Living Trust - Life and Death Decisions

January 24, 2025
In discussing your living trust with your attorney, there are several very important decisions for you to consider. Some of your decisions affect the management of property during life, and others will determine how your successor trustee manages your property for the benefit of family, friends and charity after you...

Your Living Trust Choices

January 17, 2025
The living trust is becoming quite a popular estate planning strategy. It costs more than a will, but includes many features that are helpful during life and in your estate. Let's review some of the basic principles of the living trust...

Bequests to Your Favorite Charity

January 10, 2025
Bequests to charity are the most popular type of planned gift. A donor may retain assets during life and then leave a bequest to a charity...

Online Accounts

January 3, 2025
At any given time, the average American maintains between 30 and 80 online accounts. These may be with banks, financial institutions, utility companies, email providers, social media outlets, commercial shopping or travel sites and accounts unique to technology such as an account to purchase apps for a smartphone...

Living Trusts Versus Wills

December 27, 2024
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was diagnosed with cancer in January 1994. She signed a will in the New York offices of a large law firm on March 22, 1994...

Ten Reasons to Update Your Estate Plan

December 20, 2024
You have completed a will and perhaps a revocable living trust. Your durable power of attorney for healthcare and a living will are in place. All of your records are safely in place and carefully organized...

Passing Unequal Shares in Your Will

December 13, 2024
Because children often look at their inheritance as a representation of their parents' love, most parents leave children equal shares of their estate. However, there are a number of good reasons why a parent might leave unequal shares...

Wills - Good and Bad

December 6, 2024
More than 40 wills were submitted to the probate court, with a multitude of potential heirs each claiming to be the true recipients of the estate of Business Owner who passed away in 1976. With a $2.5 billion estate at stake, there was intense interest in the decision of the...

Wills - Perils of Probate

November 29, 2024
Business Owner passed away on April 5, 1976, with an estate of $2.5 billion. Many people appeared claiming, "I am Business Owner's heir" and submitted wills with themselves as beneficiaries...

IRA and 401(k) Designated Beneficiary Options

November 22, 2024
Each year, IRAs and 401(k)s are subject to required minimum distributions (RMDs). Because the distributions start at just under 4% at age 73 and then slowly increase, many IRA and 401(k) plans earn more than those payouts and will continue to grow...

IRA Charitable Rollover

November 15, 2024
The IRA charitable rollover was created in 2006 and made permanent by Congress in 2015. Another name for an IRA charitable rollover is a qualified charitable distribution. This giving plan is available for IRA owners who are over age 70½...

IRAs - Regular and Roth

November 8, 2024
While Social Security will provide approximately 40% of the average person's retirement income, an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is an essential addition for a successful retirement...

401(k) Retirement Plans

November 1, 2024
The 401(k) is rapidly becoming the most popular qualified retirement plan. More than 90% of large companies now offer a 401(k)...

Social Security

October 25, 2024
Linda asked, "When should I take my Social Security? I will turn 57 this year and have a strong earnings history, having paid into Social Security for nearly 35 years."...

Married Couples and Property

October 18, 2024
Mary was a surviving spouse. She and her first spouse Ryan owned a lovely home and placed it into joint tenancy with right of survivorship...

Separate and Joint Property

October 11, 2024
"My brother Pete and I own a ranch together," said Joe to his advisor. "We inherited the four sections of our ranch from my mother. As a single person, I think that I will plan to leave 50% of my share to Pete and the other half to my favorite...

What Do You Own?

October 4, 2024
John and Helen have been thinking about updating their estate plan. They called and made an appointment with their attorney, Clara...

Chronic Illness - Care of Your Property

September 27, 2024
If you have a chronic illness, you will need to care both for your person and for your property. There are specific preparations that are important to care for your property...

Chronic Illness - Care of Your Person

September 20, 2024
If you have a chronic illness, your personal planning will need to involve careful consideration of your condition. Many Americans experience ALS disease, Alzheimer's, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis (MS) or other types of chronic diseases...

Planning for Senior Care

September 13, 2024
Planning for retirement and senior care is very important. The activities of daily living for a senior person include eating, dressing, bathing and walking or moving...