Power of Attorney: There’s Always Room for Family Conflict

Anyone who grew up in a dysfunctional family understands the potential for discord when it comes to the family estate and an inheritance. But even in the closest of families, if there’s money involved, there’s room for conflict.

Power of Attorney: Choose the person you can trust

In Alana’s case, the dust was still settling on her third divorce, and one of her kids was in and out of rehab for substance abuse. The youngest of three siblings, Alana always struggled to measure up to her rock-star brother and sister—they were the ones who excelled at everything they did, winning awards, graduating with honors and building successful careers. She was the one who always seemed to make a mess of everything.

And now her parents had named her brother their Agent for their Power of Attorney. She was hurt because this was something she had wanted to do—a chance to redeem herself to her family. But the fact that her own financial affairs were a mess and she couldn’t balance her own checkbook led her father to appoint her investment banker brother. It was he who would also be the Executor of the estate. Her sister, a doctor, would be their parents’ Agent for their Healthcare Directives. Alana was left out once again.

Your Power of Attorney is the person who will act on your behalf if you become incapacitated, the one who will take over your financial affairs, pay your bills and taxes, open bank accounts, withdraw funds, cash checks and trade stocks. It must be someone you trust; ideally, it’s someone who lives close by.

Parents tend to appoint one of their children as Power of Attorney for practical reasons. Many put their faith in their oldest child or choose the son or daughter who lives closest or the one who has a financial services background. In the same vein, for their Agent for an Advance Healthcare Directive, parents are likely to choose a son or daughter with healthcare experience.

There are limits on the powers of the Power of Attorney designation

• Right to information. The parent does not have to disclose to friends and family whom he or she named as Agent under the Power of Attorney. Likewise, that Agent is not obligated to provide information about the parent to his or her siblings.
• Limits on the powers of a Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney designation does not enable the Agent to do whatever he or she wants. An Agent cannot change the principal’s will, breach his or her fiduciary duty or change or transfer the Power of Attorney designation to someone else.
• Power of Attorney expires at death. When the parent dies, the Power of Attorney ends and the Executor of the estate – appointed by either the principal or the court – takes control over the decedent’s property.
• Revocation of a Power of Attorney. The parent can revoke whomever he/she has appointed as the Power of Attorney. The revocation must be in writing and the former Agent Power of Attorney should be advised of the revocation.

Avoiding the potential for sibling discord

Sometimes conflict is inevitable. One child may be resentful that he or she was not chosen. Another child may not trust the chosen sibling to act according to the parent’s wishes. Just knowing that a Power of Attorney can be challenged in court is often enough for a sibling to act on his or her distrust or resentment. To minimize confrontations, as the principal appointing the Power of Attorney, there are alternative solutions:

• Designate co-Agents in the Power of Attorney document. Appointing two persons can be problematic if the Agents cannot get along. You could create separate responsibilities for each Agent, but that can be unwieldy and still can lend itself to conflict.
• Avoid appointing a family member altogether. Name a close friend, fiduciary or a bank. Avoiding conflicts and court involvement is important to ensure your wishes will be followed.

A Living Trust: One of the most thoughtful things you can do for your family

A Living Trust is a legal document that contains instructions for what you want to happen to your assets when you die. For my family, it meant that when my parents died, all of their affairs were in order, they had transferred all of their assets into the Living Trust and identified their heirs. Without a Living Trust, their estate would have gone into Probate and my brother and I would have been dealing with this long, expensive process—even while mourning the death of our parents.

Guideway is proud of our comprehensive Living Trust package that includes a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. Best of all, we guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment with Guideway today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

Reverse Mortgage: Solution or Scam?

When Jeannie was having trouble making ends meet after her husband died, she asked my friend Jim what he thought about reverse mortgages. Jim spent 40 years in the financial services industry, and these guys tend to be wary of things like life insurance and reverse mortgages. As predicted, Jim told her it was a very bad idea. To her credit, Jeannie ignored Jim and decided to go through with a reverse mortgage on the home she and her husband bought more than 30 years ago.

