This past Saturday, members of the SNL cast donned “TEAM BULLOCK” T-shirts on the show’s famous “Weekend Update” and at the show’s closing (you know, where everybody hangs out on the main stage chatting and hugging). Tina Fey even devoted an entire segment on Weekend Update where she laid into “Bombshell” McGee — one of the mistresses in the Jesse James stable.

As far as divorces go, we know for sure that it isn’t just the rich and famous, nor is it exclusively a Hollywood problem to have a spouse cheat. Plenty of people filing divorce in Arizona are up against similar heartbreaking odds. But just as Fey noted in her Women’s News segment on Saturday Night Live, the real losers are not the spouses who are cheated on, but the mistress (or Mr. Mistress as the case may be) and the man or woman who decided that cheating was okay — even when they have a loving wife or husband, even when they have children.

If you are facing the very difficult circumstances of a marriage torn by infidelity and you’re ready to file for divorce in Arizona, contact Thompson Law Firm today by dialing 480.634.7480.

Team Bullock!

If you’ve been putting off preparing your Arizona last will and testament, then wait no more. Thompson Law Firm of Phoenix and Chandler offers online will preparation so you can finally have a will at a cost you can afford.

In addition to offering you all the documents you need to have your own will, you’ll also get the guidance of an Arizona estate planning attorney who will review all of your documents as part of your preparation fee.

To get started on your online will preparation, simply register through our online do-it-yourself will portal. You’ll see a list of documents there, all available for purchase easily and quickly online. If you have questions or are unsure about which documents to purchase for your unique will, simply call Thompson Law Firm at (480) 634-7480 for instruction and counsel.

Once you’ve registered and filled out your forms, a professional Arizona estate planner and attorney will review your documents, make any necessary adjustments and finalize your will for you.

So, even though it’s called a do-it-yourself will, you’ll be getting all the legal help you need from a real lawyer, just as if you’d walked into a law office!

Please feel free to contact an Arizona Will attorney from Thompson Law Firm today. We’ll help you get started with your will. Protect your family and your assets — get started now!

If you’ve been putting off divorce because of the cost or because you think it wil take too much time going back and forth from your Phoenix divorce attorneys office, you’re all out of excuses now!

Thompson Law Firm now offers online divorce in Arizona — with a few clicks of the mouse you can finalize your divorce. Best of all, the price is right AND you get the guidance and counsel of a REAL Phoenix, AZ divorce lawyer.

Here’s how it works:

1. Register online by visiting our Arizona Online Divorce page and simply answer some simple questions

2. Login using your new member ID and password

3. Begin filling out your paperwork available for download from the Self-File divorce page

4. Submit your paperwork via the Internet for a Chandler or Phoenix divorce attorney to review

5. Await document approval from your attorney and done!

During any point of this process you may call your divorce lawyer with any questions you have about the process, the paperwork, or any personal questions that are unique to your divorce.

If you’re ready to get started, just CLICK HERE or call Thompson Law Firm today: (480) 634-7480. Our legal assistants and helpful staff are standing by to answer your questions and get you started today.

A new article in Market Watch opens with a subhead that reads, “With a new baby in the house, thinking about death isn’t fun.” Truer words were never spoken! In the midst of all the goos and gagas, chit chats about death are not exactly on the top of the to do list.

But, in the end (literally, the end) the weird convo about death while you’re watching your baby learn to roll over might be the best thing you ever do for the little tyke. Arizona Family Law Attorneys recommend you get it straightened out in much the same fashion you’d handle getting your baby to the doctor for her first shots… you wouldn’t skip that would you?

Here are some things to consider:

Pick a guardian: You’ll most likely choose the mother or father of your child(ren), but if this is not the case, make sure you choose wisely. If you want a parent or next of kin to have your child, make sure they’re on board with this. Also, you’ll want to provision for an event in which you and the child’s other parent are both deceased, or worse, if you both pass at the same time.

Consider Arizona Estate Planning: As Market Watch notes, trusts and estates aren’t just for the filthy rich anymore. You can use an estate to hold a trust for so many kinds of assets. You’ll want to discuss this with your Phoenix estate planning attorney because the ins and outs can be quite complex.

An estate can hold 401(k) earnings and other retirement funding, and can all be managed by the trustee you choose. Just as with the guardian you choose, make sure you’re trustee is on board and (literally, not a play on words) trustworthy.

Thompson Law can help you prepare your Arizona final will and testament and set up your estate. Call today for a consultation! (480) 634-7480.

When you wrote your final will and testament in Arizona, did you use simple thoughts and language, like, “I want Suzie and Phil to have everything, and just tell them to split it right down the middle any way they want to.”

…yikes. This kind of language does not serve your beneficiaries well. It makes it too vague and people can’t decide who should get what and sometimes, a trustee will make judgment calls that the kids or other potential beneficiaries may take serious issue with.

Have a Phoenix Estate Planning Attorney help you come up with more precise language that tells a very detailed story — make an inventory of all you hold dear and everything that has value — this includes sentimental value too! Once you’ve made your list, write the name of the person you want each item to go to — whether it’s your favorite comforter, the million dollar antique car or the silverware your grandmother gave you.

