When you add your children to the deed during your lifetime, it can cause more problems that it solves. Putting your children on the deed is a lifetime gift to your children. This type of gift has consequences you may not have considered. First, it is probably a federally taxable gift and you’ll need to […]
Business plans often address marketing, growth, and product development issues. However, business owners fail to create an exit strategy, succession plan, or acquisition plan. Although you’re not ready to sell your business or retire now, preparing for the future of your business is crucial. You should decide who to leave your business to when you […]
How sad… Aretha Franklin passed away without a Will or a Trust. This opens her entire estate to public scrutiny and family fighting over her assets. It is even sadder that she didn’t leave an estate plan behind. Now her estate is up for grabs and distribution according to the law of the State! “I […]
The blended family has a set of unique problems when it comes to their estate planning. How should the assets be divided up and who should get what? Who should be on the Durable Power of Attorney? What about healthcare proxies? The Situation Dad passed away last year and left the vast majority of his […]
Some seniors don’t expect to remarry after a divorce or the death of a spouse. However, life is full of surprises. You could meet someone at any age, even during your retirement years. Many older adults bring various assets and debts into a new relationship. They might also have children from a previous marriage, one […]
There is one thing you need to understand about Estate Planning more than anything else! If you don’t create your own estate plan, you are subject to the default, expensive, generic, public, estate plan the government has already written for you! What Happens in Case of Mental Incapacity? Mental incapacity happens for a variety of […]
Let the people you have picked to represent you know. Store the documents and let the people you have picked to represent you know where they are and how to get to them. Move your assets into the trust or create proper beneficiary designations.
This is the person, or trust, that is to receive the remainder of your assets in things like retirement accounts, stock accounts, pensions, IRAs, and life insurance. You usually have to fill out some paperwork and return a signed copy to the company you have the asset with.
Estate planning is an emotionally challenging task at every step of the process. Whether you are writing your own will, helping an older relative plan their estate, or serving as the executor of the estate of a deceased loved one, you must deal with all the feelings you have about your own death or that […]
I need to give you some bad news. You’re not going to live forever. Sorry to be so grim, but it’s true! Your lifespan has a finite time frame, and as you read this the seconds of your life are ticking away. Tick…tock… One man in five will die before he reaches the age of 65. According […]
