From the following Forbes article, "8 Reasons to Revise Your Estate Plan Today," we learn that 51% of Americans age 55 – 64 don't have a Will. That's bad news for their families, who will have to deal with the estate plan default: whatever the rules are for their state. But…
A jumbo sized battle in a high profile and seemingly never-ending estate matter highlights what may appear to be a minor detail in estate planning but what is in fact an important consideration: the executor fee. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, "Battle Involving Leona Helmsley Estate Spotlights…
Written by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale), a new law, AB 139, is unlike most of the over-reaching and bombastic legislation that originates in the State Capital. As reported in The San Diego Times-Union, "State ushers in refreshingly modest law," this new law makes one aspect of estate planning easier for…
If you think of your business as a legacy that you wish to pass on to a family member, a partner or a valued employee, start planning now to create a business succession plan. Don't limit your thinking to a family member taking over for you. There are many different…
The same generation that redefined American culture is making changes to the concept of inheritance as well. A recent article in Forbes, "How Boomer Parents Feel About Leaving Inheritances," looked at two studies concerning inheritances to find that Baby Boomers are of two minds when it comes to leaving inheritances…
Updating beneficiary designations is usually the simplest part of estate planning, but it's also the most likely part of estate planning to be overlooked. You have beneficiaries on pretty much every account, from 401(k)s to life insurance policies. Do you know who your beneficiaries are? USA Today says that it's…
What steps can you take when a parent passes away without sharing the location of a will or telling you who the attorney was who drafted and executed the will? What if you can't find any copies in what seem like reasonable hiding places in Houston? The article, "What steps…
Should you cut the pie in equal portions? If you are preparing an estate plan and want to make sure that every one of your children receives the exact same amount of your assets because that's fair, you may want to reconsider. A post from New Jersey 101.5, "Being fair…
Expect to see the word "phool" a lot in 2016 if a book by Nobel Economics Prize winners George Akerlof and Robert Shiller, "Phising for Phools," becomes a runaway hit this year. The two coined the phrase to describe a person who gets caught in a "phishing" scam, which covers…
The only way to make sure that your wishes are carried out after your death is to have the proper estate planning documents prepared in advance, according to a post from WMUR.com, "Money Matters: Common estate planning mistakes." Some people make the mistake of thinking that estate planning will be…