A very thoughtful (and completely free) way to create your legacy is to write annual letters to your children and other important people in your life.  These letters can then be kept with your estate planning documents.  Should you pass away, you know that each of these people has a special message sharing your feelings and thoughts.

Your letters don’t just have to be about leaving messages for after your death.  Many people choose to do this type of thing and then present the letters to children upon graduation or on their wedding days.  Estate planning in Livonia certainly deals with death, but it also gives us a reason to think about life and the way we want to live it.

Gifts on Your Behalf

Another way to create a legacy is to determine important causes in your life and then support them through your estate planning. Whether you are an avid contributor to the American Cancer Society or you have a soft spot for a local animal shelter in Livonia, these are the kinds of non-profits and charities you can support to ensure your values are represented in your planning.

Many nonprofit organizations will happily work with you to put together some kind of a giving plan for your estate.  There may be tax benefits, in addition to knowing that you’re doing something important for the world.

Creating a Family Trust

An estate planning lawyer in Livonia can also assist with setting up a family trust that can be used to further the causes you or your loved ones are passionate about.  This is a great way to build a legacy, not just for yourself, but for your entire family.  They will be able to work together to find ways to use your money to support different good causes while also strengthening their own bonds through working together.

If you’re unsure of how or why you should set up a family trust of this sort, definitely take the time to meet with a qualified estate planning lawyer in Livonia.  He or she will likely have many other suggestions for ways to use your planning in order to help build your legacy.

Christopher J. Berry is a Michigan estate planning lawyer and Medicaid planning attorney dedicated to helping seniors, veterans and their families navigate the long-term care maze. To learn more visit http://www.michiganelderlawattorney.com/ or call 248.481.4000

The researchers studied 4,793 medical malpractice lawsuits naming 2,680 radiologists as defendants. Most of the lawsuits claimed that the radiologist did not detect visible lesions in mammograms and therefore failed to recommend further testing for breast cancer. Failure to test for breast cancer early on allows it to spread through the body untreated, making the cancer less responsive to later treatment.

Another common cause of medical malpractice lawsuits against radiologists is a failure of communication with the physician treating the patient. Often the treating physician detects lesions and refers the patient to a radiologist, but does not communicate the fact that he or she has already detected lesions; thus, the radiologist may fail to detect the lesions through mammography scans and may therefore fail to recommend follow-up tests.

The study comes at a time when breast cancer diagnoses are on the rise. The rates of metastatic breast cancer – in which the cancer spreads to other parts of the body – have risen 3.6 percent per year in the last decade for women age 25 to 39, according to the American Medical Association (AMA).

Early diagnosis of breast cancer is particularly important, because by the time lumps in the breast are detectable, the cancer has usually spread to other parts of the body, making it less likely that treatment will be effective, according to the American Cancer Society.

Bob Briskman is a Chicago malpractice attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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