One of the most common questions, and an area of much misunderstanding, involves the difference between a Trust and a Will. I have not addressed the subject in some time, so doing so again seems appropriate. I will begin with an explanation of Wills since people seem to have a better idea of the concept…
Most people help their children when their children need help, even when they are adults. Sometimes that means making “loans” to them. You should think about how to handle gifts or loans to children in a Will or Trust. Your family will thank you for it! Imagine that your son’s car breaks down, and he…
Fear of Estate Planning, as in doing a Will or Trust (or both) is a common malady. Everyone knows they should do something, but few people know exactly what that something is they should be doing. Fear of the unknown often keeps people from doing what they know they should do. That “something” we should…
If you are getting together with your family members this holiday season it may not seem like a great time to talk about dying, but actually it is! Hollywood has combined death and holidays for years. Well, truth be told, Dickens started it. A Christmas Carol is a look at the world without Scrooge, and…
When people die leaving debts, other obligations and property and funds to be distributed to the rightful beneficiaries, the default mechanism for handling those things is called probate. Probate is the process of handling the estate of someone who has died. This includes paying all of the debts and final bills, satisfying any lingering obligations,…
Anyone who is contemplating a divorce, is in the process of obtaining a divorce, or is recently divorced should think about estate planning. If you are still married, your spouse is considered your heir. So, an untimely death before your divorce is finalized will result in your spouse receiving some or all of your estate.…
“These times, they are a changin’” is the famous line by Bob Dylan. It was an anthem for the 1960’s and early 1970’s. It seemed pretty profound to us who lived through those times. Today we deal with more mundane things, like estate planning, and times have changed. The number of people who have never…
Expanding on Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning: Keeping it Simple: Do-it-yourself estate planning is simple and cheap. By using a combination of beneficiary designations, payable on death designations and joint ownership, you can pass most of your assets on directly to the people you want. This simple estate planning can work well between spouses and for very small…
To many it seems that estate planning is like a mysterious woodland creature. Sightings are reported, but descriptions of the animal do not all match, and an accurate picture of the real thing remains illusive. Dispelling the myths is a good start in gaining an accurate understanding of estate planning (the elusive creature). Once you begin to have…