Estate planning is an exercise in anticipating potential future events that could affect your plans for what happens if you become incapacitated (unable to manage your own affairs during your lifetime) and how your assets (property and accounts) will be handled after your death. Most folks will say the more prepared, the better. But when […]
Approximately three-fourths of Americans do not have a basic will.[1] Many of the same people also have children under the age of 18, which underscores a major misunderstanding about estate plans: They can accomplish much more than just handling financial assets (money, accounts, and property). One of the most important estate plan functions for parents […]
Michael Jackson passed away in 2009, but the settling of his estate continues more than 15 years after his death due to a lingering tax dispute with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other legal challenges, including a lawsuit brought by his mother over a deal to sell part of his music rights to Sony […]
The relationship between spouses is special in all contexts, not the least of which is the estate planning context. In many instances, you can exclude people (known as disinheriting them) from your estate plan, including your parents, siblings, and adult children. But there are special protections built into the law that may help protect a […]
