LegalEase – October 2020

October 15, 2020

From Our Computers to Yours

Friends:

With Election Day right around the corner, we want to remind everyone to be sure to vote on November 3, if you haven’t already.  You’ve no doubt heard this reminder from many different sources, but ours comes without an agenda.  We’re not trying to tell you how to vote; we just ask that you exercise your right, privilege, and responsibility to vote and be heard on the Presidential race as well as the State and local races and issues.

(If you want to hear the issues surrounding the local Judges’ election, we’re happy to give you whatever information you may need.)

We hope that you and your loved ones are well, that you are staying safe, and that you are able to navigate today’s challenges while focusing on a healthy, promising future.

Steve Bienstock
Senior Partner

Enjoying Halloween 2020

We all know that Halloween 2020, as well as the other upcoming holidays, will not be celebrated traditionally.  The CDC website has very helpful guidance about the holiday season—not just what NOT to do, but also an emphasis on what you CAN do.  For example, how to safely host a holiday gathering, how to safely attend a holiday gathering, and how to safely travel.  They rate activities as high, moderate, and low risk, giving you important information so that you can make the right decisions for you, your family, your friends, and your community.  We’d like to offer you some last-minute ideas from the CDC site on how to enjoy Halloween this weekend:

Low-risk, safe activities:

  • Carving or decorating pumpkins with members of your household–or with neighbors and friends outside at a safe distance–and displaying them.
  • Decorating your house, apartment, or living space.
  • Doing a Halloween scavenger hunt, with your kids having a list of Halloween-themed things to look for while they walk outdoors from house to house admiring Halloween decorations at a distance; OR, looking for things you’ve hidden in your house.
  • Having a virtual Halloween costume contest.
  • Having a Halloween movie night with people in your “bubble”.

Enjoy your weekend, be safe, and create some new holiday traditions!

Holiday Recipes

We are always on the lookout for great recipes for our holiday celebrations.  Whether we are cooking for 2 or 10, there’s always room for one more delicious dish at the breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner table.

The internet is, of course, a wonderful resource for finding new recipes.  Another great resource is word-of-mouth.  We would love to hear about your “tried-and-true” recipes (at least the ones you are willing to share).  Let’s do an old-fashioned recipe swap.  Send us your favorite recipes, and let us know what new recipes you would like to add to your holiday spread.  (Sheila, our Paralegal, is looking for recommendations for a cranberry-orange relish.)  Between now and New Year’s, perhaps we can add some more smiles to our holiday tables!

Send your recipes or your wish-lists to Sheila at sheila@bienstocklegal.com.

Avoid Coronavirus Scams

Sorting through the legitimate information about the pandemic versus the scams continues to be a frustrating, unsettling, and risky challenge for many of us.  It’s worth reinforcing some guidance from the Federal Trade Commission:

  • Learn how to tell the difference between a real contact tracer and a scammer. Legitimate tracers need health information, not money or personal financial information.
  • Don’t respond to texts, emails, or calls about checks from the government. Here’s what you need to know.
  • Ignore offers for vaccinations, and be wary of ads for home test kits. Scammers are selling products to treat or prevent COVID-19 without proof that they work.  And most test kits being advertised have not been approved by the FDA and aren’t necessarily accurate.
  • Hang up on robocalls.  Scammers are using illegal robocalls to pitch everything from low-priced health insurance to work-at-home schemes.
  • Do your homework when it comes to donations. Never donate in cash, by gift card, or by wiring money.

BELIEVE IT OR DON’T!
Around the World 

  • It’s illegal to die in Falciano del Massico, a town in Italy, because the cemetery is full.
  • There are currently 23 nations that maintain no army, including Andorra, Costa Rica, and Liechtenstein.
  • Mexico and Thailand are the most common countries where American tourists die abroad.
  • Cubans were prohibited from owning cell phones until 2008.
  • Atheism is punished by death in 13 countries.
  • You can’t name your child “Ikea” or “Elvis” in Sweden.
  • The Sahara Desert is bigger than the distance from California to New York
  • London was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium.
  • Mobile Phone Throwing is an official sport in Finland.
  • The paint on the Eiffel Tower weighs more than 10 elephants.
  • Brazilian prisoners can shorten their sentence by reading books.

Q & A

Q.  I don’t have any children, but I do have two dogs, and they are like children to me.  How do I make sure they are taken care of after I die?
  • In the eyes of the law, pets are treated as personal property.  That’s a hard concept to accept for many of us who consider our pets to be members of our families.  In your Will, be sure to include a bequest for your pets and provide for their care.  When talking to us about your Will, be sure to let us know about your pets so we can help include them.
Q. Someone told me that I need to have a manager for my social media accounts after I die.  Is that true?
  • You’ll want to ensure that your “digital legacy” is protected.  Be sure to create a plan for your social media accounts after you’ve passed on, including who will be in charge of managing and closing them.  We encourage our clients to develop a complete list of assets, accounts, passwords, etc., which will be of immense value to your estate’s Personal Representative.  The social media accounts and passwords can be part of that list.