Estate Planning

• Posted in: Current Affairs

Do you know who will be making your end-of-life decisions when you are incapacitated? Joe John Sorce found out the hard way that failure to execute a healthcare directive or living will doesn’t mean you don’t have a healthcare agent, instead it means that your agent will be chosen by the laws of your state […]

• Posted in: Asset Protection

The economy is reeling, stocks are plummeting, and most people want nothing more than to take their money, hide it under a mattress, and avoid any kind of financial or estate planning. Giving money away is just about the last thing on most people’s minds right now. But those with financial wisdom and experience (namely […]

• Posted in: Estate Planning

Every once in a while we’ll hear a story about a family for whom a trust was more of a hindrance than a help. Most often it’s because the trust was not created properly, or was old and outdated and hadn’t been reviewed by the grantors on a regular basis. But sometimes the conflict is […]

• Posted in: Current Affairs

The holidays are the perfect time for family reunions, family bonding, family fun …and, according to the Wall Street Journal the perfect time for parents and children to talk about family finances, family estate plans, and family decisions about end-of-life issues. After all, there are relatively few times each year in the lives of most […]

• Posted in: Current Affairs

One of the things that will be determined by the outcome of the election on Tuesday, and which will have a huge impact on our firm—and on our clients—is the fate of the estate tax. As it stands, the estate tax will be repealed in 2010 and reinstated again in 2011.  However, both presidential candidates […]

• Posted in: Estate Planning

Do you know what is going to happen to your assets after you die?  Even if you have created a Last Will and Testament you may not be able to answer “yes” to that question.  Widow Margaret Amrich thought she was ensuring the answer when she created her Will, a thought in which she was […]

• Posted in: Estate Planning

The current state of the economy may be putting us all in a tight squeeze, but no cloud is without its silver lining, as Anne Tergesen points out in her Wall Street Journal article. The silver lining in this particular cloud is that the depressed economy and sinking stocks offer an unmatched opportunity to pass […]

• Posted in: Estate Planning

The final post in our series focuses on the part of your Estate Plan having to do with healthcare. This is the section that is likely to change most often, and will require the most frequent review and update. The backbone of the healthcare portion of your Estate Plan is of course your Advanced Health […]

• Posted in: Estate Planning

This second in our three part series focuses on the financial portions of your Estate Plan, listing the documents that give your trustees and agents the financial powers they need to manage your finances in your absence. Generally, once you decide who will manage your money when you can’t, and who will get what when […]

• Posted in: Estate Planning

When the time comes each year to review your estate plan, the thought of looking through all that paperwork and legal language can be daunting. But the job can be made easier if it is broken down into parts to be reviewed one at a time. Every complete estate plan can be divided into at […]