Real-life situations are a good way to introduce some of the many legal issues that face the LGBT community every day. Let’s take a look at how disability can affect us and complicate our affairs; and how careful planning ahead can make a very real difference.

In all of world history, it is likely that the meaning and practice of marriage has never been discussed, dissected and wrangled over, as much as it has in the past three or four years. A strong push by the international LGBT community and many other supporters of equal civil rights has catapulted marriage laws into the forefront of news around the globe, and 2010 is guaranteed to be a year of action and revelation on every front.

We have talked about powers of attorney, Wills and probate processes in the past couple of months. Possibly you nodded off while reading them, or skipped them entirely. I understand. We don’t like to think about incapacity or death. Also, estate planning is not really for you—it is for those you leave behind. It often takes an unexpected jolt or tragic occurrence to make us say “Oh no! I should have…” or “How awful! He forgot to…” But at that point, it is often too late.

Let’s look at two real life incidents that may make you take action:

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Recently, Dan contacted an attorney with this question: “We have an original lithograph by a famous artist that has been in our family for several generations. For the last few years, it has hung in the living room at my sister’s home here in California. She recently passed away, and her son (my nephew) cleaned out the house and sold most of her furniture. He took some items, including the lithograph, back to his home in Florida. He refuses to return the artwork to me. Everyone in the family knows that it should be mine. It looks like I may have to file a lawsuit to get it back.