Should the Trustee of My Trust Be Different During My Incapacity Than at My Death? Understanding the Trustee's Role During Incapacity When you create a trust, choosing a trustee is one of the most important decisions you will make. If you create a revocable living trust—that is, a trust that you establish during your [...]
Bills, Services to Cancel & Keep When a Loved One Dies Navigating Financial Responsibilities After a Loss A loved one’s passing is challenging on many different levels. In addition to the emotional difficulty of processing someone’s death, there are also the many tasks that must be dealt with, such as going through their various [...]
Why You Want to Avoid Intestacy What Happens When You Die Without a Will? About two out of three Americans will die without a will. This is known as dying intestate. While the reasons for not having a will vary, the end result is the same for everyone: they do not get to choose [...]
Difference Between Transfer on Death & Payable on Death Designation The Basics of POD and TOD Accounts: A Comparison Adding a payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) designation to an account allows the assets (money and property) in that account to be passed to a named beneficiary when the original account holder dies. Like trusts, [...]
You Can Benefit from Giving Gifts Strategic Estate Planning: Three Trusts for Wealth Preservation & Transfer A benefit of working hard is sharing the fruits of your labor with your loved ones. However, gift or estate tax consequences may impact high-net-worth clients when they share their wealth. By crafting a comprehensive estate plan, we [...]
What Happens To Your Venmo, PayPal, & Apple Pay Accounts At Your Death? What Happens To Your Digital Payments Accounts When You Die? It has been said that nothing ever dies on the Internet. While this dictum is typically used as a warning that what we put online may come back to haunt us, [...]
What Not To Include In Your Estate Planning Documents How To Protect Your Estate From Identity Theft & Other Risks One important purpose of estate planning is to facilitate the transfer of ownership of your money and property to your family and loved ones when you pass away. For this transfer to be as [...]
What Is a Devise In My Estate Plan? How To Choose The Right Type Of Devise For Your Estate If you are thinking about creating an estate plan, you may hear some new and confusing terms that make your brain hurt. To add to your bewilderment, not only are some of the words unfamiliar, [...]
Cross-Border Estate Planning Top 5 Concerns for Families to Consider When Holding Property in Multiple Countries When families own assets in both the United States and other countries, there are several estate planning issues that can arise that may come as a surprise to those who have not planned ahead. As a law firm [...]
Investment & Distribution Trustees: Why Would I Need Both? When creating a trust, it is common to name yourself as the initial trustee who is responsible for all aspects of administering the trust. However, when considering who will take over when you can no longer act (either because of illness or death), it is [...]