The right decision for Jeannie and many other seniors

It’s been four years, and for Jeannie, it was the right decision. A reverse mortgage has eased her cash-flow problems and improved the quality of her life. For many older homeowners, a reverse mortgage is the ideal way to supplement retirement income, consolidate debts or cover expenses like health care.

Accessing your home’s equity and using it like a savings account

A reverse mortgage is a type of loan that’s designed to give people access to the equity they’ve built up in their homes. In Jeannie’s case, this was considerable—a lovely home in Pasadena that they bought 30+ years ago that was paid off. The borrower gets what is, in effect, a tax-free advance on their equity, in the form of a line of credit, fixed monthly payments or a lump sum. For most reverse mortgages, homeowners must use the proceeds to pay off their existing mortgage; the remainder of the loan comes due when the owner moves, sells the house or dies.

Available to homeowners 62 and over, reverse mortgages are somewhat complex, and they can be risky. With a target audience of potentially vulnerable seniors, scam artists have proliferated, drawing homeowners into bad or outright bogus deals. While the scams vary, the premise remains the same: The scammers want to put the home equity these seniors have spent years accumulating into their own pockets.

Beware a group effort by a team of real-estate industry scammers

It’s often a group effort, with unscrupulous mortgage brokers or financial advisers joining forces with corrupt appraisers, attorneys and loan officers. They’ll finagle an inflated appraisal of a home’s value, thus inflating the equity and the potential loan, and try to persuade the owner to take out a reverse mortgage. The team of crooks will handle the paperwork, close the loan and come up with a pretext to get the money or even take title to the house.

• These fraudsters might try to sell you on a supposedly can’t-miss investment or financial product.
• A scam contractor may fast-talk you into using a reverse mortgage to pay for home improvements.
• Some scammers target financially strapped homeowners, touting reverse mortgages as a way to avoid foreclosure or get out of debt.
• They may charge fees running into the thousands of dollars to provide information about reverse mortgages that’s actually available for free from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

In California, you’re required to meet with a HUD counselor

Note that for a legitimate reverse mortgage in California, you must meet with a reverse mortgage counselor approved by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). This counselor is trained to make sure you thoroughly understand the benefits and risks of reverse mortgages.

Warning signs of reverse mortgage scams

• A broker or lender uses high-pressure tactics to try to talk you into a reverse mortgage.
• They claim the loan is safe because it’s insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The FHA does insure some reverse mortgages, but that coverage doesn’t protect the borrower; it’s for the lender, in case of default.
• They don’t disclose the fees, conditions and risks that come with taking out a reverse mortgage, including the possible loss of the home, which serves as collateral.

Tips for avoiding scams. Do not:

• Respond to unsolicited advertisements.
• Sign anything that you do not fully understand.
• Accept payment from individuals for a home you did not purchase.

Be suspicious of anyone claiming that you can own a home with no down payment.

To report a scam: AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline. 877-908-3360

A Living Trust: One of the most thoughtful things you can do for your family

A Living Trust is a legal document that contains instructions for what you want to happen to your assets when you die. For my family, it meant that when my parents died, all of their affairs were in order, they had transferred all of their assets into the Living Trust and identified their heirs. Without a Living Trust, their estate would have gone into Probate and my brother and I would have been dealing with this long, expensive process—even while mourning the death of our parents.

Guideway is proud of our comprehensive Living Trust package that includes a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. Best of all, we guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment with Guideway today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

Wearables Have Stepped up to Monitor Your Health

A Guideway Trust client, Shirley, decided that the new year was time for making long overdue changes to her life. She made an appointment to create a Living Trust, which includes a Power of Attorney and an Advance Healthcare Directive, that she’d been putting off for years. She started doing yoga twice/week and got serious about using the smartwatch her kids gave her for Christmas.