When you meet with your Chandler Estate Planner, she can help draft this list into an Arizona final will and testament that stands a much better chance of holding up in probate if that’s where things end up.

Call Thompson Family Law Firm of Chandler and Phoenix today with any questions you have about estate planning or asset protection in Arizona: 480.634.7480.

Chandler and Phoenix Family Law Attorneys Report:

Well, that didn’t take long.

It looks like the estate of Michael Jackson has made a deal with the Sony Corporation for a few of the Man in the Mirror’s tracks. They may be used in movies or TV shows (can you imagine Gossip Girl’s Chuck Bass downing a scotch to Smooth Criminal? Yikes.) The King of Pop’s tunes may also be used in other performances, though none of the sources would reveal if any of the purchased tracks would or could be used in commercials.

Estate planning in Arizona has never been this complex and let’s thank our lucky stars! No one has come forward (legally) with all the details of the deal that was made, it just sort of popped up in a few newspapers. We can tell you for sure, though, that one of the songs included in the package deal was Michael’s “This is It” song, perhaps the swan song of his legacy.

It makes you wonder if this was something Michael would have wanted, and whether or not the estate will provision the earnings in a way that will benefit his children. Only time will tell!

If you haven’t yet drafted your Arizona final will and testament give us a call at (480) 634-7480 and get on it!

The state of Wisconsin’s Bar Association now has a webcast on its site entitled, “Redefining Divorce: Collaboration Instead of Litigation” that discussed the manner in which most spouses can effectively divorce (with or without kids in the picture) so that the end result isn’t a blood bath.

According to the Wisconsin Bar, a Wall Street Journal story revealed, “The collaborative divorce model has grown rapidly since its origin in 1990, and the number of attorneys involved in this process has increased 20-fold in the past decade.”

As Phoenix, AZ divorce attorneys, we agree. Thompson Law Firm attorneys have from day one practiced under the philosophy that amicable divorce and medication is best for everyone — including the kids, the pets… and your mental health!

Splitting up is hard enough. Why kill one another in the process? Choosing to look at divorce as a chance at a fresh start isn’t easy, but you should try to. And on the days when you can’t, you can at least resolve not to tear your ex’s throat out — even if he or she doesn’t have the maturity to do the same.

If you need help from a Phoenix or Chandler divorce lawyer, we’re here for you. It may help if you know we support amicable divorce, and we’ll be happy to let your ex’s attorney know that that’s your preference. You never know, it could be the one thing you and your ex can agree on.

Call us today for a free consultation: (480) 634-7480

Thompson law also offers Phoenix estate planning; if you’re in the midst of a divorce, now’s the time to revise your will.

Arizona Family Law Attorneys Report: In Arizona, there is no inheritance tax—for now. In any case, it is important to know the difference between inheritance tax and estate tax. Both types of taxes will cause the overall amount of the estate to drop in value. The difference is that the estate tax is applied to the whole estate while inheritance tax is applied to the beneficiaries of an estate.

In many U.S. states, inheritance tax is a thing of the past, but estate tax remains in play across the nation because this is where the federal government gets their cut of the estate. There are things that a trustee and a grantor of an estate can do to diminish how much an estate is taxed by way of a number of tools. In order to make sure these tools are used correctly, you’ll want the help and guidance of a Phoenix estate planning lawyer who understands the laws.

While you won’t really need to worry about inheritance tax (whether you’re the grantor or a beneficiary) it’s important to understand and be protected as much as possible from estate tax, which is handled by the executor of the estate.

You’ll also want to ask your Phoenix estate planning attorney about estate tax on the Arizona-state level. The laws on estate tax change over time, so you’ll want to know what the current laws are when you plan your estate—it could change how you structure the protection of your assets.

If you have any questions about estate or inheritance tax in Arizona, call Thompson Law Firm today at 480.634.7480.

In our last blog, our Phoenix family law attorneys gave some pointers on how to help kids through a divorce. If you have not decided whether divorce is for you or not and it’s because you’re fearful of what it will do to your kids, remember you’re not doing them (or yourself) any favors by staying in a relationship laden with fights, anger, resentment and pain.

Here’s a couple of things you can do to ease the pain of your babies when the divorce is in play.

Rules should be the same in both homes: Mom’s house can’t be a death camp while dad’s house is a free for all funfest. Make sure to be on the same team when it comes to punishments, bedtimes, eating times, homework rules, etc. The kids may not like the rules (what else is new) but if they know the consequences are the same at either house, they’ll know what to expect. Bedtime is really important here — staying on the same sleep schedule helps them in school and is best for a child’s health.

Put the kids ahead of the property: Okay, so you’re angry she got the house, he got the car, it’s not fair she gets to keep the engagement ring that belonged to my grandmother… NONE of this matters as much as the kids and their wellbeing. If you have to have a screaming match about your differences, save it for your Phoenix divorce lawyer’s office.

Your kids need you now — they need you BOTH more than ever because they are experiencing the death of an era just as you are. Play nice… just as you’ve taught your children to!

If you have questions about getting divorced in Arizona, give Thompson Law Firm a call today. We’ll help you any way we can. We know you can get through this!