The American Dream envisions home ownership for everyone. And most of us save for this purchase with the thought of passing it on to our families one day. But questions about ownership and how it’s passed on are pretty common. Questions like, “If I give my home to my child in my will, can they take […]
Many people associate spring with cleaning out the old, brushing off the dirt accumulated from the long winter, and starting projects around the house that have been neglected for far too long. Perhaps, however, your home is fine as is and you need a remodeling project for something other than your home. Estate planning is one […]
According to a 2019 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 7 percent of surveyed adults were living with an unmarried partner, up from 3 percent in 1995.[1] More people such as yourself are entering long-term committed relationships without getting married. Unfortunately, many state and federal laws do not protect unmarried couples as they do married […]
A nonfungible token (NFT) is a unique digital code that represents a digital item such as art or music, as well as a growing number of physical items, that runs on the blockchain (a secure, decentralized, and cryptography-backed online ledger) and provides proof of ownership of virtual collectibles. That explanation is likely to cause confusion, and […]
A trustee usually has quite a bit of discretion in their management of a trust’s accounts, money, and property (known as assets). At the same time, as a fiduciary, a trustee also owes the trust’s beneficiaries a duty of loyalty, which prohibits the trustee from self-dealing. This blog has touched on a trustee’s fiduciary duty to […]
One thing which will virtually guarantee your estate will go through probate is real property. That’s right, if you own your home in your name individually (meaning you have not created an entity like a trust or LLC, and have not transferred the property’s title to that entity), then your estate will need to go through […]
With couples of similar ages, planning for the future is naturally a joint effort. However, if your marriage has a sizeable age gap, meaning you are married to someone who is significantly older or younger than you, the future can look different and mean different things to each of you. To protect yourself, your spouse, and […]
A popular estate planning tool that has long been used effectively may be facing new challenges under the ever shifting currents of tax law and politics. The family limited partnership (FLP) is an estate planning tool that allows families not only to transfer significant amounts of their wealth to succeeding generations while reducing estate, gift, and […]
Americans have enjoyed historically high estate tax exemption rates for most of the last twenty years. Such high exemption amounts have kept many of them from needing to seek out more advanced estate planning strategies to avoid estate taxes, which have been as high as 60 percent during those same years. However, it is uncertain what […]
Continuing education is a tradition that many families are proud to pass onto each successive generation. For grandparents who want to leave a legacy to their grandchildren, the gift of a 529 college savings plan is an option. A 529 plan account can not only help a grandchild with educational expenses, it can also help grandparents with […]
