Estate planning attorneys are often called upon to repair the damage, after homemade wills are found to be invalid. It sounds like a great idea, kind of like building your own furniture or baking your own bread. But wills and…
All a celebrity has to do is die without a will and the details of their lives are all over the news. There’s a fascination with seeing how those who have achieved a high degree of success, fortune and fame…
Certain situations present opportunities to lower the value of an estate before death, thereby decreasing tax liabilities for heirs. In cases where a loved one is on life support for an extended period time and is legally incapacitated, there may…
Being retired requires you to become the Chief Financial Officer of your own life. You need to manage your income, including Social Security, distributions from retirement accounts and any other sources and oversee investments. Most people think of retirement as…
A buy-sell agreement does more than protect the business owner, it protects the business owner’s heirs. Creating a buy-sell agreement for a business owner is a lot like a will—it needs to be updated to reflect changes in partnership agreements…
Whether you are working because you love what you do or because you need the extra money, there are certain steps to take to make the most out of working past the usual retirement age. Working long after your peers…
Merging lives also means merging finances, and a pre-nuptial agreement can be used as a roadmap to define and guide the process. The right tone can make all the difference. Planning a wedding? Today’s bride and groom are busy with…
Money and families can be very complicated. How do you know how much money to leave to your children, or if you want to leave anything at all? Different generations and different socioeconomic groups have different beliefs about whether or…
Estate planning attorneys often get calls from families trying to untangle the messes created by people who think they can write a will or go online to use a form. We are a nation of do-it-yourselfers. With the many helpful…
The details are what makes the difference between a legacy that is remembered as a blessing or one that becomes an expensive and stressful burden to loved ones. One example: opening a joint account for funeral expenses and failing to…