Taking on the job of executor or trustee is not a role to be taken lightly. If you ignore certain problem signs, you could be setting yourself up for aggravation, red tape, years of work, angry battles with family members and even lawsuits, according to an article on the MSN Money Web site.

“I think people would be shocked to know what’s often involved,” says Blanche Lark Christerson, a director in Wealth Planning Strategies Group for Deutsche Bank Private Banking in New York City.

Maryland's highest court has ruled that a continuing care retirement community's requirement that residents not spend down their assets to qualify for Medicaid violates Medicaid law, at least in cases where a resident is admitted directly into the retirement community's nursing unit. Oak Crest Village, Inc., v. Murphy (Md., No. 27/03, Feb. 9, 2004).

Oak Crest Village is a continuing care retirement community (CCRC), a type of retirement facility that provides the elderly with a range of housing alternatives depending on their needs, from independent housing to assisted living to round-the-clock nursing services—all under one "roof". Residents pay an entry fee and an adjustable monthly rent in return for the guarantee of care for the rest of their life.

I am sure of this. When trust must go before commitment, that relationship is always a multiple contact affair. There have been many useful metaphors chosen to illustrate the intentional and careful cultivation of customer relationships. I have found growing customers to be a lot like tending my garden. The right amount of thoughtful planning and preparation, intelligent nurturing and diligent cultivating — and, yes, intentional even ruthless pruning nearly always pay huge dividends at harvest time.