In a paper published two years later, Demaine expanded on this idea, extending it into three dimensions: Any faceted solid, he showed, no matter how complex or irregular, could be folded from a single uncut sheet of paper. Start with a piece of paper big enough, and you could model Notre Dame down to the last gargoyle.

When we think of mass production, the image is of a factory floor. Take a car. The engine block is cast, either from iron or aluminum. The hood, doors, and roof are stamped out on 100-ton presses. Gears are carved from metal blocks by milling machines or punched out by dies. The console and interior handles are injection-molded or carved, the mats and seats woven or stitched together. Some of these processes date to the Industrial Revolution, others to the Iron Age. The natural world doesn’t use any of them. One of its favorite methods is to take something flat and fold it into a three-dimensional form. Flowers, leaves, wings, proteins, mountain ranges, eyelids, ears, DNA—all are created by folding.

“We have a paradigm where we want to build things by having a solid block and then etching away at the block until you get whatever shape that you want,” says William Shih, a Harvard University biochemistry professor. Think of Michelangelo chiseling his forms from boulders of marble, or a milling machine carving an engine part out of a hunk of steel. “The way that nature does things is different,” Shih says. “It uses a folding algorithm, and it’s something that seems to be very efficient. We can look to nature for inspiration.”

I don’t have enough money or property to need a will.
Really?  You don’t have $250 worth of property?  Because that is the minimum you and your family will lose if you die without a will.  A will specifies how you want your affairs and property handled when you die and will save your family the stress and expense of trying to guess.  More important than property, a will is the best way to name guardians for your children.  It’s also the way to ensure that an inheritance will not be wasted or lost to third parties.  Most important of all, the process of making a will helps you identify and achieve goals during your life.

I can’t afford to pay for a will.
Good legal services are not cheap and cheap legal services are not good.  The belief that people cannot afford a will arises from thinking a will is an expense rather than an investment designed to protect family and minimize loss.  People who think of wills as an expense sometimes ask an attorney they already know for help, even though that attorney does not specialize in wills.  Other people try to spend even less by attempting to do it themselves.  But the cost of a properly prepared will that matches your needs is much, much less than the cost of going through life and the probate process without good documents in place.  Even if there is ultimately no loss of assets, the cost of fixing problems later – if they can be fixed – will be many times the cost of creating a good plan now.

I’ve already named my spouse/children/someone else as beneficiary(ies) on my life insurance/retirement account/bank account/annuity.
This is perhaps the most common excuse for no estate planning.  If you are married and your spouse or children are named directly as beneficiaries on accounts such as these, you may avoid probate but will likely complicate things for your family and could lose important tax benefits.  The federal estate tax exemption – the amount you may leave to heirs free of federal tax – changes regularly.  Currently, you may leave an unlimited amount of money too your spouse tax-free, but this is not necessarily the best tactic.  Naming account beneficiaries without understanding your options may be the worst plan of all.

It will be a windfall to my spouse/children/another family member if I die, so I’ll let them take care of it.
The question is not if, but when.  Aside from this, you need to understand that a failure or refusal to plan means that you are stuck with what’s called the law of “intestate succession”.  That means in Virginia that if you die without an estate plan, your spouse gets everything unless you have children who are not also your spouse’s children.  If you are single or widowed, your children get everything equally at age 18, which may lead to misunderstandings among them or wasted money because assets must be liquidated and divided.  Apart from questions about children and spouses, these ancient rules have no consideration for blended families and laws are even hostile toward families legislators have deemed to be not within a “traditional” marriage. Without directions in a will, a court has the option to appoint someone you wouldn’t want to take care of things or order an auction of your personal property, which costs money and means that your property can be sold to strangers.  Wouldn’t you like to avoid these problems?  The rules are flexible and provide many opportunities for benefitting you and your family as long as you plan in advance.

