My husband and I have decided we would want our kids to go to my brother and his family, who live in another city, a 10-hour drive away. We think my brother and his wife would raise them more how we would want them to be raised, especially when it comes to the big decisions. […]

These days, ethical wills are nonbinding documents that are increasingly seen as important legacy-building ingredients, say experts, because they can convey a person’s deep inner values and beliefs, even helping soothe ruffled feathers when dispensing family assets. If you want to pass down more than just your assets, you may want to consider an “ethical […]

In the past, most people didn’t have to worry about state estate taxes. Federal law provided an estate tax credit that reduced the federal tax bill by the amount paid in state estate taxes. In 2005, though, the credit was repealed, leaving big gaps between federal and state estate tax thresholds in the states that […]

As many estate planners anticipated, the Internal Revenue Service has raised the limit on tax-free transfers during life or at death. Starting in 2015 that amount, known as the basic exclusion, will go up to $5.43 million per person, from $5.34 million this year. In the spirit of year-end planning, there will be a change in […]

Of course, in most families, the split is an equal one, giving adult siblings no reason to quibble over the disposition of cash and other assets. Yet some parents decide to single out one or more children for a bigger, smaller or differently structured inheritance. Even if the reasoning is valid — perhaps one child […]

Over the years, we’ve seen estate plans fail to do what they were intended to do. For your estate plan to remain a valuable asset for you and your heirs, you would be wise to avoid these eight common mistakes. Decide to get my estate in order, check. Get my estate plan prepared, check. Am […]

A 2012 study of 3,200 wealthy families by U.S. Trust showed that 70 percent failed to successfully transfer the family’s assets to the succeeding generation. The study found three reasons for this failure: lack of communication among family members; absence of a generally acknowledged purpose for family possessions; and lack of preparation on the part […]

Waiting to create an estate plan could result in significant out-of-pocket costs at the end of life. Or even worse, it could result in a person with Alzheimer’s disease being subject to the will of the courts. With the number of individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s skyrocketing, there is no time to wait to get your […]

The remains of Jim Thorpe can remain in Jim Thorpe, Pa. That was the ruling handed down on Thursday by a federal appeals court in Philadelphia in an unusual case involving a dispute between the family of the legendary Native American athlete and a small Pennsylvania town named after him. Do people really fight over burial places? Sadly, the […]

Gresham advocates laying the groundwork for the estate-planning talk with a few separately held, lead-up discussions on family values and history. After all, she said, “You want to build a sense of bonding and family before you introduce material that could be emotionally loaded.” When is the right time to discuss your estate plans with […]