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After months of thought and discussion, you have begun the first steps toward creating an estate plan. Good for you. A solid and effective estate plan protects you, your legacy and your family. You want to be the one to decide what happens to your assets. Without a...
For many people in relationships, getting married is not a priority. Some couples do not believe they need to get married to prove their love and commitment to each other. For others, a bad prior experience with marriage has soured them on the institution. Whatever...
Remember the classic TV sitcom "The Brady Bunch"? It tells the story of two single parents and their children becoming one blended family. On the show, the Brady parents love all six of the kids equally. One could imagine that Carol and Mike's estate planning made...
Your neighbor is worried about someone breaking into their cars at night. To prevent it, they install bright lights over the driveway, which they turn on every evening.While you can see that the lights are a deterrent to crime, they also shine brightly right into your...
Ask any parent with multiple children if they have a favorite, and they'll tell you they don't. However, those children often feel like they do.This is important when considering estate planning, seeing as how childhood feelings and conflicts can come back even for...
As the executor or administrator of an estate, you will often have to make decisions that beneficiaries or heirs may find questionable. Depending on the instructions left behind by the deceased, you may have to liquidate assets that certain family members or loved...
In a realistic sense, outside of the cash they received, children often don't really need the items their parents leave for them. Their inheritance may include a home full of lamps, beds, tables, chairs and all the rest, but these adult children have their own homes...
The unfortunate reality is that you are not the only person who is in control of your property value. If you go to sell your house, you may find that your neighbor has driven that value down.This is part of the reason for zoning laws. Putting a gas station next to a...
An elderly person who is doing their estate planning or updating an existing plan needs to have the mental capacity to do so correctly. Unfortunately, for many who suffer from degenerative diseases as they grow older, they may lack this capacity. This can lead to...
Could inheritance disputes be coming as wealth moves to the next generation? One reason that people feel frustrated with an inheritance is when they had expectations that were not met. Current research shows that that situation is playing out for a lot of families.For...