I’m young.
We all believe we are.  And we agree that the odds are against you dying in the next five years (the period in which changes in your family or the laws might make you want to adjust a part of your plan.  Although few plans need major adjustments it is important to review them from time to time).  But “not highly likely” is not the same as “it won’t happen”.  You exercise and watch your diet because you know those are good ideas – even though your diet or blood pressure aren’t likely to kill you within the next five years, either.  Now is the time to address the need for an estate plan.

I’m going to leave everything to my spouse/one of my children/another family member and they can be responsible for ensuring my wishes are met.
That might work.  “Might” being the key word.  Is it possible that your spouse/children could remarry?  Do your family members drive?  Do they have debts, loans, investments or business interests?  Questions like these are important because leaving everything to one person means you are putting your inheritance at the mercy of people you haven’t met, creditors and the choices individuals may make in circumstances you cannot know.  Have you thought about what will happen if the person you leave your property to dies, leaving your entire inheritance to someone else or a group of other people?  Will they feel the same obligation to take care of your family as you do?

I’ll get around to it.
OK – when?  There are basic elements of an estate plan – such as an advance medical directive and a power of attorney – that unlike a will only work during your life.  Statistically we are all likely to be disabled at some point (even temporarily) and without these simple and inexpensive documents in place it will be difficult and may be impossible to take care of your family, manage your property, pay your bills and arrange for medical care without expensive and time-consuming court proceedings.

I knew someone who died with a will and there was still a lot of red tape.
There will be some difficulties with bureaucracy.  But you can minimize the hassle and expense with careful planning.

I don’t like lawyers.
This objection is understandable.  Every profession has people in it that shouldn’t be there and lawyers are in a long list of people with whom we’d rather not have to deal but we do (or we should): doctors, dentists, mechanics, financial advisors, veterinarians, plumbers.  We understand that if we avoid our doctor when we are sick it will lead to bad results.  The same thing is true for the mechanic when our car needs maintenance or repairs and for every other type of service profession.

Lawyers listen to your needs and wishes and based on the information you provide we give you the best advice about what you should do and how we can help.  Estate planning lawyers like people and want to hear your stories so that you can benefit from our specialized expertise.  Give us the opportunity to help you start living better today.

To learn more about a will,
trust, power of attorney or advance medical directive
(health care power of attorney) visit http://clintsellers.com or call 540.437.9400

–
Based on a post from the AZ firm of Fleming & Curti, PLC.

Many large companies today have simply announced that as a matter of policy they will be paying their bills late—sometimes as much as four months late,” [Jeffrey] Leonard notes.  “This in effect forces small businesses, which really are hurting, to make free loans to big businesses instead of being able to use their working capital.”  Experts say small-business owners can
respond with a variety of steps, beginning with examining cash-flow options.

The first step [John] Barrickman recommends to small-business owners is to determine the
total amount of their uncollected accounts receivable: “This represents a large lake in which huge amounts of cash can be trapped.” The next step is to examine processes for managing cash.

“Can you use bank tools like lockbox, remote capture and electronic payments to process receipts and collect receivables faster?” Barrickman asks. “Banks offer a broad range of treasury management tools that small businesses can use to increase their available cash.”

Also take a close look at the flip side: your accounts payable. Lisa Aldisert, the president of Pharos Alliance Inc., a New York City management consulting firm, encourages clients to revamp their payables procedures in order to hold on to cash longer.

Factoring as an option

One option that many cash-starved small businesses are considering to help ease the cash-flow crunch is an alternative financing vehicle known as factoring.

With factoring, businesses sell their outstanding accounts receivable to a commercial finance company (or factor) at a discount. “Instead of waiting up to 90 days or longer to get paid, the business receives most of the cash—typically 70 to 90 percent of the receivable—when the invoice is generated,” says [Tracy] Eden. It receives the balance, less the discount, when the factor collects the invoice.

Eden explains, “The improved cash flow derived from factoring benefits a company’s relationships with vendors, enables additional growth and helps ease the demands on payroll.”

Factoring resources

• International Factoring Association (www.factoring.org): This website includes a Factor Search page to help you locate an IFA member that matches your criteria.

