no valid and legally binding instructions for your estate. That means a

probate judge

will interpret your state’s laws to divide up your assets.

Worst case scenario, the probate court gives your assets and estate to your state. Everything you have accumulated over your lifetime would be forfeit to the government.

What are the benefits of a revocable living trust?

Having a living trust means you can relax knowing that your loved ones will be fully protected when you’re gone. It also means your estate will be promptly distributed to your heirs.

You can draft your trust in a way that transfers your assets to your beneficiaries upon your passing, or you can assign them to be portioned over a designated period of time in specific amounts. You can also eliminate or reduce certain federal and state taxes by including certain tax saving clauses in your draft.

Who can be appointed a trustee?

Any adult considered mentally competent can be named a trustee. Most people prefer to name themselves and their spouse as trustees. This allows you to remain in full control of your assets while you're alive.  Your successor or co-trustee will take over if you become incapacitated and unable to manage the property.

Most people name their children as their successor trustees. However, if you're not confident about the ability of your children to distribute the assets according to your instructions, you should consider naming a professional fiduciary as your successor trustee.

This could be the trust department of a bank, a professional trust company or a private fiduciary.

Will there be a need for additional cost or work when investments or property are added or deleted?

No, there is no need to contact a lawyer for every change you make to your bequest or assets.

Is it necessary for a living trust to be prepared by an attorney?

Yes, to ensure that you get the protection you need.

If your arm gets mangled, do you stitch yourself up and hope for the best? You could. Or you could see a medical professional.

It’s the same when it comes to doing your own legal work. Don’t become another statistic horror story. Consult a professional for professional matters.

Don’t fall for the temptation of using those generic or online kits that are often passed off as customized documents prepared by attorneys.

Understanding Your Power of Attorney

A power of attorney (POA) can be described as a legal document used to authorize another person to make legal, financial and business decisions on behalf of the maker of the instrument.

The person appointed will help manage your affairs in the event that you’re unable to do so. In fact, your appointed person can pay bills on your behalf, help sell your car, renovate your home, make business decisions for you and lots more. However, if you fail to create a power of attorney, a court will have to determine your mental competence and appoint a guardian.

A power of attorney gives you the power to decide who you want to manage your affairs. It also avoids unnecessary delays that come with the

court process

. All the states have their different forms for creating power of attorney. However, to be considered valid in most states, the document must be notarized and signed.

Categories of POA

Although powers of attorney are generally designed to give someone else the authority to make decisions on your behalf, they however come in different categories. Durable powers of attorney are those POAs that are applicable from their execution date. This means the recipient of the power of attorney can start managing your business once it is executed. Your competency or otherwise will not matter in this instance.

While a springing power of attorney on the other hand, is one that does not go into effect after execution until the occurrence of certain events. A good example of this, is the incapacitation of the creator. The recipient of the power of attorney will not have access to your affairs until such a time when the donor becomes too incapacitated to do so. In practice, a document or letter from a physician must be obtained to kick start this particular power of attorney.

You can also decide on the extent of the authority contained in the power of attorney. In some states, boxes are provided for you to check the particular type of authority you intend to give. For example, a financial power of attorney might give the recipient power to only manage financial transactions like payment of bills, and exempt them from transactions like selling your real estate.

Hand In Hand

The best thing to do is to create a will, living trust, and power of attorney. The living trust and will shall provide protection for your heirs and assigns after you’re gone while the power of attorney will provide protection in your lifetime. Combined, the three documents will provide all the protection you need for your assets.

With a power of attorney, a last will and a living trust, you can rest easy knowing that your family is well-protected. Do it now! Why wait? Why risk it?

Living Wills

Unlike other types of wills, a living will is not used to assign property at death. A living will (also known as an advance directive or directive to physicians) is a document used by the maker to state his or her wishes for end-of-life medical care just in case they’re unable to make their decisions known. Its power ends with the death of the testator.

A living will is usually included in your estate planning. It can provide valuable healthcare guidance for the family in the event that the testator is no longer able to pass his or her wishes across. It prevents a situation where family and healthcare professionals are forced to guess the preferred treatment options of the sick person. This could result in serious disputes which might even involve a court process.

The form and execution of a living will

Most states provide their own advance directives forms, through which residents can state their health care wishes in detail. For instance, you can state that you want palliative care, which includes the measures taken to decrease the pain and suffering of an invalid, while reiterating that you don’t want your healthcare givers to administer extraordinary measures such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in certain situations.

