Have you put off an estate plan because you don’t think you need it? Far too many families wind up dealing with the impact of a loved one’s loss without any planning in place.  Many people don’t realize the value of estate planning until it’s too late. Most people set up their initial consultations with […]

The new federal exemption amount has increased as a result of the new tax law, which means that the amount you or your estate can pass on to your heirs free of taxes has increased to approximately $11 million this year from $5.49 million in 2017.  An existing will that already includes a reference to […]

A company that you started with your spouse decades ago may hold sentimental value for you but it also has significant financial value and possible future value if your children or other heirs intend to take it over. There are multiple different things you need to consider in the process of business succession planning for […]

Eleven years after the death of James Brown, his estate planning has fallen short in the plan to distribute his wealth efficiently. None of the beneficiaries in the will have received even a dime of the money. This includes underprivileged children in South Carolina and Georgia. Mr. Brown intended to donate significant amounts of money […]

  You may not need to necessarily record a trust although an important component of your trust strategy is to fund it after you have put it together. Far too many people stop after the establishment of a trust and fail to follow through with the funding. There are many different estate planning concepts included […]

  When most people think of estate planning, they are looking at their individual opportunities available with putting together critical documents and strategies to protect them and their loved ones. The truth is however, that if you play a critical role in any business, you can also benefit from estate planning for the company. Without […]

Although in the previous three blogs, we’ve discussed getting rid of unnecessary paperwork and clutter after three months, one year and seven years, some documents should be kept on hand forever.  This is because they are so important that you may need to reference them at any point in time and it may be a […]

  It can be difficult to figure out which documents you’ll need to have on hand, which ones should be stored in a safe deposit box and have a copy at your lawyer’s office, and those that you can eventually get rid of after some time.  This is because there are so many different periods […]

 Some documents need to be kept longer than the three-month period as discussed in yesterday’s blog. These should be stored in a safe location so that they can be accessed quickly in the event of a sudden problem, or in the event that your financial power of attorney agent needs to step in and make […]

Many people worry about having the appropriate documents on hand. In this four-part series, we’ll explore the various issues associated with keeping documents so that you know exactly what to hold on hand for the long term and what can be disposed of in a safe manner after an appropriate period of time. Certain documents […]