Estate planning is crucial to ensuring your assets are distributed according to your wishes after you pass away. It also allows you to make preparations in the event you become incapacitated. Your plan involved careful consideration, and now that it is in place, you...
Estate Planning
What is a legacy letter?
Legacy letters are heartfelt messages that people leave behind for their loved ones, attached to their other important documents. Legacy letters are not essential to an estate plan, and they are not legally binding – but they can be powerful, nonetheless. Legacy...
3 preparatory steps to consider when estate planning
Many people fail to start estate planning because they find the prospect overwhelming. Dying without one in place could be problematic for those you leave behind, so you need to make a start as soon as possible. The following steps can help you get underway: 1. List...
4 tips for digital estate planning
Modern estate planning has undergone an enormous transformation with the proliferation of digital assets and online accounts. This shift necessitates careful consideration and planning for their management and distribution after one's passing. Without proper digital...
What are California’s requirements for a valid will?
Creating an estate plan is a vital task for adults. For those who live in California, writing out a will is one of the cornerstones of this plan. In order for it to be legally valid and enforceable, a will must meet the standards set by the state. There are a few...
Charitable trusts: An option to support favorite causes
Charitable trusts are an option for people who want to include their favorite charity or charities in their estate plan. While giving to those causes is the purpose of these, there are a couple of ways this can happen. Unlike private trusts, which are established to...
Who will inherit from my estate?
You’re planning on making a will. With the use of this legal document, you can instruct how your estate should be handled after you pass away. This document contains a list of your assets and an executor of the estate. Typically, the main focus of this document is to...
4 reasons to discuss estate planning with your parents
Conversations with your parents about estate planning can be uncomfortable. You worry they might be offended by the topic and question your motives. But eventually, they will pass away, and there are a few reasons why you and your parents need to have an open and...
Why can incentive trusts lead to resentment?
An incentive trust can be useful if you want to influence a beneficiary’s behavior in the future. You can use the trust to give them certain incentives so they will live in a way that you approve of. This can also be used to protect the inheritance if you’re worried...
Should you wait until you have more assets for estate planning?
When you look into the statistics, you’ll find that most people don’t have an estate plan. There are a few different reasons for this, such as those who aren’t sure what paperwork they need or who find the process confusing and overwhelming. But one common refrain...