How Do Trusts Work in Your Estate Plan? A trust can be a useful tool for passing on assets, allowing them to be held by a responsible trustee for beneficiaries. However, determining which type of trust is best for each family’s situation and setting them up so they work with an estate plan, can be
Your will does not control who inherits all your assets when you die. This is something that many people do not know. Instead, many of your assets will pass by beneficiary designations, says Kiplinger in the article “Beneficiary Designations: 5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid.” The beneficiary designation is the form that you fill out, when opening many different
Kids Grown Up? Protect Them with These Three Documents “Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.” Saint Augustine of Hippo “Everybody knows how to raise children except for the people that have them.” P.J. O’Rourke Without the right documents in place, you do not
There are many legal strategies involved in estate planning, including wills, revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, durable powers of attorney, and health care documents. New clients often say that they do not have an estate plan. Most people are surprised to learn that they actually do have a plan. In the absence of legal planning
What many people don’t realize that when they start drawing funds from those 401(k)s, they’re taxed. One of the reasons the accounts are so popular, is that a traditional 401(k) is funded from pre-tax paychecks, so the money deposited into the plan and any gains on the investment are not taxed until the money is
The Roanoke Times advises in the recent article “What to do in absence of advance directive” to talk to an experienced elder care attorney to coordinate the necessary legal issues, when dementia may be at issue with a parent or other loved one. Next, ask your physician for a geriatric evaluation consultation for your loved
Most people don’t know the rules about required minimum distributions. Also known as “RMDs,” these are the rules that require investors to make withdrawals from their retirement accounts the year that they turn 70½. However, says Forbes in the article “5 Things to Know About RMDs,” these withdrawals can have a major impact on cash flow,
“Make sure you visualize what you really want, not what someone else wants for you.” Jerry Gillies “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” Charles Dickens Helping aging parents with daily tasks can become a challenge, if the parent has limited mobility. A trip to the bank, for example,
If you and your siblings have been worrying about older parents please understand that ‘someday’ is sooner than you think. The cause for sleepless nights for many, now comes from worrying about older parents. As parents age, it becomes more important to talk with them about a number of “someday” issues, advises Kanawha Metro in
“As special needs parents we don’t have the power to make life “fair,” but we do have the power to make life joyful.” Anonymous “All kids need is a little help, a little hope, and someone who believes in them” Magic Johnson. Parents want their children to be taken care of after they die. But children with
