Category Archives: Estate Planning
When irrevocable trusts no longer make sense, they can be revoked
There’s irrevocable in the dictionary, and then there’s irrevocable in the law. The two are not the same thing at all, and for that, some people are quite grateful, according to a recent article in Forbes magazine. “Americans were once trust-happy,” the story began. “Now many are having second thoughts, and rightly so. Given… Read More »
Estate planning an obligation, not an option
The message cannot be repeated often enough or strongly enough: Estate planning is not solely for the well to do. It’s something we all need to do. “With all the noise in the last few years about taxing the rich and the future of the federal estate tax, the message that ordinary folks also… Read More »
Inherited Financial Security A Blessing, If Handled Correctly
Money does not equal happiness. Let that sink in. It can be hard to believe, but it’s true. Sure, it’s easier to be unhappy when poor, but family wealth, if not handled correctly, can also be a source of grief. In recent stories for Forbes magazine, author Thayer Willis, herself the descendant of the… Read More »
Death Is Inevitable, But Financial Hassles Can Be Avoided
When a spouse dies is not the time to find out proper steps haven’t been taken to deal with new financial realities. According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, even people who feel they are properly prepared can find themselves facing more than grief at the loss of a loved one…. Read More »
Older Unmarried Couples Must Get Estate Planning Done
Young people who decide to live together without benefit of clergy, as the old expression had it, may not have any pressing need to figure out the complexities they face in estate planning, but seasoned citizens who choose to forego the formalities face some very real time pressure. While it is important for people… Read More »
Unmarried Couples Face Estate Planning Hurdles
People who choose to live together rather than get married, whatever their reasons, don’t love each other any less. But the law tends to think they do. “Unmarried couples do not have legal protections enjoyed by married couples, such as automatic inheritance rights and the ability to make decisions should a spouse become incapacitated,”… Read More »
When it Comes to Wills: Details, Details, Details
When it comes to deciding who gets what in a will, no detail is too small. That includes silly little knicknacks and items of kitsch that mom and dad may have accumulated over the years, as families sometimes discover to their lasting dismay when no instructions exist on divying such things up among the… Read More »
Women and Estate Planning: A Natural, Necessary Fit
Women control more than half the wealth in the United States, and yet their role in estate planning has traditionally been small to nonexistent. That’s changing, and for more reasons than simply where a majority of the money rests. “Today’s women are a powerful financial force, accumulating, managing, and distributing more wealth than ever… Read More »
Wise Estate Planning is Never One and Done
Sometimes it must seem as if plans devised for estate and investment planning are like city buses: another one will be along shortly, headed in a completely different direction. It is simply a fact, and admittedly a frustrating one for advisors and clients alike, that the world and people’s lives are changing so rapidly,… Read More »
Diagnosis of Dementia Isn’t an End to Making Legal Decisions
Alzheimer’s is insidious. The definitions of that somewhat old-fashioned term in the Meriam Webster Dictionary include “awaiting a chance to entrap” and “developing so gradually as to be well established before becoming apparent.” Those all perfectly describe Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and it is the subtle onset of loss of memory and cognitive abilities… Read More »