To prevent you and your family members from enduring more stress, misery or confusion than necessary, here are five estate-planning booboos to avoid … Think you have the right ideas when it comes to your Houston estate? You may want to watch out for some common "don'ts" in the estate…
“Income-tax rates are going up so it becomes more expensive for a grantor to maintain the grantor trust status of a trust they’ve set up,” says Lynn Halpern Lederman, managing director and senior fiduciary counsel – Northeast Region at Bessemer Trust, a New York firm that oversees $97.5 billion. A…
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…
"If you make a will you can distribute the wealth as per your wish and avoid many hassles. It particularly becomes more complicated if there are immovable properties involved and there are disputes on the values of such properties," says Ashish Kehair, EVP and head – private wealth and international businesses, ICICI Securities. Why…
Home equity loans can be problematic if not done correctly and require careful attention to the rights of the surviving spouse, if you are married. And of course, the end of the process means you or your heirs give up your home. There are other ways to tap into your…
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…
As a result, financial advisers and families are taking steps to shield IRA assets for children and other beneficiaries in case those heirs ever find themselves in bankruptcy proceedings. Is your IRA protected from creditors in the event of bankruptcy? Not anymore. Because of the recent unanimous high court decision,…
Thanksgiving weekend is a time to reflect, visit family, and of course, eat your fair share of pie. And while we may be thankful for the people and the wealth in our lives, not enough of us have planned to protect all that we have. Pass the pie please! And…
The online forms you come across may or may not work. These forms tend to not be state specific which means your will may or may not be valid. If you are going to take the time to draft a will or any other estate planning document (which you should),…
Whichever you select, consider ways you can structure the trustee’s duties and relationships to increase the probability of achieving your estate planning goals. Selecting an executor or trustee of your estate plan is a very important decision that requires much thought. A recent Investing Daily article, titled "Making Your Most…