Year: 2014
When might a police commission get involved with estate litigation? When a new will created after a patient was diagnosed with dementia leaves nearly $3 million to a previously-unnamed beneficiary … who just happens to be a police sergeant. In 2009 Geraldine Webber made a will to divide her estate. This will left one-fourth of […]
Discussing your estate plans with your adult children may be the single best defense against leaving a legacy of family strife and division. A recent New York Times article, titled “What’s Almost as Certain as Death? Not Talking About the Inheritance,” details a new report revealing that the majority of Americans do not discuss their […]
It’s not every day that financial advisers and accountants are called in to referee billion-dollar disputes over the ownership of a basketball team, but nevertheless there are plenty of valuable takeaways from the Sterlings’ duel in probate court. When Shelly Sterling removed her husband, Donald Sterling, as co-trustee of the family trust that owns the […]
Asset protection does involve an estate planning process that uses a variety of different types of vehicles to accomplish protection. Estate planning involves far more than just asset protection, yet often estate planning strategies can accomplish both estate and asset protection goals at the same time. Estate planning should entail asset protection, as well as […]
“This decision points to a significant chunk of American wealth that is now, quite clearly, no longer as ‘bulletproof’ from creditors as most thought,” Eleanor Blayney, the Board of Certified Financial Planners’ consumer advocate, wrote in a recent blog posting. Creditors and bankruptcy attorneys will have an easier time going after inherited retirement assets, thanks […]
I’m always saddened by the stories of people who have been swindled. But there’s something even more despicable when scammers go after senior citizens, who don’t have as much time as younger victims to make up for lost money. It’s a sad reality that crooks seek out vulnerable older individuals who might be more easily […]
Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, Lou Reed was the man who famously crooned, “Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side.” The late lead singer and guitarist of The Velvet Underground — and of course, a musician and songwriter with a successful, decades-long solo career — may have been a bit wild at […]
While the contemplation of your eventual demise is never at the top of anyone’s list, there is satisfaction from the feeling that you have taken care of issues and provided for those you love. But unwitting mistakes can wreck your careful planning and even lead to family fighting and estrangement of the very people you […]
Taking the time to sit down with your spouse and update your estate plans will ensure that, should the worst happen, your new family is prepared to handle the unexpected. A recent Motley Fool article, titled “Estate Planning for Newlyweds,” says newly married couples should start their estate planning out small by changing their account […]
Many older people moving into a nursing home or retirement community are experiencing cognitive decline. In legal terms, they no longer have the capacity to make financial or medical decisions for themselves. So a trusted person—usually an adult child—will sign the entrance contract on their behalf as power of attorney. There tends to be a […]
