Estate Planning

The equity you have built up in your home over the years is potentially your biggest source of personal wealth. It may be the most valuable thing you have to pass on to your loved ones when you die. Especially if you are now the sole owner of the home where you live,...

There are many responsibilities that fall to the personal representative of someone's estate. Their job includes securing property, presenting financial and estate documents to the probate courts and even paying off debts on behalf of the estate. Debts owed by the...

As a parent who is working on your estate plan, there is one thing that you need to consider above all else: how to protect your children. There are estate planning tools that will help you protect your kids if you are suddenly incapacitated or pass away, and those...

You never expected to lose a parent so early in your life. Being a relatively young adult, you thought that you’d have your parents with you for much longer. Since both have now passed away, you weren’t surprised that you had been named the executor of the estate....

Becoming a parent is frequently the reason why people choose to create estate plans. They worry that their children will be vulnerable if anything ever happens to them, so they take action to offset some of those risks. Whether you just learned about a pregnancy or...

Many people have prized animals that they keep as both pets and assets. They may have a dog that is a national dog show winner or an animal that has taken the internet by storm and gained unimaginable fame. When you have a pet that is so valuable to you, it’s a good...

You share almost every aspect of your life with your spouse, so divorce will mean major upheaval for both of you. Once you sort out how to split up your property and handle matters involving any children that you share, you likely want to put the marriage behind you...

When you are looking into estate planning, one of the things you should remember is that it’s not all about passing on your assets. Certain parts of your estate plan are there to help protect your best interests and to make sure you’re cared for the way you want to be...

Estate planning may not be a particularly fun process, but it is still very important. Putting the right documents in place now will protect you if you experience a medical emergency. It will also establish the legacy you want to leave behind, thereby protecting the...

Unequal bequests may create all manner of issues for a family after a parent’s passing, including increasing the odds of an estate dispute. When one person gets less than their siblings or other members of the will, they don’t always take it well. The perception of...