Smartwatches keep getting smarter

A 62-year old bookkeeper, Shirley has high blood pressure and some other health issues. She’s delighted with her smartwatch—she sets alarms during the day that remind her to get up from her desk and stretch–this is especially important as tax season looms. She now takes a brisk walk during her lunch break, and she’s using her smartwatch to monitor her blood pressure and oxygen levels.

Today’s smartwatches and other health-related wearables do a lot more than count steps or let you see how many calories you’ve burned.

Socks monitor foot temperature, helping reduce foot ulcers for diabetes patients

San Francisco-based Siren is producing a wearable for your feet–machine-washable socks for people living with diabetes and neuropathy. The socks come with a Bluetooth hub that plugs in and lets a team of nurses monitor the temperature of the foot, which Siren says has been shown to reduce diabetic foot ulcers by up to 87.5 percent. On the market for about five years, Medicare covers the cost. You need a prescription but not a smartphone.

Other health wearables on the cusp

• Swiss startup Aktiia announced plans to bring its automated wrist-worn 24/7 blood pressure device to the United States. The company has about 15,000 customers in Europe.
• Abbott announced a new line of consumer “biowearables” to continuously track signals for glucose, ketones and lactate. It will eventually track alcohol levels.
• Worn on the back of the arm, FreeStyle Libre is about the size of two stacked quarters and is used widely by diabetics. A tiny filament the width of three human hairs is placed just below the surface of the skin, where it measures molecular biomarkers. Data is sent via Bluetooth to an app on your smartphone every minute, giving users insights into what’s going on in real time. It’s available by prescription and lasts 14 days, when the user peels it off and applies a new one.

Information accuracy is best when backed up by a doctor or FDA

While there are no guarantees with these wearable devices, you generally can put more faith in a device that your doctor prescribes or recommends, or that has the blessing of the FDA.

Swiss company Aktiia plans to make its blood pressure watch available through doctors rather than as a direct-to-consumer offering, at least initially. The company is engaged in clinical partnerships and pilots in the U.S., including a study with hypertension patients at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. As the technology evolves, so will the safety and data protocols.

Data must be understandable and secure

When in doubt, reach out to your doctor. The onus is on the makers of the wearable devices to clearly explain what the data mean and the consequences. You should also be informed about a device’s limitations. A good example: When you launch the ECG app on the Apple Watch, you’ll see a message that says “Apple Watch never checks for heart attacks.”

If you’re not aware of privacy issues these days, you’re not paying attention. Find out how the device makers and medical providers plan to safeguard your information and keep it confidential. The FTC affirmed in September 2021 that health apps and connected devices that collect or hold fertility, glucose level, heart health and other health data must notify consumers in the event of a breach.

With the promise comes peril

“There’s promise in all of this technology, but also peril,” says Patrice Harris, chief executive officer and cofounder of digital health care company eMed and former president of the American Medical Association. “I always say proceed with caution and have some curiosity.”

Creating a Living Trust: One of the most thoughtful things you can do for your family

A Living Trust is a legal document that contains instructions for what you want to happen to your assets when you die. For my family, it meant that when my parents died, all of their affairs were in order, they had transferred all of their assets into the Living Trust and identified their heirs. Without a Living Trust, their estate would have gone into Probate and my brother and I would have been dealing with this long, expensive process—even while mourning the death of our parents.

Guideway is proud of our comprehensive Living Trust package that includes a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. Best of all, we guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment with Guideway today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley,

How Will We Be Eating in 2022? Think Healthy

You may or may not make formal New Year’s resolutions, but many of us make little promises to ourselves–to spend more time with our families, to exercise more and eat a healthier diet. To tackle that old to-do list. Creating a Living Trust tops many to-do lists. After nearly two years of Covid and no end in sight, creating a Trust has never been more important. Our Trust package includes a Power of Attorney and an Advance Healthcare Directive. Make this part of your healthier New Year.

