As our relatives get older, it’s important that we help care for them and make sure that they are ready for the changes that life brings. If you have an older relative that hasn’t started planning their estate yet, this can be very concerning. There are many reasons why they may not have put together a will or trust yet - they may be intimidated by the process, or they may just not have had the time to think...
Estate planning is something that we tend to put off, thinking that we have endless amounts of time to do it. After all, no one likes thinking about death, and so it’s tempting to just ignore this important task until it’s nearly too late. Although you don’t typically need to start planning your estate when you are a young adult, there are some life events that signal it’s time to at least give it some thought. You’ve gotten married. Getting married...
Putting together your estate can be a very difficult task, particularly if you are planning on using a trust of any kind to transfer money to your beneficiaries. If you are creating a trust, it is always useful to have an estate lawyer review your documents to ensure that they are legally sound. In addition to an estate lawyer, many people use a financial advisor to help them put together a trust. However, you may wonder if you need...
One of the most important parts of estate planning is deciding who your beneficiaries are going to be. Your beneficiaries are anyone who receives assets from your living trust after you pass on. It can be very difficult to decide who is going to inherit your assets, particularly if you have a big family or lots of close friends. This is a decision that should not be made lightly, and you should continue to think about it throughout your...
When planning your estate, you’ll likely hear and read plenty about the benefits of trusts for saving money and transferring your assets to your beneficiaries easily. However, it’s important to distinguish between different types of trusts, as there are so many options out there. It’s easy to confuse a living trust (which is ideal for estate planning) with an irrevocable trust. Irrevocable trusts are not a smart idea for most people - here’s why. The reason that living trusts do...
