Gifting can be an estate planning tool, for you can save on future estate taxes and have the pleasure of watching your dollars work for your children or grandchildren while you are still alive. If you're tired of the standard store-bought items for gifts, you may consider a different spin…
Taken all together, these steps might seem overwhelming. But if you do one task each day, you can really change your financial life by year-end. Is it too late in the year to get your finances ironed out? Fortunately, a recent article from kjrh.com, titled “7 financial steps to take…
Yes, nobody relishes thinking about the day when they will no longer be around. But with a little effort and foresight, you can give your family the ultimate gift: a piece of mind. Here's a quick checklist of estate planning essentials. Not really ready for an estate planning talk around…
Have a plan; either you decide or someone else does. Year-end is a great time to evaluate your estate planning goals! This timely topic was the theme of a recent article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette titled "Holiday season is the best time to update your estate planning." Here are…
Leave it to Beaver? Or do you prefer to leave your estate to someone else? Today’s families are a lot different than Ward and June Cleaver. There are more families today with non-traditional situations than ever before. This makes financial and estate planning all the more important. If your family…
Managing an estate can be complicated and overwhelming, but libraries can often be sources of hidden value, and thus should not be ignored. There's always a chance that tucked away in that library are a few rare first editions or hard-to-find antique items. But if you're facing hundreds of volumes…
Once someone dies there is much work to be done. These are a few suggestions to help you get administratively organized for death. To make death easier for all involved, it’s critical to plan some of the issues related to death far in advance with some contemplation to make everything…
A well-planned estate is a wonderful legacy you can leave your heirs — instead of untangling a messy estate, they can follow concrete steps, allowing them to take care of business while mourning their loved one. Document gathering can be overwhelming when it come to a loved one's passing. What…
The legal dispute surrounding the roughly $200 million estate of the late Charlotte developer Henry Faison has been resolved, with his company winning forgiveness of more than $100 million in loans he’d extended to it. In this recent court case filed by Faison's sons, Jay and Lane, they asked…
Six Philadelphia men forged, cheated and lied their way into collecting a dead woman's house and car, police said. If no heirs exist and no estate plan determines where your estate should go, it must be up for grabs. Right? Well, no. But unfortunately for one woman's estate, this scenario…