Imagine you have been named the executor for your grandmother’s Last Will and Testament. She names you and several of your cousins as her beneficiaries. You happily accepted this role, but you have a problem. You haven’t talked to two of your cousins in over a decade. You have no idea how to reach them. […]
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If you haven’t designated beneficiaries or set up pay-on-death or transfer-on-death instructions for your accounts or property you own in your name only, your family may have to go through the probate process to claim their inheritance when you pass away. Writing a Last Will and Testament is an excellent start to developing a comprehensive […]
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In a perfect world, transferring money, property, and legacies from one generation to the next would be seamless. The paperwork and other concerns associated with the death of a loved one would pose minimal stress and family and loved ones could focus instead on the grieving process and remember their deceased loved one in peace. […]
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Before heading off to your next great adventure, take a few minutes to review this quick checklist and identify an important estate planning issue you may need to address. Do you have a basic estate plan? Have you met with your estate attorney to create an estate plan: a set of instructions that are memorialized […]
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Cryptocurrency is an amazing advancement that allows for secure and private transactions. However, extreme security and privacy can backfire if you lose the ability to access your cryptocurrency or never tell anyone how to access it upon death. Because cryptocurrency is so new, your estate plan may not include information about your cryptocurrency investments, which […]
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If you have a trust as part of your estate plan, one of the most important decisions you will make is choosing your successor trustee. This person will oversee your trust and manage it according to your wishes stated in your trust documents. The trustee’s work can be time-consuming and complicated in larger or more […]
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What is a Qualified Personal Residence Trust? A Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT) is a type of irrevocable trust that allows the owner of a personal residence to transfer the title and ownership of their home to their trust for a set number of years, usually 5-20. When the QPRT terminates, home ownership is […]
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Intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGT) are designed to be tax-inefficient for the grantor but tax-efficient for the trust’s beneficiaries. They can be an excellent estate planning tool for minimizing estate taxes and maximizing accounts and property that is passed to your beneficiaries. The grantor of the trust, not the trust itself, retains certain powers over […]
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Often you hear the drawbacks of the probate system and how it should be avoided at all costs, but the probate system was established to protect the decedent’s accounts and property, and the financial security of the family, whenever possible. Probate is the legal process for dissolving an estate, whether the decedent has a last […]
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If a married couple has the same beneficiaries, i.e., their children, does this mean the children will always have multiple trusts to deal with? The couple may choose to have joint or individual trusts. Keeping track of the property and accounts owned and invested in each trust can be complicated, especially if the estate is […]
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