Category Archives: Estate Planning
Bartleby The Scrivener’s Estate Plan
You know that you are old if you know that Moby Dick is a real book, no spring chicken if you know that the author’s name was Herman Melville, and ancient if you have actually read it. In a world where people place less of a premium on things of extraordinary size, such as… Read More »
How Do Taxes Work With A Revocable Trust?
A revocable trust seems like an ideal way to have your cake and eat it too. The money in the trust doesn’t become part of your estate when you die, but while you are alive, you still get to have control over it. Not only can you be the trustee or beneficiary of your… Read More »
In Search Of An Affordable Retirement Destination In Florida
Retiring to Florida is almost a cliché; Florida has been a place where people go to visit their grandparents since you first entered the workforce. Its appeal is obvious; in Florida, you can find year-round sunny weather, wide open spaces, and affordably priced houses. Unfortunately, the last two of those categories are not as… Read More »
Public Official Accused Of Financial Abuse Of Nonagenarian
For many reasons, aging in place is less glamorous than it sounds. When estate planning lawyers show you diagrams of where you will have to install the railings so that you can lift yourself off of the toilet, it is enough to make anyone invest in long-term care insurance so that they can move… Read More »
If You’re Not Ready For A Will, Make A Financial First Aid Kit
The saying goes that if you don’t have enough money to be generous to your family and friends by leaving them an inheritance, show them that you care about them by writing a will, so that they don’t have to fight with each other or guess about your intentions during probate. In other words,… Read More »
Estate Plan B
Estate planning is not like planning for a one-time special event. The probate of your estate is not the main event of estate planning in the same way that a wedding ceremony or wedding reception is the main event of wedding planning. Instead, estate planning is more like a flowchart. You are not trying… Read More »
Cats Don’t Want To Inherit Money, But They Do Want Someone To Clean Their Litter Box After You Are Gone
The old adage goes that a sloppy estate plan is better than none at all. Despite this, if you write your will without consulting a lawyer, the probate court will follow the instructions in your will to the letter, even if doing this has unintended consequences. For example, if you wrote your will before… Read More »
Learning From The Estate Planning Mistakes Of Celebrities
Even though it seems like celebrities face a completely different set of problems from the rest of us, we can’t stop being curious about them; this idea has endured through supermarket tabloid magazines, reality television, and the era of Internet celebrities. Death is the great equalizer, though. The same estate laws apply whether you… Read More »
Estate Planning When Life Is An Endless Series Of Crises
Matthew Erskine of the Wealth Management website writes that most professional estate planners’ approaches fall into one of two categories, which he calls the hedgehog style and the fox style. Hedgehogs excel in making careful predictions, considering all possible outcomes and determining which one is the most likely to occur, and then taking actions… Read More »
Without Witness Signatures, Your Will Is Nothing But A Bucket List Afterparty Setlist
The hardest part of estate planning is getting started. Once you type your will into a Word document and print it out, you feel a great sense of relief. Now, you have put your wishes in writing, so your family will not have to guess or argue about them. Of course, your printout isn’t… Read More »