Category Archives: Estate Planning
Share Your Passions As Well As Your Assets
Do you have a hobby that you feel passionate about? Do you love reading and collecting books? Are you a rabid coin or stamp collector? Do you find peace and tranquility out tending your garden? Whatever it is that you love; you can bet the people who love you are aware of it. These… Read More »
To Tell or Not to Tell About Inheritance; Sharing Your Estate Plan with Your Heirs
Should you talk to your heirs about your estate plan? The subject of inheritance is one that most people studiously avoid for a number of different reasons: superstition, fear, lack of knowledge, or a desire for secrecy. Many adults were raised to believe that money was a private affair, and that talking about it… Read More »
Tax Law Allows Married Couples to Reduce Their Estate Taxes
Married couples take note: Congress passed a law in 2010 that can significantly reduce the amount your estate pays in estate taxes. Unfortunately, most couples are either completely unaware of this opportunity for savings, or they find out about it too late to take advantage of it. This recent article in the Wall Street… Read More »
Who Do You Trust To Administer Your Estate?
For many people the hardest part of creating an estate plan isn’t deciding what to leave to their heirs, but deciding who they trust enough with the difficult job of administering their estate. The job of administrator requires a rare and unique combination of talents, and finding one person with all of these traits… Read More »
Who Will Care for Your Pet When You Are Gone?
When most people think about estate planning they think about friends and relatives, they think about minor children or grandchildren, they think about family heirlooms or large assets to pass on to the next generation. There is one family member who often gets overlooked when estate plans are being made: Your pets. Have you… Read More »
The Most Important Part of an Estate Plan is the Memories
Most people, when they design their estate plan, think primarily about the large financial assets: Real property, bank accounts, investment accounts, family businesses, etc. But any estate planner will tell you that the most heart-wrenching family rifts and disputes are not over money, but over the little things that end up having little or… Read More »
How to Protect Your Partner Even if You Choose Not to Marry
According to the U.S. Census Bureau the number of senior couples choosing to cohabitate instead of marry (or remarry) has risen significantly. Although this may seem like a shocking choice that goes against tradition, the truth is that there are quite a few reasons why senior couples might choose not to tie the knot:… Read More »
Protecting a Child With Special Needs
The thought that your child may have to survive on his or her own before they are ready is every parent’s worst fear; it’s what keeps many parents up at night, and what brings many parents into our offices asking about trusts, guardians, and estate plans. For parents of children with special needs that… Read More »
Prepare Your Kids for a Large Inheritance
One of the unspoken rules in many families is that you don’t talk about money, and you especially don’t talk about money with your kids. What many parents are finding out, however, is that keeping hush-hush about money matters leaves children unprepared, unappreciative, and uncomfortable when they eventually come into their large inheritance. A… Read More »
Should Heirs Pay Taxes on Assets They Can’t Sell?
Throughout history artists and their artwork have often been on the leading edge of controversy. In a recent brou-ha-ha between the heirs of the New York art dealer Ileana Sonnabend and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service the controversy is over nothing less than the value of art—although perhaps not “value of art” in the… Read More »