Whether or not you currently have estate planning documents, one important item to add to your calendar is getting an estate plan checkup. Don’t Have an Estate Plan? If you don’t already have an estate plan, then getting one in place should be at the top of your...
Month: May 2023
Is Your Estate Plan as Stale as Last Week’s Ham Sandwich?
5 Reasons to Update Your Estate Plan Estate plans are almost magical: They allow you to maintain control of your assets, yet protect you should you become incapacitated. They take care of your family and pets. And, if carefully crafted, they reduce fees, taxes,...
Wondering Whether You Need to Update Your Estate Plan? Yes, You Do, and Here’s Why
Please allow us to be frank. It’s unrealistic to think that a piece of paper you draft, reflecting your life at a certain time, will work when your life has completely changed some years later. We’ll use the Kendrick family as an example. Meet the Kendricks Meet Bill...
Stress Test Your Estate Plan
So you have done the hard work of establishing an estate plan. Good for you! However, you still have serious work to do to ensure that the strategy you have selected will maximize your peace of mind and protect your legacy. Estate plans should be like living,...
Continuing with May Mental Health Month
Considerations in Estate Planning It is okay to not be okay. Removing the stigma of mental health starts with realizing that many people—about one in five of all US adults--are affected by mental illness. Understanding this fact can lead to more people getting the...
May is Mental Health Awareness Month: How an Estate Plan Can Help Improve Anxiety
Roughly one in five US adults experiences a mental illness each year. Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions, affecting nearly one-third of adults at some point in their lives. While anxiety can be generalized and chronic, it can also be...
Have You Outgrown Your Estate Plan?
As estate planning attorneys, we work hard to set up estate plans that fit a client’s needs and ensure that everything works together for the client and their loved ones. Estate plans remain effective as long as they accurately reflect a client’s circumstances and...
Infusing the Principles of Etiquette into Your Estate Plan
May is National Etiquette Month, and the goal is to encourage all people to act with consideration, respect, and honesty in their interactions with others and in their everyday lives. Etiquette can also play a role in estate planning. A well-crafted estate plan...
Important Probate Rules You Should Know
When a person dies, what happens next depends on whether the deceased person had any foundational estate planning documents such as a last will and testament (otherwise known as a will) or trust, who the living relatives are, and their relationship to the person who...
Types of Life Insurance and How They Can Be Used in Estate Planning
Many of us do not start thinking about life insurance until we get our first full-time job and the company’s human resources representative asks us if we want to enroll in the employer’s group life insurance policy. Most people think “Why not?” and sign up, naming a...