Susan Kostal, Caring.com senior editor

Susan Kostal, Senior Editor of the Legal channel, has covered legal affairs issues as a journalist for more than 20 years. Her work has appeared in San Francisco magazine, ABA Journal , and California Lawyer , and on Law.com . She is also an editor for private foundations focusing on policy and healthcare, and she runs roundtable discussions for attorneys and other professional service firms. Susan is a graduate of Drake University and holds a bachelor's degree in news and editorial journalism.

She enjoys keeping up with the many sports activities of her three daughters and notes that her favorite exercise class at the gym is one for seniors. She is the youngest in the class by at least 15 years, and she finds that her most inspiring workout buddies are those in their 60s and 70s. While her parents are healthy and active, Susan is grateful they've understood the importance of planning for their futures and have established trusts, wills, living wills, and durable powers of attorney

Recently Published on Caring.com

  • These documents will ensure that you can assist your loved ones in a medical or financial emergency and, at their deaths, ease the distribution of their estate.  

  • Why identity thieves target older adults, and how to fight back Today, people over age 50 control 70 percent of our nation's wealth. This sets older adults up for a variet...

  • Do you need a will and a trust? What kind of lawyer is needed? If you or someone you're helping has any assets whatsoever -- a checking account, life insurance policies, a...

  • Generation-skipping trusts aren't just for the very wealthy -- they're a way to save any family's assets from excessive taxation, ex-spouses looking for money, and creditor...

  • Quick summaryIf you're the trustee of a parent's or other family member's estate, it will fall to you to distribute his assets and wrap up his affairs. Depending on the siz...

  • The advantages of a revocable living trustA revocable living trust is one of the single most important documents for older adults -- or anyone with assets -- to have in the...

  • Quick summaryt's not uncommon for older adults to fear losing control of their lives. Indeed, as they age, they may try to hang on all the more tightly to their independenc...

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