Deciding to plan ahead for the future often begins with using a last will and testament, but a simple internet search might make it seem as though all you need to do is print out a form, fill it out, and file it away. This has numerous potential pitfalls, including the fact that the template [...]
Increasingly, clients are turning to estate planning lawyers to help with the process of gifting unequal shares or assets to their children. There are several different reasons why a parent today might look to outline these kinds of specifics in an estate plan, but it's also happening at the same time when family conflict poses [...]
Market volatility and the possibility of further estate tax reform all have many estate planning advisers prepared for sudden shifts in strategies, but those aren't even the issues at the top of the list for most American families. In fact, a new TD Wealth study confirmed last year's findings that family conflict is the biggest [...]
Retirement planning and estate planning should work hand in hand, and while plenty of people have admitted in recent studies that they don't have the basic tools of an estate plan such as a will or trust, a 2018 study conducted by Northwestern Mutual found that many Americans feel they have inadequate retirement plans. In [...]
Most parents recognize that one of the most powerful aspects of putting together a will is establishing a legal guardian. This is the person who is legally eligible to care for your child if something happens to you and the selection of a legal guardian is a highly personalized decision that must be taken carefully. [...]
Should you ever use two executors? Provided that you have selected co-executors or one or more individuals to serve in the same role can get along and cooperate, co-executors provide numerous benefits for the purpose of your estate planning. These include: This can avoid making it seem as though one sibling is favorited above another. [...]
Most people would first turn to an online process to assist with the drafting of a power of attorney, but this is not recommended. State laws vary in terms of how to establish a power of attorney and because of the specifics in the law, it is recommended that your document is executed in [...]
There are many different reasons why you might wish to revoke a trustee's powers. If you put together a family trust yourself, or if you are a beneficiary or a trustee of a trust, there might come a point in time in which you believe that a trustee needs to be removed. A family trust [...]
Occasionally, clients ask their estate planning attorneys about how to leave behind shared gifts. This is an especially common scenario if you wish to pass along an asset to your children. Shared gifts are those that left to two or more individual beneficiaries. Each of those beneficiaries receives a portion of the property ownership. This [...]
It’s important to remember that a living trust is only active and valid once it has become funded. The living trust becomes funded after the creator puts together the necessary documents and then funds the trust by formally transferring the assets inside. The specific process for moving assets into this trust by the grantor will [...]
