If you want to stay in control of your money and medical decisions until the end, here are the five most important estate-planning documents you need to have.
If you aren't sure which estate planning tools you really need, at least start with the basics.
A recentCNBC article, titled "Stay in control with 5 estate-planning documents," talks about essential estate planning documents that everyone should have.
A revocable living trust is similar to a will in that it indicates how you would like your assets to be distributed after your death and can be amended anytime. While you should always have a will, a living trust—which is simply a trust set up during your lifetime as opposed to one created after your death—can be a valuable addition to your estate plan. Here’s why.
If you have a will, do you really need a living trust? Let's explore the advantages of living trusts to find out.
A recent article in Time, titled "Why This Estate Planning Tool Beats Just Having a Will," gives several reasons to consider living trusts.
Talking to family members about estate planning and legacies can be difficult and even painful. Those discussions, however, will almost certainly be less painful in the long run than the stories children may make up after parents are gone about why they made the choices they did.
Should you tell the kids? When it comes to your estate plan, yes!
A recent Time article, titled "The Hardest Part of Making a Will: Telling Your Kids What’s in It" lists a few ideas to help you overcome the challenges of having these important conversations.
Dealing with aging parents is not only tough emotionally, but financially.
As one's parents age, financial and health care discussions are essential for families to have in order to plan ahead for any care they may require.
A recent Newsday article, titled"Money Fix: The cost of caregiving," tackled this tough issue and offered some financial and non-financial advice to help with providing care for aging parents.
Making decisions about the disposition of your assets can be an emotionally fraught and time-consuming process. Take small steps and seek expert guidance to realize your plans for the financial care of your families.
Who gets what when it comes to your estate? The process of distributing your assets is no easy task.
A recent Forbesarticle, titled "Estate Planning 101: Picking Your Heirs," provides some very useful instructions on basic estate planning. The article lists a series of questions that can help you organize your thoughts and prioritize your planning.
Dealing with an ill parent or their estate once they pass can be difficult, and having support through your siblings is important. However, sibling feuds can get in the way and cause conflicts during this time. Having your parents’ estate planning documents in order not only ensures their health care, finance and estate decisions are being taken care of, but that siblings are able to be there for each other instead of fighting.
If you think fights with your siblings are in your childhood past, wait until one of your parents turns ill or passes away. You'd be surprised at the feuds that can break out over an estate!
A recent Law Depot article, titled "Estate Planning: 4 Things Siblings Feud Over," compiled four items that commonly cause sibling fighting in estate planning, as well as some ideas to prevent fights from happening:
Money security, in most cases, is a choice. It requires the right mindset and consistent actions. Like learning a craft or skill, time, patience and devout determination is required, most especially if you are starting from a difficult position.
How do you deal with money? What is your "mindset" when it comes to finances? The way you think about money can largely affect your financial health.
A recent Forbesarticle, titled "Retirement Reality Bites: It's Time To Bite Back," says there are many controllable factors when it comes to how we think about and deal with money. The article terms this your money mindset. Beliefs about money are founded at an early age, when we are just children. These beliefs can be healthy and responsible, or they can be destructive and lead to disastrous behavior.
Family law practitioner Andy Low Hann Yong also noted a "significant increase" in inquiries for will writing service of late. He said this could be due to rising public awareness on the importance of having a will, or the occurrence of unfortunate incidents such as Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and earthquakes, and reports of bitter fights over estates involving well-known personalities or tycoons.
When tragedy hits the news, do you tend to think of your loved ones? Many people start evaluating the plans they have in place for the "what ifs" of life.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing with 239 people aboard in March, and in July Flight MH17 with 298 aboard crashed near the Russia-Ukraine border.
One of the colossal failures in estate planning I witness when people make their wills is not coordinating the will with the overall beneficiary designations they have chosen.
Does your will surpass your beneficiary designations on financial accounts?
A recent Wall Street Journal article, titled "How People Undermine Their Own Written Will," explains that most people believe that their written will take priority and supersedes the beneficiary designations on their investments. This isn't true. When you designate a beneficiary on a life insurance policy, a 401(k) plan, or an IRA—that is a binding contract. The basic tenants of contract law apply just as it would in a mortgage or a sale. What this means is that if you stipulate in your will that you want to leave your IRA to your brother and the beneficiary designation form of your IRA says that it is all supposed to pass to your sister, then your brother is out of luck. Despite your explicit instructions in your will, the IRA will go to the named beneficiary.
They can be incredibly useful tools, and thanks to the publicity, more people may consider using them, but many people misunderstand how trusts work. Let's take a look at — and dispel — three common myths about them.
Are trusts too much work? Are they only for the rich and famous? Do you really need to establish a trust before you die?
Trusts can be very useful tools, but few people understand how trusts work. Daily Financerecently posted an article titled "3 Myths About Trusts That You Can't Afford to Believe." This article examines and dispels three common myths about trusts.
