Estate Planning Is Like Baking
For a wedding gift my cousin gave me a Hershey cookbook. It has the most scrumptious recipe for a triple-layer chocolate torte: three layers of super moist chocolate cake with an airy light chocolate cream filing covered in warm grenache sauce and sprinkled with chocolate shavings. It is a chocolate lover’s dream. I […]
Trigger Events That Require Review of Your Estate Plan
Almost as important as creating an estate plan is updating it. While an estate plan should at least be reviewed on a yearly basis, there are certain trigger events that require immediate review of your estate planning documents. A recent article discusses some of these events. It is important to remember that trigger events should […]
Pet Trusts
Your pet may be your best friend or your most loyal companion who gives you unconditional love, but when you die, your pet is considered property just like your china or your pots and pans. You cannot leave money to your pet and you should name a guardian for your pet if you want […]
Advantages of the Mobility Trust
It is not uncommon for individuals or families to move from one state to another. Often, individuals or families who are anticipating a move are hesitant to draft estate-planning documents. This hesitation stems from the fact that the individual laws of each state govern probate. A recent article offers an estate planning solution for those […]
An Inventory of Assets is Essential to your Estate Plan
We all have mountains of paperwork we file away each month: bills, retirement account statements, investment statements, life insurance policy value updates. Some of us now also have many accounts online which require passwords and usernames for access instead of paper statements. When someone passes away, finding all the accounts, insurance policies, and necessary information […]
Estate Planning: Questions You Should Ask
Estate planning is a very complicated area of the law. This is a rather unfortunate fact when considering that estate planning is an area of the law that applies to virtually everyone. A recent article articulates some questions you should be sure to ask your estate planning attorney. Will My Assets Fund My Trust? One […]
Simple Tips for Special Needs Estate Planning
When creating an estate plan, parents of special needs children need to be extra careful to be sure that they have properly provided for the continued care of their special needs child after their death. However, many parents continue to put off estate planning, sometimes with disastrous consequences. A recent article discusses some basic estate […]
Do You Need Life Insurance?
Cost/Benefit Analysis for Life Insurance Every month some people put money into expensive life insurance policies which they may not need rather than having more money to put into groceries, rent or a college fund for their children. Typically young, healthy adults who don’t have children could be making better investments than putting money […]
The Benefits of Dynasty Estate Planning
Estate planning has traditionally been considered to be a set of tools used to deal with the financial consequences of death. Many people plan their estates with an eye towards avoiding probate or litigation, and minimizing estate taxes. Estate plans designed for these purposes are typically completed shortly after the death of the executor. A […]
Do You Need a Revocable Living Trust?
What is a Living Trust? Lawyers and financial planners often talk about revocable living trusts, but what are they and do you need one? A revocable living trust is a trust which is created by a principal (the person or group putting assets into the trust) and is funded immediately. Some trusts are not […]