Our Blog - Surety Matters

One way or another, someone has to close out our affairs when we die, and this person is a fiduciary, with legal obligations to carry out duties in the best interest of the estate and…
Read Moreabout Professional Fiduciary?

  Small retirement accounts have been a big problem for a long time, as they tend to become forgotten and contribute to challenges related to missing participants, cash leakage, and, of course, sub-optimal participant outcomes….
Read Moreabout Help for Small Balance Accounts

  Following an investigation by its Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Department of Labor won a settlement for the participants of an employer sponsored retirement plan, arguing that fiduciary breaches, including failure to diversify…
Read Moreabout Failure To Diversify: ERISA Violation

  Although it’s best for everyone to have an estate plan–and avoid dying “intestate”–it’s especially important for unmarried partners not to leave the distribution of assets for the law to manage. That’s because state intestacy…
Read Moreabout Unmarried Partners: Avoid Intestacy

  Most families manage to avoid the headaches and heartaches of probate disputes through careful estate planning. Absent that, diligent adherence to probate protocols, including abiding by the laws of intestacy to distribute assets can…
Read Moreabout Probate Heartache: Valid Marriage?

  For business owners, the days of having a vague notion that cybersecurity requires attention–and hoping “someone” in IT has it covered, are over. Top down and all around action is necessary to protect the…
Read Moreabout From Awareness To Action

  How well do the actual operations of the company sponsored retirement plan match the procedures spelled out in the plan document? Are the operations also in compliance with what even experts say are “increasingly…
Read Moreabout Here’s To A Happy Ending….

  Indeed, wills are a great way to designate assets for beneficiaries and appoint guardians for minor children. Estate planning experts remind us, however, that trusts can come in handy in the face of many…
Read Moreabout A Will Should Be Fine?

  At its roots, probate is simply the public process of settling debts and distributing assets upon death. If a will has been made, the designated executor handles the process in accordance with state probate…
Read Moreabout Avoiding Probate Mistakes