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If you are the heir of a trust fund, you may want to terminate the trust and remove the assets that are therein. As well, as the creator of the fund you may decide to change your mind and terminate a trust that you decide would be unecessary. There are two different types of trusts that property owners can set up for their friends and family in the ...
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Five percent of all Americans have a serious, chronic mental disability. Studies show that half of all Americans will be affected by some sort of mental illness at some point in their lives. This can be anything from Asperger’s to ADHD or depression. As people get older, there is a higher potential that they will acquire dementia or a mental ...
Continue reading "What is a Psychiatric Advance Directive?" »
Not all families are typical. In fact, most families in this day and age are not a mother, father, and biological children. There may be step-children, half-sisters and half-brothers, adopted children, ex-wives, step-mothers, or a variety of other family members that comprise your non-typical but tightly knit family. So how do you include everyone ...
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If you will be administering an estate, then you are going to need to obtain a tax identification number first. This is often referred to as TIN or employer identification number (EIN.) The TIN is just a nine-digit number, but it can be essential when you need to identify certain tax accounts. The number will be sent to you by the IRS after you ...
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If you created a trust to protect your beneficiaries, then you might want to name a corporate trustee to guard the assets, rather than a family member. Even the family that you love and trust most may not have the ability to manage a trust professionally. On the other hand, a corporate trustee is all about providing knowledgeable, objective, and ...
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If you are planning your will and determining what you want to do with your fortune when you pass away, it’s important that you know what your net worth is. You are going to have to take steps to figure out this number. By calculating your net worth, you will know the value that you have to work with and will be able to anticipate the tax ...
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Many people love to collect, and those collections can end up being incredibly valuable later on in life. Whether you have a case of Elvis memorabilia or a stack of baseball cards, your collection will grow in value as time goes on. So what are you going to do with this large and cherished collection when you pass away? For some, a son or daughter ...
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When we think of estate planning, we normally think about the assets that we will leave behind for our children and grandchildren upon our deaths. Yet estate planning also includes all plans for retirement, and what you are going to do with your business when you decide it is time to stop working. Most business owners forget to plan for the future ...
Continue reading "Planning for your Business Exit in Today's Market" »
While we wish we were immortal, the fact is that every person on earth eventually ends his or her life. During the later stages of living, aging Americans often run into health complications. Some people have mental degeneration, which can lead to dementia or Alzheimer’s. Others grow week and have heart complications or other organ ...
Continue reading "How to Create a Health Care Proxy" »
If your family already argues over insignificant issues, and your children already don’t get along, then you can only guess that the arguments will surmount when it comes to inheritances someday. Some families will stop at nothing to get a larger slice of the pie, and it can create extreme difficulties. Yet with some very detailed and careful ...
Continue reading "Attempting to Avoid Family Inheritance Spats? Try This!" »
If you want to will away your fortune to your children and grandchildren in the future, you should probably start planning now. You can set up trust funds which will automatically gran finances to your loved ones upon your passing. One option you may want to look into is a trust fund which can be set up under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. ...
Continue reading "Estate Planning and Children's Accounts" »
The costs of a funeral can add up, and when a loved one succumbs to sudden death, scrambling together the supplies for a memorial service can seem hectic and expensive. For men and women who are preparing one of these elaborate services, they may wonder where all the money is going to come from. That is why some older individuals will prepay their ...
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In December of 2007, three residents of Texarkana, Texas filed a lawsuit against estate companies in the state, claiming that they were cheated into buying pointless living trusts. The three plaintiffs named Charles Loper & Associates USA and CLA Estate Services as well as a variety of insurance services. While there’s something to be ...
Continue reading "$1 Million Suit Against Estate Companies Considered Frivolous" »
You thought you would be the beneficiary to your parents’ large fortune, but what if when they die, they leave behind a will that excludes you entirely? That’s exactly what happened to Paul Young, a middle-aged father who was hoping inheritance money could help him fund purchases in his own life and give him the ability to save for ...
Continue reading "How to Contest a Will" »
Homes are one of our most valuable assets. Along with being a financial investment, your home is also a place full of memories. You have probably spent countless hours in your home and have come to love the property that is yours. When it comes time to plan for the future, your home should be at the forefront of your mind. It is essential that you ...
Continue reading "Ways to Include your Home in Your Estate Plan" »
Have you created an advanced directive with the help of an estate planner? If you haven’t, then chances are that you should start working on this end-of-life plan right away. An advanced directive is a document which expresses your wishes for healthcare should you become too incapacitated to make your own decisions. For example, if you were ...
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There are many different types of trusts to choose from when estate planning. When someone mentions a trust, they are usually referring to an express trust. This is a tri-party relationship in which a grantor gives an estate to a beneficiary and the estate is managed in the meantime by a trustee. This is a fiduciary relationship and is a great way ...
Continue reading "The Different Types of Private Trusts" »
If you are planning to give some of your fortune away at the time of your death, you may want to act now instead. According to Estate Planning, your estate will have to pay taxes the net value s more than the exempt amount. Almost annually, the IRS sets a limit on the amount of money that you can have at the time of your death and still be exempt ...
Continue reading "Give Now, Reduce Taxes Later!" »
If you own a business, then you may want to start thinking about what will happen to your company when you make your exit in the future. It’s inevitable that somewhere in the forthcoming years you will no longer be able to control your business. When you have put so much hard work and time into making a company great, you don’t want to ...
Continue reading "Probate for Business Owners: Who Will Take Over?" »
The Jackson family is involved in a tense, high pressure family feud concerning the custody of the children and the future of Jackson’s sprawling Neverland estate. According to ABC News, the Jackson arguments offer a lot of tips for how men and women should prepare their wills and trusts. One estate attorney says that while the tips apply to ...
Continue reading "Lessons to Learn from the Michael Jackson Estate Battle" »
The Tweten family entered a world of confusion and frustration when they were faced with a $100 million estate battle during the year of no estate tax. In 2010, there was no estate tax, this being a gap year that was planned into the estate tax system for years. The Twetens had amassed a fortune and placed many of their assets in a trust to ...
Continue reading "Estate Tax Battle in California Shows the Dangers of Clauses" »
If you are over 60 and looking to tie the knot again, then it may be in your best interest to include estate planning in your list of wedding to-dos. Couples that are over 60 and looking to blend their lives need to take precautions for the future that younger couples wouldn’t need to make. These include planning for the unfortunate death of ...
Continue reading "Retirement, Estate Planning, and Marriage After 60" »
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In most states, when you become 70 and a half, the April following is the day you must start withdrawing money from your IRA. IRA stands for Individual Retirement Account. This is the savings account where you have been storing money in hopes of a work-free retirement stage at the end of your life. When you children have moved out, it’s the ...
Continue reading "The Rules of IRA Distribution" »
Did you know that there are four different types of testamentary bequests? When you are planning for the future of your estate, it’s important that you know what those bequests are and why you should pick the right one. A probate attorney can help you with these definitions and show you which bequest applies best to your situation. The ...
Continue reading "The Types of Bequests: Which Apply to Your Will?" »
According to new laws created by the federal government, almost everyone is now eligible to convert to Roth IRA. IRA stands for the Individual Retirement Arrangement. This is a special retirement under the US law that is not normally taxed if you are able to meet the conditions provided. The tax laws in the United States will exempt retirement ...
Continue reading "Is it Smart to Convert to Roth IRA?" »
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