Month: February 2016

It’s not a good idea to pass on leaving your passwords behind, Professor Gerry Beyer of Texas Tech University School of Law cautions. Those who work in the digital assets world are at the very beginning stages, he says, of determining how conventional estate planning...

December of 2014 marked the culmination of almost ten years of effort. In an important milestone for all disabled people in our country and their families, President Obama signed into law a bill called the ABLE Act.  ABLE stands for Achieving a Better Life Experience....

“Most people getting remarried have little to no concept of the full legal impact of their new marriage”when it comes to estate planning, asserts John Scroggin in the Journal of Financial Planning. Scroggin points out two widely held misconceptions: Prenuptial...

“Estate planning isn’t just an issue to tackle with your older clients, it’s for young clients, too,” writes Tania Brown CFP® in Forbes. But do most young people, who don’t have a lot of assets, need an estate plan? Yes, if only to help loved ones pay for funeral and...

“Lest you think that people who die are boring….think again,” says Dawn Markowitz in Trusts & Estates. Markowitz cites a few individuals who were “quite creative in their wishes and bequests, to say the least.” Aaron Collins of Kentucky died at age 30, leaving a...

“The easiest estates to settle are those that are well-planned during the lifetime of the deceased,” Alexander Bove, Jr. reminds readers in The Complete Book of Wills, Estates and Trusts. If your estate plan is properly prepared, he adds, your will is going to make up...

“One of the most common misconceptions about executors is the extent of their power in administering an estate,” Alexander Bove, Jr. observes in The Complete Book of Wills, Estates and Trusts. That story about the practically new Cadillac sold by the widow executrix...

“After all debts, expenses, and taxes are paid, and the final account has been approved, the beneficiaries can finally get their shares, although this does not usually happen as quickly as the beneficiaries would like,” explains Alexander Bove, Jr. in The Complete...

“Many people, when they think about estate planning, think it’s a way of giving away their stuff,” says Deborah Jacobs, author of Estate Planning Smarts.  There are some aspects of estate planning, though, that have nothing to do with stuff, she explains.  In fact,...