Being asked to serve as trustee can be a huge honor—but it’s also a major responsibility. Indeed, the job entails a wide array of complex duties, and trustees are both ethically and legally required to effectively execute those functions or face significant liability. To this end, you should thoroughly understand exactly what your role as trustee […]
If a friend or family member has asked you to serve as trustee for their trust upon their death, you should feel honored—this means they consider you among the most honest, reliable, and responsible people they know. However, being a trustee is not only a great honor, it’s also a major responsibility. The job can […]
What are the key differences between wills and trusts? When discussing estate planning, a will is what most people think of first. Indeed, wills have been the most popular method for passing on assets to heirs for hundreds of years. But wills aren’t your only option. And if you rely on a will alone to […]
We can all learn a lot from celebrity estate planning mistakes. Discussing death can be awkward, and many people would prefer just to ignore estate planning all together. However, ignoring—or even putting off—such planning can be a huge mistake, as these celebrity stories will highlight.The next time one of your relatives tells you they don’t […]
These days, second and even third marriages are fairly commonplace. And the estate planning issues that arise from multiple marriages can be highly complex and confusing. So, how do you navigate estate planning for a blended family? Merging two families into one presents unique legal and financial challenges that can cause significant conflict and distress unless […]
President Trump signed the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act bill into law on December 22, 2017, and the law includes a number of historic changes to the federal tax code. However, the vast majority of the most dramatic changes are aimed at business taxation, not individual taxpayers. So, how will the new tax law […]