Gifts of Homes

April 25, 2025
Most families purchase their largest personal residence in their mid-forties. Families with children often need the additional space...

Gifts of Land

April 18, 2025
Many friends of charities have benefited from a gift of land or a gift of land with a building or other structure. There are two main benefits for this gift...

Gifts of Stock

April 11, 2025
What will the market do this year? Perhaps the best answer is, "It will go up and down." Stock returns vary to a significant degree each year. However, long-term stock returns have been reasonably substantial...

Gifts of Cash

April 4, 2025
Many people use their annual gift exclusion as part of an overall estate planning strategy...

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT)

March 28, 2025
Susan and Steve have been talking to their tax attorney, Elizabeth, about plans for their family. Susan is very concerned about their family...

Life Insurance - Costs and Benefits

March 21, 2025
Let's look at the "top five" reasons people give for not owning life insurance...

'Wait A While' Trust

March 14, 2025
Bill and Clara were talking to their attorney Susan about gifts for their family...

'Give It Twice' Trust

March 7, 2025
A very popular option for a parent with children is called the "Give It Twice" trust. This is a trust funded when the surviving parent passes away...

Trusts for Creative Spenders

February 28, 2025
Trusts can be quite useful for protecting children. However, for some children, the trust serves an additional function: It protects the principal from being rapidly spent by a child...

Trusts to Protect Children

February 21, 2025
Trusts are an excellent way to provide for the support and care of children while protecting them. Two important reasons to create a trust are to care for minor children or for a special needs child...

Trusts for Surviving Spouse

February 14, 2025
There are three different basic types of trusts for a surviving spouse: a qualified terminable interest property trust (QTIP), a qualified domestic trust (QDOT) or a charitable remainder trust (CRT)...

Income for Surviving Spouse

February 7, 2025
Elliot and Alexis were concerned about planning for the future. They had built a substantial estate of $1,600,000. When Elliot was 70, he rolled over his $600,000 qualified retirement plan into an IRA. Because he is now over age 73, Elliot is taking distributions...

How to Fund Your Living Trust

January 31, 2025
A revocable living trust is one of the principal estate planning methods. While everyone should have a will, there are many benefits of a revocable living trust...

Living Trust - Life and Death Decisions

January 24, 2025
In discussing your living trust with your attorney, there are several very important decisions for you to consider. Some of your decisions affect the management of property during life, and others will determine how your successor trustee manages your property for the benefit of family, friends and charity after you...

Your Living Trust Choices

January 17, 2025
The living trust is becoming quite a popular estate planning strategy. It costs more than a will, but includes many features that are helpful during life and in your estate. Let's review some of the basic principles of the living trust...

Bequests to Your Favorite Charity

January 10, 2025
Bequests to charity are the most popular type of planned gift. A donor may retain assets during life and then leave a bequest to a charity...

Online Accounts

January 3, 2025
At any given time, the average American maintains between 30 and 80 online accounts. These may be with banks, financial institutions, utility companies, email providers, social media outlets, commercial shopping or travel sites and accounts unique to technology such as an account to purchase apps for a smartphone...

Living Trusts Versus Wills

December 27, 2024
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was diagnosed with cancer in January 1994. She signed a will in the New York offices of a large law firm on March 22, 1994...

Ten Reasons to Update Your Estate Plan

December 20, 2024
You have completed a will and perhaps a revocable living trust. Your durable power of attorney for healthcare and a living will are in place. All of your records are safely in place and carefully organized...

Passing Unequal Shares in Your Will

December 13, 2024
Because children often look at their inheritance as a representation of their parents' love, most parents leave children equal shares of their estate. However, there are a number of good reasons why a parent might leave unequal shares...