Living wills can be revoked at the instance of the testator. The document automatically takes effect from the moment it is signed or when it is confirmed that the testator is no longer able to communicate his or her healthcare wishes. However, doctors will rather rely on personal communication for as long as they can, regardless of whether or not the living will has taken effect.

Healthcare Power of Attorney

Most living wills are combined with a document known as durable power of attorney (DPOA) to handle healthcare. There are states that combine the two documents as one. A DPOA is used to appoint a person to enforce the end-of-life treatment wishes contained in a medical directive or living will. The person named therein is called the “healthcare proxy”, “attorney-in-fact” or “agent” of the maker of the DPOA.

Living Wills Post Death

The authority contained in a living will is automatically terminated the moment the testator dies. But there is one exception and it involves a situation where the power of attorney or living will provides directions to healthcare agents on what to do about autopsy or organ donation. However, this post death authority is only for a short while since these are decisions that must be made immediately after death.

This is also different from the provisions of other types of will which does not take effect or become legally binding until the testator dies.

What is the investment for setting up an estate plan?

The price varies depending on where you live, the size of your estate, and its complexity. Trust Attorney Nicholas Costaras with a great quote customized to your specific situation.

The real question is, if it were free, would you set up your estate plan?

If yes, then you know you need to get your estate plan set up right now.

You know that nothing is free, and you know that you do deserve the highest quality of service at a fair price.

Getting an Estate Plan

Why don’t you give yourself and your family peace of mind by making sure your estate is in good hands? Don’t put it off. Now is the time to invest in an estate plan for you and your family!

Book a Free Consultation

We offer free consultations! If you decide not to go with us that’s fine. No harm, no foul.

Why not schedule one right now?

Contact me, Estate Planning Attorney Nick Costaras, for your

free consultation

now. Let’s get your Estate Plan taken care of!

[sundevilatthebeach]

