When creating your estate plan, decide who to assign as your beneficiaries. These are the individuals who will inherit your money and property when you pass away. Beneficiaries often include a spouse or partner, children and stepchildren, grandchildren, other relatives, friends, charitable organizations, and/or a church.
Category Archives: Estates
Who would care for your pet if you die or somehow face incapacitation? Would your survivors know how to give your pet the same level of care you provide? A good way to ensure your pet is well cared for if something happens to you is to create a pet trust.
Complex probate processes can be costly and take years to finalize, which is why many individuals retain an estate planning attorney to minimize probate proceedings.
Loneliness is feeling sad about a lack of human connections and interactions. While social isolation may make most people feel lonely, loneliness is not the same as being alone. However, not everyone who lives alone feels lonely. What’s more, not all people who feel lonely live alone. People of any age may feel lonely, but the condition is especially common in seniors.
With very few exceptions, state law governs estate administration. So, each state follows unique laws and regulations regarding probate and distribution of a decedent’s assets.
In addition to asset distribution, your executor makes a public notice of your death, files your final taxes, and records your will in probate court.
Paying for long-term care planning remains a significant challenge for most older Americans. However, preparing for service payments often proves tricky.
The key to ensuring that your estate plan will work the way you envision is understanding that how you own your money and property (i.e., how title is held) determines whether your will or trust, or neither, controls who will receive that money and property.
When people create estate plans, they typically focus on distributing their money and property to loved ones. For those interested in multigenerational wealth transfer, consider dynasty trusts.
When choosing trusted decision makers, select individuals based on their strengths. In other words, consider which characteristics or traits each decision-making role requires.