You might be able to include other assets outside traditional ones in your estate plan, including frequent flyer miles. Certain U.S. airlines will allow you to leave your accumulated miles in your will. You will need to contact the airline’s frequent flyer department directly to see whether or not they allow this. If they do […]

Ancestor.com’s U.S. probate and wills collection provides vast details about what people in the past left behind to their loved ones.  Some of the most interesting items left behind by famous people in history include: A snuff box left by U.S. Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, to his grandson. An island given by railroad businessman, […]

If you’re like most individuals, you already know that estate planning is a good idea, but you might have put it off for one reason or another. There are five primary things that you can hope to accomplish in the estate planning process.  Leaving Behind Property You might use a living trust, simple will or […]

Probate is a very common legal procedure that many people think of as an expensive and complex process. For simplified estates, however, probate might be a basic formality. Probate is the court’s way of a judge having discretion over the legal permission for assets to be passed on.  If a person passes away with a […]

When you think of the process of estate planning, there are two likely instruments that pop into your mind; a trust and a will. Wills are relatively easy to understand since these are the primary documents through which you could pass assets on to future generations.  The concept behind trusts, however, is somewhat more difficult. […]

The probate process should run quickly and smoothly, but this is not always guaranteed and the leading reason why people choose to use estate planning strategies and tactics to avoid the probate process. Probate refers to the process of distributing an individual’s assets after he or she passes away through court supervision. One of the […]

Establishing someone as the executor of your will requires advanced planning and careful thought about whether or not this person is indeed comfortable to serve in this role. This requires telling this individual that you intend to install him or her as executor and ensuring that they feel confidence in their ability to serve in […]

Perhaps you are a loved one of adult elderly parents who may be in need of nursing home support and assistance or perhaps you are trying to help a friend who may need to go into a nursing home very suddenly. Paying for nursing home costs unexpectedly can quickly destroy a lifetime of savings. Long-term […]

There’s a strong chance that you don’t have the knowledge, patience, interest or time to deal with complicated financial matters. This is one of the biggest reasons why people end up pushing these important financial and estate planning considerations off your plate and into the wings. But it can be a big mistake to ignore […]

Many people might have overlooked the long-term implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This 2017 act, however, has marked a real change from previous estate tax planning towards lifetime planning. There are major opportunities to mitigate estate tax liabilities by gifting wealth and assets outright to beneficiaries or giving them to a trust […]