Do you like your nosy neighbors keeping tabs of your business? Do you want them knowing how much money you left to your kids? Do you want Aunt Fern knowing that you left money to your favorite uncle but not to her? If you leave only a Will, it will all be a matter of public record. … Read more
When creating an estate plan, it’s easy to focus so much attention on a will that you overlook the benefits of a revocable living trust. Before we discuss the primary benefits of a revocable living trust, let’s examine the word “revocable.” If at any point you want to change or revoke your trust, you have … Read more
We are all tempted to avoid planning sometimes. Perhaps we would rather watch that football game. Or, perhaps we just do not want to think of our own mortality. First, let’s look at what happens if you do nothing. If you do not have a revocable trust, your assets would be in your name, rather than the … Read more
Privacy is a concern to all of us, both during life and after death. Privacy is a concern for many reasons. We each have our own reasons for wanting privacy. People want to keep private the existence of children out of wedlock, their sexual orientation, their wealth or lack thereof, or even their choices of … Read more
Estate Planning practitioners field questions regarding disinheriting beneficiaries regularly. The second question often relates to what happens when that beneficiary or any other tries to have the estate plan or portions thereof overturned. An “in terrorem” or “no contest” clause usually acts as a deterrent to such beneficiaries by completing divesting them of their inheritance should they choose to initiate a lawsuit