Estate planning is all about five essential documents. Here they are in order of importance: The Power of Attorney for Property The most important estate planning instrument for taking care of you and your family during…
As life circumstances change (births, marriages, divorces, and deaths), it may become necessary to make changes to your will. If an estate plan is not kept up-to-date, it can become useless.
Planning ahead for your own death is a difficult step to take because no one wants to believe it can happen to them; but it will happen. By giving some careful thought to your goals for your beneficiaries, you will be confident that you are really protecting what matters. An estate plan may include some or all of the following: Last Will & Testament, Revocable or Irrevocable Trust, Powers of Attorney, Joint Tenancy designation, and Beneficiary designation.
Often times when a relative dies it is not the financial assets that can break a family apart, it is the little things that cause the most animosity. Recently I read an article about an item that had caused…
You are never too young for a Will. A will is a document that lets you tell the world who you want to get your assets. Die without one, and the state decides who gets what, without regard to your wishes or your heirs’ needs.
Clients often ask me whether they need a Will or not. Although the answer is different for everyone, I am a strong believer that not everyone needs a Will or even a Trust.
When clients come to my office to prepare an estate plan, we will meet initially to create the strategy and determine what the client wants in their plan, whom they want to provide benefit for and how.
Estate planning is primarily about how to pass your property on after your death to the recipients of your estate with a minimum of fuss, expense and taxes. But, it is about a lot more as well.
Many people think that estate plans are for someone else, not them. They may rationalize that they are too young or don’t have enough money to reap the tax benefits of a plan; however, estate planning is for everyone, regardless of age or net worth.