- Why a Generation-Skipping Trust May Be a Good Idea
For many grandparents, it might make sense to get a generation-skipping trust, which is one of the cleanest ways to give money directly to your grandchildren without having that money go through their parents (your children) first. This is also a way to pay the estate or inheritance tax just once. As you navigate this… read more…
- What Joint Tenancy Means for Your Estate Plan
Estate planning allows you to decide how your property, assets and other valuables will be distributed after you’re gone. For individuals who are married or share property with someone else, joint tenancy can become part of these discussions. This form of ownership can play a significant role in your overall estate plan, impacting how assets… read more…
- How an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) Works
iiii An irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) can provide peace of mind as you start your estate planning process. If you have a sizable estate or young beneficiaries, an ILIT can provide control over a life insurance policy that a… read more…
- What Is the “Death Tax” and How Does It Work?
Dying may get you out of a lot of things, but not taxes. If you have a lot of property and assets you want to leave to your children or other heirs, it may be subject to taxation. Federal and some… read more…
- What Is a Trustee and What Are Their Responsibilities?
A trustee is an individual appointed to administer assets or property for the benefit of a third party. A trustee could be appointed for the purpose of bankruptcy, a charity or certain kinds of retirement plans, but the most common… read more…
- Irrevocable Trusts: What They Are and When to Use Them
An irrevocable trust can maintain your wishes after you die, but it will cost you some flexibility. While a last will and testament requires a probate court process to distribute your assets to heirs, most trusts avoid probate. However, your… read more…
- What Are Transfer on Death (TOD) Accounts for Estate Planning?
Transfer on death (TOD) accounts can keep your estate planning intact while keeping your beneficiaries out of court. If you’re among the 57% of adults, according to Caring.com, who don’t currently have a will or trust, your family will likely head to probate court.… read more…
- How and Where to Create a Will Online
By having a will in place when you pass away, you can detail how you want your affairs and assets to be handled. To ensure your will is valid, you’ll need to create a meticulous plan for how your possessions will be distributed once you pass. The sheer volume of possessions and assets you’ve accumulated during… read more…
- How to Set Up Medical Power of Attorney
Complete estate planning includes setting up a medical power of attorney. This legal document – also called a healthcare power of attorney or durable power of attorney for healthcare – authorizes the person you designate to make medical decisions for you in the event you become incapacitated. Typically, this power encompasses choosing doctors, treatments and care facilities as… read more…
- What Is a Trust Company, and What Does It Do?
A trust company is a legal entity that can serve as an agent or trustee on behalf of a trust. They can be either stand-alone entities or divisions of commercial banks. If you’re planning to use trusts as part of… read more…
- All About Hiring an Estate Planning Attorney
As you grow older, it’s important to have a secure estate plan in place so you know your assets and family will be taken care of when you’re gone. This involves drawing up plenty of legal paperwork, which is when… read more…
- What Are the Steps to Succession Planning?
In business, having the right people in leadership roles is arguably the most important factor for success. That means that when a top executive or star employee retires or leaves for another role, there needs to be a contingency plan… read more…
- What Is Legacy Planning and Why Is It Important?
Traditionally, the process of planning for the transfer of assets to your loved ones after your death is known as estate planning. As you approach this process, you might also hear another term: Legacy planning. The terms are in many ways… read more…
- Writing a Letter of Instruction for Your Estate Plan
A comprehensive estate plan often includes writing a last will and testament to transfer your assets to your beneficiaries. Once you’ve passed away, the executor of your will shepherds the will through the probate process. However, you may have things you’d… read more…
- Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) Form
Medical issues bring about plenty of tough decisions about what treatments you do and don’t want to be performed. Because you may be incapacitated in these situations, many people prepare ahead of time by creating advance health care directives to record their… read more…
- A Guide to the Different Types of Trusts
Having an estate plan in place can offer reassurance that your assets will be managed according to your wishes, both during your lifetime and after you pass away. While many people think of wills as the centerpiece of an estate… read more…
- An Executor’s Responsibilities to Beneficiaries
The executor of a will has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the estate. This means that the law prevents you from acting in your own interest to the detriment of the estate. As an extension… read more…
- How Long Does an Executor Have to Distribute a Will?
When most people think of executing a will, they might think only of delivering inherited assets to beneficiaries. However, there are actually several steps of the probate process that the executor must complete before transferring any assets. As a beneficiary, it’s natural to… read more…
- How to File for Executor of an Estate Without a Will
Even if you die without a will or without naming an executor in your will, someone still has to take charge of managing and closing your estate. The person who assumes this role is typically called an administrator rather than an executor. Each state has a way of determining who should act as administrator, so… read more…
- Does the Executor Have the Final Say?
The executor of a will is in charge of making sure the wishes of the deceased are carried out, as well as handling the final affairs of the estate. The executor has authority from the county probate court to act… read more…
- Executor of Estate vs. Power of Attorney
One of the most crucial aspects of estate planning is appointing people you trust to step in for you when you can’t act for your self. Two of the most prominent of these roles are the executor of your estate and your agent with power of attorney. The two roles may be filled by the… read more…
- Should You Name Co-Executors in Your Will?
When it comes to planning your estate, choosing who to name as your executor is an important choice to make. Your executor has a range of duties, including paying your debts, navigating your estate through the probate court and distributing… read more…
- Successor Trustee: Duties, Powers and More
Setting up a trust can be great way to control how your assets are distributed to your heirs after you pass away. Trusts are in many ways more flexible than wills in managing an estate’s assets. When you’ve passed, the… read more…
- A Checklist for an Executor of a Will
Serving as the executor of a will can be a time-consuming endeavor that takes up a lot of mental bandwidth. It can be hard to keep straight the various forms, procedures and duties. To make the process just a bit… read more…
- What an Executor Cannot Do
Executors have broad authority from the courts to navigate an estate through the probate process. However, there are limits on what executors can do. These limitations stem mostly from an executor’s fiduciary duty to the estate. We’ll dive in to… read more…