Eating a healthier diet is the overarching food trend of the year

Whole Foods’ Trends Council identified seven food trends for 2022. Who are these guys? The Trends Council is made up of local foragers, regional and global buyers and culinary experts. Their predictions are based on their experience in product sourcing and studying consumer preferences and emerging brands. Important consideration is given to how the pandemic has impacted our buying habits.

These seven trends made it to the Trends Council’s hot list

1. Ultra-urban farming: Faster time to market means more nutritious

Urban farming has gotten a big boost from technology, and hyper-local produce can be grown more sustainably. The big benefit: more nutritious produce. Brooklyn’s Gotham Greens started out with a 20,000-square-foot greenhouse, and they’re now working on their ninth hydroponic greenhouse.

2. “Reducetarianism” foods: We’re cutting way back on animal products

Americans are reducing consumption of meat and animal products. I’m now eating a mostly plant-based diet and I’ve found that many of my friends and colleagues are cutting down on meat as well—even if it’s only one or two days/week. When they do eat animal products, reducetarians make sure they’re eating high quality, like Epic Provisions bison bacon cranberry bar, made with grass-fed bison and Applegate Well Carved burgers, made with a mix of grass-fed beef and vegetables.

3. Hibiscus

Hibiscus has long been recognized for its culinary and medicinal applications. You can eat the flower straight from the plant, but it’s more generally used in tea, relishes, jam and salads. High in vitamin C, it’s packed with antioxidants. It helps boost immunity, lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

4. Buzz-less spirits

The market for nonalcoholic spirits is on fire; it’s expected to grow a whopping 35 percent by 2023. There’s a widening array of nonalcoholic drinks, and low-alcohol seltzers have seized the market. Winemakers are looking for new ways to reach the consumer who doesn’t want a buzz. Ask any of the 500+ winery owners in the Napa Valley and they’ll tell you that wine sales are down and baby boomers are no longer buying those high-priced cabernets. Consumers’ growing interest in wellness has contributed to the no- and low-alcohol products.

6. Sunflower seeds

Sunflower seed-based products are now a trend—they’re showing up in crackers, spreads, ice cream and cheese. Ben & Jerry’s new flavors are made with sunflower butter–Creme Brulée Cookie and Mint Chocolate Cookie. Those who are allergic to nuts find that they can eat delicious sunflower seed products. Think peanut butter that’s made with sunflower seeds, delivering a rich, nutty taste that doesn’t kill them--Mother Butter, Fix & Fogg Oaty Nut Butter.

7. Prebiotics

Prebiotics are special plant fibers that help healthy bacteria grow in your gut, making your digestive system work better. Prebiotics are found in garlic, onions, asparagus, bananas and barley. Drinks like Poppi have become popular for their natural prebiotics from unfiltered apple cider vinegar, keeping gut and immune system healthy.

A Living Trust provides peace of mind

A Living Trust is a legal document that contains instructions for what you want to happen to your assets when you die. For my family, it meant that when my parents died, all of their affairs were in order, they had transferred all of their assets into the Living Trust and identified their heirs. Without a Living Trust, an estate goes into Probate.

We’re proud of our comprehensive Living Trust package that includes a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. Best of all, we guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment with Guideway today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield

The Holidays. The Perfect Time to Talk about a Living Trust!

My family tried for years to get my folks to create a Living Trust. While my mom was an easy sell, it was my stepfather, Charlie, who was the holdout. A retired Navy pilot, we figured it was some kind of macho-military thing. He wouldn’t listen to my mom, his daughters or me. But one year during the holidays, my brother brought the subject up, explaining how difficult Probate can be for grieving families. Bingo. It took the intervention of a male for Charlie to take this seriously.

Charlie and my mom finally created their Living Trust when they were in their mid-70s. It took my brother’s intervening again to get my folks to update that Trust when they were in their early 90s. By that time, they were very frail, though they still had testamentary capacity. This update was important, as they’d made some good investments, and one of Charlie’s daughters had died.

