There are new realities to deal with in estate planning, as families become increasing varied in their dynamics. The Raymond James Point of View names several of those new realities, including the legalization of same-sex marriage, the general increase in non-married...
“Managing family finances is difficult to begin with, but when you add in stepfamilies and half siblings, family planning becomes increasingly complicated,” Jane King and Caroline Hedges write in Financial Planning. This is no limited problem, the authors note:...
Many times, lawyers are asked by clients about financial decisions before they are made, and sometimes we’re told about them after they’ve already occurred. One example of such a decision concerns reverse mortgages. Reverse mortgages are home loans also known as...
Over the next decade, a quarter of our nation’s agricultural land is expected to change hands, according to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The NRCS identifies four key goals for a strong estate plan for farm owners: Transfer ownership and management...
Whenever there is a very uneven distribution of assets among heirs, state law carries a presumption of the exercise of undue influence, a 2014 article in the Indiana Lawyer points out. Whenever it appears that a dispute among rightful heirs might result in litigation,...
Insurance company claims adjusters refer to them as “triggering events”, which might include: break-ins, tornados, hailstorms, fires or even divorces (disputed items sometimes “disappear” in the process). In any event, it’s up to the insured to prove what items were...
“We just celebrated the 100th anniversary of the estate tax. It has already been repealed and reinstated four times. This would be the 5th.” observes Susan Rounds, JD, CPA in the Journal of Estate & Tax Planning., referring to the many proposed tax law changes...
There’s been a long, almost six year battle over the U.S. Department of Labor’s planned fiduciary rule, originally slated to begin implementation on April 10. The news is – the rule is being delayed at least six months. The Fiduciary Rule would require financial...
Whenever married individuals divorce, their estate plans likely need some updating. When it comes to “gray divorce”, there is a definite need-to-change. Americans over 50 are getting divorced at a record rate, ICLEF notes in its “Law Tips” website. The special...
“Now comes the hard part,” Liz Skinner wrote in Investment News last year, when the Labor Department came out with new fiduciary rules for financial service providers. The DOL fiduciary rule, set to take effect next month, basically states that all financial advisers...
