Category Archives: Estate Planning

Disinherit Your Children?

Estranged Child

Regardless of why a parent would disinherit a child, they should not disinherit as a tool to manipulate. Disinherited children may feel angry. This could lead to turmoil within the family.

More Estate Planning for Unmarried Partners

Unmarried Couples Estate Plans

Naming your partner as the pay-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) beneficiary often leads to pitfalls. Some of these occur when you name them on beneficiary designation forms. The POD or TOD option allows you to maintain control of the account during your lifetime.

Couples Estate Plan Tips

Couple Getting Married

No matter the month, wedding planning usually includes tuxedos, dresses, rehearsal dinners, guest lists, and the honeymoon. However, too many couples fail to consider an important element that should make every “to do” list – a couples estate plan.

Inventory: Treasure Map Your Estate

Treasure Chest Assets

Distressed children often call estate planning attorneys. Their deceased parents wrote a will or a trust without itemizing an inventory. So the kids have no idea which accounts, insurance policies, or items of real and personal property their parent owned.

Contested Estate

Family Fighting Over Assets

While many assume that a will or trust signed in an attorney’s office is valid, such is not always the case. Attorneys who do not specialize in estate planning may be unfamiliar with the formalities required to make a will or trust legally valid in their state.

How to Avoid Estate Planning Scams

Beware of Scams

Imagine spending thousands of dollars on an estate plan to protect loved ones, to find that no true protection exists. Unfortunately, this occurs on a regular basis. In fact, millions fall prey to estate planning scams each year. According to a report conducted by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of people ages 50 and over, victims […]

Incapacity-Proof Your Estate Plan

Life Incapacity

Most people agree that a long life is good. However, life alone does not guarantee ideal circumstances. For example, longevity, coupled with physical or mental incapacity, can prove challenging.