How an Inheritance Can Enhance Your Loved One’s Educational Experience
A primary goal of estate planning is to financially provide for your loved ones. One way to ensure that they are set up for lifelong success is with an inheritance that pays for their education. From primary school to postgraduate studies, you can invest in a loved one’s education and maximize their potential through your estate plan. Options include direct payments, 529 plans, and money from a will or trust, often with associated tax breaks.
Three Estate Planning Mistakes Farmers and Ranchers Make—and How to Avoid Them
Farming and ranching is more than just a livelihood; it is about preserving a legacy and a way of life. Unfortunately, many farmers and ranchers fail to create a comprehensive estate plan—or any estate plan at all. Without a proper estate plan, the family farm or ranch, passed down for generations, can end up being sold and converted to nonagricultural use, cutting the family’s legacy short and ending their unique lifestyle.
The Wrong Successor Trustee Can Derail Your Final Wishes
Many estate plans contain revocable living trusts that will become irrevocable (cannot be easily changed or terminated) when the trustmaker dies. Because these trusts can be designed to span multiple decades, it is crucial to choose the right succession of trustees.
Beneficiary and Transfer-on-Death Designations: Are You Doing It Right?
Beneficiary and Transfer-on-Death Designations: Are You Doing It Right? Do you know which of your accounts have beneficiary designations, sometimes called transferon-death (TOD) or payable-on-death (POD) designations? Have you updated them recently? Are you aware of what can go wrong if there are issues with your beneficiary designation forms?
Should I Include My Unborn Child in My Estate Plan?
For parents of minor children, too much estate planning is generally preferable to not enough. The same can be said for those who are expecting a child or planning to adopt. However, if you do not have children at your death and your estate plan references a child who exists only in theory, it can present unnecessary complications.
Dower Rights: A Relic of the Past Still Affecting Estate Plans
The annals of American jurisprudence are filled with archaic laws that, while still technically on the books, are rarely, if ever, enforced. However, not all outdated laws are mere trivia or historical oddity. Unlike these whimsical holdovers from a bygone era, dower rights, a centuries-old protection for surviving spouses (usually the wife), are actively enforced in Arkansas, Kentucky, and Ohio and can impact estate planning in those states.
Planning for the Unthinkable: Essential Tools for Parents of Minor Children
One of the most important estate plan functions for parents of minor children is the ability to provide specific guidance about how their children will be cared for and who will care for them in case something happens to the parents. To account for all emergency contingencies concerning you and your children, your estate plan should form a comprehensive safety net that addresses your children’s care needs and protects them from the unthinkable.
AB Trusts-Do You Need to Get Rid of Yours?
If the last time you and your spouse updated your estate plan was more than a decade ago, your estate plan may contain what is sometimes referred to as AB trust planning, which, until 2011, was the only way married couples could take advantage of both spouses’ federal estate tax exemptions. Do you need to get rid of yours?
Life Estate versus Right of Occupancy Trust: Which Is Right for You?
Planning for the future of your home can be complicated, especially when you want to ensure that a loved one can continue living there after you are gone. Two common tools for accomplishing this are life estates and right of occupancy trusts. Which is right for you?
Caution: Your Traditional Asset Protection Plan Is Set Up to Fail
You probably have one or more types of traditional asset protection planning currently in place. The problem is, in many cases, the type of planning you have right now may not be enough to fully protect you and your family. What is asset protection planning and why does it often fail?
Lists You Need to Get Your Affairs in Order
Your finanicial plan and your estate plan are deeply intertwined. Trying to create an estate plan withour a clear picture of your financial is like planning a journey without knowing your beginning point. You should create an inventory of your assets and keep it updated!
Money Isn’t Everything in Estate Planning
Money and property may be the most discussed types of wealth that a person owns, but the riches of their experience and wisdom can mean even more to loved ones down the line. Reinforcement of family traditions can be built into your estate plan alongside your wishes regarding the distribution of your money, property, and belongings. After all, what really makes a family is its values and traditions—not the finances that are left behind.