Are you starting to create your estate plan? If so, you’re likely to come across several terms that reference various roles associated with asset or trust management. The term fiduciary refers to the relationship of trust placed in a person who is serving in a specific role. A fiduciary relationship is one responsible for managing… Read More »
Blog Posts Page 6
Understanding the Trustee’s Duty to Segregate Assets
A trustee should be someone who is organized, honest, and capable of communicating effectively with your beneficiaries. In addition to follow the rules you’ve put forward in your trust, you also want a professional person who is mindful of the relevant laws and requirements of trust management. There are numerous fiduciary duties that impact a… Read More »
Building Retirement Plan to Bridge Income Gaps
What do you want your golden years to look like? Are you planning to work? Do you want to save assets in case of a healthcare crisis? Do you plan to leave behind assets in a trust for your loved ones to receive after you pass away or combine this strategy with lifetime gifts? These… Read More »
Who Will Take Care of Your Financial Decisions If You Are Unable to?
You’ve put a lot of work into building your nest egg. But it can be exposed to risks if you’re not careful to name someone else to make these important decisions and actions for you if you were to become unable to handle that on your own. No one wants to anticipate a future in… Read More »
Defining What Retirement Looks Like for You
Every person’s retirement and retirement age might look different. A study from 2021 found that only 27% of workers in the United States are confident that they’ll be able to retire comfortably. Now is the perfect opportunity to evaluate your estate and retirement plans to make sure that you’ve thought carefully about what you want… Read More »
It’s Time to Do Estate Planning for Millennials
Millennials have not been immune to many of the most common challenges presented by the recent pandemic. More Americans than ever have had to step back and think about the importance of a financial plan but this can be very overwhelming especially in light of all of the unknowns around the pandemic’s long term impacts…. Read More »
How to Use Buy/Sell Insurance as Part of Your Business Succession Planning
When a business partner leaves the practice suddenly and there was no plan in place, this can cause unnecessary chaos and business disruptions. Many business owners now recognize that changes could be just around the corner that require them to update their business succession plans. This is because possible tax proposals on the table mean… Read More »
What’s the Difference Between Nursing Homes and Home Care?
Especially if you have a loved one who has recently been diagnosed with dementia, you have many important things to consider. The first of these is whether or not they need additional care beyond what you and family members can provide. Choices like this are never easy especially when your loved one wants to stay… Read More »
These Four Things Are the Most Important Items to Include in Your Will
No one wants their loved ones dealing with the stress of a poorly planned estate. And yet, so many family members are left to put the pieces together after the loss of a loved one. You can help avoid this for your heirs by creating an estate plan. Detailing your last wishes and providing a… Read More »
Do I Need a Will If I Already Have a Trust?
The creation of a trust is a powerful and strategic estate planning tool, but it shouldn’t be the only thing you consider in protecting your assets and providing for your future. You might be tempted to cross “estate planning” off your to do list once you’ve created a trust, but remember that you’ll need a… Read More »
Study Finds That This Factor Influences an Affluent or Comfortable Retirement
Retirement planning and estate planning both require careful work in advance to help you reach your goals. Most people are looking ahead for their best opportunities to support their own retirement financial needs and leave behind an impactful legacy for their loved ones. The good news is that with the right planning, you can do… Read More »
Who Can Be a Life Insurance Beneficiary?
Although often thought of as distinct from your overall estate planning, a life insurance policy probably factors into the big picture. Leaving behind assets directly or through tools such as a trust is optional and beneficial for you when you already own those assets. But what if you do not have enough assets set aside… Read More »
What’s Your Long Term Care Plan?
If you got into an accident or developed a medical condition that meant you couldn’t take care of yourself, who would help you? Most people haven’t thought through this and end up relying on family members in the short term. But what if you really need the support and care that can only be provided… Read More »
When Is It Too Late for Someone to Create a Will?
Adult children who realize that they must step in and care for their aging parents suddenly have many things to deal with and many questions. It can be even more difficult to learn that your loved one did not engage in any estate planning. The transition of control from your loved one’s personal affairs to… Read More »
When Does Medi-Cal Pay for a Nursing Home?
Outside of long term care insurance, you can’t count on anyone but you to pay your nursing home bill unless you’ve done some advanced planning with the help of a Pasadena lawyer. Some people are under the impression that Medicare will automatically pick up the full tab, but this is not the case. Medicare only… Read More »
Understanding How IRA Assets Transfer at Death
IRA ownership passes to either through a beneficiary designation or pursuant to default provisions listed in IRA documents if there is no beneficiary designation. This means that provisions inside your will do not govern the distribution of assets inside your IRA. If you do not complete your beneficiary designation form to allow another person to… Read More »
Who Are the People Involved in My Living Trust?
There are a few different people involved in the creation and management of your living trust. The first of these is you, the grantor. This is the person who sets up the trust and you might hear this referred to as other names, such as creator, settlor, or trustor. As the creator of a living… Read More »
What Things Does a Personal Rep Need to Inventory with an Estate?
The first step in probating a person’s estate is to locate all of the critical estate planning documents and papers. The estate planning documents might include a will, burial or memorial instructions, and details about a revocable living trust. These documents might or might not be stored together. The important papers belonging to the decedent… Read More »
How Long Should Probate Last?
You can organize your estate in advance to get your own peace of mind, but these actions also help your loved ones navigate what’s expected when you pass away. Probate is often avoided through the use of advanced estate planning tools. There are a number of different factors that can influence the amount of time… Read More »
What Does it Mean to Own Something as Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship?
Purchasing property with someone else raises a lot of complex questions about management and ownership responsibilities. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship is one term that you may come across in the process of purchasing property. Joint tenants referred to two or more individuals who own property together, and there must be four requirement factors… Read More »