A lifetime discretionary trust may be a good option to consider rather than handing over a lump sum. A lifetime discretionary trust may be an option to consider if leaving an inheritance without restrictions is not a good idea because in these trusts, the trustee does not have to distribute assets in any specific way […]

Increased terrorist and fear of plane crashes increases interest in estate planning in U.K. Residents of the United Kingdom are considering estate planning because of fear of terrorist incidents and plane crashes according to the Daily Mail in “After terror attacks and the MH370 disappearance more people are making ‘holiday wills’ because they’re afraid of […]

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s estate tax avoidance plan may be a contradiction. The Clintons have placed their New York home in residence trusts while Hillary Clinton calls for higher estate taxes, according to the Daily Mail in “Hillary and Bill Clinton dodge ‘death tax’ by putting their New York home into trust – despite presidential […]

Estate planning documents can now be stored digitally. Several storage company services are now placing estate planning documents in the cloud but knowledge of the documents and how to obtain them can be a problem as ABC 15 reports in “Phoenix man launches website to store estate planning documents.” Document Trunk takes it a further […]

The Onion’s satirical article on preparing a will may not be all bad. The satirical magazine and website The Onion, known for its fake news stories, actually gave some good estate planning advice in its recently published satirical article “How To Prepare A Will.” The piece starts with “Come to grips with the fact that […]

A spendthrift trust could help heir handle assets. If you have a family member who has trouble handling money a spendthrift trust may be the answer as discussed in a recent Reading Eagle article entitled “Office Space: Spendthrift trusts: how to (properly) protect a beneficiary from herself.” It is unlikely that a person with a […]

While the death of Prince reveals the need to leave a will many may be looking to write wills in the wrong places. By now it appears highly unlikely a will or estate plan will be found following the death of rock star Prince. Many Americans are now looking to write their wills but may […]

Some benefit increasing strategies remain despite the loss of file and suspend. The file and suspend Social Security strategy ended April 29, 2016 but other options remain as discussed in Investopedia’s “Alternative Strategies to File and Suspend.” The first option is known as a restricted application. This is a limited option allowing those whose spouses […]

An estate planning attorney could be helpful before signing a divorce decree. Divorce agreements often include child support and life insurance requirements but as the National Law Review points out in “How Divorce Can Impact Your Estate Plan,” these life insurance provisions in divorce agreements are often flawed from an estate planning perspective. Divorce attorneys […]

A third law suit has been filed against the Legion of Christ, a disgraced Catholic order, in passing of Rhode Island woman. When Gabrielle Mee, a wealthy resident of Rhode Island and a devout Catholic, passed away in 2008 she wanted to leave some of her estate to support Catholic causes but problems have arisen, […]