The “Spendthrift” Trust Explained
JULY 27, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 27 Lawyers love to name and categorize everything they deal with. It’s a useful way to group similar concepts, but it can lead to confusion and misunderstanding. That’s particularly true when a legal concept is non-exclusive — in other words, when one instrument can go by a number of […]
Getting Ready for Your Appointment With the Lawyer
JULY 20, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 26 It was really hard to find the right estate planning attorney, but you’re confident you’ve made a good choice (and we’re glad it’s us). You’ve made the first appointment — it’s set for two weeks from today. You’ve gotten the questionnaire from the lawyer’s office, and it looks […]
The Myth of the Simple Will
JUNE 15, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 22 “I don’t want anything complicated,” said our new client. “I just want a simple will.” For almost four decades, we’ve been waiting for the client who wants a complicated will. We’re still waiting. We hear the “I only want a simple will” request often. What clients really mean, […]
Is Dispute Inevitable When Two Children are Named as Co-Trustees?
MAY 18, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 19 So often our clients assure us that their children are different from other children. Our clients know that their children will fundamentally get along. They are sure that there will be no big problems when they die, and that the children will communicate and cooperate. Fortunately, that turns […]
Does Your Existing Trust Split Into Two Shares On a Spouse’s Death?
MARCH 9, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 10 A letter from a reader asks: “My husband and I set up a revocable trust which will divide our assets in half when one of us dies. This was to avoid estate taxes. Now that estate taxes are no longer a problem, are there still benefits to splitting […]
Top Ten Reasons to Skip the Living Trust and Sign a Will Instead
FEBRUARY 2, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 5 Last week we suggested some of the reasons why you might think about having a revocable living trust as part of your estate planning documents. This week we’ll try to turn it around, and give you ten reasons why you might prefer to have a will (“just” a […]
Top Ten Reasons You Might Want a Trust, Rather Than Just a Will
JANUARY 26, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 4 Do you need a living trust? Even with an estate tax threshold of over $5 million (and double that, for most married couples)? That is the primary question posed by most of our estate planning clients. For years the answer depended mostly on the size of your estate. […]
Forgot to Make New Year’s Resolutions? We Can Help
JANUARY 5, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1 First we’d like to apologize for not getting this to you last week. We know how hard you were working to prepare some good New Year’s Resolutions. You wanted some that you could actually count on satisfying, that would really be beneficial, and that would make you sound […]
Managing Your Digital Assets With an Eye on Mortality
SEPTEMBER 22, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 34 For a while it was just an interesting academic problem: what would happen to your Facebook page, your Instagram photos, and your Pinterest collection if you died? And what about your e-mail account(s), your shopping login information and the passwords for all of those different online arrangements? It […]
What To Do About a Child Who Can’t Handle Money
SEPTEMBER 1, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 31 A reader asks: “could you do an article on how to leave inheritance to a son who is not good at handling money? Should I leave his portion to another son who is good at it? They are very close and would get along.” First we have a […]