Let’s face it—there’s never a great time to talk about end-of-life planning

Yet if your efforts to get your parents or other family members to create a Living Trust have fallen flat, it might be that the holidays are the time for this conversation to resurface. Additional family members may provide the support you need.

A Living Trust provides peace of mind

A Living Trust is a legal document that contains instructions for what you want to happen to your assets when you die. For my family, it meant that when my parents died, all of their affairs were in order, they had transferred all of their assets into the Living Trust and identified their heirs. Without a Living Trust, their estate would have gone into Probate and my brother likely would have been the one having to work through the Probate process for our family.

Our Trust package includes a Power of Attorney and a Healthcare Directive

A Financial Power of Attorney, a written authorization to represent or act on another’s behalf is an important part of life planning. As people age, it’s not unusual for their memories to fade and their thinking to become unclear. The time often comes when they can no longer pay their own bills, interact with their healthcare providers, insurance representatives and other professionals—yet it’s critical that they continue these services. Having a trusted family member or friend step in as Financial Power of Attorney means that the services and care they require will seamlessly continue.

An Advance Healthcare Directive specifies what actions should be taken for your health if you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself because of illness or incapacity. We all like to think that we’re going to age gracefully and die peacefully in our sleep at a ripe old age, but the reality is that people have massive strokes, fall into comas and have debilitating accidents. Planning ahead and creating an Advance Healthcare Directive makes it easier for your family to care for you if an unfortunate situation arises.

A thoughtful gift for your family this holiday: Create or update your Living Trust.

With families gathered for the holidays, it’s the perfect time to encourage procrastinating relatives to create or update their Living Trusts. We’re proud of our comprehensive Living Trust package that includes a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. Best of all, we guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment with Guideway today.

 

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

Covid Hijacks the Holidays: Evaluating Your Risk Tolerance

Just about the time we thought it was safe to enjoy the holidays, omicron has popped up to spoil our fun. We kicked off the holidays just a few weeks ago with money in our pockets and high expectations. We prepped for in-person parties and planned trips to exotic locales. We looked forward to simply sharing the holidays with those we love. But Covid’s a cunning adversary. Within a matter of days, this new variant has sabotaged the holiday plans of millions of people around the globe.

Home alone again for the holidays

A colleague and her husband looked forward to taking their two young sons to South Africa, where her husband grew up. Africa is where omicron first surfaced, and their flights have been canceled. One 72-year old woman hadn’t seen her grandchildren in nearly three years. Her holiday plans included a trip to Denver to visit her unvaccinated son and his family. But with infections spiking, she and her husband will be home alone again this year.

As Covid sweeps the country: Is the booster the new vaccine passport?

Broadway shows are being canceled and the Metropolitan Opera will require proof of booster shots. Its new rule  for staff and audience members takes effect in January—will this become the new vaccine passport?

Major corporations are delaying the return to the workplace—employees will continue working virtually for the foreseeable future. Apple delayed its return to the office “to a date yet to be determined.” It also temporarily shut stores in Annapolis, Md., Miami and Ottawa in response to a rise in coronavirus cases.

To go or not to go: Think of your life in terms of value exchanges

According to psychologist Arathi Sethumadhavan in APA Monitor on Psychology, “human beings, when given the time, are always doing a value exchange, weighing the benefits of what they’re getting vs what they’re giving up.” One of my colleagues thinks of this as tiny banking transactions. We’re always running either a debit or credit balance with our family and friends. Use this same principle to evaluate your Covid risk for the holidays: Weigh the benefits of how badly you want to go somewhere or see someone vs the severity of the risk.

