Money laundering

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 […]

Happy old couple

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 […]

Giving to charity

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.” […]

woman looking through the window pane

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 […]

Doctor Examining an Elderly Patient

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 […]

Senior Couple on Computer

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 […]

art

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 […]

question mark

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 […]

man on wheelchair

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. […]

Senior woman contemplating

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 […]