If your life or the law has changed since you signed your last will and testament (will) or trust agreement, you need to update your document. You can make updates to a revocable living trust by way of an amendment or a complete restatement of the trust agreement. An amendment updates a specific ...
A spouse's death creates a difficult and demanding time for the surviving partner. As much as you might want space and time alone to process your grief, you may have certain responsibilities related to settling your deceased spouse's affairs, including paying off their debt. Most Americans have ...
According to the National Association of Home Builders, in 2018 there were approximately 7.5 million second homes, making up 5.5 percent of the total number of homes.[1] These homes are not only real estate that must be planned for, managed, and maintained, they are also the birthplace of happy m...
A nonfungible token (NFT) is a unique digital code that represents a digital item such as art or music, as well as a growing number of physical items, that runs on the blockchain (a secure, decentralized, and cryptography-backed online ledger) and provides proof of ownership of virtual collectibl...
It is better to give than to receive. But if you give a gift above a certain amount, you might end up owing money to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The federal tax code has very specific rules about how much you are allowed to transfer to others each year—and over the course of your lifetim...
What Is an Electronic Will? It was not very long ago that all legal documents were printed on paper and signed with a pen. But in today's world, where we sign commercial contracts, form and run businesses, and buy everything from groceries to cars online, it seems almost prehistoric for state la...
A number of married couples think about their accounts and property as “yours, mine, and ours,” especially if either or both spouses have gotten or will be getting remarried, married late in life, or have brought or will be bringing significant amounts of money and property into the marriage. Dec...
Deferring, minimizing, or avoiding estate taxes altogether is often an important estate planning goal for married couples. However, uncertainty surrounding what the estate tax laws and the value of their accounts and property will be at the first spouse's death can leave a couple feeling that the...
The reasons you, as a trustmaker, create a trust are certainly special and important to you, but your intent or purpose for creating a trust can also have significant legal ramifications. For this reason, it is often critical that a trustmaker express in writing their purpose for creating the tru...
Estate planning is about more than preparing for the inevitable. A good estate plan should also consider the unexpected. Your plan may have detailed instructions for what happens when you are no longer around, but what if something goes wrong while you are alive? If you can no longer manage your...
When using trusts in estate planning, a key element includes transferring the trustmaker's real estate into the trust by recording a deed with the local recording authority. This step is crucial for ensuring that the trustee has the authority to manage and ultimately sell or transfer the property...
It is a new era for college student athletes, who can now (as of July 1, 2021) profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). A change to the long-standing National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) policy that prohibited athletes from making money has abruptly—and dramatically—altered ...
It is okay to not be okay. Removing the stigma of mental health starts with realizing that many people—about one in five of all US adults--are affected by mental illness. Understanding this fact can lead to more people getting the help they require, not only by seeking guidance from a mental heal...
In the world of estate planning, you may come across the acronym HEMS from time to time. HEMS stands for “health, education, maintenance, or support” and is frequently included in trust agreements to guide a trustee on the types of distributions they may make to a trust beneficiary. When a truste...
Estate planning can be a very difficult process. While it is not brain surgery, making the decision to move forward with an estate plan requires us to face the fact that we will not live forever. This thought stops many people in their tracks. Others talk themselves out of seeing a qualified atto...
4 Myths and Frequently Asked Questions About Estate Planning for Senior Citizens
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An overview of the four must-have estate planning tools for every family.
Choosing your Trustee is an important decision. Here are some things to consider before automatically naming one of your children as your Trustee.
Marriage as a legal institution has taken a variety of forms throughout history. As society evolves, how we identify marriage in our society also changes. In some states, a couple may be deemed married without having participated in judicial or religious ceremonies. These marriages are called com...
An important element of creating an estate plan is choosing a responsible party to handle your legal, medical, and financial affairs if you become unable to manage them yourself (i.e., become incapacitated) or die. The individual or entity you choose must be someone whom you can trust to make cru...
How do living trusts differ from testamentary trusts and constructive trusts?
One common storyline in Hollywood movies is the rich father disinheriting the family outcast. The story usually traces the child's attempts to win the father over and be considered a part of the family again. But can fiction imitate reality? Can you actually disinherit a child? The answer, in mos...
While watching a movie or reading a book about wealthy individuals and their families, you may have come across terms such as “heir,” “descendant,” and “next of kin.” Though made-for-Hollywood storylines use these terms interchangeably, words describing familial relationships have distinct defini...
Do you have an individual retirement account or other type of retirement account that you plan to leave to your loved ones? If so, proceed with caution. Inherited retirement accounts do not have asset protection when they pass to your loved ones, meaning creditors can seize the money in the accou...
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