Strategic Estate Planning
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Did You Choose More Than One Successor Trustee?
When selecting a successor trustee for a trust, it is common for the individual who creates the trust (the trustmaker) to choose one person to serve as a successor trustee at a time. Some attorneys routinely recommend that only a single successor trustee be appointed...
Creating a Treasure Map: The Benefits of Preparing an Inventory before Death
If you have already done your estate planning, you have taken a significant step toward ensuring that your loved ones will know how to manage your affairs if you become incapacitated or die. However, simply having a will or a trust and related estate planning...
The Pros and Cons of Powers of Appointments
An often misunderstood but common estate planning tool that can appear in estate planning documents is the power of appointment. Not to be confused with a power of attorney (the document that allows you to delegate certain powers to an agent to act on your behalf...
How to Responsibly Leave an Inheritance to Your Grandchildren
Estate planning attorneys frequently hear from their clients, “I’d like to leave something to my grandchildren. What’s the best way to do that?” Naturally, grandparents love their grandchildren and want them to succeed in life. And when grandparents are in the...
How to Protect Your Retirement Accounts
Most people are shocked to learn that their retirement accounts can be seized once they pass to their loved ones. During your lifetime, your retirement funds have fairly comprehensive asset protection, meaning they cannot be taken in a lawsuit. Unfortunately, as soon...
When Is It Critical to Review Your Estate Plan, and Why?
Just like other important life tasks, your estate plan deserves your time and attention. It’s important that you work with us to review your estate plan at least once a year. Think of this as your estate plan’s annual physical exam, and remember—prevention is the best...
The Trust Protector: Your Guardian Angel
What Is a Trust Protector? Traditionally, the three roles that must be filled when setting up a trust are the settlor (also called a grantor, trustor, or trustmaker), the trustee, and the beneficiary. All three roles are necessary to create a trust that functions...
Why You Might Not Want to Name Your Advisor as a Beneficiary
Imagine the following scenario: For years, you have worked with a valued professional advisor who has become a close friend, maybe even closer than some of your family members. You know her family, attend church with her, and know her to be a model citizen who...
How to Avoid a Disastrous Will or Trust Contest
A will or trust contest can derail your final wishes, rapidly deplete your estate, and tear your loved ones apart. But with proper planning, you can prevent that result. What is a Will or Trust Contest? A will or trust contest is a type of lawsuit that is filed to...
Is Your Estate Plan Incapacity Proof?
For most people, it is perfectly natural to think about estate planning only in terms of planning for death. While planning for your death is very important, if that is all you plan for, your planning can quickly become woefully inadequate. As medical knowledge and...
Latest Blogs
- Did You Choose More Than One Successor Trustee?When selecting a successor trustee for a trust, it is common for the individual who creates the trust (the trustmaker) to choose one person to serve as a successor trustee at a time. Some attorneys routinely recommend that only a single successor trustee be appointed to avoid the potential for conflicts between co-trustees during trust […]
- Creating a Treasure Map: The Benefits of Preparing an Inventory before DeathIf you have already done your estate planning, you have taken a significant step toward ensuring that your loved ones will know how to manage your affairs if you become incapacitated or die. However, simply having a will or a trust and related estate planning documents is often not enough. A detailed inventory of all […]
- The Pros and Cons of Powers of AppointmentsAn often misunderstood but common estate planning tool that can appear in estate planning documents is the power of appointment. Not to be confused with a power of attorney (the document that allows you to delegate certain powers to an agent to act on your behalf while you are still living), a power of appointment […]