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 »
Blog Posts
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 »
Study Finds When Wealthy People Are Most Likely to Make Charitable Bequests
Has it been on your to-do-list for some time to make charitable bequests? A recent Urban Institute study found that wealthy people are likely to give to their charity during the course of their life, but rarely do so at death. Those people who do leave behind charitable bequests tend to make big gifts, according… Read More »
Every Business Needs Succession Planning
Plenty of studies have identified that numerous companies are skipping out on the process of estate planning and only learning the dangers of doing so after the fact when a business is forced to scramble very quickly. The talent gap is real across businesses in the United States and plenty of companies are feeling the… Read More »
Planning Professionals You Need to Meet with After a Diagnosis of Dementia
Has a loved one in your family recently been diagnosed with dementia? You may be trying to sort out what this diagnosis means for you as well as your other family members and there’s a good chance that you have many different questions about how your life will need to change. Much is dependent on… Read More »
What You Need to Know About Assigning QTIP Income Interest
The current estate tax exemption is $11.18 million and double that for married couples. There has been an increased emphasis in the estate planning industry on portability planning, particularly for those wealthy couples who have a combined estate that is above the $11.18 million mark but below the combined exemption amount. A portability plan considers… Read More »
Should You Give an Early Inheritance to Your Kids?
Should you give your kids an early inheritance? This is a common question asked of many estate planning advisors and professionals, but it is not one that you should undertake without the careful planning provided by a knowledgeable attorney. Giving your kids an early inheritance might seem like a good way to get things out… Read More »
Who Are Exempted Recipients for Asset Transfers with Medicaid?
If you have just begun to broach the process of Medicaid planning, you likely understand that it is state specific and can be extremely complex. Transferring assets to some people will trigger a period of Medicaid ineligibility, which could set you back by several months or longer due to transferring assets because you didn’t understand… Read More »
Are You Avoiding Business Succession Planning Because of the Fear Factor?
The founder’s fear of the mind is, in fact, one of the biggest barriers to effective business succession planning, according to a leading academic that studies families. A mother or father’s fear for their own future and their concerns about running out of resources to live on, often can be manifested when it comes time… Read More »
Is a Financial Advisor Enough for Proper Planning?
Finding the right financial advisor is one important component of engaging with your estate planning and ensuring that you have the right documentation to accomplish your goals, but do you know the things that your financial advisor shouldn’t do? Are you fully versed in how to approach all of the aspects of financial planning in… Read More »
Who Are Exempted Recipients for Asset Transfers with Medicaid?
If you have just begun to broach the process of Medicaid planning, you likely understand that it is state specific and can be extremely complex. Transferring assets to some people will trigger a period of Medicaid ineligibility, which could set you back by several months or longer due to transferring assets because you didn’t understand… Read More »
Do You Really Need to Avoid the Guardianship System?
Among some of the many reasons that you might wish to consider putting together a comprehensive estate plan with the support of an attorney is avoiding the guardianship system. There have been plenty of different news articles that have detailed families that have had to go through the alarmingly difficult situation of figuring out what… Read More »
Could a Whole Life Insurance Policy Be Better Than a Long-Term Care Insurance Purchase?
If you’re getting towards the point of retirement, there’s a good chance that you already know some family members or even some friends who have gone through the difficult situation of needing support from a nursing home and not being able to pay for it. You might have even been approached by insurance agents promoting… Read More »
An Economics Professor at Harvard Recently Published A Study That Shows That Women Can Lose Out When They Retire at The Same Time as Their Husbands
Deciding to retire at the same time as your husband might make a lot of sense so that you can spend time together. However, there are other possibilities and challenges that could affect you. Married women are overall still considered in their peak earning years in their 50s and early 60s, whereas married men’s earnings… Read More »
Study Shows That Medicaid Spending Will Hit $1 Trillion Within A Decade
If you are contemplating how best to support yourself in your older years and are curious about the possibility of long term care events or cognitive decline diagnoses that could be challenging for you or your loved ones, you need the support of an experienced estate planning lawyer to help you understand long term Medicaid… Read More »