You might be surprised to learn that your elderly or aging parents are more open to discussing their final wishes and estate planning than you, their adult child. If they have already begun the estate planning process, they have come to terms with their own mortality—or are in the process…
When the author of "To Kill a Mockingbird" was found to have written another novel, "Go Set a Watchman," there was much mystery about the second book, which generated a fortune. Now the mystery surrounds the estate of Nelle Harper Lee.While the value of her estate isn't exactly known, an…
A lieutenant colonel serving in the U.S. Army Reserves was in Afghanistan on his third tour of duty, suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and enduring a bad foot injury in 2011 when a letter arrived at his home, as described in Harvard Magazine's "Fighting for Veterans, Learning the Law."…
Over the course of time, things change that have an impact on your estate plan. Your children may have married or welcomed a new baby into the family. Perhaps you moved, or maybe you were widowed. Life is filled with changes, at every stage, and your estate plan needs to…
For a generation that is proud of their ability to ignore all kinds of taboos, millennials are no different than any other generation when it comes to discussing end-of-life care and estate planning with their parents. It's up to you, Baby Boomers, to initiate the conversation with your millennial children…
The challenges facing seniors and their adult children can be placed into four main categories, according to the article "Talk to aging parents about finances, health care, living arrangements," appearing in The Ventura County Star. They are: finances, living arrangements, medical coverage and estate planning. Understand your parents' ideas about…
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…
We’re taught from an early age that it’s rude to talk about money and no one likes to talk about their own death. Our children hate the conversation , and it's uncomfortable for everyone. But Baby Boomers who have not had conversations with their heirs about estate plans need to…
Family members are fighting to lift a shroud of secrecy following the death of a successful bishop who built a real estate empire and a megachurch. As reported in The Detroit News in "Family battles over megachurch founder's estate," the estate of a Pentecostal bishop from Detroit could be valued…
Few things in life are more joyous than the arrival of another new baby in the family. Among the necessary tasks is a review of your estate planning documents. If you had a will prepared for your first child, it is possible that the existing documents simply need to be…