The True Cost of Inheriting a Home
While a house can be a generous gift that might seem like a windfall, the financial and practical realities of owning a home can quickly turn that gift into a burden for heirs who are not fully prepared.
How to Make Your Inheritance Last
The initial mix of excitement and grief when receiving an inheritance can lead to impulsive financial decisions. One of the most important steps you can take is to resist the urge to immediately make significant decisions.
How a Directed Trust Can Change Everything
The estate planning world, long rooted in tradition, has relied on time-tested tools such as trusts to plan for what happens to a person’s money and property. However, a nontraditional variation known as a directed trust has gained traction in recent years for offering today’s families more of what they want: customization, control, and flexibility.
Estate Planning Truths: Debunking Common Misconceptions
From who can make decisions for you to whether you need an estate plan, common myths can stand between you and a secure future. Let’s debunk these widespread misconceptions and reveal four essential truths about effective estate planning.
Do I Need a Will or a Trust?
Everyone needs a will, a trust, or both. These important tools ensure that your legacy will be carried out according to your wishes and allow you to provide for loved ones after your passing. A properly prepared trust can also help avoid probate.
Why a Trust for Your Child Should Mature with Your Child
Like your living, breathing child, the trust you create for them must grow as they do. It should be a flexible, evolving legal tool that matures alongside them, from first steps to first jobs, from childhood to adulthood. You may not always be there, but with the right trust setup and thoughtful updates, your care and protection can be.
What to Do When You Do Not Own What You Think You Own
From unrecorded deeds to accounts held solely in a deceased spouse’s name, many people discover too late that what they thought they owned is not legally theirs. When that happens, the fallout can be costly, time-consuming, and deeply disruptive.
While You Are Working on Your Golf Game, Don’t Forget to Work on Your Estate Plan
Golf pros recommend that you reduce intrusive, unnecessary thoughts on the course by having an established, repeatable preshot routine. For your estate plan, that process starts with gathering your essentials.
Ask Your Loved Ones What They Want
The holiday season is right around the corner, and you have likely been shopping for the perfect gifts for your loved ones. You may have been wandering through crowded stores, […]
Make Sure That Your Estate Plan Is More Than Kindling
It is a frigid November night. You put on a sweatshirt and sweatpants to warm up—to no avail—and decide to light the season’s first fire. You open the woodstove door […]