Evaluating your risk tolerance

Ask yourself a few questions to think through whether an event is worth attending:  

• Are you fully vaccinated and boosted? If so, it’s much safer to gather with others, even with omicron circulating around us. Do you also have a strong immune system, rarely getting colds and flu?
• Do you have underlying health conditions?If so, consult your doctor about how to approach holiday gatherings.
• Do you know whether the people you’re gathering with are vaccinated? If you don’t know their status, especially when it comes to younger children, consider precautions like masking indoors or being in an outdoor environment.
• How big is the gathering you want to attend and what is the setting? Determine what size gathering feels comfortable and whether you are open to indoor gatherings.

Guideway’s Living Trust package

As you get caught up on vaccines that will help you and your family stay healthy through the coming months, this is also a great time to create or update your Trust. With families gathered for the holidays, it’s also the perfect time to encourage aging family members to create a Living Trust.

We’re proud of our comprehensive Living Trust package that includes a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. Best of all, we guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment with Guideway today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

Is It Time to Redefine “Fully Vaccinated”?

Nearly two years of Covid, and the emerging variants indicate that it’s not going away anytime soon. We’ve adapted our business models and facilities to create safe environments. At Guideway, the uncertainty of this pandemic has resulted in an increase in people creating or updating their Living Trusts. A Trust is especially important for those with young children. If something happens to you, who will care for your children? Without a Trust, the court appoints a guardian for your kids. By creating a Trust, you can name a guardian and be assured that your family will inherit your assets as you have planned. In the meantime, getting a booster shot is the best way to protect yourself against Covid.

The CDC is now recommending booster shots for everyone over 18

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending that everyone 18 and older get a Covid booster shot. This messaging is more urgent than that of just a few months ago when the recommendation was for those 50 and older. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, is now unequivocal in advising the public to “get boosted now.”

According to CDC Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, “As science evolves, we will look at whether we need to update our definition of ‘fully vaccinated.’ The definition hasn’t changed. That’s after your second dose of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, after your single dose of a Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”

Even with vaccinations, immunity wanes

Two state governors are taking the booster seriously.

• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont. “In my view, if you were vaccinated more than six months ago, you’re not fully vaccinated,” said Lamont on Nov. 18 during a press briefing. He was encouraging everyone to get boosted—even before the federal government authorized extra shots for everyone.
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had a similar response in mid-November, saying she defined “fully vaccinated” as receiving three shots of the mRNA type. She also opened up booster eligibility to all of her state residents before the CDC and Food and Drug Administration did.

Infections with the omicron variant have been reported in at least five states. Omicron is distinguished by at least 50 mutations, some of which appear to be associated with increased transmissibility. The World Health Organization dubbed it a “variant of concern” on Nov. 26.

The social implications of changing vaccination status

An increasing number of venues require proof of vaccination for entrance. New York City’s Key to NYCrequires that people 12 and older show identification and proof they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine for access to indoor dining, fitness and entertainment venues. France’s Pass Sanitaire is required for access to all cultural venues, restaurants and bars. Passengers of long-distance trains, buses and domestic airlines need this pass. Think of all of the workplaces that have vaccine mandates—the Department of Defense, Goldman Sachs, MacDonalds, Cisco, American Express, Facebook, Ford, etc. It’s a growing list.

One doctor doesn’t quantify “fully vaccinated”

Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences thinks more suitable terminology would be to call someone “adequately” vaccinated against covid rather than “fully” vaccinated, since it’s possible that more boosters could be needed in the future — making “full vaccination” a matter of semantics and a moving target.

Businesses don’t appear to be checking for boosters at this time, but that could change. There may be a time when patrons present a two-shot vaccine passport, only to be turned away as inadequately protected.

A thoughtful gift for your family this holiday: Create or update your Living Trust.

As you prepare your home for winter and get caught up on vaccines that will help you and your family stay healthy through the coming months, this is also a great time to create or update your Living Trust. With families gathered for the holidays, it’s also the perfect time to encourage aging family members to create their Living Trusts.

We’re proud of our comprehensive Living Trust package that includes a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. Best of all, we guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment with Guideway today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.