hospital signage

When their daughter had a breakdown while attending college, there was nothing that Keisha Sacher’s parents could do when she refused to come home. At age 19, she was an adult. They had no legal control over her. When she finally did return to their home, the family endured a nightmare of her drug addiction, […]

couple running a bookshop

The details are still unknown, but family limited partnerships and family limited liability companies are being scrutinized by the IRS and the US Treasury and changes are coming. The IRS is looking to close a loophole that has worked very well for many years for wealthy families. The IRS is about to get tough on […]

paper junkie

Managing and growing wealth requires a deep bench of skilled and trusted advisors. Among millionaire investors, a third are comfortable with having two advisors, while 36 percent prefer to work with three advisors. Interesting that those prefer two advisors are mostly Baby Boomers, while half of those who prefer the trusted trio are Gen X-ers, […]

extended family

Life is about changes, both good and bad. Children grow up and marry and have children of their own. Families experience the pain of divorce. New families are created when divorced parents remarry. Many of these changes require revisiting and making changes to your estate plan. Even when your family life is stable, laws change […]

brown dog

If you are a pet owner, chances are you love your pets and consider them family members. We love them, we buy them toys, and it is not usual for people to bury their beloved pets in pet cemeteries. However, we often do not make plans for what will happen to our pets if we […]

Grandfather Helping Teen

Trusts are widely used by estate planning attorneys, with good reason. Trusts are a good way to pass wealth from one generation to the next, protecting assets from the effects of estate taxes, divorce, creditors and scam artists. But trusts are not the only way to transfer wealth. There are times when a simple outright […]

Pad of Paper and pen

It’s so easy to put off estate planning, when lives are busy and there are more inviting things to think about than death and taxes. Perhaps the most common mistake is thinking that estate planning is a do-it-yourself project. Only if you want your loved ones to inherit a mess! The biggest problem that results […]

Stack of Documents

Among the many benefits of having a well-designed estate plan is making the process of administering your estate much less of a burden on your heirs and maximizing assets that can be passed to subsequent generations. Another benefit to be valued – privacy. Estate planning can help your estate avoid probate, the legal process of […]

Pad of Paper and pen

The tragic and untimely death of Whitney Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown holds a number of lessons in estate planning that are applicable for parents and young adults. Because of laws that control information and decisions with regard to medical treatment, it is imperative that anyone over 18 have written advance medical directives in place. […]

human miniature standing over piled coins

Many banks and financial services companies offer a variety of services related to creating and managing trusts. When large trusts are established for minor children, it is necessary to use a professional trustee, but there are no guarantees that the professional trustee will carry out their fiduciary duties appropriately. Tragically, seven year old Angela Militello […]