During the holiday season, we often take time together with family and reflect on the year as it comes to a close. As we have all gotten a year older, this can also be a time to talk with older parents and other family members about the management of assets…
Whether you prefer storing records “the old-fashioned way” with physical documents kept in cabinets and folders or storing records “on the cloud” or in some way digitally, most people today have at least some digital documents and assets. It is important to plan for who would access your digital assets…
In last week’s post, I shared a few ways to provide support with estate planning to a family member or loved one with mental health challenges. Here are 3 more ways you may be able to support them, depending on their specific situation: • Consider a guardianship. If this family member or…
Estate planning for a family member with mental health issues can be challenging. It can be hard to figure out what this person is able to handle on their own and what they may need assistance with, especially as this may change either gradually or quickly with time. In many…
The third week of October has been designated by the United States House of Representatives as National Estate Planning Awareness Week since 2008. The intention behind this is to help the public learn more about estate planning and the impact it has on overall financial wellness. Estate planning is often…
Although we may think of phishing emails, robocalls, or other types of scams when we think about financial exploitation, it is far more common for this type of exploitation to be done by relatives, caregivers, neighbors, or friends someone believed they could trust. Financial exploitation is more common than most…
A lot of people are part of a blended family. It’s important for those in this type of family to make sure that stepchildren are incorporated into their estate planning process. Many stepparents love and care for their stepchildren as their own children, and they may not be aware that…
As I began writing about in last week’s post, there are a number of important factors to consider when deciding who to name as trustees, powers of attorney, health care surrogates, and executors while working on your estate plan. Here are a few more tips to keep in mind: 4.…
When implementing estate planning documents, one of the biggest challenges people often run into is the choice of who to name as their trustees, powers of attorney, health care surrogates, and executors. Here are some tips for deciding who to appoint: 1. Give preference to those who have the most…
People with revocable living trusts often name a family member (spouse, oldest child, etc.) as their successor trustee. The successor trustee is who takes over the administrative duties for the trust in the event you become incapacitated or die. However, naming only one successor is probably not enough. It is…