Winter, along with festivities, offers families time for quiet togetherness, which can be well used to make or update estate plans and communicate about them too. Though doing so may feel difficult, having the basics… Read Moreabout Estate Planning: Tis The Season
Two real life stories underscore the importance of making plans for our assets before it’s too late. If we are lucky to have more money than we can spend in our lifetimes, our generosity can… Read Moreabout Feeling Thankful–and Lucky?
Although it can be said that every type of trust has a purpose, in that it exists to accomplish the goals of the trustor who established it, not every trust is actually a purpose trust…. Read Moreabout Purpose Trusts?
Ideally, careful estate planning results in a valid will, and likely a trust too, as well as communication of intentions and designation of a fiduciary, such as an executor or trustee, to carry out… Read Moreabout Timing’s Everything: Probate Disputes
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?
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?
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
