Many estate planning strategies can be utilized to achieve your goals. One of the most common techniques that people utilize to achieve tax and asset management goals is placing assets into a trust, but there are many complexities about how trusts operate. Among the various options for funding a trust,…
Regardless of whether you’re an estate representative, executor, or have any other connection to an estate being administered, it is common to wonder how long the estate asset distribution process will take. In reality, there is no fixed amount of time that estate distribution takes. Instead, this amount varies between…
It’s a common occurrence. A person passes away and the terms of a will require that assets be evenly divided among family members. The deceased, however, forget to mention how personal assets should be divided. As a result, conflict arises among surviving loved ones about how these items should be…
It’s often the case that the most critical conversations are some of the most challenging ones to have. If you plan on discussing long term care with your parent or family member this year, it can help to be prepared. After all, this conversation will need to resolve many questions…
If you like murder mysteries and went to the movies this holiday season, there’s a good chance that you saw the film, Knives Out. So far, the film has brought in 70 million dollars in ticket sales and received substantial critical acclaim. Behind the story that makes this film intriguing…
Several facets of estate planning law have made this an excellent time to create a powerful estate plan. After all, low-interest rates and high exemption thresholds for things like estate taxes and lifetime gives have allowed more people to pass on wealth in a powerful way. Congress also passed legislation…
Irrevocable trusts provide the trust’s creator with certain protections. Despite the advantages that these trusts provide, trust creators must give up any control over assets that are placed within the trust. This article reviews 4 important things you must remember about irrevocable trusts in case you intend on making them…
In December 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was launched. Among the changes introduced by the Act, one of the most notable developments is that stretch IRAs have been eliminated. “Stretch” IRAs let a beneficiary gradually withdraw the balance from an IRA throughout that person’s…
Even the most cautious and informed people sometimes end up making estate planning mistakes that result in unintended consequences for loved ones. A trust might have become outdated due to the introduction of new laws. Or, unforeseen life events might have left a person’s estate planning goals impossible. As a…
If you have a pet, you likely have a plan for the pet in place in case you go on vacation or out of town. You might even have created an estate plan to designate a certain person to take care of the pet in case something unexpectedly happens to…