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A will is an essential part of protecting your assets and ensuring your heirs are taken care of, and nearly half of all Americans don’t have one. If you’ve already created a will, congratulations – you’re already ahead of the game. While a will is a necessary document that every person who owns assets should…

Did you know the largest single minority in this country are the 58 million Americans five years of age or older that are identified as special needs? The majority of federal and state benefits available to help persons with disabilities are needs-based, meaning income and assets are strictly limited and can often be misinterpreted, resulting…

When a family member has passed, the family occasionally ends up arguing over personal property. Arguments can take place over things like a coffee mug, a piece of jewelry, or a painting. These types of arguments can be eliminated by filling out a personal property memorandum and keeping it with your will or trust. A…

Family disagreements about a parent’s end-of-life care and inheritance can get so serious they may end up in a legal filing and court case. You can take steps moving beyond the possibility this might happen and create (or amend) your estate plan seeking to diffuse these potential issues before they become legal challenges. Every situation…

During your lifetime, you spend the first part trying to attain financial security and the second part working to maintain it. This adage is why many people spend substantial time and effort maximizing their legacy goals in their estate plan, ensuring their wishes come to pass. Your life’s work and ability to provide for your…

Most Americans consider real property, like their home, the most significant part of their overall net worth. How the home and other pieces of real property are titled deserves careful consideration. Real estate constitutes the land and any structure, including vegetation, livestock, crops, and other natural resources that sit on the land under the state’s…

The characteristics of entrepreneurs include motivation, creativity, persuasiveness, risk tolerance, versatility, vision, innovation, communication, collaboration, flexibility, and decisiveness. These individuals create new businesses bearing most of the risks and reaping most of the rewards if successful. Because of their innate attributes, an estate planning process can be markedly different from others because entrepreneurs often have…

We hear this question all the time: “Don’t I just grab a will of the internet, do a transfer-on-death deed for my land, use my kids as beneficiaries, and be done with my estate planning?” It’s just not a good idea. For the plan to work as you would want it to, it should account…

In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, advocating for your loved one in a nursing home has become more demanding and complicated. Both residents and staff in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 outbreaks. In fact, during the first year of the pandemic, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) reports…

Legendary talk-show host Larry King married seven women and had five children with many of them. He died at age 87 on January 23, 2021, after contracting Covid and then succumbing to an infection. Immediately after his death, his estate went straight to probate court. If only he would have followed the advice that any…