Don’t assume that your heirs will get an asset just because you leave it to them in your will. In some cases, other types of paperwork actually take precedence over your will. A good example is a beneficiary designation. You may find yourself using this with life insurance policies, annuities and retirement accounts. The beneficiary designation […]

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Parents know that a big part of their estate planning is simply leaving money to their children. Physical assets do play a role, but many parents simplify their estate by selling assets before they pass away — selling the family home when they go to a nursing home, for instance, and simply leaving the money […]

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Your spouse files for divorce. As the process moves forward, you start adjusting your estate plan. You want to cut your spouse — soon to be your ex — out of it entirely. Can you do that? You can, but it is important to note that there are cases where your ex may have a legal […]

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If you do not have children — maybe you just don’t have them yet, or maybe you don’t plan to have them at all — it is still important to write a will and do your estate planning. However, this becomes especially important if you do have kids. It raises the stakes. Prior to the […]

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People often spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to put the family home into their estate plan. Do they just leave it to the kids in equal amounts? Do they sell the house and leave the money to the children? Do they ask the children which kids want it and which […]

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What type of end-of-life care do you really want? Now, everyone hopes that they will pass away peacefully, without complications, but that rarely happens. Planning for the medical care that you want at this time should be part of your estate planning as a whole. One thing you can do is to create a health […]

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You spend years building up your wealth. Maybe it takes decades. You put money and assets aside to pass on to your children. But how long is that really going to last? After you leave the money to your children, how fast do you think that they’re going to spend it? Though you might like to […]

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