A Legal Check-up includes reviewing the title to your house, obtaining an original copy of your birth certificate, and reviewing your life and health insurance coverage. It can also include burial plans, Social Security and retirement pensions, and title on your automobile. A Legal Check-up may also include your will, changing title to property, and leaving your estate to your heirs; things with which an attorney may need to help.

Each day we sign documents and enter the legal world. We usually don't think of "writing a check" as a legal matter. Rather, we are more concerned if we have the funds to cover the purchase. However, signatories on a bank account are a legal matter and will allow someone access to your funds in case you become ill. This can become a serious legal matter, possibly including the courts, if you become ill and no one has access to your bank account to pay your bills.

Another serious legal matter is the need for powers of attorney, both financial and medical. Again, if you become ill and someone needs to make decisions on your behalf, they will need a legal form authorizing them to make those decisions, with or without the assistance of an attorney. However, if you take care of the matter in advance, it may only cost a few dollars to get the right legal forms; but if you wait, the individual may be forced to go to court to be able to make decisions for you.

A Legal Check-up involves planning and organizing your personal and financial records. These records may be scattered all over the house, at your attorney's, or worse yet -- you don't have a clue where to find them. A Legal Check-up guides you through the process of gathering the information needed to diagnose your legal health and form a plan to remedy problems you identify as a result of the check-up.

The personal plan workbook helps you to determine your next steps. Situations such as a debilitating illness, marriage, sale of a house or death of a spouse are all life events which may require legal changes. Taking the time to understand all of these important documents and updating them is a critical part of a Legal Check-up.