Every year Caring.com conducts a study to determine where people’s minds are at with regard to estate planning. There are many different questions asked inside this survey that it typically involves more than 2,400 people. But one of the most important is to determine who already has an estate plan in place. For middle-aged Americans […]

There are many complicated facets of estate planning that arise when marrying someone in mid-life. Keeping financial secrets and refusing to share your financial history with your partner could set you both up for problems in the future. Furthermore, a mid-life marriage, including a second or third marriage, requires upfront honesty about both of your […]

Do you have an annuity? Is this a financial tool you created for your own future but is something that was ultimately moved out of your possession/estate and into the management of a trust? Read on to learn more about key issues that emerge with trusts owned by annuities.  If you have placed an annuity […]

Getting divorced late in your marriage, such as several decades in, can create significant complications for a retirement planning. One partner might have saved a lot more than the other with the intention that the savings will be combined later, or the partners might have merged their retirement funds making it difficult to disentangle them […]

The loss of a loved one can be an emotional and overwhelming experience and it can feel very difficult to understand what you need to do to protect your interests and next steps that you need to take. However, there are many important things to contemplate during this difficult time related to your loved one’s […]

It’s very exciting to think about all of the possibilities ahead of you and your family when you have your first child, but in addition to all of the other busy new parent related tasks on your list, making an estate plan should jump to the top of the priorities. Putting off this process before […]

  Today, thanks to the multitude of online resources and tools you can find about many different legal processes including estate planning, it’s easy to feel a sense of security about taking on this project DIY. Creating your own will might seem simple enough, but it’s a task you can tackle on your own. However, […]

It’s the perfect time of year to incorporate your estate planning into the bigger picture. Estate planning requires a team approach and communication with all relevant parties. If you’re also a business owner, you can’t complete the process of estate planning without incorporating business succession planning and asset protection planning.  All of the key stakeholders […]

If your loved one was recently diagnosed with dementia, the entire family has plenty of things to think about. It’s hard to determine when things have gotten so bad that you need additional support or to consider whether they need to move to a new place so you can either keep an eye on them […]

Should you always strive to spend the same amount on your kids? This recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted some of the things to keep in mind when deciding how to divvy up ongoing spending, but it also highlights how these same issues can come up in the process of estate planning.  While the easiest […]