Part 2 of my Psoriatic Story 2004-2010

25w4d (Note: this is a recounting of my Psoriaric story from 2nd suicide attempt to first full blown erythroderma) My upcoming Rheum appt will be more than 3 missed Remicade treatments (every 8 weeks). Originally I was getting it every 6 weeks. At 6 weeks, you would not know I was sick, except when arthritis crept in ( #spoonie ). At 8 weeks, there would be the formation of plaques- but those would be gone generally within two weeks of treatment. Like clockwork. So it would be 6 week symptom free, 4 weeks mild symptoms, followed by 6 weeks, etc. Until I'd have an infection. I started Remicade in 2005. In 2004 I had tried to commit suicide by running my car off the road. It was a pretty successful effort; I broke all the ribs on my left side, and had punctured that lung. I also broke my left femur, both shoulders both scapulas, my clavicle and two cervical vertebrae. I was taken by ambulance to Trauma Hospital (shands) even though I purposely had accident near St Vincent's, a Catholic hospital. I just wanted to be given my last rites and be let go. It was Easter Morning. I refused treatment on arrival to the ER at Shands. They called my sister who had medical POA. All I know is she showed up, they drugged me, and I awoke with tubes in my throat. I immediately pulled them out and continued to do this at least two other times. Turns out my sister did not honor my wishes for no life saving care. I had expected to be sedated; her instructions were palliative care only. She told them to do what ever to save me. So they induced a medical coma using versed and morphine. For 8 weeks. My parents both came to Jacksonville and lived in my apartment. They dealt with issues like car insurance and medical insurance as well as giving notice to my job. They came during the 5 or 6 one hour visiting windows all day. They asked the doctors, "is he going to make it?" Which was answered, "we don't know." Ann, Brooks and Dave also came to the hospital daily. I tell this story in relation to my psoriatic journey. At the time of the accident I was taking Enbrel. I had been on Amevive, Raptiva, and Humira. These are biologic medications. All of these were self injectables. They worked to give relief to both PsO (psoriasis) and PsA (psoriatic arthritis) to varying degrees. I still had plaques, but way down from pre-2003 levels. In 2000, I came down with a number of things including Psoriasis that covered 80% of my body I had a weeping edema from both shins. My legs were blown up with water. I also had two lumps in either side of my chest. For these, I was sent for a mammogram, then had a biopsy and finally a double lumpectomy. Final diagnosis was sinus histiocytosis. This is a lymphatic disorder. One of the complications of PsE (erythrodermic Psoriasis) is Lymphadenopathy. So I had widespread PsO with edema and this lymphatic disorder are complications of PsE. I had PsE across my back only; it had the redness and flaking instead of the plaques. While in the Coma in 2004, my PsO completely resolved. I remained in hospital 2 weeks post coma then went to a rehabilitation hospital for 6 weeks. A lot of my body had completely changed. I cannot fully turn my head on either direction. Due to a rod in my upper left femur, my leg does not properly rotate to put my sock on. My shoulders do not lift up over head fully. When I'm suffering Arthritis symptoms, my left ribs and right shoulder are now part of it. My PsA had been limited to hands, feet and hips prior. On a private note, my penis disappeared and what is still there does not get erect. From what I've been told (about the disappearance) that happened while I was in hospital (I spent a lot of time exposed to visitors, it appears, although my Mother says she tried to make sure sheet kept me covered). Once I resumed life, the PsO started creeping back. I started back on MTX (methotrexate) and various ointments, both steroid and a Vitamin D3 called Dovonex (calcipotriene). They gave relief, but no clearing. Then I was put on Remicade some time in 2005. From 2005-2010, it was like I did not even have PsO. I even went off MTX in 2008. My last treatment was June 25, 2010. In early June 2010 I lost my job and was priced out of COBRA. That last appt was covered with a $50 copay. After that, I was priced out of Remicade treatment. I do not remember what it cost then; today, my cash payment treatment is $15,500. Plaques started appearing. Arthritis also started getting worse. But I was functional. I was spending my work free days with Lisa Perry. It started out friendly but developed into a relationship. She was a married woman, but there was something wrong with the marriage; what I was told later by the husband was she had discussed her 'feelings' for me with him and he encouraged her to pursue them. But by about week 14 post treatment, I started becoming non-functional due to the proliferation of plaques covering more that 80% of my body. Lisa (with Brooks help with the big stuff) moved me out of my apartment at the beach and onto her home in Callahan. Including all of my stuff. For the next five weeks she cared for me, which included baths to try and soothe the burning and itching, and soften the plaques. At week 20 I realized that I had not urinated in close to a week. They bought a wheelchair on Craigslist and Lisa and Brooks wheeled me to the minivan. They took me to the hospital. I was put on an IV and visited 2x by a Rheumatologist on rotation. On the first visit I discussed the need for Remicade. He said he'd see. He prescribed MTX and ointments, which were applied by patient care techs and LPNs. On second visit by Rheum, on day 5 of hospitalization, he said no approval yet for Remicade. I had booked a flight to my parents in Texas a few mos back. I got checked out of hosp on Fri. Brooks picked me up and took me to Lisa's. The next day, Lisa took me to Airport, in wheelchair. At this point I had full blown PsE covering 95% of my body, including Palmoplantar Psoriasis, which had the skin of my palms and soles peeling off in sheets. The sole skin was like a piece of shoe leather. The palm skin was very thin. Part 3 will be the Texas Miracle up to my current situation.

[waverlywoodsgreens]

Primed and ready for the summer

In the next 3 months we will find out how successful the changes we have made to our maintenance practices and procedures and how they will improve the health of the golf course.  It is pretty crazy to think that we prep our turf for just 3 short months of chaos.

May was very dreary. I read a tweet from Tom Tasselmyer from WBAL and he said we only had 2 days with less than 30% cloud cover during the whole month of May.  READ THAT AGAIN!  Not a lot of great golf days in there, but the crew has been working to make sure our customers have a great product on display now that the sun has decided to show back up.

Last week it was so wet that the entire staff had to work from the cart paths for 2 straight days. Mowing of any kind would have done too much damage.  We tweaked and improved the landscaping around the clubhouse and did some in house cart path repairs among many other small detail jobs.

Last week we hosted nearly 40 students from City Spring Elementary in Baltimore on a First Tee field Trip.  The students learned how turf mangers make decisions and apply STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) on the golf course daily.  The course really serves as a living laboratory and provides an excellent environment for kids to get some hands on experience and apply science.  We had many local volunteers and I thank them for taking the time to promote the game of golf and grow interest in our industry and the jobs that golf can offer.  The kids had a blast. Below are a few pictures from the day.

The greens on the course are in great shape now.  We are all healed from our DryJect and the poa has switched life cycles and the greens are firm and running true.