Posts Tagged ‘estate plan’
Case Study: Why Your College Student Should Have Estate Planning Documents in Place and Some are Not the “Usual” Ones
Simplifying our lives sounds great – we crave it for many of the things in our lives. In fact, we watch endless videos on how to organize our homes to make us feel “put together”, find things easily. We spend minutes, hours, days, and even weeks of our lives doing this. Why? To set us…
Read MoreUsing Transfer-on-Death Deeds to Avoid Probate
When it comes to planning your estate, you naturally want to make things as easy as possible for your beneficiaries. The last thing you want is for your property to get hung up in probate while your loved ones wait to receive their inheritance. When you Will your property to your beneficiaries, though, this is…
Read MoreFamily Conversations About Your Estate Plan
With holidays upon us, you’ve got a lot on your mind, right? Turkeys and ham don’t make themselves, and the longer you put off gift shopping, the more stressful that affair becomes. And then, of course, the house needs to be cleaned, family visits need to be scheduled, Christmas lights need to go up, and…
Read MoreIf Only Anne Heche Had Drafted an Estate Plan…
Anne Heche was an Emmy award-winning actress, well-known for her roles in such blockbuster hits as Donnie Brasco and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Well, we know what Heche didn’t do last summer: draft an estate plan. The actress lost her life in a car crash in August, 2022…leaving behind two sons, a…
Read MoreHow Living in a Community Property State (Like Texas) or a Common Law State Affects Your Estate Planning
Every state has unique statutory requirements for creating, integrating and implementing its estate planning laws. Every state, likewise, has unique marital interest laws that affect an estate plan. Therefore, if you are married or plan on being married, it is imperative that you consider the impact of your state’s marital interest laws on your plan. …
Read MoreDon’t DIY It: Why Online Wills and Trusts Might Not Hold Up
In recent years, it seems like DIY estate planning services are popping up everywhere. These providers allow you to prepare your Wills and Trusts online at a considerably lower cost than it would take to hire an estate planning attorney. Sounds great, right? Then, let’s consider the old adage “you get what you pay for”.…
Read MoreEstate Planning Trends: Generational Differences in Estate Planning
Believe it or not, your birthday probably has a big effect on how you think about estate planning. However, we are not talking astrology. A Scorpio with a moon in Gemini isn’t more likely to draft a Will than any other sign. But, think about it: if you were born in the 1950s, you came…
Read MoreThis is So Unfair: Let’s Talk About Unequal Inheritance
Fair doesn’t always mean equal. If you’re out for dinner with your kids aged two and ten, you’re not going to order them the same meal. Likewise, if you’re at a CrossFit class with a friend who’s never lifted more than your spirit, you’re not going to squat the same weight. Fairness means treating people…
Read MoreProtecting Your Family’s Security: Integration of Your Estate Plan and Your Financial Plan
If you’ve been following our blog, you know that estate planning is an important step in protecting your family’s financial security. Whether drawing up a Will or establishing a Trust, an Estate Plan is an essential tool to ensure that your assets find their intended recipients after you pass. Likewise, perhaps in your financial plan…
Read MoreDo I Have an Estate to Plan at All?
Ask most people about their estate, and chances are their response will fall somewhere between “Do I have an estate?” and “Who do you think I am?” After all, the word “estate” conjures images of wrought iron gates, statue-lined driveways, and palace-sized homes when—in reality—it simply refers to all the “stuff” a person owns. Without…
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