The Estate of Prince – a Royal Mess (Part 1) Everybody knows you should have a Will. Although we caution our clients that having a Will alone will leave many important planning issues unaddressed, not having a Will creates a number of problems that can easily be avoided. And sadly, according to one survey […]
It’s counterintuitive, we know: irrevocable trusts are revocable (and amendable). Unfortunately, irrevocability is a malicious myth. The uninformed could spend years relying on an old, out-of-date trust that could be updated and improved without too much effort. Yes, the so-called “irrevocable trusts” absolutely can be, and, often, should be, modified. In this issue, we’ll identify: […]
When a family member dies, there are many legal and financial things that need to be taken care of. That process is commonly called “estate settlement.” It is also called Probate. There are costs involved with the estate settlement process. Taking care of all that needs to be done usually entails a lot of work. […]
Unlike money, personal belongings usually cannot be divided equally after their owner passes away. For this reason, distributing possessions like furniture, jewelry, dishes, silverware, artwork, photographs or clothing is often the most difficult challenge in settling an estate. (Just ask Audrey Hepburn’s two sons.) It can help if the deceased person had stated in her […]
Many of our small business owner clients enjoy having their children or other family members work with them in the business, and their “exit plan” relies heavily on transferring responsibility for running the business to those family members. Frequently, however, these plans are made with the best of intentions but not properly documented and memorialized, […]
When it comes to estate planning, everybody wants a Will. Many people believe that good estate planning begins and ends with having a Will and they think once they have a Will, all their estate planning problems have been solved. But unfortunately there is much more to the story than that. While we do not […]
Since the purpose of a Will is to document your wishes for who should be the executor and who should receive your solely-owned assets after you die, it should be a fairly straightforward matter to change that document if you later change your mind, right? Yes, and no. Like many types of legal documents, in […]
An executor is the person responsible for managing the administration of a deceased person’s estate. One of the executor’s main jobs is to pay people or institutions to whom the estate owes money — the estate’s creditors. This can be an overwhelming task, especially when dealing with the death of a loved one, but it is […]
One important reason to have a will is to be able to name your executor (also called a personal representative). An executor is the person responsible for managing the administration of your estate after you die. If you don’t choose an executor, the court will choose one for you. The first decision is whether to […]
An executor is the person responsible for managing the administration of a deceased person’s estate. The executor (also called a personal representative) is either named in a will or appointed by the court, if there is no will. Executors are responsible for making sure the deceased person’s wishes are carried out and that the estate […]