Becky Cholewka: I wanted to do a quick video on how not to get legal advice because, unfortunately, this is one of the biggest areas that I see a lot of people trip up on. A lot of people are getting legal advice from their tax person, their financial
Setting Up POD or TOD On Your Bank Accounts
Advance DirectivesAsset DistributionAsset ProtectionBeneficiariesBusiness PlanningDebt SettlementDisinheritanceDocumentsEstate PlanningFinancesIndividual Retirement AccountsInheritanceJoint AccountsOnline AccountsProbateWidowsWills
Becky Cholewka says: I wanted to take a moment and give you a couple tips about your checking savings and brokerage accounts. One way to make sure these accounts avoid the probate process is to make sure you have a beneficiary listed on each of your
The difference between simple and typical documents
BeneficiariesBusiness PlanningDocumentsEstate AdministrationEstate PlanningFuneral PlanningInheritanceIrrevocable TrustsMedicare Advanced PlanningRevocable Living TrustSpecial Needs PlanningTrusteesTrustsWill ChallengesWills
Becky Cholewka: One of the things I hear all the time, probably about 3-4 times a week in my office is “Becky, you know what, I’m simple. I just need simple documents.” What I really think people are trying to tell me is that they are “typical”. Maybe
Living Wills for Pets
In the same way that many people have difficulty thinking of and planning for their own mortality, they struggle when considering a pet's mortality. We love our furry friends; planning for the day we lose them is something most people prefer to
I Don’t Want the State to Get My Money & Other Concerns…
One of the most common concerns I hear is "I don't want the state to end up with my money." Fortunately, that scenario almost never happens. Money only escheats (reverts back) to the State when you do not have any heirs that could inherit your estate.
Even With the Best Planning – Families Disagree
We have families in our office all of the time who are worried about will or trust contests after their death. Our answer, although harsh but is the truth, there is no way to keep someone from contesting your will or trust. The best we can do is to make i
Is your Estate Plan a Trojan Horse?
On January 31st of 2014, the Chinese celebrated the Year of the Horse. Which got me thinking about famous horses: Black Beauty, Secretariat, Trigger, Sea Biscuit, Silver, the Budweiser Clydesdales, Man O’ War, Pokey, and even the Trojan Horse. That fam
What is Your Legacy?
"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remain and is immortal." Albert Pine I often hear the term Legacy Planning. Some think it is planning for and accumulating a substantial amount of money to leave behind. Other
Springing Powers (Not Spring Flowers)
Powers of Attorney (POA) are state specific documents. That means each state has its own rules on what each document must say and how it must be executed. Because of this, a POA from Arizona may not work in Ohio and vice versa. In Arizona, there are th
Are you a Procrastinator? (If so, read this later!)
A USA Today poll found that the #1 reason people had not yet created a will was procrastination. Procrastination is prioritizing less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable things even
Let’s Eat Grandma! Let’s Eat, Grandma!
(Commas save lives)
I saw this t-shirt in the Sky Mall magazine a few years back and completely cracked up. Crazy as it may seem, punctuation, grammar, and correct usage of legal words and phrases can save thousands of dollars on litigation and estate administration costs.
Tips To Aid Adult Children
Lots of retirees are interested in assisting their adult children financially these days. The children, now in their 30s, 40s or 50s, may have lost a job, gotten a divorce or have their own children ready to go to college. http://gty.im/159955126 Bu
Inheriting A Collection May Mean Work
Adult children inherit many things when their parents pass away: money, property, family heirlooms and, sometimes, collectables. In many cases, it can be tricky to figure out what to do with the collectables. Photos (Photo credits: PB Teen) A st
Celebrity Estate Planning Mistakes Teach Lessons
Even though they usually have the money to get the best advice, celebrities often make mistakes with their estate plans. Cover of Robin Williams An article in Forbes suggests a few lessons recent celebrity deaths can teach us about estate planning.
Inheriting A Windfall
Money (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013) Say you received a nice inheritance. Do you just go out and start spending willy-nilly? Best not to, according to a story posted on dailyfinance.com. Figuring out how to handle a sudden windfall is an issue many