How to Simplify Estate Planning
Estate planning can be an emotional and challenging endeavor. However, here are three tips to make it easier and to help you prepare for the future.
What Is a POD Account?
Payable on death accounts can help streamline the process of transferring certain assets to loved ones, after you pass away.
What’s the Best Thing to Do with an Inherited House?
Leaving behind a home for a loved one to inherit is a huge gift, but without the right planning, it could be an equally large headache.
What Is the Best Way to Make Sure Children Can Handle an Inheritance?
How can you prepare your children to handle the assets they’ll eventually inherit?
What are the Options when Inheriting a House?
Inheriting a residential property like a house marks the end of a life and the beginning of deciding what to do with the property and implementing that plan.
Should I Name a Trust as Beneficiary of My IRA?
It’s generally a bad idea to name a trust as beneficiary of your IRA.
Estate Planning and a Second Marriage
Married people in second marriages with prior children often have to balance the future well-being of their spouse with that of their own children.
When Do I File a Tax Return for an Estate?
My 91-year-old mother-in-law died on Dec. 13, 2020. There was no will, so we are currently working our way through the probate process. Her income was less than $20,000 a year from Social Security and we can’t find any tax returns she filed. Was she required to file?
What Happens If My Trust Is Not Funded
Revocable trusts are a very popular and effective estate-planning tool. However, the trust will be ineffective, if you do not actually place your assets in the trust.
Is an Irrevocable Trust a Good Idea?
Like a lot of estate planning vehicles, irrevocable trusts work very well for some purposes—particularly for tax avoidance and asset protection—and not so well for other purposes.