Recent Blog Posts
Happy 18th Birthday! Now What?
Congratulations! You are now legally an adult. Although you may not feel any different, from a legal standpoint, a great deal has changed. When you were a minor (under age 18), your parents were your legal guardians responsible for making all your decisions. Now that you are an adult, their legal authority over you… Read More »
4 Steps to Stop Mail Addressed to a Deceased Person
Once you have been appointed the executor or personal representative of a deceased loved one’s probate estate, or when you step in as the successor trustee of the loved one’s trust, one of the first things you should do is to notify the post office of the death and ask them to forward the… Read More »
Weighing Your Options: Special Needs Trusts vs. ABLE Accounts
A special needs trust (SNT) and an Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account each provide a tax-free way for people with disabilities to save money. Both options provide a mechanism for saving money and protecting resources that ensures the disabled individual remains eligible for public benefits. Accumulating resources without jeopardizing key government benefits… Read More »
How Do I Create an Estate Plan with an Only Child?
Stereotypes surrounding “only child syndrome” have largely been debunked, as recent studies show that only children, on average, develop social skills similar to those of children with siblings.[1] Further, outdated perceptions surrounding only children have shifted as the average size of the American family has shrunk, and one-child families have become far more common…. Read More »
Enriching Life with a Third-Party Special Needs Trust
A special needs trust (SNT) allows an individual to provide for a disabled beneficiary without jeopardizing the beneficiary’s eligibility for needs-based government benefits. SNT funds can generally be used to pay for almost anything that falls outside the basic support that programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid provide. This includes many… Read More »
Caution: Using a DIY Deed to Avoid Probate Can Lead to Unintended Consequences
One common way to avoid the probate requirement for real estate after the owner dies is to add children or other individuals to the property title as joint owners with rights of survivorship. When joint owners have survivorship rights and one joint owner passes away, the remaining owners automatically receive the entire interest of… Read More »
Have You Checked Your Beneficiary Designations Lately?
You regularly check the balances of your retirement, bank, and investment accounts. But when was the last time you checked the beneficiary designations on these accounts (and really, all the other accounts that allow you to name a beneficiary)? It may have been years since you first opened an individual retirement account, bought a… Read More »
Are My Business Succession Planning Documents Relevant to My Estate Plan?
Studies consistently find that only about 25–35 percent of Americans have an estate plan, a shockingly low rate when you consider that, in the absence of a plan, the state—not you or your family—decides what happens to your assets, including your business interests. The overall business succession planning rate is higher, with about two-thirds… Read More »
Will My Revocable Living Trust Avoid Probate? It Depends.
If you have established a revocable living trust (which we will refer to simply as a trust), congratulations! You are on the right track in creating a comprehensive estate plan. However, you are only halfway there. Many people believe that because they took the time to create a trust, they no longer need to… Read More »
How to Choose a Conservator for Yourself
Every day we make hundreds of decisions for ourselves—from what to eat for breakfast to where to vacation. However, what happens if you cannot make decisions for yourself? Who do you want making day-to-day decisions on your behalf and serving as your conservator? If you have recently created or reviewed your estate plan, you… Read More »
