The last thing you want is for your loved ones to end up in court battling over the terms of your estate. In addition to piling on unnecessary stress and conflict during this period, issues like this can reduce the overall value of your estate, too.  You’ve thought carefully about your estate plan and what […]

A YouGov study found that over three quarters of Americans recognize that estate planning is essential but only 40% of people within the country do have a plan in place. A trust is one of the easiest ways to add some more control and protection into your estate plan, but it’s often overlooked because people […]

Many people think of those who live with disabilities as people in older years or those who have been diagnosed with a disability at birth or very young in their life. The truth is that a disability can happen to anyone at any time as a result of an illness or an accident.  If you […]

Executive compensation packages have increasingly included stock options in the last several years. This means that from an estate planning perspective, you must think carefully about how and when these might affect you. Do you know how to maximize, for example, your stock options with a tax strategy?  Option based executive pay fell out of […]

Many high net worth families are already familiar with the benefits of using gifting on an annual basis to help dispose of some of the assets inside their estate and instead transfer them to loved ones while you’re still alive.  Very few individuals in America will owe any estate tax when they pass away. In […]

There are many different research studies that explore the number of people in America and other countries who don’t have an estate plan in place. Often it is the wakeup call of experiencing the loss of a loved one that points you to reconsider your lack of an estate plan.  Some studies have even found […]

As a parent, you face an important and yet difficult decision when deciding how you pass on assets to your children. If you have multiple children, the most common question to arise first is what you pass on to each of them and whether or not your assets should be distributed equally.  Parents who decide […]

It is important that when you put together your estate planning documents, you think about how easy it will be for your loved ones to find these documents and to be able to take action based on them. The last thing that you want is for your loved ones to have to go through a […]

Do you have a business succession plan in place? If you don’t, 2020 is the year to get one organized. Covid-19 has brought awareness of the possibility to needing to step out of the business due to illness, incapacity or death.  Business owners who are in the midst of a transition do not need the […]

A total of 22% of today’s population includes the baby boomer generation. Many of them are quickly reaching retirement age raising important questions about the value of estate planning.  Estate planning is so much more than passing along possessions and assets to millennial children. It is also about protecting their lifestyles and taking a long-range […]