Category Archives: Estate Planning
Should You Change Your Plans Due to the Potential Reduction in the Estate Tax Exemption?
Many people associate prudent estate planning with the creation of a will or trust. However, no one should stop paying attention to estate planning once they’ve signed their documents. In some cases, life changes, such as a divorce, estrangement or new child, compel a shift in priorities. Other times, legal developments might justify revisions. When […]
Bringing Up the Topic of Estate Planning With Your Parents
Talking to parents about estate planning can be a sensitive conversation, but it may become necessary. It involves planning not only for distribution of wealth upon death but also for providing for their well-being and guarding against the expenses of possible disability during their later years. Approaching this topic with empathy, respect and preparation will […]
Deciding Between a Revocable or Irrevocable Trust
In estate planning, a trust is a legal entity that you create to hold assets for and distribute them to designated beneficiaries. One of the chief advantages of a trust is that the assets it controls are exempt from probate, the court process for administering a decedent’s estate. This allows your beneficiaries to gain access […]
Common Estate Planning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
The purpose of estate planning is to make decisions now that will protect your property later in your lifetime and ensure that it will pass to your intended beneficiaries efficiently after you’re gone. It’s an unpleasant task that is too easily put off, and many people don’t give it the attention it deserves. Worse still, […]
New York Small Estate Administration: How it Works
Probate, a court process for settling decedents’ estates, can be expensive and time consuming. If an estate is small, the cost of a traditional probate might consume most of the assets, leaving little for the heirs. That is why New York law permits some smaller estates to go through a faster, less expensive process called […]
Living Wills and Other Advance Directives Help You Plan for Emergencies
Estate planning is not just about how you want your property handled following your death. It can also be a vital part of ensuring your health and economic well-being later in life. This includes planning for emergency situations in which you may be unable to make decisions for managing your healthcare and financial affairs. By […]
What Happens to the Family Home in a Divorce?
One of the most difficult issues that comes up during a divorce is what to do with the family home. More than just another asset to be divvied up, the home is the place where the family gathered for evening meals, where holidays were shared and where children grew up. In addition to holding this […]
Advantages of Putting Assets Into a Living Trust
A living trust is a method of preserving and investing wealth during your lifetime and earmarking the proceeds for designated beneficiaries upon your death. It is also called a revocable trust because it gives you the power to alter or terminate it. Living trusts provide numerous advantages that make them useful tools in estate planning. […]
How a Pour-over Will Helps Achieve Your Trust Objectives
Individuals may choose to create a trust, in addition to a will, when they desire a high degree of control over the distribution of their estate. The most common type of trust is the revocable living trust, which allows individuals to place their assets into a trust but still use them while they are alive. […]
How to Write a Will That Can Survive a Probate Contest
A will is an essential part of estate planning. It contains your core instructions for the management and distribution of your property upon your death. However, even a carefully written will may be subject to challenge by your heirs or other interested parties. With this in mind, you can take certain steps designed to ensure […]
