Often, when people are developing their estate plan, they will give a family member, friend or someone else they trust the authority to act as their agent to handle their finances and their medical care if there comes a time when they’re unable to do so. This...
You may want to take steps to relate your medical wishes to your family and/or your medical team as part of your estate plan. There are a few ways to do this, such as creating a medical directive for the doctors to follow or using a medical power of attorney to...
In some ways, dividing family heirlooms can be more difficult than dividing cash and other financial assets when you’re doing your estate planning. Financial assets may be worth far more, but at least you can divide these types of assets equally. With heirlooms,...
It is a wonderful thing to be able to leave substantial resources for your children when you die, but an inheritance can certainly have a dark side to it. An inheritance could help your family members start a business, be used to pay off your student loans or to put...
Serving as a trustee means that you have a fiduciary duty to the trust itself and its beneficiaries. You need to put the best interests of the people who should benefit from the trust above your own wishes. Sometimes, trust administration involves the sale of trust...
When people revisit their estate plans, the allocation of their property or beneficiary designations often receive more consideration than the living will documents. However, the documents that you've created to guide your loved ones in the event of your...
You may have spent a lifetime building a collection of assets to leave to your children when you die. Yet, if they do not want them, it could be a waste of time. Think about which of your parents' things you wanted when they died. They probably had a lot of stuff of...
You’re focusing on your will, trusts, health care directive and all of the other crucial documents you need to put in place as you develop your estate plan. But what about your family heritage? When you pass away, you may be taking some valuable information with you....
Pregnancy can seem longer than the nine months it actually is. It may progress much more quickly than you expect, though. One important thing to address when expecting a child is meeting with an estate planning attorney. There are multiple reasons why you might want...
Many individuals place their assets into a living trust to make transferring assets to their loved ones easier once they pass away. It's generally impossible for beneficiaries to contest a will before a testator's death. That same logic doesn't apply to trusts,...
