When Does Someone Need Financial Guardianship?
When individuals cannot manage their finances, courts can appoint guardians. Financial guardianship is for those who need help handling money.
Instruction Letters: What Are They?
A letter of instruction, or letter of intent, is an essential part of estate planning. It includes any background information and details about your overall estate plan. Unlike a will, a letter of instruction is not legally binding. It can…
Grantor Retained Trusts & Unitrusts
A critical component of estate planning is wealth management, especially for individuals who want to protect their assets and minimize taxes. Two wealth management tools used in estate planning are grantor-retained annuity trusts (GRATs) and grantor retained unitrusts (GRUTs). These…
Preparing Graduates for Their Financial Future
Your child's financial future is important, whether they're graduating high school or college. You want to set a strong foundation for long-term financial stability by broadening their scope of financial literacy. Sharing the following tips can help prepare them. Budgeting…
How Do Estate Planning and Elder Law Differ?
The two have similar concerns, but elder law applies estate planning strategies primarily to issues facing seniors as they age. How Estate Planning and Elder Law Are Similar No matter what stage of life we’re in, we face challenges. Hope…
Planning for Family Wealth and Taxes
To maximize wealth preservation and minimize tax liabilities, many legal strategies are developed for high-net-worth families. However, tax laws continually change and can impact new and existing estate plans. For example, the SECURE and SECURE 2.0 Act presents some challenges…
Trusts with Grantor-Retained Income
Some people seek estate and wealth transfer strategies that preserve assets while providing lifetime financial benefits. One such strategy is the grantor-retained income trust (GRIT). GRITs offer a unique opportunity for individuals to retain an income stream from tax-advantaged assets…
The Importance of Holding a Family Caregiving Meeting
We all know someone who, at some point, will need help with declining health. Many times, family members or friends will step in to help. Depending on the family’s dynamics, determining who should handle the role and what type of…
Strategies to Transfer Assets
During wealth transfer, one party or entity transfers wealth or assets to another party. The transfer can happen either during your lifetime or after your death. Wealth transfer strategies use various methods to create the most tax-efficient and effective reorganization…
Building and Transferring Wealth
Generational wealth can only be built with careful planning and time spent over multiple generations. Without specific plans to create and transfer your legacy, statistically, 70 percent of wealthy families will lose that wealth in the subsequent generation, and 90…