• American Factoring Association (www.americanfactoring.org): AFA educates the public and policymakers on the availability of working capital for America’s small businesses.

• Commercial Finance Association (www.cfa.com): Since 1944, the CFA has promoted the sound development of asset-based financial services including factoring; it publishes The Secured Lender magazine.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the IRS has claimed in court filings that the noncompliance rate in Virginia is 90%.

Bankrate.com explains why if you need to leave your home vacant or unoccupied for an extended period, the best course of action is to contact your insurance agent and explain the situation.

As the housing market continues on life support, some homeowners with hard-to-sell properties choose to move on, whether to pursue a new job, downsize or simply relocate. But it’s very risky financially to leave your home vacant unless you adjust your homeowners insurance accordingly.

Your home insurance rates are usually based on you occupying your home, and for good reason. Without you at home to call 911, deter burglars and vandals or stop a minor leak or electrical short from becoming major, your home insurance company would assume additional risk.

That’s why most home insurance policies contain a vacancy clause that automatically changes or excludes coverage should the home become vacant (residents and belongings gone) or unoccupied (residents gone, belongings remain) for a specified period, often 60 days.

“Some insurers may not pay claims if a home is vacant for 60 days or more. Some policies might automatically shift to a different amount of coverage (e.g., liability insurance only) after a specific number of days unoccupied,” according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

If you need to leave your home vacant or unoccupied for an extended period, the best course of action is to contact your home insurance agent and explain the situation. Many insurance companies offer an endorsement to your policy that will cover a vacant dwelling for an extended period. You also may obtain vacancy coverage for specified periods up to a year.

No surprise, it’s going to cost more than your current homeowners insurance rates. But it’s a small price to pay compared to the major expenses you’d face if something happened to your house while you were away.

Although the study does not address causes of disorders, the findings could reflect a severe underestimate of its prevalence in the U.S. and elsewhere. “This study clearly confirms that autism is a significant, global, public health concern that transcends cultural, ethnic and geographic boundaries. We do need to do this type of study in the U.S.,” said Geraldine Dawson, chief scientific officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks.  The study was funded in part by Autism Speaks.

More details here: http://bit.ly/mL4045

1. Anyone with control over the administration of a retirement plan or the investments offered in the plan;
2. A person or group of people, such as an administrative committee, specifi cally named as a fi duciary in the plan document; or
3. Anyone who gives investment advice for a fee.

If you are a fiduciary, you need to know your duties under ERISA, the penalties if these duties are not met and how to protect yourself from liability.  The Employee Retirement Income Act of 1974 (otherwise known as ERISA) governs the management of retirement plans.  Although companies can and often should consider hiring others to manage these plans for their employees, it is not possible to fully delegate all responsibility for appropriate management of such plans.  There are basic requirements that must be met which will always be the employer’s responsibility — requirements such as diversification within the plan.

It Only Takes One Employee to Create Big Problems for Your Plan… and Your Company

Pursuant to federal law, all retirement plan fiduciaries must: act with loyalty to the plan, act prudently, diversify the investment options within the plan, act according to the plan terms, and follow the disclosure requirements (including fees related to the plan).  According to surveys, as much as 70 percent of participants think that they’re paying nothing.  There is an assumption within the investment industry that all plan statements beginning in January of 2012 will fully disclose ALL costs paid by that participant (in percentage terms and possibly in dollar terms as well). When employees learn that as much as 3% of their account value is paid to the plan only one disgruntled employee can cause a great deal of compliance activity and cost for a business owner.  See this link for more information.

What to Do

In addition to knowing what is required and the penalties for noncompliance, fiduciaries can and should take practical steps to demonstrate their compliance and protect themselves and plan participants.  These steps include: availing themselves of the “safe harbor” provisions in ERISA, writing an investment policy statement, tracking plan expenses and routinely reviewing the operations of the plan.  Your company’s business lawyer can help you with compliance issues and finding a professional investment advisor to assist you.