Consider carefully before making your trust the beneficiary of your IRA. For tax purposes, it is not always a good idea to designate a trust as the beneficiary of your IRA, according to the Financial Advisor in “Is Naming A Trust As Beneficiary Of A Client’s IRA A Good Idea?“. The biggest and most important […]

The key reason for an estate plan is simple: protecting your family from future problems. Gathering the information to create an estate plan is probably not a pleasure. However, the reason for the estate plan is to protect your family from problems in the future, according to J Weekly in “Estate planning wards off problems […]

An estate plan can put you on the path of being remembered for charitable giving. If you want to be remembered for being a charitable benefactor, you need to get started and an estate plan is a good beginning, according to the Port Huron Times Herald explains in “Plan today to make a difference tomorrow.” […]

Received an inheritance? It may create more problems than it solves. A person or family could actually end up with less wealth after an inheritance, according to Chase News & Stories reports in “How to make sure your inheritance is a boon, not a bust.” An inheritance doesn’t always grow a family’s wealth. The biggest […]

Reasons for decline remain uncertain. Offsetting projections of an increase, researchers have found that the rate of dementia among the U.S. population has declined by 12% in the last 24 years, according to The New York Times in “U.S. Dementia Rates Are Dropping Even as Population Ages.” While this is good news, the reasons for […]

An Online will may save you some money now but you can rack up a big bill in probate. Creating a homemade will that later goes to probate may be a big disappointment, according to the Huntsville Item in “A humorous look at the danger of homemade wills.” A will is designed to pass on […]

We are facing big changes right now and more changes are likely. An estate plan should be considered as only temporarily up to date because significant changes in situations should spark a review of the plan.  Recent Treasury Department regulatory changes make it likely that your plan needs review as Wealth Management discusses in “Remind […]

Attorney-Client privilege is important in estate planning but there could be exceptions. Attorney-client privilege is one of the key doctrines of our legal system but there are exceptions as explained by the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog in “Treasure-Hunter’s Documents Might Be in Deep Water.” This doctrine even has an important place in estate […]

The fight is not over to have the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act become law. The Act has won a victory in the Senate and has support in the House, but to make it out of a House subcommittee, supporters need to contact their representatives in Washington and tell them how important this act is. […]

The financial cost of elder abuse has risen 20% over two years. A recent study conducted on elder abuse reveals some alarming figures, according to a report in the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog “Elder Financial Abuse Is Costing Americans.” The numbers are alarming: 37% of elderly caregivers report that the person under their […]