Estate planning issues can affect families of all shapes and sizes. When you pass away without a will, this can leave behind a tangled mess for your loved ones. This is known as dying intestate. State laws then determine who receives all of your assets and the vast majority of these possessions will pass through… Read More »
Blog Posts
Does Your Teenager Need Estate Planning?
It can be difficult to contemplate that the first step after someone graduating from high school is estate planning, but in the next 6 months you might be preparing to finish your child’s college applications, take them on college visits and to begin to purchase the items that they’ll need to support themselves in college…. Read More »
Estate and Financial Planning Tips for Single Women
There are over 2 million homes across the United States that are headed by a single woman who makes more than $100,000 in a year. Whether these women are widowed, divorced or never got married, one thing they can benefit from is the insight of an experienced estate and financial planning advisor. The most important… Read More »
What You Need to Know About Dealing with an Uncooperative Trustee
If you are the beneficiary of a trust that has been set up by another person and you are experiencing challenges with the trustee or the individual who has been appointed to control distributions from that trust, this can lead to unnecessary family conflict, delays and other problems. As a beneficiary, however, it’s common to… Read More »
Can’t a Child Just Be Added to My Bank Account?
All too often, an estate planning attorney will come forward and have to deal with problems in the probate aspect of a case because of mistakes that were made in the estate planning process. All too often, for example, some estate planning lawyers can learn after the death of a client that the client had… Read More »
Why Does a Will Witness Need to Be Disinterested?
When signing your will, it is likely that you have scheduled a consultation with an experienced estate planning attorney, sat down and discussed what you intend to pass on to others. You can make minor mistakes that could turn out to be big problems in the management of your will after you pass away, and… Read More »
Avoiding Stan Lee’s Estate Planning Mess
Asking important questions over the process of approaching your own estate planning can help to minimize conflicts and concerns and enable you to pass on your assets to your loved ones more easily. Unfortunately, as any number of estate planning snafus can suggest, it is far too easy to end up in a mess that… Read More »
Don’t Forget These Estate Planning Considerations in Your Second Marriage
Getting married for the second time can bring about a great deal of joy in your life but it can also lead to many different questions and concerns. That’s why it’s important to work directly with an experienced estate planning attorney who understands the issues surrounding the second marriage. Some of the following considerations may… Read More »
Should Millennials Plan Their Estate Now?
The investment portfolio of millennials is poised to change the estate planning industry. For many years, estate planners have largely been focused on providing support to baby boomers. Baby boomers will be passing on a significant amount of wealth to future generations in the next couple of decades, but the approaches that worked for baby… Read More »
Don’t Forget These Year End Tax Planning Strategies
New tax laws across the United States should encourage some Americans to evaluate their yearend tax strategies in order to further enhance their wealth. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that it’s time to jump right into 2019 without proper planning. These strategies can be especially helpful since your previous tactics and plans might have… Read More »
What Should You Do If You Have Parents in Their 90s With No Estate Plan?
Parents who do not have an estate plan put everyone in the family in a difficult position of trying to manage a mess if that person becomes incapacitated or suddenly passes away. For an adult only child, this situation can be even more complicated. Trying to figure out how to approach this process with parents… Read More »
How Can a Trust Fund Be Used for Families?
There are many different advantages to establishing a trust fund and although you might have heard that these are primarily vehicles used by affluent families looking to pass on benefits into the future, trust funds offer a variety of benefits, such as safe keeping of assets and tax advantages like minimizing gift and estate taxes…. Read More »
What Are the Basics of Setting Up a Trust Fund?
Trust funds are frequently associated with affluent families that are looking for strict and controlled ways to pass on wealth to future heirs but there are many different advantageous reasons to consider setting up a trust even if you aren’t especially wealthy. Establishing a trust fund is not necessarily easy and you must consider all… Read More »
Are You Prepared for An Unexpected Business Sale?
Nearly half of all offers to buy a business are unexpected, but there is a good chance that you and your business succession planning might not be ready for such an offer. If you do not have a transition plan in place and have not addressed many of those common questions on business succession planning,… Read More »
Are You Making These Life Insurance Mistakes?
If you already have a life insurance policy, there is no doubt that you feel peace of mind and comfort that your loved ones will be taking care of if something happens to you. However, big mistakes can be made if you consider the most common types of life insurance blunders. The most common mistake… Read More »
Avoiding Challenging Financial Conversations at Thanksgiving
Families gather around the Thanksgiving table to share tales from the year and have important conversations while everyone is together in the same room. However, this can also raise difficult financial situations and conflicts for those family members who are not on the same page financially. Although it’s a good opportunity to address critical financial… Read More »
Is My Estate Going to Avoid Probate in California?
Doing advanced planning is necessary if you intend to protect your heirs, minimize consequences for them, and ensure that your estate passes outside of probate. But if you don’t have an experienced estate planning lawyer to guide you through and help you avoid common missteps and problems that most people experience while attempting to avoid… Read More »
Taxes & Estate Planning in 2018/2019
Estate planning might help to structure the distribution of wealth among the deceased’s children, spouse, and friends and relatives, and the second objective was to accomplish tax planning goals. Since the federal estate tax could be applicable for the decedent’s children, appropriate estate planning here helps wealth owners to protect the assets from avoidable taxation…. Read More »
Make Your Estate Simple for You and Your Heirs
Don’t let your estate plan be like the rich and famous. Most people assume they don’t need an estate plan because they’re not rich and famous, or they don’t have substantial assets that they believe would trigger the estate tax. However, if we’ve learned anything from celebrities in the last several years, it’s not a… Read More »
What Factors Influence Healthy Longevity? New Study Explores Answers
Some people suggest that 100 is the new 80 and that longevity means that people need to be looking forward to living a longer period in retirement. There are challenges associated with this, however, if you do not have appropriate long-term care plans put in place. Living longer is only one piece of the puzzle,… Read More »