While it may not be pleasant to think about and plan for your death, failure to plan can cause unnecessary stress and grief for those you leave behind after you pass away. If you do not create an estate plan and update it regularly, you also expose yourself to stress and loss of peace Continue reading
Author: David Ledbetter
Choosing the Right Trustee
Whether you are reviewing your existing trust or creating a new trust, you should understand the important role that a trustee plays, not only in handling trust matters but also in providing for and protecting your loved ones.
What is a trust?
A trust is an agreement between the trustmaker Continue reading
Ways Your Will Can Be Revoked
A will is a foundational estate planning document. Accompanied by other important documents such as healthcare and financial powers of attorney, it is a basic estate plan suitable for many. However, reports have shown for decades that fewer than 50% of US adults have a will. If you Continue reading
Disability Panels
A comprehensive estate plan addresses not only what happens to your property and assets when you pass away, but how to take care of you and your affairs if you become incapacitated. Incapacity planning is not just for those in their older years. An accident or illness can happen at Continue reading
Medicaid
There are many misconceptions about Medicaid. Let’s look at what Medicaid is and is not and consider some common misunderstandings.
1. Medicaid is not the same as Medicare.
Medicaid and Medicare are two separate programs run, at least in part, by the federal government. Even if you Continue reading
Beneficiary-Controlled Trusts
Would you like to provide your children or loved ones with an inheritance but protect them from the risks that may accompany their newly acquired assets? If so, you can create a beneficiary-controlled trust in which the person you name as the trust’s primary beneficiary has rights, Continue reading
Have You Thought Through Your Retirement?
Reaching retirement is a great milestone that is well worth celebrating. After many years of hard work, you can now focus your energy on the next phase of your life. However, before you begin this next chapter, you need to make sure that you have fully thought through this exciting Continue reading
Disclaimer Planning
Losing your spouse is one of the most difficult things you might face in life. While it is important to take time to grieve, there are some considerations following a spouse’s death that are time-sensitive.
If your spouse’s will or trust, or your joint trust, has a disclaimer provision, Continue reading
Myths About Planning for Unmarried Partners
Myth #1: When I die, my partner that I am not married to can continue living in our home.
Fact: You must plan to allow your partner to continue living in your home. Some possible planning options include 1) placing your partner’s name on the deed, 2) executing a beneficiary deed, often Continue reading
What is the Effect of an Unrecorded Deed?
A deed is a legal document used to transfer real property ownership rights from one person or entity (the grantor) to another (the grantee). In many cases, this transfer occurs due to the property being sold, with the seller transferring the property to the buyer. Typically, a deed Continue reading
Pros and Cons of a Family Limited Partnership
If you own your own business or have accumulated some investment portfolio, it is important that you do as much as you can to protect the efforts of your hard work and dedication. A family limited partnership (FLP) is a strategy worth considering — whether you seek to protect yourself, Continue reading
What Should You Do with Your Retirement Account When You Have a Minor Child?
Your retirement accounts may be one of the most valuable things you own. As is common, you may consider naming your children as beneficiary on such an account in case something happens to you. However, if you have minor children, there are some factors that make this type of transfer Continue reading
Probate is Still Necessary?
A living trust is often promoted as a way to avoid probate and the costs, time delays, and loss of privacy that accompany it. Probate is the legal process for proving the validity of a person’s will after their death and appointing the nominated personal representative or executor. Continue reading
Asset Protection Planning
Asset protection planning is certainly useful for wealthy families and people in high-risk professions. But, anyone can be sued. A car accident, unexpected medical bills, or an injury suffered by a tenant or a visitor to your house could result in a monetary judgment that is devastating Continue reading
Important Milestones You Can Incorporate in Your Estate Plan
Life is full of possibilities. While some outcomes are relatively certain, other events are more difficult to predict. This uncertainty can create estate planning challenges. Because life changes quickly and sometimes unexpectedly, your estate plan needs to be flexible.
While you are Continue reading
Things You Can Do to Help Prove You Are Mentally Competent When Executing Your Estate Plan
One of the common challenges to a will or trust is that the person who made the will (the testator) or trust (the trustmaker or settlor) was not mentally competent to create it. While we would all like to believe that our family and loved ones will honor our wishes as expressed in Continue reading
Does the Guardian for My Child Have to Be a United States Citizen?
A necessary, but not pleasant, aspect of estate planning is deciding what will happen to your child if both you and the child’s other legal parent were to die unexpectedly. While the odds of this happening may be low, the consequences of not naming a legal guardian in your will or Continue reading
Transfer on Death Deeds
What Is a Transfer-on-Death Deed?
If you own real estate, such as a home, in your sole name but you have not created a trust and transferred your property’s title to the trust, it is virtually guaranteed that your beneficiaries (or heirs) will have to deal with probate after your death. Continue reading
What if I Cannot Find a Beneficiary?
When someone has named you as the fiduciary in a will or trust (personal representative or trustee), when that person passes away you are obligated to distribute their money and assets to the beneficiaries who have been named in the document. Sometimes, perhaps because of a family Continue reading
Three Reasons to Avoid Probate
Although having a will is a good basic form of planning, planning with a will involves some drawbacks. A primary drawback is that a will does not avoid probate. If you own property such as a house, car, bank account, investment account, or other asset in your name only and you have Continue reading
Your Planning Team for Your Next Adventure
Do you have any travel plans coming up? You may have decided what you and your travel companions want to see and do, how much you are willing to pay, and the time you plan to travel. While your travel arrangements may be set, you need to consider calling in a special planning team Continue reading
Why a Trust Is the Best Option to Avoid Probate
A big goal in estate planning is to make things easier for our loved ones. A comprehensive estate plan can allow your money, property, and legacies be transferred to your intended beneficiaries in a harmonious, stress-free, and fair process so that your loved ones to grieve and deal Continue reading
Three Tips for Overwhelmed Executors
It isn’t necessarily an honor to be named in a person’s will as the personal representative or executor. While you can take some satisfaction that your loved one thought enough of you to trust that you could act in that position, the duty you have been given can often be a sobering Continue reading
The Pros and Cons of Probate
For many of our clients, probate is an unnecessary process that we try to avoid. But the probate system is there for those who need it, in some cases because of lack of proper planning and in others because of the benefits and protections that probate may offer. The probate system Continue reading
Nongrantor Trusts
One classification of trusts is whether the trust is a grantor or nongrantor trust. Although every trust has at least one grantor (the trustmaker or settlor who creates the trust), the terms grantor or nongrantor are used to classify the trust’s income tax liability.
Grantor Trust Continue reading